Can't describe how excited I am right now!!! Long story short- my 2000 4Runner has about 250K miles on it and has been running on 3 1/2 cylinders for the past 4 years (long story), so I've been looking for a replacement. Well today, I found it! It's a '56, with the deluxe trim, etc, blah, blah, blah, but IT'S MINE!!!... 'course I do need to finish paying it off I REALLY need to thank Stevie G and Brad54 for helping out- enduring the endless "this could be the one" trips, being my 2nd pair of eyes, and simply being a great pair of friends! Here are a couple pics... and YES, it is GREAT to find something that my 6'6" frame will fit comfortably : ... having trouble loading the pics- will try again soon!
... not even the last line of my OP, Larry ? I got a security pop up for some reason when I tried to post the pics- I've emailed the mods, and hope to have the pics up soon.
Let me see what we can do here... Let me wiggle the frazastat...hey, the whachmajiggy was over compensating for the oscillator. Here, try this. The originals were a touch to much in the size department.
Thanks, Steve- will be over to work on the Riviera in just a bit! Larry, was your truck deep blue or green?
Nice truck for sure needs a little work but what doesn't. Only problem I see is that you are too tall for it. I think they have a surgery for that or you could send me he truck after you finish paying for it. You done good friend. Edit: ooops I said you don't good and ment to say you done good.
Thanks guys! This thing literally fell in my lap; checked craigslist last night and called the guy on a whim- I turned out to be the first caller. Got ahold of Brad and set up a meeting time, threw the kids in the car at 6:30 this morning (they've had Scout Twilight Camp every night this week until 9, so they were a bit punchy) for the run out to the west side of GA, and sealed the deal. Lots of funny stories along the way that make this purchase ALL the sweeter, but I'm REALLY looking forward to having a HAMB-friendly daily driver
PnB, If you notice, I can look out the windshield JUST fine- just need to see where I'm goin' man, just where I'm goin'
Hey Brad- you know one thing I didn't check was to see if the wiper springs were good- If they aren't, I'll need to ask Frank for a pair of those supports... If they ARE, I'll make you a SWEET deal
Thanks Larry- the '56 is originally dark blue, but I've ALWAYS loved your truck... puts me in a dilemma- blue or green???
Being all of about 5'10" maybe 5'11" if I stretch I just can't begin to imagine the problems that come with being tall. I don't know what condition the truck is in but if you keep it and get it sorted out I believe that you are going to love it. Those old Chebbys have so many possibilities.
Yeah, height has it's advantages AND shortfalls (sorry) ! It'll need a new harness and the pass side fender/door was hit, but overall, it won't take too much to get it road-worthy. Going to sit down with the think tank during Brad54's swap meet this weekend and start putting a plan of attack together.
Unless you just happen to find a harness cheap getting a couple of rolls of wire and building yourself a simplified harness is the way yo go on one of these old trucks. I definitely wouldn't fight the original harness if I didn't have to. Sooooooo, ya gonna chop it.
Possible engine update! Got off the phone earlier today with my dad- turns out he needs some things "removed" from the garage (now remember, my folks are 12hrs away in Philly, and we JUST got back from visiting them)... like a couple lathes, etc that he offered to me. That got us talking about the 261 that he's had since the late 50's- it was built with a Corvette cam, sodium cooled exhaust valves, and the head was ported by Grumpy Jenkins (although at that time, he was known as Jiggs). So Brad54 and I are making the run up to Philly next weekend to pick up the lathes, the 261, a spare 235, and the 3 speed overdrive from his old '55 150 !
Brad54 and I made a fast trip to Philly and helped Dad get some things out of the garage... including the 261 he offered me!!! No pics yet, but he had Grumpy Jenkins mill a 235 head and massage the ports, and use sodium-cooled valves . I need to tear it down to get a better look at the bearings, etc (a mouse took up residence in the valve cover and in one of dad's VERY infrequent knucklehead moves, he removed the oil pan baffles to save weight).
Yeah, I'm pretty settled on green, Larry! Dad painted the 261 copper (other than the brush strokes, it looks pretty good )- Brad54 suggested I repaint it the same copper or gold and drop it in that green bay... we'll see Right now, it needs to be torn down and checked carefully. The rocker oiler assembly was broken and oil ws caked ALL over the upper end- I'm just hoping that there wasn't too much oil-starvation with the pan missing it's baffles!!! Oh, we brought along a 235 that was there as well. Will the oil pan from the 235 fit the 261, or do I need to start searching? The 261 is also missing the flywheel... can I use the 235 flywheel as well? Thanks for the encouragement and help guys- the next week-and-a-half are pretty crazy, but will take/load pics of the tear-down of the 261 and picking up the '56 as soon as I can!
Tore down the engine tonight (my pc won't resize the pics for some reason), but there's good and bad- The good: -the head looks pretty good AND you can see where Jenkins did the massaging of the ports and combustion chamber -the bottom end was still wet, even though the oil pan plug was GONE! -there's NOT alot of wear on the cylinder walls The bad- -mice had made their homes in the valve cover AND the intake/exhaust manifolds, so there IS some rust -there WAS some debris and rust in the cylinder bores- should clean up okay with a ball hone ... and the ugly (ooie-ooie-oo, wa-wa-wahhhh...) it WON'T turn over- might be because- -even though the top of the head was wet and oily-grimy, the lifters were dry and rusted in place, OR -the cylinder rings are rusted in place Either way, I poured clean oil and PB blaster in each bore, and sprayed the sides with WD40 and sprayed the lifters with PB as well- we'll see what happens in the next few days. I'll get the pics on if I can resize them.
Well, got the '56 home this afternoon with Stevie G and our buddy John- it was exciting getting it down the driveway, but it's safe and HERE now!!! I'm heading to San Antonio early tomorrow morning for a conference, but when I get back the fun begins!
Subscribed, Looks like you are off to a good start. There is a free picture sizer online if you search for it. And we will need more pics for sure.
The Jalopy Journal
