41 chevy 1/2 ton project Fenix

joedoh · Jan 29, 2017

it ran really well when I drove it home. the only thing I noticed was a little blue smoke when taking off after idling at a light, so it needs valve seals.

wear your gloves! using the 4" brush on the grinder and the impossible happened, my thumb would have been hamburger.

moved the trans crossmember

I had already decided to replace this rear brake line but as I moved it to clean up the frame for my weld...

rolled out!

body on!

my motor move was ambitious but worked perfect, 9.5" rearward. only one bracket hit the firewall, although I did have to move some harnesses and wires.

I used moog problem solvers years ago and forgot that they have an eccentric for camber (solving the problem of excessive negative camber of worn springs). you flip the cross shaft one way or the other, I picked the wrong way.

oh well, everything still needs to come back apart.

mounts are dead on, near as I can tell anyway. they measure out the same way to all the monuments.

akatao · Jan 29, 2017

nice job ! I remember those moog problem solvers I'd forgotten about those

joedoh · Jan 31, 2017

yeah I had my head up my ass and didnt read the instructions. I did the same thing last time! hubris gets me every time.

I trimmed, trimmed and trimmed some more. I measured down from the support rods, added an inch (for my eventual crossmember) and cut the original core support

my adopted son helped and did the lifting :lol: (here is a funny aside, I could NOT find the handle for the picker! I had to use a jack handle, but the correct handle is in this picture... look around)

I got into a cycle where I couldnt get enough trimmed. turns out I didnt have any bolts in the cab mounts and it was walking around as I shoved on the frame. this did give me another 1/2 inch at the engine, good!

I did need to trim the frame horns a little more, but I left the meat on the bottom for the bumper mount.

I also drilled out the fender bolts. after 75 years there was no amount of heat or penetrant that was going to loosen them up, so I made them 5/16 and I will weld new 1/2" nuts inside.

after more trimming, this is where I am at

motor tucks in nice

The front needs to drop another 2 inches, I will check the alignment again after that, but I am thinking its good with the wheel slightly back. Its not a "more work" thing, I can move the cab mounts back easy because they are just tacked, and I havent mounted the core support yet. any thoughts?

Old Iron · Jan 31, 2017

joedoh said:
I am thinking its good with the wheel slightly back. Its not a "more work" thing, I can move the cab mounts back easy because they are just tacked, and I havent mounted the core support yet. any thoughts?

I like running the wheel 3/4" forward of the centerline of the fenders. It doesn't look like the wheelbase is too short for the body that way. jmho

[P[P[P

joedoh · Feb 1, 2017

hmm, I think 1" forward would be too much for me. thats at least 2.5 inches more than it is right now and to be honest I have seen trucks with the wheel moved forward and I dont like the look, plus I would feel like moving the engine back again with all that free space in the engine compartment.

I am also going to look closer at the drivers side before I resign myself to that because when I was putting the new control arms on I noticed the front cross shaft bolt on the drivers side had a lot more caster shims, and only two thin ones on the front cross shaft bolt on the passenger side. if the drivers side is better, I may add some caster shims and have an alignment done, adding shims will pull the passenger wheel forward dramatically, the installation angle on the upper arms exaggerates imbalance between front and rear shims and really pulls the wheel back when lowered.

the wheels are tucked in pretty well and that makes it look more than it is, and the fender is not exactly where it needs to be too. I might move the cab back 1/2", but that would be it.

joedoh · Feb 7, 2017

I am going to move the cab back 1 3/4". I looked at the drivers side and it looks roughly the same. I may need to move the motor back too depending on how the radiator lines out.

I have been sick this last week, but yesterday I braved being more than 10 ft from the bathroom to look at my seats. I dont like the stitching showing, but I do like the pointed finish. he says he doesnt think it will be easy to do 24 and make them all look the same, so I acquiesced and said rounded tips would be fine.

its the circle of projects, the next project hauls the current project scrap. this was a complete cab about an hour before this

50819770658__730C0510-3C3F-4D96-AC76-44C56C78D8DB-1_zpsev0jsyuj.jpg

clean body cart finally though. and I got the piece I wanted

hung a plumb bob at the column centerline, 11 inches from the centerline of the dash mount.

the bottom bracket for the column isnt going to work as is, so I trimmed it off.

thats it, I feel like I hauled bricks all afternoon and all I really did was cut up the old cab for scrap. I need to figure out the steering column mount, I want it to tie to both the dash and the firewall so that the dash can be removed.

last week I did get a deal on some 1.5 ton fenders. I havent had any luck selling that third complete 41 so it may actually turn into my actual truck. little different plan, thinking a c30 drw frame with a big Z and 22" polished semi wheels. drivetrain I have a hankering for a OM617 mercedes diesel, so it will be a complete poser, but will be low and comfortable and clackity clack while getting 25 mpg on the highway.

