Hi all! I'm a newbie here on the site as well as in the club. I just thought I'd share my build with you guys. Here's the plan:

-1940 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe.
-270 GMC straight six from a 1956 GMC 1/2 ton.
>Dual Zenith Carburetors.
>High Dome, light weight pistons
>3/4 race cam.
-Saginaw 4 Speed (2 I.D. ring---3.11 first gear)
-1955-62 Chevy 1/2 ton rear end
-7X10 tires on the rear

A little history on the car and why I'm building it. I spend a lot of time with my grandpa (I'm only 17 years old.) Like many grandparents, my grandpa loves to tell his old stories. So one day, one of my grandpa's old military buddies dropped by and they got to looking through a bunch of old photo albums. After about an hour or so we hit May of 1956. Inside were 3 pictures of him, his buddy and their 1940 Chevy Special Deluxe Coupe with a 270 Jimmy in it. Then the stories came. They had driven this car all over the west coast. Twice, they drove all the way from Bonners Ferry, Idaho (just about as close to the Canadian border as you can get) to Fort Worth, Texas. The first time was through one of the worst storms to hit the west. They said that by the end of it the front end of the car looked like a crumpled tin can from hitting all the snow drifts. The second time, they got pulled over for speeding about 50 miles after they left and were fined almost all the money they had. They calculated that they had just enough gas money to make to Fort Worth, so they kept going. Two days later, they were scavenging off the floor of the car and dividing up left over chocolate chips that my great grandmother had packed them for lunch the day they left. After their final fill up, they had 92 cents left to buy a gallon of milk. They drank it before they got out of the corner store.

Anyhow, I listened to their stories for a little while longer then went home. Two hours later I called up my grandpa and said "I've got a '40 Chevy down in Albuquerque, New Mexico" with the usual comical "Ya wanna buy it!?" thrown in at the end. He said "Sure!" so we did. Three weeks later, I had a break from school so we hopped in the truck and drove down there. The road trip alone was worth it. We racked up 63 hours behind the wheel driving from Sonoma, California (an hour north of San Francisco) to Albuquerque, NM. Trip of a life time.

Sorry, that was pretty long. But, there’s the car and there’s the story!

Stay tuned!

Pete

1940 Chevy 1

1940 Chevy 2

1940 Chevy 3

P.S. If this thread is in the wrong spot, I’ll happily move it to wherever is best. Thank you!

William, Welcome! That is a great looking ride. And what a great opportunity to work along side your Grandpop with his experience guiding you. Good Luck with your project and keep posting when you can.

Quick Update... I've got the new ring and pinion set in the rear end. It's now got a 3.38:1 ratio which should whip us down the freeway at 75 mph with ease! All that's left is for it to be sandblasted and painted!

Drew: Thanks! I will!

Chevy Rear End 1

Chevy Rear End 2

Chevy Rear End 3

Chevy Rear End 4

More to come soon!

Pete

Looks good. A popular change for improved performance and economy.
And oops! I used your sign off quote as your name. Sorry Pete.

Haha, no problem! It's my fault... I probably should change that, it's just such a great quote. When I get my paperwork back with my club membership number, I'll put it on there. Hopefully that'll clear things up a little bit.

Thanks!

Pete

Sorry for the slow updates, time has been tight... Nevertheless, the new rear end is sandblasted and painted. I also started the tear down of the car. The old Blue Flame 216 is out and the "economizer" torque tube rear end is out. Next is to pull the interior, body and everything off the frame. As for the 270 Jimmy, it's stalled at the engine builders waiting for molds to be taken of the cylinder head so pistons can be made. Apparently there was a huge order of racing motors for a race on March 1st that needed to be finished, so mine got kicked to the curb. Anyhow, I've got plenty of other things to do...

Torque Tube Rear

Blue Flame 216

40 Chevy (Minus Engine)

Thanks!

Pete

P.S. What is the nic-name of the 270 GMC's? (216 Chevy=Blue Flame 6, 270 GMC = ?)

GMC 270 block is in! Front motor mounts made (although it needs some grinding and polishing). Body just about to fall off, we just need to fire up the old bull dozer and lift it off. (I'm skeptical about tying it to the rafters, run the risk of dropping a section of the roof.)

Pete

270 GMC Block

Motor Mount Before

Motor Mount After

'40 Chevy w/ 270

Suprised you had trouble with pistons. Arias and Ross for sure have the molds for the big chambers. For the latest 270 the chamber was the smallest available especially if you milled the head .075+". A flat top would be about right compression.

I bought some JE flat tops for a 270 with it bored for an available ring package since the 270 is pretty oddball on the bore many years ago an never used it. Stuck under my bench needing the small port head done. My plan was for a 50 Chev coupe that's now long gone, oh well. Good luck with your project........

Yeah, as we learn that's the conclusion we came to. Literally had the conversation this morning. Instead of having special pistons made, we will just buy a set of Ross flat-tops and mill the head the rest of the way to achieve our 9:1 compression. Glad to see we're going in the right direction!

Thanks for the advice!

Pete

P.S. I have this next week off from school, so things should really start heating up around here! Stay tuned!

Body off and frame is power washed. Sandblasting tomorrow!!!

1940 Chevy Body-Before

1940 Chevy Frame-Before

Thanks!

Pete

P.S. I've been meaning to ask you guys... I've been having trouble posting images on the site. For whatever reason, whenever I wrap the image tags around a URL, that's just what they show up as- a URL with image tags around it. (What do ya know!) Therefore, that's why I've been using all these links. Anyhow, just wondering if anything simple can be done to accomplish this. Not a huge deal, it's just cumbersome to have to click every single link. Thank you!

That thing is nice! Here is a LINK link to a forum on Stovebolt called the IT Short Bus that deals with Net issues. This is where I learned to post links and images here.

Great, thanks! I just got a photobucket account. Kinda cumbersome, but we'll give it a shot!

Progress from today, I've got the frame sandblasted. Just a little left to be done on the front end and some odds and ends. While I was out sandblasting, my grandpa did some work on the floor boards. There were a few rust holes, so we decided to patch them up. It looks pretty good!





Thanks!

Pete

P.S. The photos are pretty huge... Is this a problem?

Good progress! Nice to have a CAT to make the process a little easier. Floor pans look very good. Your Grandpop is a handy guy. And do I spot some grape vegetation? If you have a micro winery, I'll be over!

Thanks! Yeah, the old bull dozer is great. 1961 Case 450. Never had to use the glow plugs once on that thing, the old inline 4 cylinder diesel (I think) fires up first crank every time. I love it!

Yep, old Jim-bo's still got it! It's great having him around. I'm blessed to have this time with him.

Micro Winery is correct! Haha, we call it "Rancho Pequeno." C'mon over, we've got plenty to go around!

Well, as for progress, we finished sandblasting and painted the frame today. Good thing too, because I'm getting pretty sick of sucking dust all day. Three days straight is enough for me. Anyhow, everything is painted, so on to phase two: the rebuild! Woohoo! Will be placing some pretty hefty orders to a few catalogs here pretty quick. My mattress is going to loose most of its stuffing!





Thanks!

Pete

Great progress. Someone else here will have a project done before I get off my butt. A boat is a hole on the water that you throw money into. A hot rod is the same thing except there's not as much water. A good red wine goes well with a GMC!

Pete, Got my new specs yesterday, so I can read CASE not CAT. :)My bad. Did you sand blast your front suspension pieces assembled? If so, even tho painted, I would think about disassembly to clean out any sand from the internals or at the very least pump lots of grease through the parts. Pressured sand can get into areas you may not realize. Just my thoughts.

Today was a big day! We located one of three acid striping places in California! (Nor Cal Stripping in Windsor, California if anyone is interested- really nice people- 707-838-9470.) Everything is up there, so we got rid of that bunch of junk. Will start rebuilding the frame here pretty quick. The engine is still at the builders being done, so we're still stalled out on that. I might start working on building a set of coil-overs for the front end. We may start working on the upholstery also. Who knows... We've got lots to do!





Haha, no kidding! Today was an expensive day. $3,700 bucks at the acid stripping place (although it does include a good primer job - DP-90 is the primer they're using - good stuff) Also, me and grandpa Jim spent about 3 hours going through the Chev's of the 40's catalog lining out about $5,000 in parts. I'm not going to lie... It hurts, and I'm not even fronting the majority of the bill! Ohhh... This may drive me to start drinking.



Haha, no problem. Case... CAT... who's keeping track anymore. Yep, that's the idea. Blast tons of grease through and try to clean it up as much as possible. It's definitely a concern. Wasn't really thinking when I did that. The grease should handle it... I hope...

Well, I've just about hit the halfway point of spring break. Things should start slowing down here again as the homework procrastination starts to kick in. (Here's your chance Beater!)

Still got plenty to do!

Thanks guys!

Pete

Progress from today. We faxed in the order for all of our parts. That hurt. Then we put the front end back in. We also welded in the new mounts for the rear end (it originally mounted from the bottom.) I'll let the pictures do the talking from here...







Thanks!

Pete

Progress has been slow the last few days. School finally caught up with me and my grandpa's old dog has been having trouble, and that's been plenty to keep us out of the shop. We did get a little done today though. We bent all new brake lines for the frame, made U bolts for the rear end, cleaned and re-assembled the the drum brakes in the rear. As of now, I think I'm about done with the Spring Break grind. Good thing too, because I've just about run out of things that I can do right now. We're waiting on our big order of parts from Chev's of the '40's, our body to come back from the acid stripper and our engine to come back from the machine shop. Oh yeah, and we're waiting on a bunch of parts for the sand blaster. It bit the dust today too. (haha, sandy dust!) I'm happy with our progress. If only I had a few more weeks like this past one, we may be able to get this thing back together! Anyhow, I'm happy!

No pictures from today... Not much to see... Sorry.

Thanks!

Pete

Looking good and it sounds like you and your granddad are having a great time. It's sure nice to be able to order what you need. I'm going to do that when I grow up. Too bad about the old dog. I've got one who is failing as well.

Hah, if we all made as much progess on our projects in such short order as you and Grandad have, we'd all be happy. Yes, hope the dog gets well quickly. No truer friend then a pup.

Thanks guys! I'm happy to report that now with some new meds, old Blue is feeling a little better. It'll be a slow recovery though. Dang spine injuries are the worst...

Anyhow, I was able to sneak down to the shop for an hour or two yesterday. I got the emergency brake setup cleaned and made. All that has to be done is attach the two cables (I had to use the front part from the '40 Chevy and the rear part for the open driveline rear end) with a cable clamp. I also felt guilty about having no pictures for the last post, so I snapped some when I was down there.





Thanks!

Pete

Parts, Parts, Parts!!!



Pete

Enjoy it while you can kid! I spent yesterday pulling spring mounts from a rusty pickup frame, digging through a stack of dirty old flywheels,clutch and pressure plates, and trying to put two old Mallory distributers together to make one good one. All this is for my roadster. Some of the engine parts are new though.

Haha, believe me, I am!!! One of the advantages to never having done a project like this before is having no dusty old parts to try to put together or fix. For once, we CAN'T be cheap! I am extremely fortunate to be in the situation I am in - Certianly counting my lucky stars on this one.

Thanks!

Pete

P.S. Spring mounts, flywheels, distributors, sounds major! What's the plan for the roadster!? How's it comin'?

It's a '26 Chevy. 153 Chevy 4 cylinder with lots of "Goodies" Saginaw 4 speed+ OD and Dana 44 posi on a '27 Chevy frame with Chevy leaf springs in front and 1/4 eliptic/4 link in the rear. I've been gathering parts for years and am just starting to assemble them.

Awh, cool! Let me know how the Saginaw 4 speed plus OD works. I've got a Sag 4 speed going into the '40, have been considering trying to find one of the 3 speed OD's to dismantle and use behind the 4 speed. Just wondering if it's worth it...

Fun Fun Fun!!!

Pete

There has been discussion of that here before. With a four speed the only real advantage in the final OD in 4th gear. With a 3 speed the OD of 1st and 2nd can be useful especially 2nd. I'm just doing it for 4th over because I can.

Ok, thanks! That makes sense.

Beater, I know you've already seen this on the Jalopy Journal Website, but just for good measure;

As far as the '40 Chevy goes, progress has been slow. We've been getting steady shipments of little pieces and parts over the last week or so, it's just that we have no BIG pieces to put the little pieces on! The body is still at the strippers, and the engine is still at the builders waiting for pistons to be forged. So, it's hurry up and wait here at the shop. Hope it doesn't last too long, I may shrivel up and die if I have to keep staring at that bare frame...

Thanks!

Pete

Patience, young brother, patience!

Some of us have waited many years, seeking, finding, saving, and accumulating to have what we have and to make what we want to make. Patience in the assembly is important also, getting it right so that it doesn't fail. Patience is a part of your education, and it works for you in many things.

All things come to the one who waits, my father used to say. It took me many years to learn how right he was.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

Yes oatience is alway the key even though it kills me some times

Things are moving here again! We picked up the body today! Now with all the bondo gone, we wish we had never touched it, but hey at least I don't have to stare a that bare frame any longer. I have to say that whoever did the bondo work on this car did a fantastic job! The car looked laser straight when we got it, but now, it looks like it could have been through a destruction derby! Haha, it's actually not that bad. There is just going to be a day or two of bodywork. I'll let the pictures do the talking...







I also got to try my hand at "picking and filing." It truly is an art form. My hat goes off to you metalworkers out there!



Josh and Don: Thank you both for the wisdom. I agree completely. I feel I may have left out some key details as why I am so hurried. My bad. First off, the engine rebuild is my Senior Project for high school. (Senior Project is basically a year long project required to graduate highschool.) It is due on May 14th. The car as a whole is not my senior project, however I do need to have it completely finished on or before July 4th. Mainly because that is when my grandpa and I leave our annual month long trip to the Idaho pan handle to live in a little cabin on the Canadian Border. After that, I will be headed off to college which just so happens to be up in your neck of the woods, Don. Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana! Once I take off for that, I'm gone for good. There's no chance of finishing after that. So, that's why the rush, there's no time! Again, thank you for your wisdom, I couldn't agree more!

Thanks!

Pete

That's not too bad and no matter how smooth it looks you don't want that much bondo. It will not last as long as you will. A thin skim coat is fine.

When my son and I were putting his '54 Stude wagon together, a frame off job, so he could take it to college in Texas we ran out of time. We had door windows installed on the way. We drive all day and worked on it at night. I stayed in Lubbock for a week finishing up little stuff before I flew home. Within a month or two he blew a tranny (supercharged 289 Stude V8,Big tires, posi rear end, 18 year old driver) Lucky for us we had hooked him up with a great guy who was the president of the local Studebaker Drivers Club. Those guys are great. So when you get to Purdue find the closest Inliners. They'll love having you around.

