Sloth's Build

[danheit]

Yep, I think I am gonna do a small refresh/rebuild thread on Sloth's truck (for those of you that don't know, I bought this truck from Sloth from the Goonies....or at least his twin sister). Started poking around the truck tonight as I thought the transmission was frozen in hear, but after reading around here a few places, it seems it is just a matter of the shifter linkage being out of whack. I popped the hood, played around for a few seconds, and boom! Linkage is moving freely. That means that tomorrow will result in a search for a new radiator and a set of wheels. Then time to see if I can get it running! Pics will come in a few.

[thump16]

I got alot of free spare parts here including original wheels from my 56. Come and get them.
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[danheit]

Hmmmmmm, maybe time for a road trip! PM sent!

[danheit]

OK, time to start. For a little back story on Sloth, and why she is named that, click HERE. I have taken a couple minutes here and there to look the truck over, and I think it may be a quick one to get back on the road and putt around with while I build my '55. I spent about an hour today, nearly a whole BOX of blue shop towels, 2 cans of commercial windex, and a razor blade scraper getting MOST of the gunk off the glass. There is still a little residual here and there, but nothing I can't deal with later.

From this:





To these:











All in all, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I do have one question though. This is my 3rd TF truck, and EACH AND EVERY TRUCK I have owned has had both side windows cracked in the exact same place!! What is the deal with that? Strange design flaw? So my biggest issue I want to tackle right now are my wheels, most especially the left rear. All 4 wheels/tires are running inner tubes, but I really like the tires, so I may stay with the tubes and those tires just for fun. They should be pretty easy to polish out to whitewalls, and still have some decent tread on them, even for being VERY OLD. I see little to no dry rotting, but I'm also not stupid enough to think they are good for anything more than running to the end of the road to the store, or the junk yard across the highway. Top speeds will be about 35 and no more than 1/10 of a mile. Anyways, I soaked the lug nuts in PB Blaster, and let them sit. I came back with a lug wrench to find out that none of the sizes on the lug wrench fit. Closer inspection revealed that the lug nuts have pretty well rotted away to much smaller chunks of metal. My big issue is that the lug nuts have also somehow welded themselves to the wheel and have become one (see pics). What's the best way to do this? I am assuming that my only, or at least best option is to cut the lug nuts off, as well as the studs, flush with the wheel, and then have new ones pressed in. Only problem is that I REALLY don't want to have to pull the axle shaft and have to take it to get the studs pressed in and out, and then have to buy a wheel to. I'd almost be better off just buying a rolling rear axle out of a chevy truck, maybe with more road friendly gears. Any advice to avoid all this and just get the studs out? Can it be done with the axle shaft still on the truck? I haven't got another rear axle to reference on how it comes apart, as my other truck is running a totally different frame/drivetrain. Anyways, here's pics:

[danheit]

Well, I can't go back and edit my first post for some reason and add pics, so here's the rest:

From Sloth's house:

[danheit]

More from Sloth's House:

[danheit]

Some pics of the newest driveway art at my house. Like the matching seat towel?! BTW, seat cover is in excellent shape. Whatever is under it feels like cardboard.....



And a bed full of parts...some usable, some not, but I got an extra set of door glass and tracks (will go in my 55 build), 2 extra fenders from a wide body front end (looks to have towing lights on the front fenders), and a bunch of other mics. crap...

[hemifalcon]

Should it be assumed that you were being sarcastic when saying this truck would be on the road quickly???
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[danheit]

Sadly, no. Believe it or not, it looks a lot worse in the pics than it does in person. I am guessing about 2 weeks to get it on the road. Needs tires, Possibly a rear end swap for ease, go through the brakes, get the motor running, and do some minor electrical. Not planning on doing too much more than that.

[danheit]

Well, just got back from the Junk Yard, and picked up a radiator from a 59, got it all bolted in just as the rain started, so no pics for you guys. Sorry! Also picked up a nice new (to me) matching steel wheel to replace the rotted one on the rear. I was a little sad though, there is a nice set of chrome smoothies at the JY but they are universal 5 lug. I think I'm gonna go back and get them for my 55 though. I was gonna keep the original 454SS chrome wheels that I currently have, but I REALLY like those chrome smoothies!

