Technical Drive Train Resuscitation Basics

I've never even had a close call with mounting truck tires. If a rim or lock ring was that bad, we simply refused to work on it. I worked with one guy that had one blow up in his face... literally. Split his nose down the middle and he lost most of his teeth.

 

Boy, that sheet metal looks really straight. Too bad about the crank hole but I sure like that "Delux" front bumper. I can't tell from the picture if you are missing the sealed beam conversion ring in the right head light or not, but if you are, I was missing one also so I made a pair from some 20 gage stainless. I could probably let the old one go to a good cause. PM me if you need it.

 

Hey @lonejacklarry, the last time I remember visiting in Raytown was 1964 or 65 and I don't recall names any more, just that sticky red dirt my brother and I played in. I remember my Aunt & Uncle Nelson bought all their cars from Raytown Ford, but they've been gone since the 80's.
Oh, by the way, every time I see your avatar I can't help but think "Ah, the things that dreams are made of"!

 

A good point of reference Bob, I think if I keep the rims I will continue to pony up to have the pro's service them.

 

Yes, pretty straight, even I should be able to get this paint ready! Been looking for the crank hole piece but that will be tough to find. I do have the sealed beam rings - not yet sure I'll use them but original gl*** & reflectors are also rare. Thanks for the offer, and enjoy driving that beauty!

 

As one of these young guys who needs a clue, I'm gonna be watching this thread

 

My problem would be finding a pro that could do them correctly. This is one of the benefits of going tubeless, as in the 17.5" and 19.5" truck wheels. Never saw them in your configuration but worth a look.

 

I see you are on Long Island Bob. It has probably been a while since there was enough heavy commercial agriculture happening in your neighborhood to support many tire stores. We are still an ag based economy here so I probably still have a few more years of service access. These center pivot irrigated fields average 1000 acres each, and we have a lot of them. And a lot of old equipment being used on them.


I will ask my tire store buddy if he is aware of any options for one piece rims. Been busy on another project the past week or so.

 

Thanks for looking "Junkie". I'm not getting a lot of tech contribution so what sorts of things would be helpful to add here? I know, it's hard to know some things until you know them, but is something specific currently got you scratching your head?

 

Well right now i'm chasing a driveability issue with my Chevy, threw a bunch of tune up parts at it and got nowhere. I have people pointing me in different directions and i'd like to have a more definitive approach to getting this thing right. I suspect my timing chain may be getting stretched but i'd like to have more than a su****ion before I tear into it

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I have torn some engines down with unbelievable sloppy timing chains and they ran fine. The one SBC I just tossed a lot of $$ at, it was pulled from a wrecked car and put into a NASCAR bomber car ('69 Nova) for 6 races in 1984. I got 3 top-ten finishes from it. I tore it down 2 years ago, the chain was loose, all sorts of **** in the pan including a broken off 5/32" drill bit.

 

Hey @Gasoline Junkie , I would have to agree with Bob, you would have to have a really good base line and be doing some serious driving for a loose timing chain in a first generation SBC to be noticable. You haven't told us much about the problem so if you could put a few more "bright lines" around what you are working with (i.e. engine year/make/model, transmission, vehicle estimated weight, how you use it and what "driveability issues" actually mean to you) it would be a "lead pipe cinch" one of us old *******s could at least "wax poetic" on the probable causes. My initial ***umption (definition-to create a situation where I make an "***" of "u" & "me", to ***ume) is that if everyone you know is pointing to the camshaft, and a first generation SBC is renowned for eating camshafts, is that you certainly have a flat cam! (Definition-faint to significant miss, reduced horsepower, hard starting, poor fuel economy, excessive noise at idle and while driving, maybe a little "shine or glitter" in the oil). Of course this is based on almost no information at all so tell us what you've got there.

 

Wow, sorry @Gasoline Junkie , I just stumbled onto your other thread about Parts counter lingo. I guess you already got the lecture so I hope that doesn't run you off. I'd still like to help if you want to "air the laundry" here.

 

I didn't want to totally hijack your thread and make it about my problems! I was just interested in how you would go about dealing with an old car that runs like ****! The problem i'm having is that when I look up carburetor issues, i'm told to make sure the ignition is good, but when I look up ignition symptoms, i'm told to make sure the carb is good! So if I don't know what my problem is, where do I start?

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And as far as my other thread, i've seen topics go off the rails before and I figured my point would get lost in the process haha

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I was serious when I chose the ***le. Let's look at how to cut the problem in half, and keep cutting until the "bad half" only has a very small number of causes. Do you have access to any diagnostic tools like a vacuum gage, a timing light, a dwell meter (***uming you have a points type distributor), a compression gage, maybe someone with a Sun engine ****yser with a scope and an exhaust sniffer?
When I started troubleshooting military "computers" built in the 1950's I learned that if you can cut a system in half enough times you eventually (usually) only have one bad half that you need to fix. Testing is usually a lot cheaper than "easter egging" a problem where you just start looking behind every rock and bush in the forest until you get lucky.
Go get some real data, write it down, then ask for help interpreting it and you'll be off to the races in no time.
Don't give up, it's just work, and when you figure it out it can be kind of fun. That's why we are here!

 

This is really cool, another old truck is saved!