Great Story! Haha, I think grandpa Jimbo and I may end up doing the same thing! It will be tight, but I think we can make it. Worst comes to worst, we can always trailor it to Idaho and finish it up there. We've got a few friends with good shops.

Progress: Took me most of the day just to do the bondo work on the rear section of that fender I was beating on yesterday. I'm happy with the result. I still have to do the front part of that fender, but that's just about the worst of it. The rest of the dings are not so bad. They can easily be fixed with body filler. Also, the pistons for the 270 are scheduled to arrive here in the next few days... Might finally be able to put that engine back together!





Thanks!

Pete

Looking good.
For the next few years I flew to Lubbock in the Spring and we drove home. Each Fall we'd drive to Texas and I'd fly home. Soon we were pulling a trailer with a couple of Triumph 650s in it. I would not trade those trips for anything.

Wow, those sound fun! That is one mean looking Stude!

Thanks!

Pete

Hi Peter,

My name is Frank Hainey (Radar) and I did what you are doing, only 20 plus years ago (1990 -1992). Your pictures brought back fond memories. I still have my 1940 Chevy Special Deluxe Coupe and drive it regularly around north San Diego county. I even drag race it twice a year. God only knows how much time and money I have put into it - but I love the car and it still gets great reviews at car shows.

My car started out kind of like yours, with a a 302 GMC, 3/4 Isky cam, Areas 9.5 pistons, 4 into 1 header, holley 4 barrell intake, saganaw 4 speed, and Ford 9 inch w/411 gears, rebuilt front end. Over the last 20 years I have added a Mustang front end, A/C, 3 - 32/36 Webers, dual headers with small pipes, and cross member mods the accomodate a T5 transmission.

If you are not trying to keep your chassis stock, I would recommend. I wish I made them originally - especially the rack and pinion steering, disk brakes, and the T5 with cross member mods. You will not regret it. The car will steer and stop great and drive very safely at high speeds. The original sreering and brakes are obsolete at todays highway speeds.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Frank Hainey 760-451-3041, grnchevy@roadrunner.com

Wow, thanks Frank! I really appreciate it!

Some questions for you right off the bat. About the Saginaw 4 speed: did you have trouble with the Saginaw not being strong enough to withstand the 302 and 9 in Ford? One of my concerns about the Saginaw is the many reviews about it's weakness. I hear they work well for low-stress cruisers, but popping the clutch and bang shifting has been known to strip the gears and sometimes split the case in two! Did you have this problem before you switched to the T-5? I also have been considering the T-5 alternative, but I'm worried it may be too many gears for the car. What's your opinion on the T-5? Are you happy with it?

About the front end: I would really like to preserve the origional stance of the car, but I'm all for updating the front end technology to improve drivability. Do you know off the top of you head of any disk brake kits or steering boxes that are compatible. Stopping was another one of my concerns, and the master cylinder is so querky that I can't find a better replacement, so disk brakes would be the next best thing.

About the small pipes exhaust: As we aproach the rebuild of the engine, I have started to investigate possible exhaust options. Right now I am thinking the bigger the better- straight pipes out the sides with baffels to quiet it down a bit, but I'm no expert. What do you think about the small pipe exhaust systems? I've seen them on many hot rods, so there must be something to it. Noise possibly?

That sounds like a real hot car you've got. Get's me fired up about mine!

Thank you so much!

Pete

Hi Peter,
I went thru 2 Saganaw 4 speeds in a couple of years. They both broke while shifting fast. The shifter was never very positive with all this links and levers involved. It was fine for daily driving and did just fit between the floor board and cross-member. I am happy with the T5. It is a non-world class Camaro version. I use 2nd thru 4th up to about 40 and 5th after that, although the engine will pull smoothly in 5th as low as 20 mph. I use 1st for drag racing and starting on steep hills at traffic lights. My 1st is 3.0. I tried an S10 T5 but the first gear was way too low. It has lasted many years and still shifts great. But you have to cut the middle section out of the cross member to get the T5 under the floor board. This required a V shaped piece of angle iron go behind the T5 and bridge the gap in the cross member. This also has to be bolted in and removable to change the trans or clutch. Without this reinforcement the frame will bend in the middle.

I switched to the Mustang II front end because the the car did not steer or stop well - even with a vacuum power attached.
You are correct that most mustang front end kits drop the height of the front end by 2 to 3 inches. I welded spacers under mine to keep the car at the same height. If you get one, order the lightest gauge coil springs and the biggest disks you can get.

I kept the old master cylinder because I wanted to save the peddles and clutch. The output line runs along across the cross -member to under the passenger side of the engine compartment where a vacuum booster increases the pressure . It works very well - feels just like normal power brakes. I think you can get disks for the original front end from Buffalo Ent. and I think the Vega steering box can be used to get better steering controll.

With all this said, I often wonder if I would have been better off just getting a modern frame ,like a Chevy Blaser, and just fit the 40 Chevy body on to the modern frame.

As for the exhaust, I have experinented with many. The best setup I have found for performance so far is the dual headers with small pipes. I use 1.5 dia on the single ports and 1.625 on the siamese. These smaller pipes work better because the keep the exhaust pulses moving faster and create a mini vacuum at the cylinder during the cam overlap, causing new gas and air to get pulled in as the intake starts to open. You can feel the boost. Larger pipes do not do this. One other tip is to go to a junk yard and get the entire exhaust system from a old Jaguar XJ6. Its all stainless, the right size pipe and will sound great with your GMC.

Frank

Really good information. The voice of experience. I ran a Saginaw 4 speed in my pickup for several years. '53 Chevy, stout 270,Dana 44 limited slip with 3.54:1 gears. I didn't race it but I beat the crap out of it and had no problem. I took it out because I wanted an OD and couldn't figure out how to make it work with the shifter I got from Patrick's. It's a modified Hurst that moves the stick forward to clear the seat. I gave the Saginaw to a friend who put it behind a 350 in a Model A coupe and blew it up within a month. I replaced it with a T-5 from an S-10 but WC inside. With my gearing 1st is still too low and the OD in these is not as high as the Camero version. The shifter is far more sloppy than the Hurst. I am either going to a 3.08:1 rear end or try and find a better geared T-5. I am going to use a Saginaw 4 speed with a BW OD in my Roadster but it's just a 4 cylinder.

Thank you! I hope my Saginaw holds together... I'm not looking forward to cutting up the frame for a T-5. I may also look into a Muncie M21 if things go South. It should be able to take the stress.

I'll look into the Mustang front end. I like the idea.

The exhaust idea makes sense. I may take a trip to Pick-n-Pull one of these days to look for the XJ6. Definitely the cheapest option. What headers are you running on your 302? I'll most likely have to build a set of steel tube headers for mine. Also, what are your recommendations for mufflers- if any.

Thanks so much guys!

Pete

i was fortunate to find a tremec 5 speed cheap maybe lookinto one of those if you feel like saving your pennies

My suggestion about using an old Jag XJ6 exhaust system includes using all the pipes and mufflers. There are two mufflers on each side. Everything is made of stainless steel. There is no rust or deteriation on these parts. The pipes are 1.75 OD and they work better than anything I have tried so far. They sound is fairly quiet yet you can hear them.

As for headers, I make my own. The dual headers I now use are made from 1.5 OD tubing on the single port and 1.626 tubing on the siamese port. They are 17.5 inches long and merge into a 1.75 OD collector with a Flange at the end. The exhaust pipes are 1.75 as well. When I drag race the car I disconnect the system at the mufflers. It sounds like a B-29 going down the track. My best 1/4 mile is 15.9 sec. and 89 mph. I do the 1/8 mile in 10 sec. and 70 mph.
Good luck with your car. Frank

What years XJ6 would we look for?

What he said. ^^ Haha, Beater beat me to it.

Thanks Frank! I'll definitely look into the XJ6 exhaust. Cheap, easy, bolt in. I like it.

Thanks Josh! I've seen the Tremecs around, never knew they would fit. My hopes are high with the Saginaw though. I'd hate to nestle it in there and have it blow up. Fingers crossed!

Thank you!

Pete

The XJ6 exhaust system I used was out of an early version because it did not have a catalitic converter. There are 3 series : S1 68-73, S2 73-79 and S3 79-87.

It is not a bolt in type job. You will have to custom hand fit the pipes and mufflers into your car. But, you will have to do this anyway with plane old steel pipe and mufflers. It is cheep and made of high quality stainless steel - but not easy or bolt in.

Okay, well things are rarely that way. I still like it.

Thanks for the help!

Pete

A fellow at a swap meet was selling a pile of stainless steel exhaust pipes - actually the stingers from the rear of Mustang GTs, take offs.

I bought the whole pile, cut and fit them into a system for my '46 truck, welded the entire system up solid with Flowmaster series 50 stainless mufflers and now have a lifetime exhaust system for not a lot of money.

Check with your local muffler shop. Sometimes they have a barrel of scrap cut-offs thay will sell cheap.

Those look nice! Good tip.

Wow! Those are beautiful! Another good idea!

Let the engine rebuild begin!









Woohoo!

Pete

There is something really exciting about clean fresh engine parts begging to be assembled. I can almost smell them from here!

Haha, it's like Christmas! Even for a 79 year old!

Yesterday was kind of traumatic. We went to put in the crankshaft and realized that we did not have the main bearing caps. Then we tried to do the next best thing and put the cam shaft in. We then realized that the camshaft was too far in. After a few hours of cussing and a trip to Rocket Motors to see Rockey Marino (I think he's on this site) we realized that we didn't have the backing plate underneath, so we put that it lined right up. Then after a trip to the engine builder (Thanks John for coming down after hours!) to get the main caps. Everything flew together in a matter of hours. We're still mising two of the rod bearings, so that's why the picture shows 4 pistons all the way up at once, but I'm sure those will turn up eventually. They're probably up at the engine builder aswell. They're not that crucial now. We can go ahead and put the head, rocker arms, tappats etc. in and bolt up the last two rods on monday. Anyhow, that's where we're at, more to come today!





Thanks!

Pete

Today was interesting. We dinged around with the Cam Shaft even more, realizing that there was a little oil dripper above the timing gears. After looking at and reading a few manuals, we realized that ours was different than the one in the manual. Our manual shows that the one end above the timing gear is crimped down to increase pressure. Ours is wide open. What do you guys think? Did what I just say make any sense at all?

About noon, we got a call from a good friend of ours. He was down at a swap meet in Sacramento, Ca and saw a Nicson 2X1 intake w/ heat for a 270 GMC. He wanted to know if he should buy it. I almost dropped the phone. The guy wanted $375. After some haggeling, we could only get him down to $350. Pretty expensive, but the way I see it, it has two Rochester single barrels on it- throttle linkage and everything. $25 buck a piece for rebuild kits and I see them rebuilt going for $250 bucks on ebay. I think rebuilt with linkage, I'd put them up for $350 and see if I get any bites. That should re-coupe some of the money...

I then tore apart our two Zenith Carburetors and stuck them in an over-night bucket of Carburetor Cleaner while my grandpa took apart and cleaned up the distributor.

Oh yeah, and we put on the head. We're still waiting on the last two sets of rod bearings (will pick those up tomorrow most likely.) Then we can put everything else on.







Man, I'm excited about that intake! I've been looking for one of those for almost a year now! Good timing too!

Thanks!

Pete

The Oil Feed Tube on the front engine plate should be crimped to a 1/32 to 1/16 opening. You can just eye ball it if you want. It is not a high pressure feed.

Great, will do! Thanks Drew!

Pete

That is a good deal for the Nicson intake. I'v never had a Nicson for a GMC. Like Drew said on the oil tube. It doesnt take a lot of oil to lube the gears and you don't want all of your oil to go there. I'm getting ready to rebuild a pair of Zeniths for my 4 cylinder.

Thanks guys! According to my books and a few friends, those Zeniths have the best flow. (Strombers BXOV-2's are a close second.) Good carburetors.

I was able to pop on down to the shop for about an hour today, so grandpa and I put the cam shaft in after crimping the oil feed (thanks Drew & Beater!) Also put the tappets, push rods and rocker arms in. The rocker arm mounts were not in the right spots (because a few of them were cracked and replaced), so we took it apart, drilled a couple holes for oil to squirt and put them back together. (pictures w/ rocker arms to come.) Also, Zenith Carburetor rebuild kits to come tomorrow morning, as well as our new rod bearings (had to order new ones) and at long last our front shock absorbers! The last piece to get a rolling frame.

Anyhow, movin' along!



One more thing, anyone have some wisdom on how to go about refurbishing one of these aluminum intakes? How to safely strip the paint off, possibly polish it up nice and shiny?

Thanks!

Pete

thats awesome man you guys are catvhing my very q2uickly and i am jealous

Thanks Josh! Haha, things tend to go pretty quick if your high school graduation is on the line.

Last two sets of rod bearings are in. Oil pump is in too. (That's it for the internals!) Covers are on, distributor is in, water pump is on and carburetors are coming together. Also, a set of Clifford's steel tube headers are on the way.

Getting close!









Pete

Weekend Update: Carburetors are rebuilt! Word from the recently wise--do not try to rebuild two matching Zenith Carubretors! Every single cover, jet, screw, filter, butterfly, pump has a serial number on it! If the set doesn't match, you risk it not running properly. We got it sorted out thanks to a friend of mine who has shelves of Zeniths (thanks for letting me tear apart most of your carburetors!) but boy that took alot of work!

While I was rolling around on the floor histerically trying to sort out the carburetors, my grandpa was working on the engine. He got the flywheel, bell housing and fuel pump on as well as the generator, oil filter, manifolds ready to put on once we get the motor mounts built and attached to the frame. Oh yeah, and he also adjusted the valve clearances.







Thanks!

Pete

Don't scare me about Zeniths I still have to do mine.

Good progress, keep it going.

Haha, my bad! Just a heads up! Get a magnifying glass and read the numbers stamped in each piece. Worst comes to worst and you can re-dril the jets you've got. It voids the number stamped on it (which tells size) but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

You can get rebuild kits from NAPA auto parts--gaskets, accelerator pump and idle jet-- for $25/ea. I would reccomend it not only for the new gaskets, but because it has a blow-up diagram of where everything goes. It was a huge help for me at least, who's never done this before.

Any questions, post them up! I think I've got these pretty well figured out. It'll give me a chance to start repaying you for all the advice you've given me!

Thanks!

Pete

Thanks for the offer I may need some help. It's been a while. My advice is free because that's all it's worth. I'm glad you used the Zeniths they add even more tradition to your build. You and your Granddad are doing a great job. You'll remember this your whole life.

Too late for you but here's a LINK to the first of a series of videos on Zenith 28 rebuilding. The others come up to the right of it. He makes me feel pretty light handed. There isn't a lot of the info needed to build a set for a multiple carb set up or any mention of the great tenability of these carbs.

Haha, very funny...

