40 chevy truck, neighbor hood find

[harley rider]

started runing brake lines and I needed a way to straighten the coiled tubing .I cut a 3/16x3/16 slot in a piece of oak clamped it to a piece of plywood clamped in vice .push tubing thru . it doesn't come out arrow straight but close enough. also made a bender to get a couple tight bends I had . worked well.

 

[smallfoot]

Good work! It's part of the deal to make tools to do what you want to with metal!

 

[soltz]

Good work. [cl I just love the way most people around here just make things instead of buying them [
The socket idea is great, i looked all around for the right dia. pipe to make mine and i had a draw full all along
Don't matter how old i get i keep learning new stuff.
The straightener is cool too. [cl and the result look great. [P

 

[harley rider]

thanks guy's. I have two store bought benders that dont work as well and your stuck with one radius size. and you almost need 3 hands to make them work. eastwood makes a cool tube straightener that is just some pulleys in a line, but it is expensive, I was going to make one like it and I could buy everything needed to make one for less than $30. I actually came up with the idea while I was at the surplus store with the pulleys to do it in my hand. put them back went home and made this piece that cost nothing.

 

[harley rider]

two pedals are good three is better.

 

[harley rider]

thought it was time for a full view update.

 

[Torchie]

I'm digging it.[cl [cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[kenny c]

Lookin Good![cl

 

[harley rider]

got the doors roughed out and some primer on. my grandson was in the shop today to help me hang them. got these locking t-handles that I'm going to use ,they will work well with the bear claw latch kit I've got. not only that they cost a lot less than what I needed to use the original handles.

 

[akatao]

looks nice good job, grand son's help is great, mine likes to help also.

 

[joedoh]

neat idea for the handles, the original linkage is wonky and the door handles sure like to fall off.

 

[harley rider]

haven't got much done lately . too busy with summer chores and fun. I dont deal with the heat like I used to either. I had a lifter go bad in my 39. so had to stop and fix that. I have always wanted a little bigger cam in this motor. good excuse to do it now. I have been collecting parts though. scored the posi unit I needed ,front shocks, and a radiator from Champion.

 

[Old Iron]

That'll keep it cool

 

[harley rider]

made some time and got the radiator mounted. this rad had mounting brackets for a 41-46, that is a little different than 39-40. just had to add some aluminum pieces to each side.fit great.

 

[harley rider]

so after getting the rad mounted I wanted to start the motor again.felt good to actually pore gas and water in it. last time i started it wasnt able to run it a few minutes. I wired up a temporary ignition switch. things didnt go well at first when I pored water in the radiator it started leaking out of the back of the water pump. it had a hole rusted through on the back cover. got a new pump at oriellys . ok that problem fixed ,this thing should start right up . it ran just fine, just a few months ago. well it started ,popin and bangin and shootin fire out the headers. Oh damn whats wrong? checked all the wiring everything good. pulled the carb off and found gas under the power valve.not supposed to be gas there, and it was flooding the intake with fuel. replaced the power valve, bolted it back on and crossed my fingers. HOORAY it started right up and still sounds awesome. now that i can let it run I wanted to set the timing and tune it a little. the open headers are so loud inside my shop (must be getting old) I made some temporary baffles for them.

 

[harley rider]

hears the baffles I thru together. I took 2 pieces of 2" exhaust pipe cut some slots in them. then I packed them with some damp sand and blocked off the ends .took a punch and chisel and dimpled the pipe cleaned out the sand and welded them in some collectors .made a cap with a piece of 1"pipe that extends up into the 2" pipe. and some more holes around that. tacked that in the end of the collector. doesnt make it quiet but it takes the edge off. and tolerable.
'

 

[harley rider]

bear claw latches

after a lot of time and swear words I finally got the doors lined up, it was time to get the bear claw latches installed. I'm wanting to drive it, figured I should have doors that stay closed. I've been thinkin about how to do this for a couple months.I am very pleased how they turned out. I will let the pics tell how I did it.

 

[soltz]

Very Nice [cl

 

[earthman]

Looks good from here. Thanks for the update.

 

[Old Iron]

Looks like a good job!!!
Biggest problem I had with my 33, was figuring out a way to make the original door handles work.
Had to actually mount mine upside down