[danheit]

OK, now that I no longer have Scarlet Fever, I am going to make use of the 2 days I took off work 'sick' to do a little work on Sloth. Hopefully I can get the old lugs cut off, beat out the rest of the lugs from the backing plate, and get some new ones pressed in after a couple of hours. Once I can get a rear wheel on the truck I will feel better about how crappy it looks sitting in my driveway. Then it's off to playing with the engine and see what it will take to get her running!

[danheit]

Well crap. Got the wheel cut off in several steps - first was to cut the lug nuts off. Then I had to cut the wheel off the hub as it was frozen to the hub. Then I had to get the last little piece of the wheel off the hub once I made a relief cut in it, which wasn't too bad. Then I was able to beat the old studs out of the hub assembly, and was thankfully able to save one in order to take it to the auto parts store to get it matched up. Well....every auto parts store in the area says they don't carry it. NAPA said they can get one similar to it in the morning, but then I am putting all my eggs in one basket in hopes that it is close enough to fit. Where can I find the correct wheel studs and nuts? My truck is sitting on a jack in the driveway with everything apart. My wife loves it! (Not)







Cut a bit too deep when getting the old wheel off - - Think it will hurt things for the time being? Can I still use the drum for now?





New to me wheel -- It was surprisingly hard finding one of these at the junk yard!



Aaaaaand how she sits until I find some studs

[dmack91]

I wouldn't take the chance on the drum. A new rear axle might be your best bet with better gears.

[thump16]

just happen to have one right here.

[danheit]

HA! Thanks THump! Still looking to see how far/long it's gonna be for the trip. Can you PM me your address so I can put it in mapquest? Thanks bud.

So After a nice 5 hour battle with the old tire on the rim, add in an innertube, get the tire seated, realize I put the tube on backwards only after I try to fill it with air and the valve stem gets sucked back through the hole in the rim. I finally said screw it and went to the junk yard across the way and found a closely sized tire and had them take the old tire off the rim and put the new one on. In the pics you will see that the center of the wheel is significantly larger than that for the hub. It appears that this is a later model wheel with the 4" opening. No biggie, as I used tapered lug nuts to center the wheel on the studs. Now it's all nice and gooped with ant-seize, so I think I am going to find a nice old chevy dish center cap and call it a day. After further inspection, I am going to have to replace all the rims it looks like. At the very least, I will have to do the other rear one.





At least the truck looks better now, sitting nice and level with air in all 4 tires!

[OrrieG]

That truck is the poster child for "where do TF trucks rust?". You also got a nice hatchet in case you need to start a fire. Looks like an old Stanley all steel, little wire brush, sharpening stone and electrical tape on the handle and its good for another 10 years.

[danheit]

Well, today was a somewhat productive day. I was able to get the old driver's side front fender off, which was oddly welded in several places. After about 2 hours with a cutoff wheel, and some rusty bolts, it was off, and the newer one went in place. Still not finished bolted down yet, and not properly aligned, but I'm workin on it. Also, got to work on the engine. I played with a little wiring, charged a battery, put on some new battery cable ends, pulled the starter, got it moving freely, tested it and it's in working order. Changed the coil, new plug wires, and some gas down the carb.....won't run. I've got it turning over smoothly, but it's not firing up. I'm gonna throw another set of plugs in it, and possibly pull the carb tomorrow. I pulled one of the plugs today after trying to get it started, and it was dry as a bone, and black as night.

Please ignore the color and length of the wires, they were a spare set I had leftover from an AMC V8 motor!

[OrrieG]

Points and condenser?? You didn't mention them. PO might have hosed up the start/run wiring thru the resistor too. Run a jumper directly from the battery to the coil.

[danheit]

Well, I haven't checked the resistance, but I do know that with the key on, I have power at the + on the coil. I need to go through a 57 wiring diagram tonight so I can get my bearings. I have one for a '55, I assume it's the same. I pulled the points today, they were a little crusty, but not too burnt up looking, they shouldn't prevent the coil from firing. Since I am doing this all on my own, I need to figure a way to turn the motor over and see if I'm getting spark. Any ideas with a foot starter?

[rgunlock]

Not sure if the foot starter will make a difference, but this is a life saver when working alone. Remote starter switch.

[_Ogre]

take some fine sand paper to the points, they'll be good as new.
foot starter has a manual engagement, no way to start it without someone stomping on the pedal.

i hate to point out the obvious, but that is one rusty truck.
not sure what your final plans are for it, but if it involves paint, you might want to find better sheet metal.
it will take quite a bit of work to get that sheet metal paint ready.