Yeah, the Zenith's should draw some attention. We're happy, it just took a little work.



That's why we're doing it! Both of us are having a really good time too. Grandpops is starting to have a little buyers remorse as the bills have been stacking up, but it's going to be a really nice car that (hopefully) will stay in the family for generations to come. Once I get him behind the wheel and he can peel all the rubber off the rear tires, I'm sure he'll perk up a little.

Yesterday's update: Front coil springs and shocks are in, and nobody is missing any fingers so that's good! Then we did another engine-frame mock up and built the rear motor mount for the transmission. Also, we found a chromer who hasn't been crushed by the EPA (yet), so we should drop all the trim, bumpers etc. off here in the next few days.







Thanks!

Pete

I'm digging this rebuild. Keep up the momentum!

That's why we're doing it! Both of us are having a really good time too. Grandpops is starting to have a little buyers remorse as the bills have been stacking up, but it's going to be a really nice car that (hopefully) will stay in the family for generations to come. Once I get him behind the wheel and he can peel all the rubber off the rear tires, I'm sure he'll perk up a little.


Pete [/quote]

My wife still thinks we only $10,000 on our son's Studebaker, and that was in the last century.

Haha, that's the only way to get these things done! My lips are sealed.

Joey: Thanks! Will do!

Pete

Weekend Update: The day before yesterday we drove up to Sacramento to drop off all of our chrome. Sherms Custom Chroming is the place and they are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Our origional plan was to go to a place to Lodi, but just by the way they talked to us and were taking the afternoon off, we knew they didn't deserve our business anyway. So we called up Sherms, and the guy who answered the phone was plain nice, cracking jokes and having a good time. We told him that we were coming and should be there about 20 minutes before closing time, but traffic could be pretty bad. They said it was no problem. They would keep a guy to wait for us. If the traffic was super bad to the point that we would be hours late, than let them know and they could leave a place for us to drop the stuff and come put it inside over the weekend. That's the way to do buisness. Anyhow, rant over. Oh yeah, and we picked up our driveline from the driveline shop.

Yesterday, we pulled the engine back off the frame. Put the clutch and pressure plate in then re-attached the transmission. Getting the transmission in took most of the day because getting and keeping everything in alignment while the transmission slid in took some effort. We then spent the rest of the day fixing and adjusting our shift linkage. The guy who we bought it from had lengthened it out to get the shifter was further back, so we cut it all to bits and welded it back up so it was back to the origional position. We may end up shortening it after putting it in the frame and doing some measurements because it still may end up under the seat.

Quick tutorial on how to adjust the shift linkage on a Saginaw 4 speed. (because this took us half the day to figure out) There is a pin hole to line up all neutral on all the horizontal planes (see picture) then just adjust all the rest of the rods untill they go into their places. It's really simple, but impossible to do without putting a pin through.









Thanks!

Pete

Good progress. I think Patrick's still sell a modified Hurst linkage for the Saginaw. It moves the shifter well in front of the seat in a pickup. I'm sure it would work in your '40. It won't work if you decide to put and OD on it. The solenoid is in the way.

Good idea! I'll check it out. I hope mine fits. I've been loking at it and I think I can shorten it by a few inches if need be. Fingers crossed.

Painted the motor. Sure is bright!





Thanks!

Pete

I could be mistaken but doesn't the lever for reverse go down and the other 2 stay up the way you have them? Or will that just move the position of reverse on the shifter handle?

Ya know, I'm not sure. The reason I put it that way is because the little cut out on the lever allows it to not hit the 3rd & 4th lever. It seems like a good fit. I'll flip it round next time I'm over there and see what's what.

Quick question: Where the heck is the speedo outlet on this transmission? I can't find it! I have a stinking suspicion its behind this freeze plug (see attached), but I don't know. Any advice?



Thanks!

Pete

You are correct. Have to take the freeze plug out and put a fitting in there. The fitting has an internal and external o-ring on it and there is a small rectangular plate with one corner cut off it that slides into a groove on the fitting to hold it in along with a short 1/4" bolt. This fitting was very common on G.M. trans for many years. The powerglide, TH350, 3 spd and 4 speed, both Muncie and Saginaw used the same fitting and gear. The TH400 and M21 Muncie used a much larger fitting. Just try it with any gear that you have and you can fine tune it later. A good rule of thumb for these gears is that every tooth, more or less on the gear will make about 5 MPH difference on your speedo. Hope this helps.
And by the way, excellent job on the Coupe. I did the same to my 1940 Chev 2 door (that I still own) back in the early 80's but took me 5 years to do what you have done in 5 weeks. Boy does that ever make me feel older and slower...lol

Thanks GMDad! That helps alot! Great info! Yeah, I've been scratching my head at that transmission for the past few months trying to figure out where the speedo goes. Problem solved! I'll get the parts rolling in. Thank You!

A little more progress... Clifford headers are in - 3 days early too! They're really nice, fit perfectly. Thanks Clifford! The intake manifold cleaned up nicely in the sand blaster, and the carbs bolted right up. Only a matter of hours 'till this thing will be running!







Thanks!

Pete

Manifolds are on. Throttle linkage is cleaned, painted and drying. Just more odds and ends really. Still waiting on the 235 harmonic balancer and starter motor which should be here tomorrow or Saturday. It's getting real close.



Thanks!

Pete

engine looks prime sitting in there!

Thanks Josh! Can't wait to hear that 292 of yours crank up!

Progress from today was minimal. I just went and picked up our 235 harmonic balancer, blasted and painted it. Also picked up our new starter which engages, but won't turn the motor over because everything is too stiff right now. Grandpa Jim also built the rear tube shock mounts, I welded them, blasted and painted them. Again, just odds and ends until this thing is roaring! This should be the lucky weekend for lift off!







Thanks!

Pete

Today was tough. Spent most of the morning looking for the bolt that holds the Harmonic Balancer on with no avail. I drove over to NAPA. They dug around for about half an hour and came up with one! Drove back to the shop and figured out it didnt fit. It was pretty strange. It measured out correctly - 5/8 18, but for some reason would start cutting the threads off the bolt after about 4 turns. Drove back over to NAPA. We determined it was a production error with threads that were slightly off (something like 18.3 threads/inch) They dug around for me some more and came up with a dye, but no bolt. Drove around to all the rest of the autoparts/ hardware stores nearby and came up empty. Went back to the shop, dug around some more and came up with a long 5/8 bolt. Cut the coarse threads off the end, went back to NAPA bought the dye they had dug up and cut new threads on the bolt. Great! Went to put the harmonic balancer on, banged on it for a while, but it went on about half way, then just stopped. Destroyed a set of pullers trying to get it back off. Drove to NAPA-closed. Drove to O'Reily and bought a set of fine-thread pullers. Back to the shop. Pulled the harmonic balancer off. Figured out there was a little lip inside the harmonic balancer which let it go on to a certain point then stop. It must have been for alignment of the fan belt or something on the 235. Cut off lip on the lathe. Still doesn't fit. Repeat. Pound back on and put bolt in. Roll around on the floor laughing. It's 10:00 pm.

The only picture from today:



Goodnight!

Pete

P.S. Does anyone know what these three holes lead to (see attached)? I can't seem to figure it out. Thanks!

First the holes: The lowest and most forward hole is for the stock oil pressure gauge connection. The small one in the rear is for the coolant drain cock. The other one on my engines has a pipe plug in it. If that one is in a water jacket you could return the water from your intake heat to it. I think you could put a T in the heater hose from the water pump and run it to the manifold and then from the manifold to either of the rear holes. make sure the big one is water.

Be careful about banging on the crank snout. Dampeners should be pressed on and off when possible. You can damage the thrust bearing on the main bearing, the one that limits crank end play. Check the end play to make sure you are still OK. I've never ruined one but it can be done.

Thanks! I poked around on the internet this morning, found some pictures of a finished engine came up with exactally what you have. Glad I did it right. Good idea with the water return for the intake! That's probably what I'll do!

Jeez. I really hope I didnt do too much damage. That worries me.

Progress from today: Oil, Vaccum and Fuel lines are bent and in. Still waiting on a couple fittings, but that's just a matter of getting them and tightening them down.

Rear Shock mounts are made and bolted in.

Breather tube is sandblasted and painted.









Thanks!

Pete

Drive train is all put together to present to the Senior Project boards. Looks great, made my speech this evening and I think it turned out well! Still doesn't run though. Haha, I was able to work my way around that slight detail. Again, the motor was my Senior Project (Exit project required to graduate) for highschool. To wrap it up, each student had to present their project to a board of judges.



Thanks!

Pete

My, but that chassis and drivetrain surely look good!

No radiator or electrics, so of course you couldn't make it "run" for your teachers. We may hope that driveshaft angle is less steep when the body is on and all of the other pieces are added.

It gets an A- for "pretty," but "pretty is as pretty does." When it runs, we could hope for an A+ for an impressive accomplishment.

Surely you have learned a lot -- and you have learned something about how much more you have to learn. That is the best education. You will never have cause to regret it.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

Pete, I am impressed. You two are kicking butt on this thing. It really looks good. Work around the place here is keeping me away from my roadster.

Don 1450: Thank you so much. Yeah, there was a little left to be done to get it running, but it didn't make too much of a difference to the judges whether it did or it didn't. Haha, I just never brought it up!

About the driveline; we probably are going to end up taking that mount back out and cutting it down. It's way too high. We could probably bring it down another inch before it hits the emergency brake setup. If we move the handbrake linkage to the underside we may be able to get another inch out of it. That should help, but it can't really come down too far without cutting up the frame. We'll get it as low as possible and take it from there. I just hope we'll be able to keep the frame intact!

I have learned so much. I've never been into the real bowels of a motor before. I've done a few junk yard, fixer-uper projects, but nothing as major as this. There is always something to learn, no matter age nor profession, race, gender, anything. There is always something to learn. Out of everything, that's the biggest lesson this project has taught me.

"The more one knows, the more one knows one doesn't know."

Beater: Haha! That picture is hilarious! Thank you. That Northern Nevada country is sure pretty.

More to come soon, things are going to slow down a bit over the next week or so. Final Exams are fast approaching and I've got some studying to do.

Thanks!

Pete

My goodness, what a relief!

270 GMC Video

Pete

The first start is always exciting and rewarding. Cool!

Sounds great! Remember you need to set it up to run 20 minutes at 2,000 rpm to break in the cam before you do too many little runs. That thing is going to be fun to drive.

Thanks guys!

Thank you Beater, I was wondering about that.

Started work on the cooling system. Space was going to be an issue. Also found a nice big crack in the stock 270 water pump. (See attached) Must have happened when we torqued it down. Anywho, we were going to have to ding around with the radiator to get it to fit anyway, so I grabbed water pump off the 216 Chevy that came out of the origional car. It had no end play and plenty of resistance signifying that it was not worn out. It bolted right up and was about an inch shorter - good deal! It's still a little tight for me, so I'm going to try to get the radiator inside of the housing. That should give about another inch. Might be able to get the fan in too. Also sandblasted and painted the new/old Chevy water pump. More to come tomorrow!





Thanks!

Pete

Water pump is on. We dinged around with the radiator housing trying to get the radiator further foreward so we could get the fan on but after a few hours, we decided just to get an electric fan and mount it on the front side. We would probably have ended up needing one even with the stock fan anyway. More on that later. Overall, a pretty useless day...



Thanks!

Pete

A few years back I made some pulley changes to fit a new balancer on my 270. The fan would not fit but I had no heating issues until late summer making the long slow climb to home. I added a front mounted electric pusher fan and began having heating problems all over the place. The fan was more of a restriction than a help. I had to go back to the stock balancer. I'd try very hard to move the radiator forward 1 1/2". I think I remember a problem with 216 water pumps too but I can't remember what it is. Being old is crap! But not as bad as being dead.

Consider using an electric water pump. These are cheap & give better cooling & more space behind radiator.

We put the radiator on and fired it up today! Tuned it up and let it run. The radiator sprung a leak, and the water pump had a bad seal, so all the water ran out of it and overheated. That kind of put the kybosh on things for today. Also, I think the mains I put in the carburetors are too small. I also might try my hand at making a set of adjustable mains. Some of these Zeniths had them and I've seen sets that people have made, so I figure I'll give it a shot. Any advice is much appreciated.

About the waterpump: Do the problems with the 216 pump have to do with the bearings? The bearings in the 270 are a little further away from the point of tension from the fan belt, so the torque may be less causing the bearings to last longer. Any lightbulbs go off?

ccjowett: Maybe you can enlighten me. I just read an article saying that the electric pumps typically don't pump more water. The reason for their appeal is the horsepower gains and the ability to not pump water when the engine does not need it. I was also unable to find one that would fit. I hate to argue, maybe you can prove me wrong.



Thanks!

Pete

Hi,

Some oddball reasons for overheating when everything in the
system looks good: At idle only overheat, waterpump turns too
slow.....cause is w/p pulley is too large...

Overheat at speed, air is being pushed from engine compartment
around the sides of the radiator and back thru the core. The
air just keeps getting heated and reheated and the coolant gets
cooked.. You slow down to 30 mph or less and the engine cools
down.

Again, these overheat conditions are very uncommon but always
overlooked.

It's possible if the core isn't sealed to the bulkhead, but for any OEM installation the fan can be completely removed above 35 mph.
My sister borrowed her boyfriend's car (Mustang L4, 4-speed) for some errands in Jacksonville. After a while it started to run hot, so she pulls into a station.
The "mechanic" pops the hood and tells her the problem - "hey, lady - your fan came off".
Boyfriend removed it, since he never drives the car in traffic, and never told her.

BTW: lest you think he's just some local grease monkey - he's Racer Walsh.

Melon: Good points! I'm just going to hook up a large electric, thermostat-regulated, fan and cross my fingers. I hope everything works out. There is plenty of room for the air to flow out, so hopefully that keeps the hot-air-recycling problem to a minimum. Also, the pully on the 216 pump that I'm hooking up is smaller than the origional 270 pump. All the innards are the same, so that's a plus! Thanks Melon! Cool Jeep!

Panic: Haha, good story! That's comforting. Well, I guess I'll just put a single fan on it and make sure that it does not cause too much of a block infront of the radiator so once I do get above 35mph than things will run smoothly. The local autoparts store's got a good selection. Thanks Panic!

Today was fairly productive. Grandpa spent the day bondo-ing. Everything that needs to be covered is covered. Most things are sanded down to within tolerance for blocking primer and such. Thanks grandpa! I spent most of the day drilling out broken off bolts on the underside of the body. Amost every single bolt which holds the body to the frame and the running boards to the body were broken off. It was a long day.



Thanks!

Pete

More bondo work. The body is coming along nicely. Should be moving on to blocking primer shortly. Also, we tried our hand at fiberglassing. Grandpa wanted to give it a shot, so we did. There goes our '50's technology virginity. I think it turned out alright. I'll need to paint over it because wherever there was a hole, there is a big transparent spot - it looks kinda weird.







