"Albert" -- 1949 AD, S10 Chassis

[Robert Andrew]

Originally Posted by HUSSEY

Tool is just as old as the box. A must have for a mechanic though you probably only use it a few times a year thus the reason it's not beat up while the box rattles around inside my tool box.



Thank you. I stripped the dash down and shot it with a can of Rustoleum. As for the floor, I just went to town with a wire wheel on my grinder. I then brushed on a coat of Ospho for some short turn protection. I would like to paint the entire inside of the cab one day. Wish I had more motivation and did it all with quality two-part paint before putting it together, but then again, I probably wouldn’t be driving it for another year.

I had seen you post in another thread about you "getting yours on the road soon"? What do you have? Next spring I'll likely hit the cruise night at Johnny Rays, might see you there some time.

PS: Johnny Ray's is certainly convenient for me. I'll look forward to seeing you there. I also have a satin black Model A roadster pickup with a tuned port, 700 R4, red wire wheels, and some really unique headlights. Hopefully I'll have the 51 running by next summer.

[Robert Andrew]

Originally Posted by HUSSEY

I got my gauges and tach installed. I went with a set of gauges from New Vintage, a bit pricey but I really liked the nostalgic look of them. I ended up buying the gauges well over a year ago from Summit when they had them on sale, 10 percent off, and long before I needed them. They come with a five year warranty so the early purchase didn’t make me too nervous.

The fuel gauge in the quad set comes from the factory for a sender that ranges from 240 to 33 ohms. I sent the quad gauge back to New Vintage, awesome customer service by the way, and had them put in a different fuel gauge compatible with a sender that ranges from 0 to 90 ohms, for a fee of course. I figured I would rather do that and use the fuel sending / pump unit in my S10 tank than monkey around with cutting a hole in my tank and installing a 240 to 33 ohm sender.

And for the tach, I had to have one of these Bosch tach’s when I saw they were making reproductions of the old half sweep Sun tach…I think it will fit well with the interior of the truck. I don’t know if I’m digging the green light of it though, I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.

For reference, the New Vintage gauges are a little brighter than they seem in the pic.

That guy sitting in the chair in your garage doesn't look well. I think he needs to see a doctor. His eyes are kind of glassy looking.

[HUSSEY]

Originally Posted by Robert Andrew

That guy sitting in the chair in your garage doesn't look well. I think he needs to see a doctor. His eyes are kind of glassy looking.

Back story to that, it's a medical training dummy. My wife went to St. Luke's College of Nursing and one day she was helping clean out a storage room and they were going to throw it out. She brought it home thinking it may be worth something. Turns out it dates back to pre-war and they've been listed on eBay for $500+. Of course that's as far as it went and now it just sits in that chair keeping me company. I should probably get him/her a hat or something.

[Robert Andrew]

Originally Posted by HUSSEY

Back story to that, it's a medical training dummy. My wife went to St. Luke's College of Nursing and one day she was helping clean out a storage room and they were going to throw it out. She brought it home thinking it may be worth something. Turns out it dates back to pre-war and they've been listed on eBay for $500+. Of course that's as far as it went and now it just sits in that chair keeping me company. I should probably get him/her a hat or something.

That's funny. I noticed the hospital gown. A good hat would set it off:-)

[Robert Andrew]

Originally Posted by HUSSEY

Just before I bought the 49 I had seen a complete S10 with a bad 4.3 advertised. It was still for sale after I had bought the 49. I ended up getting the S10 for $600. I did have to pay $100 for a tow truck since I wanted to get it that night and I didn’t have a means to haul it. Since I've bought the S10 I've pretty much parted out what I don't need. I sold the bed, camper, front clip, doors, cab, steering column, and rear end totaling to $750. About all I kept were the chassis, transmission, and the wheels and tires.

I have a tilt bed trailer, and a one ton dually you can use if you ever need to haul something again.

[HUSSEY]

^^^^^
Well hell, that's really generous. If I ever get into another non-running project car I may have to take you up on that offer.

[Bushwickbill]

Gauges look really nice were they difficult to wire up?

[HUSSEY]

Originally Posted by Bushwickbill

Gauges look really nice were they difficult to wire up?

There are quite a few wires to hook up though really not much more complicated that hooking up a car radio. The instructions were simple and easy to read. They also came with pigtails for the wiring so they diconnect easily.

[HUSSEY]

So I finally got around to getting my motor put back together. Funny how it took me a couple of hours to get the heads pulled off of it and to the machine shop with the hope of getting the heads back and the motor put together over the Thanksgiving break. Well, I did end up getting the heads back before Thanksgiving, but the assembly didn't get finished up till Christmas break.

Anyways, I got in my first successful test drives in the day after Christmas venturing out a bit further after each return trip home. I made a trip to the parts store to get some coolant to top off the radiator...I think it took me 30 minutes to get out of there. I still have a long list of things to do but for now, I think I'll mostly drive it. Come spring I'll be back at it with a couple small things done between now and then.