[OrrieG]

Need to make sure you are getting power during the starter circuit too. Check for spark to make sure the condenser is ok and the new coil is ok too. If you are getting spark and timing is halfway close you should get at least a backfire or try with a little fuel down the carb. Did you check compression too? It might be a tired engine or rings lost compression sitting, squirt of oil in the cylinder might help.

[Russell Ashley]

I'm enjoying this thread, it reminds me of some of the things I've done in years past. I'm older and know better now, though, LOL.

[candyx]

It is caused by the tetanus bacterium Clostridium tetani. Tetanus is often associated with rust, especially rusty nails, but this concept is somewhat misleading. Objects that accumulate rust are often found outdoors, or in places that harbor anaerobic bacteria, but the rust itself does not cause tetanus nor does it contain more C. tetani bacteria. The rough surface of rusty metal merely provides a prime habitat for a C. tetani endospore to reside, and the nail affords a means to puncture skin and deliver endospore into the wound.

So i would say your safe to view this thread...........

[danheit]

Hey Ogre, thanks for the reply! Yes, it is a very rusty truck, but there is no paint planned for this truck's future. My main plans are to get it running, driving and stopping. I need a truck around the house, and I am going nuts not driving my '55, so this should satisfy me until I get my '55 on the road. Once that happens, I feel pretty strongly that I will be able to get $2500 or close to it out of this truck. I have seen them go for more that that for trucks in worse shape around here. Although the truck is covered in rust, it really is mostly surface rust. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely places you can stick your hand through the hole in whatever, but this really is a fairly solid truck. Needs ALOT of work, but I really don't think it needs that much to get back on the road. Now, on to my fun for the day.

I spent a good bit of my day fighting the powers that be on this truck. I went to Advance Auto to get plugs, cap, rotor, points and a condenser, and walked away from ADVANCE AUTO with a set of Autolite Plugs and a NAPA set of points and condenser. Advance didn't have the cap and rotor in stock. No biggie. Went back and fooled around with the truck for a while, changed the plugs, put the new points in, gapped 'em to .20, installed the new condenser. REALLY fought with that stupid little screw in the distributor that goes through the housing to the negative wire for the coil. Every time I would tighten the nut on the outside for the coil wire, it would spin the whole screw and loosen everything up, pull the condenser wire and points strap out of place, etc. Finally got that squared away. Went to O'reilys Auto since it was close by, got in a 20 minute argument with the kid behind the counter who told me that they don't manufacture a cap and rotor for my truck anymore. He also told me they don't make a 235 engine, only a 3.8 and 4.something...... What ever happened to parts stores with employees that actually knew how to work on cars? Anyways, I went a little further down the road to NAPA, got my rotor, had to order the cap, and picked up a can of Ether. Came home, slapped the new rotor button on, sprayed some Ether in the carb aaaaaannnnnddddd................................. nothing. Wah Wah Waaaaaaah. I swear, that really is the sound I heard when the truck was turning over and wouldn't even spit or sputter. I checked for spark, but may be doing that one wrong. I grabbed an old spark plug wire leftover from the kit I redid these wires with, and shoved one end in the top of the coil, and put an old plug on the other end, It was nice and long so I could sit in the cab and hold the plug up on the cowl vent area. I got no spark at all. I know there is 12V to the + of the coil (it shows 12v with the key on AND I ran a hotwire from the battery as an extra precaution), and - is to the distributor. For poops and ha ha's, I even reconnected the old coil that was on the truck, still nothing. Now, I may not be checking it right, but I can't imagine BOTH coils being bad. I would love to pull the cap and turn the motor over to see if the points have any spark at all, but I don't have another person to help (wife won't go near it), and I don't trust my 5 year old to not yank down on the column shifter while she is stepping on the foot starter. I'm at a bit of a loss here. I know it can only be so many things, and pretty well have it narrowed down to: new points or condenser aren't any good, both coils are bad, somehow (which I think VERY unlikely) there is an obstruction in the intake manifold keeping the fuel from the plugs (the old one's smelled like the gas I had tried to turn it over with from the day before so again, unlikely), or there is a wiring issue. My battery is good, I don't think my distributor is too far out of whack, I should be getting something, but I'm gettin nothing. I hate to start going back to finding top dead center, yadda yadda yadda, but I will as a last resort. Any other ideas?