Thanks!

Pete

Water pump is here, 3/8 pulley is installed and whole thing is painted! Hopefully the 3rd time's a charm! Electric Cooling Fan is ordered! (More on that after we pick it up.)



Thanks!

Pete

he Mechanical Water Pump is one of the last mechanical components of the modern engine which has long been considered an inefficient component that was designed as an accessory from the ever first engines. A mechanical belt driven pump installed on your car engines runs at the same speed as the engine regardless of how hot the engine is. Example: when travelling at high speeds down the freeway, the engine require less cooling as ram air is naturally cooling the engine however, the engine speed is high as is the mechanical water pump thus providing excessive cooling whilst draining the engine of power. Then in heavy traffic in high ambient, the engine is idling or slow and so is the belt driven mechanical pump, even though in this condition, extra coolant flow is required to cool the engine.

With an EWP and a digital controller, the speed of the pump is managed by the controller, which varies the supply voltage to the pump and so varies the speed of the pump, hunting for a target temperature. When the engine reaches the target temperature the controller locks on, constantly changing the pump speed with traffic and throttle conditions, maintaining the target temperature independent of the engine speed.

The important improvement for your vehicle comes from the fact that most of the power the mechanical pump takes from the engine can be reclaimed with the use of an EWP hence the fuel savings. By removing the parasitic power losses of belt-driven water pumps, the EWP may provide up to 10kw of extra power and additional fuel savings. The engine power used by the mechanical pump increases as the cube of its speed – so when the mechanical pump speed doubles from idle speed say; 600rpm to 1200 rpm, the power it takes increases by eight times. Then another eight times going to 2400 rpm, and so on up to maximum engine speed. It is this extra power and torque that is released by deleting the mechanical pump that provides the fuel savings that is estimated to be 3.5% to 10%.

Major European Manufacturers have implemented EWP’s as standard issue on a number of their vehicles, we have documents show that and EWP uses 90% less energy than conventional systems, i.e.: the mechanical water pump. Other advantages will include lower emissions by virtue of faster engine warm up, better engine temperature management, eliminating engine heat soak and improved engine life.

Weight reduction is a key requirement of any automotive manufacturer seeking fuel savings and our EWP will weight around 900 grams up to 1,151 grams (dependent on EWP Type) compared to a typical mechanical pump at 3 to 4 kg. Not only is our EWP considerably lighter when matched against the mechanical pump but we would also be replacing several outdated components with one environmentally friendly product which once again helps improve performance and fuel consumption.

Davies, Craig’s range of patented Electric Water Pumps include the EBP (12v), EWP®80 (12v) and the EWP®115 (12v & 24v) in both Nylon66 and Alloy housings. The new EWP®115 (115 litres per minute) in Alloy and Nylon66 is designed to replace a vehicle’s existing mechanical belt-driven water pump and is the latest in Davies Craig’s range of simple, DIY electric water pumps which are all univesal fit. Its lightweight, compact, more powerful design is suitable for all types of vehicles including small, to large plus high-performance and 4WD vehicles. It’s a vital performance product that improves engine cooling management whilst giving more power, torque and increased fuel economy. All deliver 3% to 5% improved fuel economy, increased power while lowering environmental impact by reducing emissions.



The EWP® is available in 2 sizes:
EWP80 (12 volt only) - for engines up to 3 litres "naturally aspirated" (INSTRUCTION SHEET)
EWP115 (12 & 24 volt only) - for V8 engines, heavy duty 4WDs or over 400HP (INSTRUCTION SHEET)
The EWP® can be used to replace the existing mechanical water pump or as a ‘booster’ to your existing mechanical pump. EWP® fit most makes and models of vehicles on the road today and by removing the parasitic power losses of belt-driven water pumps, the EWP® may provide up to 10kW of extra power.

The many benefits of the EWP include:
Increased Power and Torque
Increased cooling capability
Eliminating Heat Soak
Better control of engine temperature
Flexible options for pump control
Options for pump control
1. Used in conjunction with Digital EWP® Controller
The Digital Controller has a micro-processer which will run the EWP® at exactly the right flow rate maintaining the engine temperature you ‘set’.

2. Use in conjunction with Thermal Switch
Combine the EWP® with an adjustable Thermal Switch to add a cooling boost to an overheating mechanical pump cooling system.

3. Continuous Running
Wire the pump to the ignition for maximum cooling - suitable for race vehicles, very hot climates and chronically overheating engines.

EWP Kits come with everything you need for DIY installation including easy to understand instructions.
Digital Controller and Thermal switches are sold separately.

Wow! Thank you! Great info! You should post this in the tech advice section! Well, I've already got the water pump, but thats a great alternate should anything go wrong.

Click here for the Website

Thanks!

Pete

Progress from today was minimal. Just mounted the new electric fan on the radiator, then customized the housing so the fan will fit. See attached. Schedule is starting to clear up, so stay tuned! Things should get pretty interesting.





Thanks!

Pete

Side motor mounts are in. Lots of painstaking bondo work as well. Things are finally moving again though!





Thanks!

Pete

More bodywork done. Doors are next!



Thanks!

Pete

Looking Good Pete. How are you doing on time?

Haha, not well! A lot of personal stuff going on right now. Anyhow, I was able to get down to the shop for a day full of spreading bondo and sanding it off. I've been thinking about the motor idling high the last few days, and was poking around the motor when I found that one of the studs for the heat riser on the bottom of the intake was missing. Vaccum leak!!! Plugged it up, and it is now idling at 900rpm. Good deal!

Motor Running

Pictures coming later tonight...

Thanks!

Pete

Just about everything is bondo-ed up! I started taping off all the holes for the first few coats of blocking primer! It's starting to get exciting! We also sandblasted and painted a bunch more parts. I'm just glad to be back in the shop. I almost shriveled up and died from withdrawl the last few days, so it's nice to be back.

I was having trouble with the video, so it was reposted, new link here: Revised: Motor Running.

One more thing. We started to get into the dash board today. Tore it all apart, fixed the clock and started looking at the speedometer. We have heard of speedometers that operate by sticking a magnetic transponder on the wheel or through GPS. The freese plug in the speedo outlet of the Saginaw transmission is going to be really tough to get out, so we wanted to weigh our options before going to far. Has anyone tried this or have any advice/ reccomendations pertaining to electronic aftermarket speedometer setups? Anything is appreciated.















Thanks!

Pete

The cars getting so nervous it might start changing colors here pretty quick! The first few coats of blocking primer are going on in the morning.



Thanks!

Pete

I was starting to get tired of flat black anyway. This is getting exciting!





Sawhorses where harmed in this production.



Thanks!

Pete

Really getting close now. Have you mentioned what the final body color will be? I coulda missed it. Also regarding your dash. If you don't know, there are very good paint kits available to recreate the "wood" look if you are going that way.

http://www.woodgraining.com

Thanks Drew! I was thinking about woodgraining as well. You did the work for me! I'll run it past gramps and see what he thinks. Thanks!

The final color should be a deep blue - no sparkles/metal flakes. Just straight dark blue. I believe the original color was called Export Blue. We'll look at some paint chip books to get the final color, but we want something similar to the original deep blue that my grandpa had on his car.

Thanks!

Pete

Lots of really nice cars are ruined by paint. That is one reason primered cars are so popular they haven't been screwed up yet.You are smart to keep it simple. GM had several nice blues and greens back then.

I hope the saw horse preservation league doesn't see your last picture.

Not much for today. Again. Sorry, more personal stuff. Will be back at it tomorrow. Hope to have it in to paint by mid week!

Thanks!

Pete

I spent most of the day sanding the body. I've got most of the bumps worked out with 150 grit sandpaper. We're going to go down to 600 grit, so there's plenty left to do, although it should get easier as the sandpaper gets finer. Boy it's tedious stuff! Not sure if I've already said this, but my hat goes off to you full time body workers. It's brutal. Anyhow, I'm going to spend the next few days up in Indiana doing college stuff, so it should get pretty dull on this thread at least until about mid-week. Hopefully grandpa might get a bug in his butt and go sanding some more, but I don't want him to work too hard.

Also, we looked around at some local hardware stores and found a good color for the dash. It's pretty close to original, so that's good. We'll put it all together, then decide if we want to go the extra mile with the wood graining. I think it looks okay.





Thanks!

Pete

Is that there 1940 high-powered Chevrolet coming to Indiana . . . on its own power? That i'd love to see!

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

Haha! I want to. I still have to convince dad that it's "safe." Will probably have to put a big roll cage and 4 point seat belts in it but if that's what it takes, so be it.

Thanks!

Pete

Whew! Finally back to work! Body is sanded down to 500 grit paper and at the painters! The final color we chose was a dark blue found on a 1974 Mac Commercial Truck. Should be painted by Monday. I hope it turns out good. We also pulled the tires off the rims and will be sandblasting them tomorrow. Rims will be painted the same color as the body. Firewall and inner fenders will be a glossy black.



Thanks!

Pete

It will be a thing of beauty. You guys have done a ton of work. I hope it all goes back together with no hitches. Well a few small ones are to be expected.

Haha, yeah! It hit me like a ton of bricks the other day. Once this thing is painted and upholstered, things are going to start flying back together. There should not be too many hitches because we didn't make any customizations to anything on the body. Fingers are crossed. Also, the pile of parts in the other barn is starting to thin out, which is a welcomed sight. The last real worry I have is getting the body home and on the frame without ripping up our new paint. Knock on wood!

Progress from today: Rims and dashboard are sandblasted. The dashboard components (glove box lid, instrument panel etc.) are painted. I think they turned out well. Also, gramps spent the day polishing chrome and putting in the new glass. It really looks great!





Thanks!

Pete

Hey, bombing the dash parts in that color came out great!
Who needs wood graining anyway?

Haha, we might! I still really like the woodgraining idea. Like I said, we're going to see how things turn out and go from there. I'm not going to trash the idea yet! We would have done it from the get go, it's just we thought we might try the $20 dollar option before going with an expensive woodgrain. I hope it fits well. Thanks!

Progress from today was minimal once again. Gramps took a personal day, so naturally things were going to be slow. Rims are primed. I ran out of primer, so the dash didn't get primed. With all the body parts at the painters, the shop was fairly empty, so that gave me the chance to do the first real clean up for a while. We can walk around in there now which is nice. Anyhow, more to come tomorrow.

Side note: Does anyone have any ideas about 1940 steering boxes. Nobody is remanufacturing 1940 Steering boxes, nobody wants to rebuild them and I can't find any NOS boxes. I might start hitting up the junk yards, but before I do that I thought I'd make a shout out to you guys. Anyone have any ideas of interchangeable boxes or ways to rebuild them etc.? Thank you!



Thanks!

Pete

Rims are scuffed up and ready for paint. The steering box is back together and surprisingly tight. (whew!) Also, Grandpa got back to polishing the trim. Unfortunately, while he was doing that a piece caught an edge in the buffer, jerked up and ripped open his hand pretty bad. I pulled him inside, wrapped him up, set him in his chair in front of the coverage of the races at our local Sonoma Raceway and he was napping before I got out of the door. Kinda funny about the napping part but jeez, I really hate to see him hurt himself like that. He cant just jump back up like he used to. Luckily, he was back out later that day to help with the steering box, but boy that shook me up seeing him like that. Getting old ain't fun.



Thanks!

Pete

In high school, why back in the '60s I almost lost the end of a finger at the first knuckle buffing a headlight ring for a Model A. I learned not to fight with the buffer.

Physics gets pretty scary when the numbers get big. Momentum, pressure, weight etc. It's not fun when you get on the wrong side of them. Glad you made it out of that situation okay, and I hope no other incident decided to do the deed later.

Progress from yesterday: The dashboard is painted. It looks pretty nice, then I was struck by the obvious. Why not just paint it the color of the car? Haha, again we'll see how it turns out, but if worst comes to worst we can always use the left over paint from the car. We also built the linkage for the clutch pedal to the lever on the bell housing. Then we drove to our closest paint store to pick up the paint for the car (about an hour drive.) On the way back, my '01 Jeep Cherokee stuck an exhaust valve and that took a good portion of time to diagnose and fix. These last couple of days have been pretty slow. I hate not getting a lot done, but what are you going to do.





Thanks!

Pete

Looking good. I think the inside/outside contrast will add interest. Choose an upholstery color that goes with the dash and trim and the blue will take care of it's self.

Thanks! Yep! Our thought's exactly! The original upholstery was a tan corduroy material which looked nice (see attached.) We probably going to go with a polyester mohair material (for durability) of similar color. The dashboard is a little darker tan similar to what the carpet will be with the headliner being a little bit lighter. I'm still worried about the dash board. Like I said earlier, we can always use the left over paint to paint the dash the same color as the body. The guy doing our paint and body work also does upholstery, so we'll take everything to him once it's assembled and make our final decisions at that point.



Progress from today: More trim polishing, more sandblasting and more painting of miscellaneous stuff. We also set up a bench and laid all the junk we've got out on it. We took stock of what's ready and what's not. I hope it's all there. Really, we're just preparing for the body to roll in and then start slapping stuff back on it. Word from the painters is that they are done with the final body work (they found a few spots that needed touching up) and would be painting tomorrow or the next day. I would've liked to paint it ourselves, but having a climate controlled paint booth is probably more safe with paint being so expensive now-a-days. I'm starting to get really excited about seeing the body all spiffed up. I just hope we chose the right color.

Not really too much to see from today... Sorry.



Thanks!

Pete

Pete, What is the frame you guys stack parts on?

Well, it's a long story, so buckle up. Once upon a time, before my grandfather started dumping money in nostalgic Chevy's, he invested in German cars. He restored pre-war BMW's (yes Hitler's cars) as well as a few post war cars too. 328's, 327's, 319's, 2002's, Dixie's, and even a few of the iconic BMW Isetta Bubble Cars. It's quite a collection, here's a website with a few pictures people took of his cars at the Legends of the Autobahn car show in Carmel, Ca. Click Here Since these cars are so rare, he has to look in strange places to find them. His most rare car, that Blue 1939 BMW 327/328 Pillarless Coupe (pictured on the website) was found by a buddy of his in Germany on a flat bed being hauled to the crushers. Neither the truck driver or his buddy knew what the car really was, but they knew it was a BMW and that it was rare. He bought it off the back of the truck and sold it to my grandfather. Turns out there were only 2 of these cars known to be produced by BMW and this car is the only one known to exist today. Good save. Anyhow, enough stories. That frame you see was found underneath a late 1940's 502 or 501 body (the SUV/ people carrier BMW) with a 2002 (car model, not year) 4 cylinder engine in it. It turned out to be a 327/ 328 replacement frame which was most likely used to replace a bent race car frame, or one that was rusted out. It has no numbers on it besides the date produced. He would have taken a 327 body he has hanging in another barn and set it on there, but it wouldn't be worth anything because it would not have been an original, numbers matching car. Then I came along with that famous New Mexico E-bay listing and put the final nail in the coffin of the that BMW project. Now it just sits there, collecting dust and all our piles of Chevy junk. I do feel pretty sore about it, but I didn't really know at the time. Something will happen to that frame and body some time. Maybe not in the near future, but eventually it will get put together. Don't look at me.

