49 chevy truck booger

the hay is in the barn, its almost all over but the shouting. picking up a couple parts tomorrow and then its clean the garage for the 41.


gauges in and working, turn signals work perfectly EXCEPT they have that dumb "bulb out" glow that makes them shine dimly only with the lights on. I call shenanigans.



cleaned up


still not sure if the back window is a good idea but here it is


some hero shots with the sun going down

well I think there is a guy coming 1600 miles next week for this. he had some specific finishing requests, so I am doing them. charge AC, running board gap seals, new door seals, and wipers. crap. wipers.

I made a fair effort to hook up the vacuum wipers before I put the gauges in, since the brake pedal mounts make it impossible to access from the bottom of the dash. but the little slide switch on top broke and rain-x works so good.. so I had to pull the gauges today, fair enough since the backlighting was too dim, gonna try some strip led with dimmers. and the speedo was a little off, I figured the offset for a 3.08 rear with a 3.42 speedo, not realizing the ecm was a 3.73. oops, its about 4 mph slow. anyway, I have seen these screws before

gauge access


I had a couple extras and tried hooking them up to vacuum but none worked. they turn back and forth by hand but my guess is they should turn a lot easier than they do.


see what bowtie has in stock monday I guess.

while I was in the driveway I chopped the firewall section for the 41

bowtie bits to the rescue!


bolts in nice, and the lower brace that ties to the dash brace makes the wiper motor a structural member. no kidding, this is the stiffest the dash/pedal has ever felt.


almost hooked up, has E clips that my tired body couldnt manage to get clipped.


I had to bend the wiper arm just a scootch to get the arm on the bushing, so I need to straighten the end.

also got the door seals glued on, wow what an amazing difference door seals make. I picked up the correct 96+ fullsize truck AC lines today, the expansion valve is right in the way of the intake. YAY.

so I learned a lot today.

the e clips fought progress.


I noticed that the bushings werent seating in the wiper arm.


rather than modifying the arm I sanded the bushings a little. success!


same for the passenger side (remember we are looking up backwards


and gave it a try. it didnt work. the passenger arm was binding over center and that is me helping it when it gets caught.


shortly after that video the passenger e clip/bushing exploded.
the instructions said bend the arms but I didnt want to put an "s" in the arm, it would work like a torque absorber. I decided to cut the offending 3/4 inch out of the arm.




of course the gasket was tenuous before and disintegrated after. I made a new one from some neoprene I had laying around.


after running for a new e-clip,


I should have known when I was assembling it that the passenger arm would be trouble because it barely squeaked onto the pin and only when it was really shoved outboard. lesson learned, if its tight dont hope.

I took off the old rusty light switch so I could get to the windlace screw (look on your 49 and pre49, there is a hole in the dash on both sides for a screwdriver!) and the dash was looking pretty poor, so I sanded out the scratches and that run from the first paint and I will coat it tomorrow before I put the gauges back in.

I banged up the dash a lot so I grabbed a can of paint today


turns out I used satin, it dried and looks really nice though so I am leaving it.
finished up the doors, the lower door seal steel pieces were rusted and all the screws stuck, so I hit bowtie bits again for them (only $6? sign me up).


dont mind the missing panel, I forgot the screws.

the running board seals are a weird assembly, my first time doing it. the rubber is sandwiched between the top of the bottom of the rocker (does that make sense?) and a steel bracket. since the bracket had the screw retainers, I took a chance that the rocker would have through-holes and used the grinder to just zap the head off instead of working like a doofus with a stubby on old rusty screws. I was right, and it worked great!


the rubber is not prepunched, so I was wondering how to do this sandwich while laying on my side trying to find the screw holes in the steel. I decided to grind the head off of a nutrunner and sharpen it to a punch. the seals came with new steels, so I lined them up. worked perfect, my tech tip to you! I will use it again tomorrow when I install the windlace that doesnt have prepunched holes.



grabbed a stainless mirror while I was at bowtie bits and stole the mirror arm from the GMC in the back yard.



while I was at walmart (only walmart carries krylon ivory gloss, go figure) I stopped by automtive and got the perfect LEDs to brighten up the gauges. I will install them on their own switch that is only active with the lights on.


tomorrow is filler neck day and then dash reassembly. I hate working alone because I really need someone to push in on that chrome strip on the windshield to get the screws started. need a son or more realistically a son in law. haha.

talked to the buyer tonight, he will be here sunday or monday! lots to do.

more work today. got the air cleaner mounted.


and the battery tray trimmed and the hold down made.


found my oil leak. guess I will be putting some valve cover gaskets on tomorrow, although I may just see if the hold down bolt is loose.


both running board seals are on now. I did the drivers side with the running board off but the passenger side with the running board on.


to do it with the running board one is a trick, so if you dont have one of these, you should get one, its called a skew driver, not quite a 90 degree adapter but really useful. there is a thumb holder attachment but I always lose it, just as easy to hold it in your hand to counteract the torque.