joedoh · Feb 13, 2017

seats were supposed to be done friday, no calls yet.

still a little wobbly but this thing is not going to put itself together. mounted up the pedal bracket with some self tapping screws so I can start laying out the column and associated parts.

the column is round but the shifter arm makes it more complicated than just a round hole, so I cut one side to allow me to bend it slightly to let the shift arm through for install

I have seen other guys use this s10 bracket and I always feel it is mounted too low and too far "out" of the dash. I slotted the mounts to give an extra inch, I can slot the column mounting bracket (the removable piece on the column itself) another inch where it bolts on if needed.

perf. although that brake booster hole, haha, jeeze I can be a real moron sometimes. I drilled the steering column hole and thought "I can just drill the booster hole while I am here". yeah, turns out it doesnt sit centered in the brackets like the later trucks. sheesh.

stickout is good, remember that I am moving the cab back another 1 3/4" for its final position, but it would work right here too.

I will be able to use a combination of the factory s10 column support and the factory 41 column support to stiffen up the mount reeeeally nicely.

fits well, I will pop the dash in to be sure but I dont think I need to move it "in" any further, the shifter may hit the dash any closer.

Flipper_1938 · Feb 13, 2017

You are making lots of progress now!

joedoh · Feb 15, 2017

thanks, things will really start moving now.

tore everything back apart for final assembly

50888534569__9E643504-FE62-4196-AA17-CACCDF223275_zpsqtdmahkw.jpg

trans crossmember out to finish weld

50888597504__8E493472-D8A1-4E78-A1F0-6A3C76A343D0_zpstujamwn4.jpg

had to flip the cross shaft on the uppers to the standard camber side. dont try this with stock springs, but with drop springs, no danger.

50888536015__0619B47C-9829-4BA7-ADE0-CD600B46B81A_zpsnyzqnpyt.jpg

picked up the de-arched leafs, went 3.5 to counter the larger tire I always run on the rear. Last time I de-arched 1" and used 3" blocks, this time I figure do it all with spring.

picked up the seats while I was on that side of town. they just look ok, not at all like we talked about in the beginning. I was pretty upset when I picked them up, I have calmed down a bit. at least all the colors match. They didnt give me the jute pad for under the carpet, I am undecided if I will even bother to go back for it.

after dinner I decided between welding or assembly, I chose assembly. there is $350 in new parts in this picture! sway bar end links, upper and lower arms, belltech spring, nitro shock, caliper ceramic pads and new hose, tie rod.

of course I ordered the wrong sway bar bushings. I didnt have a tape measure limber enough to use as a "pi tape" so I guessed, bigly wrongly. there are only about a hundred (there are 6) different size sway bars.

joedoh · Feb 20, 2017

I didnt get any time to work on the truck till today, my adopted son (not really, he is 23 and I would adopt him if he would let me though) got an 1800 dollar quote on some front end work on his daily, we did it in the driveway for $270 in parts!

but I did get a little done today. got the rest of the front end put together and back on the ground.

for anyone interested, I recommend these MOOG end links very highly. the method of assembly is superior to the stock type and even the energy suspension type, the bottom nut has a long thread and you assemble it from the top to the bottom. you can almost tighten it up with one wrench!

I had to stop "paying it forward" (stealing parts from the next donor in line) so today I hit a bunch of hardware stores to get the shock speed nuts and various bolts and nuts. then I pulled the gas tank and rear axle

the gas tank looks like complete trash and I bet the pump is plugged or ruined from sucking that trash through. luckily though, craigslist to the rescue! $30, recent pump replacement, totalled truck. woot!

I did a bunch of wire brushing on the frame, and cut off the axle u bolts as the last thing tonight.

akatao · Feb 21, 2017

moving right along !

joedoh · Feb 21, 2017

got a lot done. rebuilt the front mounts 1 3/4" further back. thought about reusing the original mounts (which I had already rebuilt once a couple pages ago) and just cut new ones.

the dimensions I ended up with were
29 1/2" between front mounts center to center
36 1/2" between rear mounts center to center
rear mounts 3" off the frame
front mounts 2 3/4" off the frame
front mount 8 3/4" behind the oval hole on the top of the s10 frame, measured slightly diagonally from the edge of the hole to the center of the mount.
center of front mount to center of rear mount 46 1/2" measured slightly diagonally.

I also measured from the frame split to the center of the rear mounts, as a sanity check but I forgot that measurement. I did measure from the front shock stud to the center of the front mount and got 25 1/2" on both sides.. I think. now that I say it out loud... haha, I am doubting it.