Progress from today: More trim work done. Polishing chrome and stainless steel and painting the window sills (if that's what they're called?) we chose a metallic paint which is similar to what the original was. It concerns me a little bit because its different than the tan/ cream color, but it blended nicely in the original car. Also, we bolted on more odds and ends on the frame. It's coming along!



Thanks!

Pete

Well, now we know where your auto genes definitely
came from. A neat BMW family history. I have an older female
cousin that is a certified and factory trained BMW cycle mechanic. OMG. A girl!
I definitely have to show this story to her.

I think we Inliners are just getting a kick out of your build. It'll be a let down when the build is finished. But, not for you and Grandpop.

We get to follow Pete to school and make sure he is hooked up with some Inliners just in case he needs some help. When my son went to Texas with his '54 Stude wagon he had the local Studebaker Drivers Club to lean on. God bless those guys. He needed them and they came through. It was a great relief to know help was at hand. So who is stepping up for Pete?

Wow, it's a small world! That's really interesting. Those BMW motorcycles are pretty hot bikes! The signature horizontally apposed motor is definitely an exotic part, but it seems to be working really well for the BMW guys (and gals)! I see a lot of them driving around at the BMW shows my grandpa and I go to. The vintage ones are pretty sweet too, especially the military editions. The ingenuity in those old motorcycles is just incredible!

Yep, all the way to Indiana! I may need to start sucking up to Don here in a little bit. I'm sure I'll be seeing him at a few of the Indiana Chapter get-togethers. Hope your up to it Don! Don't worry, I don't bite!

After it's all done I think I'll be a little bummed too. Gramps and I didn't so much do this project for the end result as much as we did it for the experience. (Good thing too, because the end result isn't going to be worth hardly half of what we put in to it!) I'll try to keep the threads active with updates on where the Chevy's been. As much as it pains me to say this, it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to take the car to school with me. Dad is not really hep on the idea- for good reasons too. A $35,000, 2 wheel drive with 4 inch wide tires in the snowy Indiana winter is a recipe for disaster. Then there is the collision dillemma. (Dad wants a roll cage with 4 point seat belts and headrests for whiplash.) Who am I kidding? This car doesn't belong to me anyway. It belongs to my grandpa. I think he's on board, but I'd hate to stuff the thing into a snow bank and not even own it. I'll make sure it gets used though. You can count on that. I'm sure gramps has got at least one more good road trip left in him. We'll drive it to the moon or something.

Well, that means it looks like I'll be taking my $2,500 worn out '01 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 225,000 miles on it. Puking oil, sticking valves and knocking rods the whole way. That should be an adventure in itself. It'll probably blow up somewhere in Nebraska and I'll have to buy another car. That'll be my chance to get an old inline beater I wont have to worry about stuffing into a snow bank.

Anyhow, enough counting my eggs before they hatch. Back to the present. Today's update is a little more exciting than the norm.



Thanks!

Pete

Wow! Nice color, Export Blue is.

Nice,I like it. Another Six ball saga. In 1969 my wife and I were in a wreck on our honeymoon. We totaled her '60 Porsche Convertible D, She was in the hospital in Boseman, Montana from August 5th to December 2nd. A friend loaned me a '41 Chevy 4 door. Snow came on October 17th and didn't go away. The chevy had a good set of skinny 16" snow tires and handled it just fine. The 216 had a little less power than your coupe and I was a much more mature 24 years old. I tell everyone that was the toughest winter I ever spent and we left 3 weeks before winter began. Oh yes, I went deer hunting.

Wow! Bad wreck! I'm sorry to hear about that. Accidents are no fun.

Haha, good news! Surprising, but exactly what I wanted to hear! The initial trip is still most likely going to have to be in the Jeep (because of reliability issues - working out the bugs), but that gives me some big arguing points. Like I said, it will get used! I'll find a way somehow.

Progress from today: The dash board is in. I'm surprised with how well the color combination turned out. Lucky draw with the rattle can paint I guess. Also, I've got my graphic designer/artist aunt re-painting the gauges, numbers and clock so they look new. Finally, we started putting in the windows and all the mechanisms for the internals of the doors. They are going to be a bugger to get back together!



Thanks!

Pete

When you are done with Grandpa please send him up here. You guys are impressive. I can not get painted stuff back together without scratches, sometimes dents.

Haha. That's the beauty of a low quality camera. They aren't visible in the pictures. Believe me, we're just as bad if not worse. We've got a bunch of the blue paint left over, so we'll be able to make corrections before the final buffing. Today was especially bad. While gramps and I were drilling holes to screw in the window felts the bit slipped and chipped off a big line right across the sill about where you put your elbow while driving. After some cussing, we proceeded to to it again on the next hole. Then, later while I was buffing the chrome housing for the clock it caught an edge and shot out the back end hitting a steel rod laying up against the wall. That poor piece of stainless steel was so bent up when I went to pick it up it looked like a tin can after a good game of "Kick the Can." An hour with a pair of pliers and a screw driver had it pretty straight, but it isn't perfect. Sorry, I'm rambling again. Anyhow, it's really tough getting everything back together without screwing up some stuff. Nobody's perfect. The line that gramps and I always repeat is "You can never screw something up so bad that it can't be fixed. It just may take a little while."

Progress from today: I cut a big hole in the floor for the shifter. Then we decided to tackle the doors. We've been dreading putting those suckers together since we took them apart. Boy, it's tough. It took us basically the whole day, but the drivers side is mostly done and the passenger side is about half way. Then we found that the passenger side glass is cut too short, so it doesn't seal up in the top. Great. We'll probably re-drill the mounts for rolling mechanism and move it up. I hate cutting corners, but new glass is just too expensive. I sure hope the rest of the car doesn't go together as hard as the doors did!





Thanks!

Pete

These last few days have been brutal. The car is not going back together easily at all. Grandpa and I are starting to get pretty exhausted. 12 and 13 hour days with not much getting done is taking it's tole. We're both beginning to get irritable too. The over-100 degree weather is not helping either. Never the less, the wiring harness is in. More dash components are in, tail lights, some of the trim, foot starter components, etc. Really just bits and pieces that we find and decide to put on. Trying to stay positive here, but we've got 6 days left until the car has to be mostly done, or it won't get finished until about Christmas time. Gramps and I are taking off to do our annual month-long fishing in a little cabin in far Northern Idaho (4 miles south of the border.) So it's crunch time! Hopefully our luck turns soon!

Sorry, I forgot to take pictures today. I'll post some when I get down there in the morning.

Thanks!

Pete

You two have done a fantastic job in a short time. I spent my first year of retirement putting my son' Stude back together. We both worked on it after school and weekends. When we left in it to head for college in Texas we went to Reno to have windows put in. We worked on it along the way and I stayed a week in Lubbock finishing things up while he started school. Christmas is no big deal. Better than making a mess. That fishing trip is important. Going off to college will be a big step for you and this time with your grandfather will be with you forever. Stay calm the car will get done. As I say this my son's Stude in sitting out in the weather with the engine out where it has been for several years now. He lives in California now and doesn't have space there or time to get here.

Sorry guys. I'm embarrassed by that last post. It came across very defeated and negative. I needed an attitude adjustment. I was in the shop alone for most of the day today, and it gave me the time to think. Things still haven't been going any better, but it made me realize that there is nothing else that I'd rather do than sit in that hot, stinky shop working on a car that refuses to go back together. I was able to remind myself that I love working in the shop. I love getting filthy. Just like a guy named Rust n' Chrome said on the HAMB website, the harder you work on something, the more proud of it you are when your done. Again, I'm sorry for that last post. I'm sorry you had to read that. I'm not proud of it.

I'm sorry to hear about the Stude. I'm sure the time will come - hopefully sooner rather than later. We're just going through some rough patches right now. You guys probably know exactly what I'm talking about. I got frustrated and lost my ability to see the grand scheme. Like I said before, there is nothing else I would prefer to be doing than working in that shop with my grandpa. That's the likes of it. I just needed to slow down and realize it. Attitude adjusted!

Progress from today: More trim pieces are on. The passenger door has it's rubbers. Also, some more odds and ends here and there.



Thanks!

Pete

Pete you have done amazing things in a hardcore time slot i have had my project going for two years and haven't got as close as you two have in a few months

Keep it up and stay inline!

P.s. were all rootin' for ya!

i'm with your father on the four-point belts, but the roll cage will only get in the way in a street-driven vehicle.

We have snow and ice in Indiana, yes, and you can and should learn to drive on those surfaces, in whatever you have to drive. A good set of all-weather radials will help; feathering the throttle, driving sloooowly, and looking ahead and behind will help even more. The greater danger to your '40, greater than the snow and ice, is road salt -- a foreign substance in California, but a way of life in winter here in the frozen wastes. It is the chemistry with which the tinworm lives and works.

There is no "Indiana Chapter," but we have a North Central Regional group that meets once a year, usually in late August or early September in Westerville, Ohio, near Columbus. Bob Garrett, Tom Langdon, Big Bill McCoy, and some other highly knowledgeable and competent Inliners are active in that group. We should all welcome you to the arctic Midwest, and we should hope that you'll be able to bring that '40 eventually. In the meanwhile, you can learn to drive on snow and ice in that clapped-out Cherokee.

i should certainly welcome you to Indiana and will gladly help you in every way i can. i am semi-knowledgeable about the older machinery -- like unto your '40 -- but mechanical competence is another matter. You, indeed, might be far more help to me than i to you. Where are you going to school -- Purdue, Rose-Hulman, IU, or ? Let me know when you're coming, and i'll send you some contact information.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

Thank you. You guys are the best.

That nasty "tinworm" was a bother for me as well. I bought a few gallons of under coater to spray on everything underneath after everything is put together. Do you think this will help the problem, or does will rust find it's way anyway?

Great! I will try to be as active a member as I can in the North Central Region. Good timing too, I'm supposed to be at school on the 12th of August, so I should be able to make it to the meeting!

I really appreciate your kindness. I hope I'm not forcing you into this. My last post was kind of alluding.

I'll be attending the School of Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette. I hope to eventually go to work in the automotive sector working on performance engines, but may also do some work in the diesel sector. (The Caterpillar plant across the river in Lafayette) I'm really just looking for a place where I can work with my hands. I want to avoid computers and cubicles if I can.

Progress from today: Tail lights are on. Driver side weatherstripping is on and both doors are hung again. The radiator brace is on. Also, the fenders, hood, trunk, lights etc. should be ready to pick up from the paint shop tomorrow, so we can mount all of that. My graphic designer/ artist Aunt is almost done re-numbering the gauges. We are also expecting a shipment of parts from Chevs of the 40's to come in tomorrow, so that's good. Three work days left until gramps and I take off for Idaho. We still have time for our luck to turn! We'll see.





Again, thank you so much for your kindness.

Pete

That blue paint shines, and the buffed-up, blood-bought trim is going back on. It looks wonderfully good. "Progess" always seems so slow, especially when we are eager to get it on the road and see what it will do -- but we do well to make haste slowly. The driving will be so much more sweet when it's right.

Undercoat is ugly, but it's not as ugly as what the tinworm leaves behind. Undercoat is painful to remove, and should be applied sparingly. What you want to watch for are the places in the body and frame where water collects and does not drain. That's where you make holes to drain the water, if you can, and make sure that the surface is covered with rust-resistant paint, undercoat, or both.

You are so blessed to have grandpa's labor and experience, and the money to buy the parts. When you are out on your own and balancing all of your obligations, things will proceed much more slowly -- yet what you are learning now will inform all of those future projects.

West Lafayette is just an hour or so up the road from Indianapolis. i'll send you a PM with contact information. When you are sorted out and settled in Purdue, and have some time to spare, then maybe you can come down and see how to be "car poor."

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

Pete, Glad to see you hooking up with Don. The car is looking great. I hauled a '50 GMC pickup off a ranch here. The only places it had rust was in pockets between the metal and the old under coat. The stuff works both ways. Be careful putting it on and check it every once in a while.

Wow, Don. Again, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I look forward to meeting you in person. We can work on that "car poor" problem of yours.

I certainly am blessed to have such a great grandfather. I love him dearly and appreciate all he is doing for me. Can't thank him enough. I really am very fortunate.

Wow, that worries me with the under coater. All the more reason to do it slow and right. We sprayed the frame and entire car with DP-40 primer (don't tell the California Air Quality people!) I've heard and read a lot of of good things about the stuff. Apparently very corrosion resistant. I'll also keep it well drained. Fingers crossed that the under coater goes on well. I'll definitely be sure to check and maintain it along with the rest of the car.

Indianapolis to West Lafayette is a pleasant drive. I was recently there to register for classes and such. I really like it up there. Well forested, green, beautiful, rural landscape - my kind of place! Hopefully, the winter does not hit me too hard, but being a skinny California kid, my odds are not too great.

Progress from today: Gramps and I with the help of a close friend (actually, he did most of it) made the transmission cover in the center of the floorboard. It's not quite finished yet, but it looks really good. Then we got a call from our paint man. Fenders, Lights, Vents, etc. are painted and ready to go! He still has to finish with the hood and trunk, but the other stuff is ready. So we went and picked them up. They look really nice. Also, like always a few more odds and ends are put on here and there.







Thank you guys so much!

Pete

Happy 4th everyone!

Today was a good day. Not just because it's America's birthday, but because we finally made some decent progress! Gramps got most of the wiring figured out while I finished the transmission cover and built the throttle linkage. We also bolted in the Vent just above the firewall and glued it's rubbers in place. We are both so happy. It's a little too late now, but at least things are moving at a decent pace. We certainly won't finish, but we may be able to get things buttoned up enough where we can feel proud. We leave for Idaho about early morning the day after tomorrow (July 6th) so tomorrow is really the last day. Wow.





Thanks guys, I hope you all had a good time today!

Pete

Well, that's it! The day I have been both looking forward too and dreading for the last year. The last time both you and I will see this car until Christmas. We got a few things buttoned up today like the transmission cover, throttle linkage and the rear window in, but most of the day was spent cleaning up the shop. I'm really bummed not to have finished the car in this time frame but we did the best we could, and had a darn good time doing it.



For now, I'll leave you with this picture. Taken with a tear in my eye, it's the shop right before we closed it down and locked it up.