Here's a short video I put together:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRtkcPPpmJw

[joedoh]

this is the fastest part of the year, so many things going on. truck sounds great! all that exhaust work really paid off

[Robert Andrew]

Originally Posted by HUSSEY

So I finally got around to getting my motor put back together. Funny how it took me a couple of hours to get the heads pulled off of it and to the machine shop with the hope of getting the heads back and the motor put together over the Thanksgiving break. Well, I did end up getting the heads back before Thanksgiving, but the assembly didn't get finished up till Christmas break.

Anyways, I got in my first successful test drives in the day after Christmas venturing out a bit further after each return trip home. I made a trip to the parts store to get some coolant to top off the radiator...I think it took me 30 minutes to get out of there. I still have a long list of things to do but for now, I think I'll mostly drive it. Come spring I'll be back at it with a couple small things done between now and then.

Here's a short video I put together:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRtkcPPpmJw

Your truck turned out really well. The stance and ride height is perfect. Sounds perfect too. From following your build and because of your engineering skill, I knew it would be awesome. That's a project to be proud of, for sure. Good job!!!

[Nut Case]

Looks good, by the way the dummies name is Wilson

Keep on keepin on NC

[99 to Life]

congrats, looks and sounds great. the first runs are always the funnest/scariest.

[Advanced Design]

Congrat's! Very smooth first run. Looks and sounds great!

[STOCKISH]

Great work man, truck sounds amazing!

[Cuttin up]

Man it sounds and looks fantastic. Are you not running a prop valve in the brake system? The theory of not having one is there, just wondering how it is without one.

[HUSSEY]

Originally Posted by Cuttin up

Man it sounds and looks fantastic. Are you not running a prop valve in the brake system? The theory of not having one is there, just wondering how it is without one.

As of now no proportioning valve. So far I've been fairly cautions in how I drive it and haven't made any hard stops. I'll have to find a good size empty parking lot to do a couple test stops to see how it performs. I'll make sure to follow-up.

[iowaboynca]

What for?
I just swapped the pads in my 4600 lb family van and did the brake check down the street...of course i live in an unfinished development so I got that working for me. I mean, yeah it looks like you live on a nice well established neighborhood...oh, and its not like you don't get ice or anything this time of year in KC. I mean why be safe?

You've done a great job on your build. It looks awesome!

[99 to Life]

Hmm I haven't looked too into running no prop valve but I will say on my 51' I have disc up front and drum in back and it stops like garbage. perhaps the drums need adjusted I dunno. I had the same exact setup on my 49' but with disc brakes all round and it stopped 10x's better. I can't figure out my problem. Iv rebled the brakes multiple times, I think maybe then need readjusted or..... take the prop off. I notice a difference in pedal after a while too, so one thought I had was a caliper hanging up, making the fluid hot and thus not working as they should. When you first drive it, it stops better then gets worse. anyway..... keep us posted cause I'm about to redo my whole truck at some point and the brake system is getting redone too.

[Cuttin up]

Originally Posted by HUSSEY

As of now no proportioning valve. So far I've been fairly cautions in how I drive it and haven't made any hard stops. I'll have to find a good size empty parking lot to do a couple test stops to see how it performs. I'll make sure to follow-up.

Sweet, please keep us up to date.

On another note, I've built my cab mounts off of your design. Thanks for all of the info, its really saved so much time finding my start points on various parts of the truck.

[II_Slow]

Congrats! If that really was the first drive, you were a lot more patient that a lot of us. My first test drive on the road was to a car show a few miles away. No lights, no glass, no seatbelts, no hood, no bumpers, no registration, no insurance, straight pipe, very minimal wiring, and a steel bed just laying in the back. I ran it up to about 70 MHP and accidentally let it drift over onto the rumble strip on the side of the highway and I swear I thougt it was coming apart. Loud as hell with the bed floor loose and no glass, and of course you could feel it in the steering wheel. Scared the hell out of me for a couple of seconds!

Sounds VERY good, looks great as well. Can't wait for my turn to "finish" mine (like they're ever finished!) and hit the road.

[HUSSEY]

I'll be out driving it again this weekend, hopefully. I do need to bolt the bench seat down. I din't think that thing would slide around as much as it did.

In the meantime, check out Post 4 here:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=710975

It's an article I found a while back that gives a good explanation brake system valves.

[84blaze]

Must feel so good to finally be able to drive it.

[steve aleve]

I love the truck and good job with the build!!! I wanted to see if you can provide the specs and where to get the LED's that you installed on the dash between the gauges? I am looking to do something similar.

Thanks!

[HUSSEY]

Originally Posted by 84blaze

Must feel so good to finally be able to drive it.

Good indeed but kind of anti-climactic. I think I enjoy taking by to show some friends and to some cruise nights. It's always fun showing off your work and talking to folks about it.