I think the next one I do I may raise the body an inch, that extra inch is just making for all kinds of work. I dunno, let me see what it looks like on the wheels with the body on. maybe I will figure out a better way to carve up the frame. doing another 41 immediately after this.

also got the core support mount started. made the ears on the frame to hold the bushings and the core support mount that bolts to the bushings.

tomorrow during nap time I think I will get the frame painted and the axle put back in on the drop springs.

joedoh · Feb 27, 2017

axle installed, rolled out

rolled the cab back in to weld in the fender studs. originally the nuts were on the back side but they were stuck like glue, rusted after 75 years. I thought that it might be easier to line up if the studs poked out and you could hang the fender then add washers and nuts when you wanted.

started fixing my oops wrong hole.

welded up the tops of the motor mounts, still need the 7/16th 3" grade 8s

trans crossmember installed

more tomorrow, assembly should move quick, cab only comes off one more time after that. need to go to the scrapyard with the eyetalian superstar (the 95 longbed I just picked up) and dump the steel I have, the gas tank has a hole in it! gonna try a coarse thread bolt in the hole with some shmutz just to get by till I strip it for the next project.

skull · Feb 27, 2017

0H yahhhh!

the more l see the more l like[cl

Later

Burgerman · Mar 2, 2017

Nice Work

Much appreciate the photos. Now just need to strip down my dead S10 and get started.

joedoh · Mar 7, 2017

hey I caught the flu, feeling better today and finally got the body on. you can whistle through every body mount (that means they line up perfect) and the wheels line up perfect now too. so if anyone wanted to use the dimensions I gave above, they will work perfect (although I think the back of the cab might need to come up a hair, like a 1/4")

booster fits.

even fits when the fenders are on

wheel lines up

TruckRat · Mar 8, 2017

The truck is looking good.

05snopro440 · Mar 8, 2017

I'm curious, what did you choose to line up to when you picked your booster mounting location? I used the S-10 under dash brace but installed it with the dash installed. My booster is much higher. Just curious. Hope it works well for you.

joedoh · Mar 10, 2017

I checked the dash against the column and it just barely touches it. you dont have a lot of build pictures for me to go on, but from what I see our columns go through the firewall in roughly the same place, so that means just your booster/pedal mount is mounted higher than mine?

for mine, I kept the same alignment between the booster and the lower steering column as was in the s10, I kept (and almost welded in) the piece of the s10 firewall so I know the steering column is 1. mounted straight and perpendicular to the firewall and 2. is in the same location in relation to the booster as it was in the s10. I didnt want to extend the pedal or have it too far up off the floor, so I made sure the pedal was in a comfortable place before setting the position.

I will say, for guys doing this, the booster center hole fell almost exactly in the center of the X dimples on the firewall.

it may just be a difference in steering column angle. I did slot my bracket to let the column sit closer to the dash which made it closer to the wider part of the column, maybe thats all it is. but there are 100 ways of doing everything.

I have to pull the cab off one more time and finish weld all the mounts, replace the rear brake line, reinstall the new gas tank, and make the trans linkage mount. but that will just be a quick off then back on.

I am not going to go for the extra inch drop on the next one. it is causing all sorts of extra trimming in the front frame horn section. next time I will set the bottom of the cab even with the top of the frame and THATS IT.

Skip · Mar 10, 2017

joedoh said:
I checked the dash against the column and it just barely touches it. you dont have a lot of build pictures for me to go on, but from what I see our columns go through the firewall in roughly the same place, so that means just your booster/pedal mount is mounted higher than mine?

for mine, I kept the same alignment between the booster and the lower steering column as was in the s10, I kept (and almost welded in) the piece of the s10 firewall so I know the steering column is 1. mounted straight and perpendicular to the firewall and 2. is in the same location in relation to the booster as it was in the s10. I didnt want to extend the pedal or have it too far up off the floor, so I made sure the pedal was in a comfortable place before setting the position.

I will say, for guys doing this, the booster center hole fell almost exactly in the center of the X dimples on the firewall.

it may just be a difference in steering column angle. I did slot my bracket to let the column sit closer to the dash which made it closer to the wider part of the column, maybe thats all it is. but there are 100 ways of doing everything.

I have to pull the cab off one more time and finish weld all the mounts, replace the rear brake line, reinstall the new gas tank, and make the trans linkage mount. but that will just be a quick off then back on.

I am not going to go for the extra inch drop on the next one. it is causing all sorts of extra trimming in the front frame horn section. next time I will set the bottom of the cab even with the top of the frame and THATS IT.

This all sounds sooooo familiar. Fitting an S10 column and brake hanger and master cylinder in my 39 Ford PU. I ended up having to modify the firewall a bit to raise the pedal hanger enough for everything to fit right. The split-level firewall made it even more challenging.

41 chevy 1/2 ton project Fenix

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