To sum up for now, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your input and support. I originally started this thread as a way of documenting the build and making a daily log. Then advice, and opinions from experienced people started rolling in and my reasoning changed completely. This build would not have been the same without all of your input. It definitely would not have gone as smoothly.

Sorry, this kind of sounds like my final remarks. It's not. I just would not be able to live with myself if I took off and didn't say thank you. You guys are great.

Anyhow, it's been nice talking with all of you and I hope you all the best of luck on all your current and future builds. I'll be checking the threads every now and then, so let me know if there is any way I can help any of you. I owe it to you guys.

Thanks!

Pete

Pete, We are not nearly done with you! We will follow this thread,car, and you as far as you let us. You have become our grandson,son, nephew, young friend. Your grandfather is blessed to have such a fine young man to pass his interest and skills on to. You are starting a grand adventure and have tied the beginning to family, friends, and a cool car. The two of you have accomplished a lot and I am sure you will finish what you started. Thanks for letting me watch the progress. I looked forward each day to the up dates. I'll be checking in to see if new posts show up. Good luck at school. Catch a bunch of fish in Idaho! If you are near Carson City/ Reno and have time let me know.

Pete, It's been a great treat following your build. Best of luck in college.

Thank you so much for the kind words. You guys are the best.

Just got back from Idaho. It was a great trip. Fishing was average, but me an gramps still got our fill. I love it up there. Can't wait for next year!

Leaving for Indiana on the 6th of August! (Get ready Don!)

Between final preparations for school, I was able to pop on down to the shop for a little while today and make a mess. The rear fenders on! I'm still not too happy with the position of the rear end and how the wheels sit inside the wheel wells. They're too far forward. I may try re-drilling the center screw holes in the rear end mounts and pulling it back an inch or two. Quick question: Didn't most of these 40's have this feature? The rear wheels appear too far forward? Maybe the trunk and spare tire's added weight will make it sit a little lower and get the rear end to fold back a bit. We'll see! Also, more odds and ends like pedals and door latches are on.





Thanks!

Pete

Your are correct in your assumption of 40s rear axle wheel placement. A quick internet search of stock 1940 coupes such as yours will clearly show that.

It's 1 1/2". All the old Chevy cars and pickups have it. It had to do with the hinge type mount used with the closed drive shaft. You could do it with a lowering block and deal with both issues at once. You'll have to lengthen the drive shaft.
Glad you had a good trip. I hope school goes well.

If you are leaving California for Indiana on the 6th. swing thru Reno for Hot August Nights me and Beater and maybe even Hank can meet up with you.

No progress from today. Sorry. Grandpa's Birthday.

Ya know jalopy45, I may just do that. I'd love to meet some of you guys. I worked out a new route and heading up to Reno should only add about 2 hours to our original plan. I don't think I could stay long though. Probably just drive up, shake your hands, say thank you and drive off. Let me know what your plans are and what event you guys are going to be at. (EVENT SCHEDULE) I'd like to be through there around 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning if possible. Need to stay on schedule. Lemme know!

Thanks!

Pete

I'll be at the swap meet (3rd row down and in the center isle with all the inline intakes).from Wednesday to Saturday and Beater usually tries to escape his marital incarceration and shows up on Friday and we go to the Nugget in the evening . The margarita machine will be running..

I usually don't go up there until Friday but maybe I could change that. Efi-diy may be in Reno tonight or tomorrow. What was your original route? Where were you crossing the Sierras?

I'm in Reno now so I'll start looking for Alberta plates. I'll head home tomorrow and back down Tuesday to set up for the swap meet.

A really fast '50 GMC with BC plates would definitely be a tip off.

How many cylinders is it running on this year?? and he should have Alberta plates, red numbers and letters on a white plate..

He just rebuilt it again and had about 300 miles on it when he headed this way. You see more license plates than I do so I'll take your word for it.

Beater, check your PM's. Call me. My plan is to be there around 11:00am. I hope it's not too late!

Thanks!

Pete

It's not too late for you, you're young. See you tomorrow. Funny I drove that route back from Amarillo two weeks ago. Tom

Pete and his dad Tim came through today on their way to get Pete to school in Indiana. We had lunch and a nice visit. Great kid and a great dad. Don, they are headed your way via Route 66/I-40 and want to meet you.

Whooo hoooooo

Sorry for the late update guys. It's been kind of hectic around here. My first day was today. Things have been going well, just busy! If you don't mind straying from the '40 Chevrolet topic for a bit, I'd like to share my trip with you guys. After we left you, Beater, things went a little astray. Here goes:

Daily Log:

































Keep in mind, us toads from California are used to $4.00/gallon gas prices (Eco Ethanol garbage). Seeing $3.19 plastered on a sign is like finding Sasquach!



It's always an adventure!

Pete

P.S. Beater: It was a pleasure meeting you and getting to drool all over your pickup. I love it. I hope we can get together another time; maybe this time in the '40!

Now i see why i have not hearn tell one word from you until this minute. You have paid some dues travelin' cross-country in a "late-model" motor vehicle. You know what it is to be on the side of the road, miles from nowhere, and even more miles from home.

For a while now, you may be too busy to do much drivin'. We'll see if we can get you to the North Central Inliners picnic if you still want to go. All will be glad to see you.

When you take that pretty '40 out on the road, cross-country, you know what you'll want to certify beforehand . . . and i daresay there'll be no "power steering" anywhere in sight, except the power in your two arms!

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

Pete, Glad you are safe. When Jake and I took the Stude to Texas the first time we lost the fuel pump just on the other side of Goldfield. We did get cell service and called for a tow truck. It was the same outfit from Tonopah. The same Napa store had a Studebaker fuel pump. The guys at the tow place let me use their shop and our tools to modify the pump for the supercharger and we were on the road the next morning. The car was vapor locking so bad we could not pull the long grade out side of Goldfield. So we looked around town and found a guy who had some insulation and wooden clothes pins which in insisted on giving us although he was selling them in a yard sale. We put the insulation around the fuel pump and poured water on it and hit the road again. That is one of the things I fixed when we got to Lubbock and Jake started classes. Welcome to the club, the busted by the road club.

Hahaha! Wow! That Nevada high-desert is sure a killer! Those guys at the Cal-Nevada towing outfit are so nice. What a coincidence!

Wow,

Pete

Next time I go through there I'll stop and let them know what they are part of. They really liked Jake's wagon. Oh, I forgot to say they loaned us a car to go to Napa for parts.

Please do! Yep I believe it! Those guys were great. We didn't really realize how nice they were until we went through the Las Vegas Repo yard.

Thanks!

Pete

Glad you made it pete

Thanks Josh! Glad to see your GMC coming along!

Pete

I finally had the pleasure to meet Mr. Don Haymes in person for the annual North Central Inliners Picnic this weekend. What a gentleman. Him and his wife provided me with a level of hospitality that is hard to come by these days. I had a great time. Thank you Don!

As for the Picnic, it was a blast. Great group of guys with some truly incredible machinery. I also had the pleasure to meet Mr. Bob Garrett, the Chapter Head, in person. He brought down his '48 Chevy Coupe w/ 261 (bored to 270.) That thing was nuts! Mr. Garrett is a true expert in the subject of inline sixes and was a pleasure to talk to, or rather, listen to.

As far as '40 Chevy updates, progress has been slow. I've been keeping in contact with my grandpa via daily evening telephone calls, and he hasn't had much time to work on the car. He was able to go pick up our grille from the chromers which he says "shines like a full moon in the night sky", but otherwise not much has got done. That's fine though because it's really a project for "us" not just him. I can't wait to get back there, finish it up and "break in" those rear tires!

Only three more months!

Pete

Good to hear from you Pete. Glad you are hooked up with Inliners back there. It will help your Dad sleep nights next year.

"Only three more months." Remember if you get homesick we are just a keyboard away. Were you at the game yesterday?

The North Central Picnic was a good time for all who came the distance to Westerville, and that was a good number. We were missing Big Bill and Tom Langdon and Elmer Stange and some more, but the machinery was interesting to see and hear, the food was first-rate, and the conversations went on for hours. Pete was soaking up every word, and he is showing himself to be a fine young man in every way, one we were glad to have in the house.

For his annual seminar on makin' 'em run and keepin' 'em runnin', Bob Garrett had 11-inch clutches (and a 139-tooth flywheel!), 500 cfm two-barrel Holley carburetors with conventional and progressive venturis, and two different McGurk camshafts for 235/261 Chevrolets. Bob and Alice do some heavy lifting to make the annual picnic happen for the pleasure and education of North Central Inliners, and all of us are grateful for their labour.

We are all glad that Pete has joined us in the North Central region, and we hope he will stick around when Purdue is through with him. He's learning every day. Wherever he is, he will be an asset.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

Beater: I am to. It was really nice to finally make some contacts with people who share interests with me. Here at school, it seems like the main interests revolve around video games and anything wearing a skirt. Not so much vintage automobiles. I had a great time and am very grateful that Don gave me the opportunity to join him.

Don: All I can say is thank you! I don't plan on leaving any time soon. I like it around here. The "hard-working" and "self-sufficient" mentality, as well as the many job opportunities in the automotive field, make this a place that I would be pleased to call home. I'll be here as long as you guys will let me!

Thanks!

Pete

"anything wearing a skirt" Glad you didn't go to San Francisco State.

Lmao beater thats holarious you know what skirts i really like?

The ones covering rear wheels;)

Hahaha! You guys are too funny!

Thanks!

Pete

Pete how are things going buddy? Getting close to winter break its coming fast!!

Can't wait for you to be back in the shop

I am sure i can soeak for all of us when i say that we need updates!!!

Happy inlining!

Josh!

I'm doing just fine! I'm alive anyway, so I can't complain too much! They've been keeping me pretty busy around here lately, that's for sure!

Updates on the car (sorry, I haven't been keeping up):

Grandpa's been working on it slow but sure. Over the last few months, he's mounted all the fenders, lights, chrome, running boards and glass. He's also taken it over to the muffler shop to get an exhaust system built with dual 22" Smithy's. He says it quiet, but sound pretty good! Hopefully the glass packs will burn in a little because I want the thing loud! We've also got our upholsterer working on the interior, so that's coming along nicely.

As of now, Gramps is neck deep in a tangle of wires trying to hook everything up right. Probably one of the most tedious tasks on the car, but he'll get it figured out!

Anyhow, like I said it's coming along slow but sure! I can't wait to get back home over Winter Break and go to work. Only 5 weeks away! I'm sure Gramps is ready for a little help too! I think about both him and the car constantly. All of my classmates say that I talk way too much - both about my Grandpa and the car. They're probably right, I'm just having kind of a tough time being cooped up in this 11x11 box pounding on this computer all the time! Memories and thoughts of the future are what's been getting me by. They don't have to for much longer though!

Stay tuned, because things will be getting pretty interesting here in the next few weeks! Oh boy!

Here's all the pictures I have of it. More's been done since then:







Thanks!

Pete

P.S. Josh! You're Jimmy is coming along real nice! Congratulations!

When you are done with Gramps there is a '26 Chevy roadster here to build.

Glad you had a great time at the North Central picnic. The guys there have forgot more than a lot of people will ever know when it comes to inlines. I am sorry that I wasn't there this year but hope to make it next year. My wife hasn't been able to walk since Sept 8 of 2012 but she is to under go surgery later this month and we hope by Spring she will be her old mean self and can travel. Don thanks for the kind mention it felt good to know I was missed. Did you ever find your title?
Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to All

I look forward to meeting you next year, Big Bill! I hope all is well with you and your wife.

Well folks, the day we have been waiting for has finally come! Winter Break! Grandpa and I had our teary eyed reunion this morning. We have a grand total of 4 weeks to finish the car as well as roll around in the filth and soot covering the shop floor - something I have been looking forward to for the last 4 months! Work will resume as soon as the car is finished at the upholsterer some time next week.

More pictures are soon to come, however for now, I'll leave you with this:



It's great to be home!

Pete

P.S. Thanks for bearing with me guys! We'll be back on the intended topic of this thread shortly!

Sweet! How's May 30th song go again. "Back home again in Indiana".
Where's Jim Nabors when you need him.

Good to hear from you Pete. That first hitch away at school is the toughest. Now you know how it works. Wednesday I became a granddad! I hope I last long enough to work on a car with him. Meanwhile I got a space cleared in the shop for the roadster just on time to fill it with my youngest son's broken Saturn. I got it finished yesterday and now my wife's Jeep needs attention, then the flatbed and the '53. Sometime in the Spring maybe?
I hope you get a bunch done on the '40. Maybe Grandpa needs to drive it around for a while to work the bugs out.

Well gentlemen, Gramps and I have spent the last week and a half twiddling our thumbs while the upholstery guys, I guess, are doing the same. We're still not sure why it's taking them so long. Hopefully they'll have it done some time before I go back to school, or die of old age. As of now, no more pictures of the car, or family photo shoots for that matter. Just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and let you know that we're still here.

Drew:
Where's Jim Nabors? Why, there he is!
Back Home again in Indiana California!

Beater:
Good deal then! The worst hitch away is over with! It will never be easy, but we all have got to leave the nest at some point! Most of us anyway...

Holy toledo, Beater! That's got to feel great! A whole hearted congratulations from both me and my father. I'm sure you will last plenty long to get a car project in with him. You've seen what it looks like in my case, so make it happen! What a lucky young lad. It really is quite a blessing to have such great grandfathers like yourself. It will shape his whole life, just like it did mine.

Haha! I know the feeling. There's always something to be done! In our case, we had a little better timing. My grandpa, my father and I have been working on my dad's 1952 Dodge M37 Power Wagon while the '40 Chevy is away. This military 3/4 ton has been a continuous project for the last 2 years. There's always some bug in it. Kind of a funny story. We bought it in "restored," "perfect," and "flawless" condition but still have only driven it 50 or so miles. Most of them being put on while winching it on a trailer. Many a time have we declared it fixed only to have it die at a stoplight in the middle of town or something. It's the gift that just keeps giving. A real head scratcher. You'll get to it at some point. Think of it this way, you can't work on an old car if you don't have a reliable one to do parts house runs in!

Merry Christmas!

Pete

Thanks for sharing with us!

Hey Pete, Just enjoy the time. We are in Ventura with the new grandson. It was in the 70s here on Christmas Day. We worked on my wire's Jeep in the driveway on Christmas Eve. Not like home!
My dad and I went to Tijuna in 1961 to have my '38 Ford coupe upholstered. It took 3 days and cost $60. The whole thing black tuck-n-roll and carpets. What a fun trip from Northern California to TJ and back. I was 16.

Believe me! Any time that is not spent doing schoolwork is heaven to me! I love it. It's nice to have some time off. That's got to be nice, spending Christmas with the new grandson. Did you get the Jeep fixed?

Love those stories! Love the road trips too!