 

I have a compression gage, and timing light, i'm still building my tool collection so I'm buying as I need haha

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We all start somewhere, and its usually near the bottom for most of us. Proper performance needs 3 basic elements, compressed air, fuel and spark. The right tests can usually eliminate two of those three as the "main" cause for a problem that wasn't designed in using the wrong combination of parts (i.e. used to run good, now it doesn't).
Sounds, smells and "feel" can often help the trained observer diagnose a cause but testing will usually point any diligent investigator toward the offending component or subsystem. Knowledge is power. Tell us what "driveability issues" you are chasing and maybe someone can chime in with constructive suggestions.

 

Great truck and thread!
Your writing style makes this extra entertaining. Keep the wit and updates coming.
If trucks had a name, this one could be Lazarus.

I've been retired from the truck tire biz for a while, but FWIW, the tubeless wheel replacement for 20" tube type is 22.5". The mounting flange should be the same "Dayton" or rim clamp style as your two piece. The problem might finding a 22.5 tire the same OD as your 7.00x20. The smallest 22.5 that I remember was 9x22.5 which was the replacement for 8.25x20. The 20" tube type sizes progressed from 7.00-7.50-8.25-9.00. I don't recall a 19.5 tubeless Dayton style, but there may be one. The ones we dealt with were disc center "Budd" style. Any truck parts house should have an Accuride or Motor Wheel wheel catalog.
I've seen a lot of carnage in 35 years, including a fatality, resulting from multi-piece rim failures.
DO NOT screw with them without proper training and equipment!!!

 

Fan ,I enjoyed reading your post . Excellent for readers with a short attention span. You have a fine way with words.
Thanks for sharing. lots of good info here.
Keep up the good work.

jim

 

Hey @hotrodA , thanks for the great info on potential donors for contemporary options, and the professional name for these hoops. I know that International wasn't the only producer using them but I didn't remember ever hearing them called "Dayton" wheels before. Though I my never get there, I know someone will find this input very valuable!
I am still "irrationally optimistic" that when I get back to working on her that I will be able to find some "take off" 7.00"x 20"s that will still hold air with a good tube as I really don't see us racing off into the sunset at anything over about 20 mph. And I think my rims still have as much longevity left as I do, as long as I keep letting the pro's put them together.
And I get the "Lazarus" connection, but I'm not sure it has been used as a girl's name in our culture much, and I still think she is one ***ey vixen every time I wander by where she's parked. As an old swabbie I thought maybe "Circe" might be more fitting. But I am open for suggestion.

 

Thanks Jim, I have had some fun contributing so I am glad you appreciate it. I hope to put a little more meat on the bones here over time as well. A little motivation once in a while helps immensely.

 

You have listed the 2 tools that I don't own... but I know someone that does if I need them!

 

Ok I'll try to describe it as best I can! the combo is a pretty typical 350; Edelbrock 1406 performer fed by a mechanical pump with points ignition. It ran fairly well at idle and light throttle, but when you put a load on it it would backfire and stumble pretty badly. After throwing parts on it, (including an unknown carb) it developed even more problems like wanting to stall as I pull away from a stop (it's an automatic so it's not my driving!). But the reason I suspected the chain was when I was checking for total advance the timing mark would bounce around at steady RPM. I'm going to start with a compression test just to (hopefully) rule out any internal issues.

 

Tell us what you know about the condition of the distributor as well when you have time. Worn bushings and loose parts in there can also cause variable advance issues. And in the absence of other solid test data it can sometime help to only change one thing at a time and evaluate if that change made anything better or worse. When you "throw parts on" without measuring the effect each change had it is hard to tell what may have caused you to go forward or backward.
The "smoking gun" isn't always the murder weapon.

 

It's relatively new, no more than 4-5 years old at this point. Forgive me if my responses are slow but i'm in the process of setting up the cooling system and haven't driven it in a few months. And yes I realize i'm kinda going backwards haha

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No trouble, we all have lives outside the interweb (I hope). So is this new distributor a 4 or 5 year old after market billet aluminum part from China? If so, I would take a very close look at the shaft run out and pins and bushings on the advance weights. I have seen these fail after very short periods of use. I am sure others could expound on the merits of the $40 billet distributor!

 

Ok, got back to the car and did a compression test. Got zilch on cylinder 7, which lead me to a loose rocker. The nut is tight so I'm ***uming I have a collapsed lifter. I wanted to eventually do a more aggressive cam, heads, and a good intake but I don't wanna disable it at the peak of the season. I was thinking of just band-aiding the problem for now and putting in a set of cheap Summit Racing lifters to finish out the year on until I'm ready to spend the money on the good stuff.

 

Hey Junkie, you may want to do a little more diagnostic work before you buy lifters. I'm sure you've heard how the word "***ume" breaks down. If you "found" a loose rocker then you obviously have the valve cover off. Take a few minutes and with the coil wire disconnected and the loose rocker removed, have someone crank the engine (you can do this alone if you have a remote start push ****on). While the engine is turning see if the push rod moves up and down about as much as the other push rods. Look down in the lifter galley and ensure that this pushrod is in the lifter and not bent. If this lifter/push rod doesn't move or moves a lot less than the others then I am afraid new lifters won't help. You could confirm that by draining a little engine oil in a clean pan and look at it closely in the sun light, I am afraid you'll see some glitter in there that used to be the cam lobe under that loose rocker.
I hope I am wrong, good luck.