I had the running board off to work on the filler, I found the kink that was keeping me from flowing fuel.


it was gorgeous today but that ended quick. I moved inside and started punching holes in the windlace, I also installed the led strips which will be PERFECT


also. for you guys using the 96-02 fullsize/tahoe HVAC with the s10 condenser and compressor, I erroneously said I needed the truck lines for the expansion tubes because the s10 orifice tube didnt fit, well that was wrong. I clocked the orfice tube and it inserted and seated in the tahoe evaporator, so the s10 AC lines will work. good news!

pulled the seat and carpet for the windlace


checked the wipers, sure enough the replacement e clip had gone missing


when I pulled the carpet though I found the original


the new wiper motor has really made life hell. not only the fitment of the system but the quad gauge wouldnt sneak past the bigger motor. luckily I trimmed the choke bowden and it just squeaked by.


the wiper motor also wouldnt let the circuit board fit, so I had to remove the center bar between the speaker and the ashtray. but it worked great


dash repaint came out nice


lights look purple in pictures but they are white.


and they even dim, since they are wired in parallel with the incandescents


I was busting all day so I didnt get pictures of the other stuff I did, I closed off the heater outlet and made an air driector out of kydex. I even routed a defroster hose to the drivers defroster, it just barely blows but should be enough. I put the wiper switch in the old headlight switch spot, the instructions said that it would fit in the stock location but I tried every which way and it doesnt. I also put in two 12v ports, one where the original cig lighter was and another where the original ignition switch was. I think that is a nice touch, really gets with the modern feel. changed out the broken gas pedal. I did other stuff but I will be damned if I remember.

talked to the buyer again, he will be on the road in the morning, expect him late sunday! lots left!

closing in on it.

dash reassembled. you could see the vomit of wiring behind the speaker because the screen was missing, so I improvised, painted a couple scotchbrite pads black and glued them in. also had to improvise since there is no access from the bottom for the center dash pieces. the bottom bar is a slip fit to the middle piece, the middle is screwed to the dash under the top bar, and the top bar is velcroed on. very clean, doesnt move.


kydex made a nice 3" deep glovebox, enough for registration.


all the panels on and everything buttoned up.


new valve cover gasket. the old one had squirted out at the bottom corner, it was leaking freely. I could have reused it but I like felpros


quick jaunt for some gas. the filler is acting up again, gotta be the evap valve.




with new door seals and windlace the only noise on the highway at 70 mph was a small vacuum leak and the drivers door handle rattles a little. imagine a 49 chevy truck where you can hear the door handle rattling at 70mph! looking forward to tomorrow.

Congratulations, you have one of the only quiet AD trucks in existence. That Kansas body looks pretty darn good. I like all the finishing touches you are doing.

well another guy who watched too much fast n loud. he drove 1600 miles and thought I was on the hook? Tried negotiating after he had agreed to a price on the phone and had me do a weeks worth of finishing work. Then called me the next morning with the exact same offer. Cest la vie. I think he may have been a flipper trying to protect his end. He was hung up on the dumbest things, like the bed being a little lower than normal, which I fixed this afternoon for about $10 (1/2" spacers, bolts).

pictures at the innovation campus at my alma mater! new concrete, empty streets!










still, driving 3200 miles for nothing, I just dont get it. especially with gas prices today


(we have a lot of wind in kansas)

only one more update to this thread coming, I got a good offer on the truck and its almost ready to leave. did a bunch of little stuff lately. I changed out the blocks because when I raised the bed slightly the truck looked a little tall in the back so I went to a straight block and it brought it back down. I thought I needed the angle block but the pinion angle is better without it.




I also raised the center running board mounts, sure a spacer would have done it but I didnt like that from a certain angle you could see the mount under the running board. also, I still had 1/8th inch chevy lean so I pulled the springs and trimmed just another hair. good thing because the upper shock mounts were cracked, so I put new poly ones on. and the serpentine belt squeaked a little so I put a new one on. finally installed the new door handles and got the windshield center bar installed. I dont know if it was the new rubber, but only one screw would grab, so I welded studs on the bar and used cap nuts inside instead, looks great and now no leaks! drivers door handle anti rattle done too, used a piece of foam around the shaft and the cardboard piece that comes with the door panels. did some touch up stuff, wish I could wash it but its still in the 20s temp wise.

I wanted to see what it would be like to warm it up inside so I set the heater to high and started the truck, after 10 minutes it was so warm and toasty inside. thanks to the guy who drove so far I guess, it never would have warmed up without the door seals and windlace replaced.

Glad to hear that you got a ""Good" offer on the truck. I think that the first idiot was the universes way of telling you to finish up the little things.[ddd
Hope it goes to a better home then my has. Mine is still floating around California and is back on e-bay. LOL
On to the next one for you.
Torchie

yeah breaks my heart what is happening with your truck.

I got a good offer, when I did the numbers on what I expected plus the extra work for that first guy, it came out right. I could have made a little extra delivering it but driving the appalachians in the winter towing a trailer isnt on my bucket list.

Truck turned out great Joedoh, would like to have seen it stick around
a little longer myself but I understand ....can't keep em' all...
unless you're Jay L ....or George P...[ddd
Good luck with the sale.

thanks! I build these to keep myself busy when I am off contract, I am an engineer and descoped my work life a couple years ago to spend more time with my (now) 3 year old

here is the last update to this thread! I will stick around but this is literally the last thing I have done, deliver the truck to the trailer. My neighborhood, specifically the dead end street and the one way street for construction, isnt conducive to a 40ft trailer, and we got some snow and cold, so I decided to drive the truck and meet him for the pickup. So quiet.

snow, and bitter bitter cold. I had water in the overflow so I had warm it up to add some coolant. it was -10 in this picture and the truck started instantly and warmed up like a dream.


today I dropped it off, the new owner will have it Wednesday in time for christmas! I wanted to get a bow for it but didnt get one in time.




train came by at the perfect moment! I love being on North Broadway by the trains for pictures.