Well, we dragged the Chevy home today! Finally done! The seats look magnificent. There are a few small rough spots that may need to be redone, but I'll hold my tongue for now! We can have them fixed later. At long last, I got to drive the thing! I off loaded the car from the trailer under it's own power and took the long way to turn it around and put it into the shop. I also got to put my foot into it and it definitely set me back in the seat a little bit. Loads of power! I love it! It's going to be a fantastic car! I also fiddled with the carburetors so it would idle okay and took this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWLV3D3GeF8&feature=youtu.be

Here's the pictures from the day. Not much left to be done!







Back in Business!

Thanks!

Pete

That is the bluest car I have ever seen. You picked the best color for your '40. Upholstery looks good and it sounds great. How old were you the last time you gave grandpa a kiss? Sneak up on him and do it again. That man is a winner!

Christmas was really great. A grandchild is truly special. I hope Hank and I can build something. For now I'll get my kicks watching you and your grandpa.

Very cool! Rap that thing. I really like that you had the seats done in a more traditional style.

Haha! It sure is! Hopefully the hubcaps will knock it down a bit. Definitely a very blue car!

We almost had the entire seats done with that greenish fabric. I'm glad we put some leather around the edges because it is kind of flimsy otherwise. I think it looks better too. Works well with that blue!

Progress from the last two days: Gramps has been busy so I have been in the shop alone. Naturally, I spent a good portion of that time sitting behind the wheel making "vroom" noises and shifting gears. But other than that I was able to make some covers for the rear shock absorber mounts and finish things up on the dash board.

Next big things to tackle are the flywheel cover on the underside of the bell housing and putting our temperature sensor in which requires an entire drain and refill of the water jacket. I also need to fit the chrome pieces to the front of the grill and the windshield divider. Then after that there is some wires to clean up and route properly. We have a cool shifter knob on the way. Some steering wheel work needs to be done. I also have plans for a modern radio behind the vintage screen and buttons. Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera. Beater, how does your HAMB signature go? "Real hot rods are black (or blue ), a few are shiny, none are finished!" We still have lots to do, but hey, when I went in this morning and started it up, it fired first crank and never faltered. I love this car!









Thanks!

Pete

That really looks nice!
Real hot rods are black. Real hot rodders are usually black and blue with skinned knuckles. If you think your hot rod is finished sell it to someone else and see what he thinks.

Haha. Very true. Your right, real hot rods are black. As far as I'm concerned, this car ain't leaving the family for as long as I can help it.

Well, no pictures from today; only news. Boy do I have news though. We took the Chevy on the road for the first time today! I drove it to a nearby gas station and back. It ran beautifully. There are a few rattles here and there, and the gas pedal is a little sticky (nothing to do with my twitchy right foot) but it's awesome! The one thing that struck me is how short the transmission gaps are. It's not a problem, it'll just keep the RPM's up. When the engine gets a little more broken in I can really give it the beans and get a feel for what it's going to be like when accelerating. For now, short trips around town will be the extent of things. Great car and lots of fun to be had! Let the break-in and breakdowns begin!

Thanks!

Pete

When do you go back to school? Are you taking the '40?

Great car (just tuning in), great story too! I'm looking forward to any more updated you have!

That clock in the glovebox door is sweeeet!

I go back on January 12th, so this Sunday. I'm making the best of it! It tears me apart to say it, but as of now it doesn't look like I'll ever be taking the Chevy back to Purdue with me. Dad wants a roll cage and 4 point seat belts for safety (and dually so) and Grandpa doesn't for originality sake. We are in a bit of a debacle. I'll keep working on both of them and see what comes of it. A bit of a bummer right now though.

Thanks Jager! We got that clock working when we took it out, but it isn't running right now for some reason. We'll get it sorted out. I love it too.

More progress from today: We hooked up the defroster and leaked about half a gallon of hot water under the brand new carpets in the car. Turns out that it was the input and output tubes being bent out of round. After re-rounding those we put it back in and don't think it's leaking any more. (Crossed fingers on that one.) Later we played around with the distributor and timing for a while. We still don't have it quite right though. Hey Beater, how do you time your pickup? We took our timing light and adjusted it so it was all lined up on the flywheel and it made it run like crap. It must be this new gasoline. Right now, we have it timed by ear, but it's not perfect. Anyone got any advice? Lastly, we did a tappet adjustment so now the rockers are not clattering anymore. .012 on the intakes and .020 on the exhaust according to a friend of ours. Does that sound about right?

We did a little more driving today and got a feel for how the car will do in traffic. We are okay temperature wise, but the head loads up pretty quick. Not a horrible thing, it just gave me an excuse to rev the motor every once and a while and do jackrabbit starts out of stoplights, but it's something to work on. We still have some adjustments to make on the carburetor so maybe leaning out the mixture a little bit will help. Lots of adjustments to make! As of now though, we're super happy with how things are going! No explosions or catastrophic failures yet (knocking on wood!)

Thanks!

Pete

P.S. Hey Beater! Any more news on your Roadster, or other members of the fleet for that matter?

Pete, It sounds like the three of you have some "safety" issues to sort out. I'm not getting into that one.

There are two marks on the flywheel, a round one and a triangle. One is TDC the other is ignition timing. I forget which is which right now. I time mine by ear and keep playing with it until it runs right or I get sick of playing. My valve lash is less than what you are using.

I had a place cleaned in the shop for the roadster then my son's car quit and I put a new transfer case in it. Then my wife's Jeep has had a few problems. I did get a window and new heater core in the '68 flatbed. It makes winter driving more pleasant. I hope the get the roadster inside for a beginning mock up by the end of the month. I need to see how close things are to fitting and matching the picture in my head. Hope to have a roller sometime this summer.

Safety... We all have our own opinions. No use trying to change them.

I had it timed for the round mark on the flywheel, so I would assume that's the one for ignition timing. I haven't seen the triangle come around when using the timing light. You're right though. We're better off to time by ear.

Well that's got to feel good getting the rest of that stuff sorted out! It shows the skills of a truly versatile mechanic; you can fix both old and new(er)! You should start up a thread for your roadster once things get moving on it. I'm sure I'm not the only one raring to see that thing come together! We can trade spots for a change. I may not be able to provide any wisdom like what you've been dishing out, but I can post plenty of "good job!"s and feel-good comments!

Progress on the '40 has been exclusively tuning and testing. Lots of anal and time consuming work. I love it. After spending hours upon hours working on the timing, I realized that the vacuum advance was not working, so I tore the vacuum advance off of the 216 Chevy that came out of the car and slapped it on to the GMC distributor. It works great! Gramps and I are happy with how it's running now. It does have a bit of a flat spot when you rev it up from idle, but that's probably just going to be the nature of it since we have such a big cam in it. It's not horrible, but it's something to work on. We also finally got some air filters for the thing which look nice. As I get more used to car, I have been able to drive it more vigorously - just testing the waters to see what it'll do. I'll tell ya though, that car goes! After we put the distributor back in this afternoon with it's new vacuum advance, grandpa and I took it out with him behind the wheel. He stuffed his foot into it pretty far coming out of a stop light and it ripped through all 4 gears no problem leaving both of us laughing like school girls. Grandpa's still got it!

Well, with 2 more days left in my much anticipated Christmas break, things are beginning to wind down for me. Shop time may become increasingly sparse, but I'm going to use the '40 as my daily driver until I leave to see what comes of it. The way I see things, if I've got two days left, the time is no where better spent than in the seat of that car - running or not.

Thanks!

Pete

Good news Pete. Yes, Vacuum advance is good on a street engine.
I hope to have the roadster in the shop for the initial mock up in the next few weeks. I'd love to have a rolling chassis by end of Summer. We'll see.
The thought f the two of you bombing around in the '40 makes me laugh. Thanks.

Great! That's got to be exciting! Keep us posted!

Progress from today was good, then bad, then good, then bad again. Haha. We started out the day with it running fine and we just roared around town listening for things to tune up and fixing them. Grandpa took off to go hunting around 2:00, unfortunately I couldn't because I need to get ready to go. He'll be back tomorrow though. After he left, I took it out to go see my high school metal shop teacher who was a big fan of the project. It sputtered and died on me shortly after leaving the shop. After pushing it back down the street I realized that the carburetor bowls were empty. When I tried to pull the big bolt out of the top of the carburetor thinking I could put a funnel in it to fill the bowls I promptly turned the wrench the wrong way and stripped all the threads out of the hole. I swear, sometimes I wish I had a different brain... After a few choice words and some failed attempts in screwing in the bolt, I mixed up a batch of JB Weld and slathered it on there. I'll try to re cut the threads tomorrow morning. I also put some over a hole in the welds on the exhaust manifold. Fingers crossed that both of them will hold!

I'll get back on it in the morning! In the mean time, take a look at our new shift knob and key chain!



Thanks!

Pete

Pete here's how you tune that thing.
Jimmy Tune Up

By the way I had an old shop manual out today and the valve lash on a stock GMC is .012 and .020.

That is so cool! Love the blue flames! Haha!

Great! Thanks a bunch! I ought to get an old GMC shop manual. I have one for Chevrolets, but I don't think it ever quite set in that if you put a GMC engine in a Chevrolet, it's not a Chevrolet anymore. It's a Chevrolet with a GMC engine in it. Need two shop manuals.

Well, that does it for the Christmas Break marathon! We got lots done and had a heck of a time doing it! On our last day together we cut new threads in the JB weld on our carburetor and screwed our cap back in. The threads turned out to be some oddball type, 11/16 - 18 or something, but the 5/8-18 we cut allowed it to get started, then it just cut it's own threads from then on. It is sealed up good for the time being, but I will almost certainly do it right when I get back. After that, we blew all the fuel lines out and pulled the gas tank to clean it and replace the fuel gauge sensor. After dropping the tank, I realized that it was surprisingly light. The tank was empty! All this fuss and I just ran it out of gas! Again, sometimes I wish I had a different brain. Anyhow, we put our new gas tank sensor in, which still didn't fix the gas gauge problem (I'm beginning to think that the actual gauge is broken), put a gallon of gasoline in and started it right up! Whew! It was just out of gas! Problem solved! Don't you just love those moments? You feel so stupid for running it out of gas (and breaking everything you touch when trying to fix it) then you feel so relieved because it was just an empty tank all along. Haha. Oh vintage automobiles, you bring out the best in all of us.

For now, I'll leave you guys with this picture. Taken only an hour or so before my "moment of genius", while the car still had gas and was running strong! A grin from ear to ear. At long last, "She's a runner!"



Sorry for the late update. I just finished my first week back in school. Looks like it's going to be another rough semester. Bring it on, I can now rest assured that our '40 Chevy runs and drives!

Start the count down until Spring Break! 55 days until March 17th!

Thanks again and happy Martin Luther King day!

Pete

You guys did a great job in a short time. Now you can join the rest of us and drive it around a break stuff. The cars that are not yet finished are under construction, The rest are under destruction.

Haha! That's a good one! You ought to start a book of those!

Well, gramps and a friend have been busy on the car since my departure. They were able to fix the infamous fuel gauge, which just turned out to be a burnt up wire inside of the gauge itself. Then they were able to undercoat the car! It is now rust-proofed for even the most brutal winter that California can throw at it. Haha. It's a little overkill... Lastly, they bought 3 (the 4th is on back order) hubcaps, so now the lower end has a little shine! Either way, gramps has just been ironing out the bugs and running it around whenever he's got time. So far, lady luck has been treating us well during the break-in process, but I'm sure Murphy's Law will kick in at some point here. We're just enjoying the time while we can.

No pictures for now, but I'll post 'em as soon as I get 'em!

Thanks!

Pete

Man, You left the keys with old guys? They'll be hauling old women around with hair bluer than the car. You'll never get the old people smell out of that thing. I guess he deserves to have some fun in it. After all it was his '40 Chevy memories that caused it to happen in the first place.

I'm back! I know I said previously that Spring Break (March) would be the next Chevy fun-fest, but like usual school and grades got in the way of that. Anyhow, now I'm back for a brief Summer break! I've been home for 2 weeks and have 3 left before I go back for Summer School (then a Co-Op building old Detroit Diesel Engines in the Fall!!!)

I've been using the Chevy as my daily driver for the last two weeks and I have to say, up until about 4 days ago, it was doing real well! It ran okay (besides a big flat spot when you put your foot into it) and did fine putting around town! We put a set of Zenith adjustable main jets (available at CarbsOnly in L.A.) in it about 4 days ago and that's when the problems began. After fiddling around with the tuning myself for ages, we had a friend of ours (who used to be a GM mechanic) take a look at it. He tightening up the bolt holding the points from flopping all over the place and had the motor running like a song in no time! Better than ever! Before leaving, he did add that the distributors on these motors were lousy and that ours was getting pretty warn out. Sure enough, the next night after the car was cleaned, prepped, fluids topped off, jankey tachometer installed for the 2 hour drive to San Jose for the Bay Area Inliners International Annual Picnic & Car Show, something changed in the distributor and the car started running like a one-legged cow again. It was too late to do any more tuning, so grandpa and I admitted defeat and loaded it on the trailer for the Car Show. That kinda ruined my whole "cars are meant to be driven! No trailer queen here!" rant I had worked up for the Picnic. Anyhow, I did put up a sign at the show that said "Need Mallory Distributor!" and within 30 minutes of arriving I already had one bought from one of the many nice people there. That's where we are now! Waiting on a fancy new distributor to arrive in the mail. For now I'll have to be content with hitching rides from grandpa and the parents in their new-fangled machinery. What a bore! :-)

Real quick, because I know I've written way to much already, I have to give a shout out to all the nice people from the Bay Area Inliners for giving me such a warm welcome to the club. This club has treated me so well I cannot thank you enough for letting me take part. It's more than just an automobile club to me, it's like a second family!

Thanks all!

Pete

Are you bringing it to "Rappin' to Minden" on June 7th? That's the Northern Nevada Inliner show. We'd like to see the '40, and you too. Did you get the point style or the electronic Mallory?

We will see! I'd sure love to! I've got a week and a half then to fix the Chevy which should be plenty of time.

Alright, I've got some questions for you guys pertaining to the Mallory, and another distributor (Pertronix Flame Thrower II). Here goes: Our friend from the Bay Area Inliners sent us a Mallory Duel Point Distributor AND a Pertronix Flame Thrower II distributor (I was under the impression that the Pertronix deal was a bolt-on electronic ignition for the Mallory; I was wrong. Turned out to be a whole other distributor.) I personally would like to use the Mallory for nostalgic reasons, however I need help (1) adapting it to fit the GMC and (2) converting it over to electronic ignition for reliability purposes.

My first question pertains to fitting the Mallory to the 270 GMC engine. In the instructions (Pictures 2 & 3) they do not mention anything about how to hold the drive gear to the distributor shaft. Do we have to drill a hole through and press a pin through like the collar above it? Any crafty tricks to keep us from screwing this up?

