46 barn truck. First things first.

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

Hey Ya'll, I'm new here, looking for some folks smarter than me to get advice from as I slowly take on this new project.

My wife and her brother inherited two 46 Chevy truck from their uncle several years back. Her brother lives an hr away, and is an IT computer guy, so I'm working on em.

The first one was modified, and is in fairly good condition. We need to put tires on it, but the 321 he put under the hood runs good.

The second one is unmodified, and hasn't been run since '95 (it was running before that, but you know how that goes). The engine I can tell is an I6, but I haven't gotten numbers or anything off it yet, so I don't know more than that.



My first goal was to use a wrench and see if I could turn the engine by hand and see if it's been frozen. From what I could see though, there isn't a nut on the front of the fan, it feels round to me. Any ideas on how else I could try turning it? I didn't want to just start pushing on the fan blades themselves.



Thanks ya'll. I've worked on my mid 80's trucks before, but barn finds are new to me, and I don't wanna get ahead myself before finding out if the motors gonna be good or not.

I'll post some pictures of the motor in a second.


Stephen.

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

[dennislbrooks]

Pull plugs and soak rings with a light oil or wd40 before turning it over . It is probably a 216 cubic inch. I used a 1/2 or 3/4 (forgot which) drive extension with no socket thru the hand crank hole --maybe a hand crank behind the seat. There is a s/n stamped on the block next to distributor base that will tell you about the engine once you decode it on the internet.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/models/engine.htm

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

Okay, thanks. I'll try to do that tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I was mistaken, but it felt like the nut (if it was a nut) was very round. If it doesn't have enough left for a socket or the crank rod to hold it and turn it, any other ways to do it? I might be able to put vise grips on it, but I hate to do that.

I did pull the dipstick, and the oil looked in good condition, and it was full of oil. I don't know how much that indicates, but I assume that the fact it hasn't all leaked out is at least a good thing.




Here's some photos I have of the two 46's.


This is the barn truck












And this is the other one. Her uncle restored and hotrodded this one after he graduated high school. From my understanding he drove it fairly regularly until sometime around 2003. It sat a lot since then, only being ran infrequently. I've done some work on it and got the engine running good. Only waiting on new tires before we can drive it around. The old tires are way to bad to risk driving on them. All bulging in different directions and all.

[dennislbrooks]

Cool, what is the running gear of the rod? I have a 42 rod on an s10 blazer 2wd frame. Is the truck in the barn a 3/4 or 1 ton? Lokks like you have some good stuff.

[dennislbrooks]

checked again and the 3/4 drive works fine for turning it over slow without the hand crank.

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

Hey Dennis, I have to admit, I'm not sure exactly what you mean when you ask about the running gear, I'm new to this side of automobiles, lol.

I do know the Hotrod has a TH350 Turbo transmission, and the rear end has 2:73 gearing.

Unfortunately, I never got to meet my wifes uncle before he passed, so the only info I know about the truck is a letter he wrote to a hotrod magazine (we found a copy in the basement) and what I've been able to find out by looking at the truck itself.


As far as the barn truck, I'm not sure which it is yet. Do you know how to tell? I'm assuming I can measure the wheelbase or something, but I haven't gotten that far in my research.

[dennislbrooks]

running gear, v8, 350 turbo, and 2.73 rear gear ----cool. There should be a vehicle number tag on the passenger side cowl --open hood. The number on it should get you there. Is the one in the barn a dually or singles on the rear axle? Just curious as I am working on a 46 - 3/4 ton now.
Your title should tell model.

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

Ahhh, I gotcha. Wasn't sure what running gear meant, lol.

And I'm not sir if it's dually or not, I'll look at it next time I'm at the barn messing with it. Hopefully in the next couple days. Wasn't able to mess with it Sunday, but I'm off until Saturday now. So with a little luck I'll be able to play with it some.

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

Welp, pulled all the spark plugs and sprayed some oil in. I found the turnover rod in the cab and tried to turn the engine right then, and it wouldn't turn with some decent pressure. So I sprayed a good bit more, and now I'll let it sit until tomorrow and try again. If that doesn't work, someone told me to pour some Marvel Mystery oil in each spark plug hole and let it sit for a little while.

I'd love to be able to get the engine running without tearing it down or anything. I know they're pretty simple, but thats still something I'm not sure I'd be comfortable doing by myself.


I found the metal tag inside the engine compartment, but all I can make out is the stamped number "46" and the stamped number "8CK05". Also, it's single rear wheels, so no dually. We don't have the title yet, its in storage somewhere at her grandparents. I haven't bothered to ask them to dig through everything for it yet, as we won't be running it anytime soon I'm guessing.

[Cape Codder]

After soaking the cylinders with some oil if you put the transmission in first or reverse and try gently rocking the truck back and forth. The weight of the truck can help break it loose.

[dennislbrooks]

most likely a half ton --check to see if 6 lug wheels sometime. 8ck05

[gokellurself]

Nice trucks! Whoa.. even has the hand crank...

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

Well, I tried again today, still no dice with turning it with the handcrank. I tried putting it in gear and rocking, but it won't even budge. Probably has to do with 23 year old flat tires it's sitting on.

I'm gonna pick up some Marvel Mystery oil, and put it in the cylinders next. Let it sit for a little while, and try again.


I did find the serial number on the engine while I was over there. I'll post the picture. If I'm looking at the website Dennis posted earlier correctly, then the engine is a 216ci, made I'm 1950? Maybe it was replaced at one point? Not sure yet.