I agree to a point, but 40-50 mph top speed will not work for what I want to use it for. FWIW....before anything gets done it will be driven stock for awhile. Maybe I will change my mind!!
A rearend swap will take care of the gear ratio issue, there are lots of 3/4 ton rears that you can look at.
True, but I also want to get it lower to the ground. I know some people do not like the look, but for personally I love it. Who knows I may stay 3/4 ton........but I have a set of 1/2 ton wheels and rearend sitting here for free.
You should build it to be something you want to drive. But you should also spend enough time planning, so that you will be successful. Sometimes "free" parts are not the way you want to go, because they don't fit right, and you end up having to redo stuff.
That is exactly why I am here. Thanks for your input.....I do appreciate it. Realistically non of this stuff will happen until mid winter at the earliest. I am picking the truck up next week and bringing it home. Need to get it running and rolling before anything.
Well the project started last night. Got it unloaded but it would not roll. Narrowed it down to the passenger side rear brake causing issues. Got the drum off and found the brake pad material had fallen off the shoe causing it to bind. Pulled the plugs and spun the motor over by hand. Seems to turn over fine. Disconnected the fuel line so as not to ingest crap into the fuel pump. Hooked up a new 6V battery and tried to get it to spin over. After repeated attemps, it was determined the starter was seized up. Tomorrows project is to pull the starter and try to free it up!! Good news is the headlights work.
nice! I guess all those years of sitting around have taken their toll....but it could be a lot worse You'll have to decide if you want to spend money fixing the old brake system. It likely needs everything (m/c, wheel cylinders, hoses, maybe metal lines, shoes, drums turned)
A brake upgrade is a must I think, but first I need to get it running and decided a game plan on my build.
The brakes on the 49 are not the same as the brakes on the 51-newer trucks...but the brakes on my 57 work fine. This is one of those things where you need to really sit down and figure out what you want the truck to be when you're done, or you're going to spend some money doing the same job on the truck over once or twice or three times. Then again, you might get lucky if you look around for used rebuilt brake parts that someone took off their truck when they "upgraded".
Tonights progress. Removed starter and cleaned it up.......tested and bolted back up. And my son Ryder vacuumed up 30 years worth of mouse crap!! And we cleaned out the bed.
It lives....after 30 years of being quiet it belched and coughed to life. Came to life with very little cranking. Had a little drama when I found a pool of oil underneath. Turned out to be deteriated lines to and from external oil filter housing. Picked up some fittings at the parts store and a chunk of fuel line and patched that up. Runs fairly strong and on all 6 cylinders but only when I feed it fuel. The fuel pump seems to not be working. I do not know the condition of the inside of the fuel tank so I took the fitting apart below the tank and added a peice of fuel line into a gas can. I assumed the pump would pull from their. Any advice??
Join us here... http://talk.classicparts.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7 I have lots of tech articles there. Check out the how to assemble an AD thread. S10 4x4 rear is a popular choice. I first ran a 90 town car 8.8 rear in mine, now I have a T bird IRS. Also look into a 90s Impala SS, I just installed one in a 51 and it fit NICE with a disc brake setup factory. I kept the 3/4 ton frame, nothing was wrong with it and it is a little thicker. Drain that tank and look inside with a flashlight, you'll probably see lots of fine brown silt and flakes of crap floating around in there. I always replace the tanks and run new lines. Check the brake lines also...the fronts are usually caked in grease and are well preserved, but the rears get a little crusty.
neat! but you probably want to just plug the holes, not patch them together, as that will reduce oil pressure (it's a bypass filter, not full flow). It's not surprising that the fuel pump does not work after all these years.
I don't know if this has been mentioned or not, but the rear axle out of a 1970's/80's K5 4x4 blazer has the six lug bolt pattern that is the same as the half tons of the 50's. It is also only about a 1/2 inch wider than your stock axle. I've used several of them in advance design trucks. They are usually a 3.08 or 3.42 gear ratio. Another option if you want to keep the original 3/4 ton axle is to remove just the center pumpkin out of a late 1960's Chevrolet 3/4 ton truck. Some will be 3.73 or 4.11 ratios. The pumpkin will bolt directly into your original housing.
I plan to hook the filter back up, but the auto parts store did not have all the fittings I needed at the time.
I had read a couple articles on surface rust removal using CLR and either scotchbrite or steel wool. I decided to give it a try. I started with the hood. Unreal difference.......I proceeded to scuff the whole truck with the CLR and the green scotchbrite pads. Surface rust disapeared, and a nice satin finish remained. After I scuffed the whole truck I washed it twice with simple green and water and a stiff brush, thoroughly rinsing!! After that the whole truck recieved a healthy coat of Carnuba Wax.
Short day of work on the truck. Ordered new radiator hoses and a water pump gasket since I could not find them locally. Solved (sorta) my starter pedal problem. I tapped two thick washers to the button on the starter, no it works every time. I do not see an adjustment to make the lever closer to the button. Might just weld a bead on the lever and call it good. Lastly got the truck up on blocks to take a look at the brakes. They look in pretty good shape. Amazingly all the drum screws came out easily.
Tried to remove the cap on the master cylinder today.....apparently someone else did at some time with no success. I could not get it to budge......looks like a new master cylinder is needed!!
FWIW, spend the money on the original master. I've put in 3 "modern" ones now and still can't get them to move enough fluid for those big brakes.
Not much forward progress this week. The weather has been crap and since the truck is outside.......not much work has been done. I did recieve my replacement master cyl from Rock Auto. I also spent 30 minutes cleaning up one of my stock caps with some scotchbrite and some glass cleaner. Probably not the best choice......but it was sitting on the bench in front of me. It cleaned up so well I stole some of my son's model paint and a bush and painted in the letters. Couple more coats of red and it will look good I think!! Hoping to hit the local junk yard this weekend and look for some 15" 8 bolt rims that will work.
I did have a spare 30 minutes last night after the kids were in bed. I bolted on my new water pump and the new radiator hoses. I also bolted on a 16" steel wheel off a mid 80's Ford 3/4 ton pickup. It rubs the tie rod end just ever soo slightly. Changing to a 1 ton tie rod end may alleviate the problem, but it will still be close. A 1/2" or 3/4" wheel spacer would surely take care of the problem, but the studs are not long enough for that.
Hey all loving reading about this 3600 daily driver I'm based in uk and await delivery of my very own 1949 3600 in one weeks time from a barn find in south Dakota , however I know absolutely nothing about these trucks at all , please would youbguysvbevwilling to help/educate me I'll be your humble student , I want to keep it as stock as possible and a daily driver , What is the difference between the 3100 and the 3600 is it just the 3100 has a towing capacity of half a ton and the 3600 three quarters or is sizes and engines different ? Please I am sure you think I'm a total douchebag for n Knowing nothing but we don't have us cars and trucks here they're very very rare , and I'm in love with USA muscle so I'm here for same reason as you , please help me / guide me / teach me , I just want to see this beauty back on the road and keeping the real deal maxchines alive !! Much appreciated , also Amy good websites , parts suppliers would be more than welcome , Many thanks your friend and allie from the united kingdom Jonny
I am really new to this myself, so I am not the best resource. The 3600 would have much lower gearing, 8 bolt wheels and a longer box compared to it's 3100 brother. I am curious how you came to find a truck in SD? And what are shipping costs to get it across the pond? Welcome. I also spend some time over here:http://talk.classicparts.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7
The Jalopy Journal