My second question is about the Mallory conversion to electronic ignition. Ours is the duel-point "Double-Life" model. Can this conversion be done with these distributors? I've heard of it being done with other distributors, I just was wondering if anyone has done this with a Mallory?

Anyhow, for now I'll live with the new-fangled Pertronix rig because it is something we can just bolt in and run. It's already set up and ready to go. The Mallory will go in eventually but for now, I need my daily driver back!

1. Full Kit


2. Distributor & Gear Instructions


3. Drive Gear Instructions


4. Spark Plug Installation Instructions


5. Degree Key Instructions


6. Installation - Page 1


7. Installation - Page 2


8. Original Box & Stickers


Thanks and it's good to be back!

Pete

Pete there ya are was wondering when you'd show up again!

Chevy and GMC distributers are the same. The double life has 3 lobes to run two sets of alternating points so each set does half the work and last twice as long. That may make it harder to convert to electronics. If there is no hole on the shaft you'll have to drill one. Depending on what your cam is made of you may want to use a bronze gear. In my opinion the dependability issue with points and electronics is a toss up. When electronics work it is superior and needs little attention. When it isn't being superior you are stuck where you are. Carry and extra module.

Thanks for posting the pictures. I've never seen the instructions and the little red thingy is interesting. I assume it is used to hold things in place while setting the points. I am finishing up converting a double life for a Pontiac V8 to use on my Chevy 4 cylinder. I'll just use one set of points. I really like the looks of the old Mallory 2 piece cap units. I am running a Mallory unilite on my GMC. It has left me on the side of the road twice.

Thanks for the info Beater. I guess I'll just stick with the old points then. Makes my life a whole lot easier!

Today was a good day. Not only because we got a bunch done on another car my dad and I are working on, but because we got a bunch done on the Chevy too!

My plan for this evening was to just swap the old distributor for the new Pertronix "Flame Thrower" distributor to see if how the car would run. It should have been a bolt-in deal. However, when I dropped the new distributor in, the dang thing was so huge that it wouldn't even come close to being able to fit without major modifications to the side cover. (Should've seen that coming!) After that, I stared at that pretty Mallory Distributor for a little while and finally decided to go ahead and hack it to bits.

First off was drilling the hole to fasten the drive gear on the distributor shaft. It was nerve racking, but my little setup (pictured below) did a pretty good job of holding it level and steady.

Secondly I had to chuck the whole distributor into the lathe to cut a place for the clamp to mount. Again, very nerve racking because I only took off the cap and rotor! Everything else was flopping around!

Then, without too much hassle, the distributor slipped into place locking into both the cam shaft and oil pump! No sweat!

Today was a mechanics dream. The normal problems were encountered while trying to assemble bits, however nothing went catastrophically wrong! No "one step forward and two steps backwards." All steps forward today. I love it!











Thanks!

Pete

P.S. I thought I'd throw in this lovely letter we got a few days ago from our neighbors. They were sure happy with me tuning the Jimmy after midnight! Hilarious, because they were the ones that decided to live next to a farm!

Good work.
That note is priceless! You need to invite them over for supper. They might become more understanding. Maybe not.

Nice work Pete!
My closest neighbor is a mine/gravel operation about a mile away.I can hear the noise from Highway 50 four miles away. Noise is relative. I love people who move to the country and bitch about dirt and noise and hunting . Last month a dirt bag dirt biker came about 1 1/2 miles past the NO TRESPASSING signs. He had a helmet cam and evidently the shots I fired(not in his direction) came up on the sound track. He assumed that I was shooting at him and went to the law in his county, the line is about 3 miles from here. They wanted my county to charge me with assault with a deadly weapon. I told my side to a deputy from our county . He visited the dirt biker and told him that he had videoed himself trespassing and if he returned he would be arrested. He said he knew I didn't shoot at the guy because there were no holes in him. I love my county! I don't need neighbors I have no social skills. A rancher friend here got complaints from new neighbors when he started bailing hay at 4 AM. It has to be done that way here to keep some moisture in the hay. They kept complaining about everything so he built new pens as close as he could get to their house to use when he weened his calves. He did it one calf at a time for weeks and weeks. How big is your farm? Maybe a flat track around the inside of the fence would be fun.

Great stories! I love it when the accused people come back to thumb their nose at the complainers! Good for you!

Our vineyard is just under 6 acres. Pretty small however, it and the house were here before California even became a state! Grandpa has owned it since the 70's. Over the years, housing developments have creeped in and surrounded the place. We now get complaints about dust, noise, sulfuring etc. regularly. The only difference is here, the law is NOT on our side! What used to be a small town has now become a medium size city, and we are in the middle of it! The battle continues, however during legal hours I always love to burn a few hot laps around the vineyard in a junkyard VW I got when I was 13 (which is the only car that consistently will start up and run around here!) It's good fun! Not as good as weening calfs though! Haha!

Well, all that good luck and "mechanic's dream" bull crap yesterday came back to bite me today. We got the rest of the distributor hooked up and tried it out. No spark. We pulled the distributor and put it in a distributor tester to find that the 60 year old points had corroded and messed up the contacts. A little points filing and the distributor went back in. Spark now, but not in the right order. Back out with the distributor to check that we were actually lined up with TDC on the number 1 cylinder. We played with that for a few hours until I realized that we had mistaken the TDC bead in the flywheel for the clutch bolts! Haha, watch for that! 7 TDC marks on the flywheel is bad! Back in with the distributor for the millionth time. Still not fixed. Check the condenser - cracked! Replace with condenser from old distributor. No difference! Fiddle with TDC distributor alignment some more. Finally, we gave it to our friend (the retired GM mechanic) to put back on his distributor tester for further testing. Now I'm going to stay up all night thinking about it. Woohoo!

Well Beater, I was really hoping to be able to say, "Count us in for the Rappin' to Minden" show next weekend, but I can't get it there unless it runs and I'm sure not going through the shame of trailering it again if we don't at least try to drive a little ways. No promises yet, but know that we're trying!

Thanks!

Pete

Pete, After what you and your Grandfather have done I am confident that you will have it running. It's got to be something simple but sometimes that's the hardest stuff to find. Are you running 6 or 12 volt? 12 will require the right condenser and a ballast resistor I think.

Pete, you have inherited your Grandpop's never say die attitude of his generation, so I agree with Beater, you'll have your '40 running again soon I bet.
And, yeah, we have the same farmer problems in south Jersey as you as more and more acreage is consumed for housing.

Thanks guys, I'm sure we'll get it eventually. We may have a completely different distributor, but we'll get this sucker to run sometime in the next 100 years! Thank you for the encouragement!

We spent another day in the shop today jacking around again. Same problem. Tests fine on the distributor machine, but acts erratically on the car. We threw the old original distributor back in the car to see whether another problem had popped up since we started messing with it, but the car started up and ran just fine. There's something wrong in that distributor and we'll find it eventually!

The plan for this evening is to send it back home with our retired GM mechanic friend who will throw them in his distributor tester to compare the degrees of ignition on each of the distributors. Maybe that's the problem! Or maybe the gear we have on the Mallory has the wrong ratio and is spinning the distributor out of sync with the engine.

The possibilities are endless!

Thanks!

Pete

Well pete did you get it running? Are you headed to minden?

Rappin' to Minden is tomorrow and I don't have the trophy made yet!

I hope to make it next year and to the convention next year

speak to your neighbour nicely, many years ago I used explosives to cut fire wood, & found out my neighbour was suffering from War nerves. Every time I did a shot , he thought it was a hand grenade. After that I would tell him when I was going to do it. we became friends, he even came wood collecting. So long as he was prepared for the noise he was ok. He died recently in a nursing home with dementia reliving the horrors of war(many ex servicemen do) Not a nice way to go, even in his last days he had no peace, battles end , scars of war last forever.

I'm sorry guys. I was not able to get the Chevy running. I still haven't! We cannot figure out what's wrong with the distributor. The Mallory is still over at our friend's house. I haven't heard from him lately, but don't really want to push it because he's doing this as a favor.

I've only got a few days left of my vacation before I have to go back to school for the summer. It ain't looking good for the Chevy as of now. Maybe our best bet is to throw one of the Pertronix electronic ignition kits into either the 216 Chevy distributor or the original 270 GMC distributor (whichever is the least worn out) and run it for now! I'm at a loss for what to do. That Mallory sure has us stumped though.

As for the neighbors, none of them leave their names or any sort of contact information for us. I wish I could come and talk to them or show them the car! They might lighten up if I did. ccjowett, that's a great story. I'm glad you two were able to work it out! War nerves are a scary thing. At least now he's in a place where he won't have to relive those nightmares.

Thanks!

Pete

A Pertronix unit s not a ba deal at all, especially if you have a spare module in the glove box. Will you have another break at the end of Summer?

Pete , I've had pertronix in my 216 for about 12 yrs , NO issues

Pete , I've had pertronix in my 216 for about 12 yrs , NO issues

It's nice to hear good things about the Pertronix. Seems like a solid rig.

Well, we finally got the Mallory back from our friend who found nothing had changed. We threw it back in for giggles and of course it didn't work. We finally gave in and threw the complete Pertronix distributor in. We had to beat in a spot on the side cover (which was painful) for it to fit, but now with the distributor in, it's not noticeable. The car runs good now! I'm just a little sore about ruining the whole "Period Correct Hotrod" deal. At least it runs!

Well, I'm back in school again! At least the weather is a little better this time around. I do have a little break at the end of summer, Beater! I've got a week off, thankfully! How much is going to get done on the Chevy is questionable however, because Grandpa will be up in Idaho for the annual trip and in desperate need of a Co-Driver (other than the dog) for the long journey back to California. Also, I am going to need a few days of that to get back over to Byesville, OH in order to start a 5-term Co-Op (similar to an internship) rebuilding big diesel engines for Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing in the Fall!

At this point, Christmas is looking like the next big Chevy fun fest! I'm sure now that it's running a little better however, grandpa will take it out for a spin every once in a while. It really is a fabulous car to drive. I wish I could have showed it to you all.

Thanks again, guys! You're the best!

Peter Gray

Old Chevys will be around forever. The time for a young man to spend having fun with his grandfather is limited. It sounds like an easy choice to me.

Don't get rid of the Mallory it is something simple. I have an undented side cover you can have when you figure it out. Are you sure you have the right coil and condenser? Does it have 3 or 6 lobes? If it has 6 you can run it on one set of points. Some of them take a condenser for each set of points.

Big news folks! You wouldn't believe the trip that Grandpa Jim and I got to take just a few days ago. He and I were missing each other and were looking for an excuse to get back together and decided to sign up last minute for an event called "The Great Race" put on by Coker Tire, Hemmings Motor News, Hagerty Auto Insurance, Reliable Carriers and many other classic car-associated companies! The Great Race is an annual time-trial event for Pre-1972 vehicles which this year traveled along old Route 66 from St. Louis, MO to Los Angeles, CA. In short, it's "the trip of a lifetime you can take every year!"

So, 2 weeks ago my parents trailered our 1940 Chevy to St. Louis, grandpa flew in from California and I flew in from Ohio (where I've been working as an Engineer for Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing between school semesters at Purdue University in Indiana.) And we set off on the trip of a lifetime! Nine days traveling over 2400 miles! Most of which on the old Route 66!

The picture below shows our stops!



I am so proud of our 1940 Chevrolet because it made it all the way without a single break-down of any sort! The only failures was a nut coming loose on our generator mount causing the rear end of the generator to wobble slightly and the window crank falling off from the bumps - which I popped back on immediately!

The first few legs of the trip were a cake-walk! The weather was mild and the roads were nice all the way through until we hit Amarillo, TX. I was the driver, and grandpa was the navigator. Then it started getting hot. Really hot. Once it got up over 100, grandpa begin having internal pains, heart problems, trouble breathing, and had to step out to ride in the Support Truck (with A/C!) He stepped out for 3 days from Gallup, NM to to San Bernardino, CA and re-joined me for the final leg from San Bernardino to Santa Monica to take the checkered flag!

I hated to have to run without him, however those three days were the hottest days I had ever braved. Gallup, NM to Flagstaff, AZ was toasty - pushing it's way well over 100, however the leg from Flagstaff, AZ to Lake Havasu, AZ was downright flabbergasting. 119 degrees Fahrenheit in the tiny high desert town of Oatman, AZ almost put me in my grave, but the old GMC "Buzzin' Half-Dozen" didn't even stutter. It even towed a broken-down 1939 LaSalle uphill for a while then down the interstate at +60 MPH! (trying to bump-start them) Lake Havasu to San Bernardino was also near 105 which is just ridiculous, but Ol' Blue still fired us down the interstate at +80 MPH for around 20 miles when we were threatening to be late for a checkpoint! The temp gauge never once nudged over 190, the car ran dead smooth at idle and like a Raped-Ape at full throttle after it's daily tune-up to accommodate for the near 7000 foot elevation chances we experienced.

I have some big thank-you's to issue to the guys on this site and all the people in this club, because without you I wouldn't have been able to build what is now my most proudest masterpiece. That hopped-up 270 GMC torn from the clutches of a junkyard in Springfield, OR making an estimated 180 HP and 300 ftlb of torque would have never come to existence without all your help.

What I have to thank you the most for, however is a side-effect of this project. The memories my grandfather and I have made working on, and driving, this car - which will last a lifetime. My Papa's years are numbered and it's been really tough on the both of us with me being gone so much lately. The odds of me returning to the West any time soon are very low, so any time we can spend together is cherished. This experience is one that both of us will take to our deathbeds.

Thank you.

Way to go Pete. I'm glad you all got to finish the trip.That is really cool! Thanks for letting us watch you and your Granddad build that thing. It was fun to watch.

I've been on old 66 from Chicago to the Santa Monica Pier though not in one trip. We made several trips from Amarillo west and home again. Most of them included at least one breakdown. One was with my brother in his '39 Ford when he was 18 and I was 13. Several were with my son in his '54 Stude. One was with my dad in a '52 Dodge pickup pulling and big trailer loaded with our worldly goods. There was one in a '48 International K Model farm truck. I'm planning a Texas trip for July right now but it won't have an old car involved. Put me on the road and I'm a happy guy.

Great trip Peter. We went from Chicago to Santa Monica in May of this year and know all the spots you mentioned. The weather was much nicer than what you had to handle. 3 couples driving a '62 Stude wagon, a 1956 Chev sedan and my 1965 Malibu. But all were V8 cars. Doing that with your grandfather will be a lifelong memory. So glad the car worked real good for you.

Somehow I missed these posts about the trip. Great experiences you can't take away! Glad that you shared it with us.

I just noticed this myself...Congratulations Peter on a great trip and I'm sure, fantastic memories with your Grand Dad. Just outstanding!

Thanks for sharing
Paul