1948 GMC - Bench Seat

The hood is now complete and mounted on the truck. There still needs to be some small adjusting but even where it is, I am very happy with the way the truck is looking.

When putting the two hood halves together, I managed to get in those semi-tubular rivets and spent a few minutes figuring them out. And to this, I have decided to use small #10 metal screws to secure the two halves together.

The problem with the semi-tubular rivets is to get them compressed enough, not just to hold the metal together, but to look good as well. Now it might be because I was working with stainless rivets but I could not get them compressed to where I wanted them... For that matter, did not even try it on the hood.

After figuring out first what size of rivet I would be using, grabbed the hand squeezer with 18 inch handles and gave it a try... With all the force I could mustered up, I could just got them to compress all the way and still, the finish was not what I was hopping for. And this was not even with the hood in the same room. This was just me trying to squeeze one simple rivet down... There is no way... Needless to say, to try this with the hood, something would get messed up and the end product would be a disaster. So away with the 'semi-tubular rivets' and hello mr. screws.

As for the GMC emblems, I have picked them up from the chrome shop and now have them bolted in place. For the most part, I am happy with the chrome job. There are a few small pits still visible, but seeing these things are pot metal, the out come is way cool. They will be getting all the work on the '36 Buick when that time comes. Oh yea. While there picking up the emblems, they let me walk through the shop some and that was also way cool.

I did on the other hand mess up the finish on the hood when securing the emblems... Back when the original metal work was done on the hood, I managed to welded in a hole that was needed to bolt on the side emblems... As to messing up the finish, one of the small drill bits I was using to make a starting place, broke! This letting go of the pressure of the drill and with a broken bit still in the drill.... Scratch! --- Oh, well. Just have to sand it out and do some touch up work. This not being the first, and will not be the last.

Now away from the hood, the running boards are now done and bolted on along with the step plates being polished out. Will most likely have to pull them back off when the time comes to bolt on the rear fenders, but at least this way, they are out of the way.

As for what I am working on now is the bed of the truck... Another turning point in this restoration project.

This last week I got in a big order of freight parts. This being the two bed sides, rear fenders, tail gate, bumpers, front grill and a few other parts. All of which were ordered through Classic Parts and no damage done during shipping and would your believe that the freight on this was $180. Apparently after paying $120 for the first bed side, the rest were included for just $60. Great price if you ask me!

So this week, I will be working on the bed sides getting them ready to paint. As of now, I have spent one evening sanding and this evening will be spent with the media blaster. From there, a good clean up, wipe down and then a good coat of self etching primer. After that, drill in new wholes for the rear fender, seeing none were punched... Then priming and sanding...

March 10, 2010

For the last week or so, most of the time spent on the truck has been in sanding on the hood and getting it ready to paint.

Originally, when the hood was taken off the truck the two halves where taken apart long with the spot welds on the back brace drilled out so that all the rust could be addressed.

The two sides of the hood were held together by tubular rivets. These were simply drilled out and the two halves separate. That is of course after unbolting the center strip, the front inner cowling thing, where the hood latch latches and the small rear cross brace. (Do not know the technical names for some of these items... Making them up as I go along.)

For the rear brace that was spot welded in place, it was removed and blasted till all the rust was gone. From there moved to cutting away the bad metal in the brace and welding in new. After finishing out the rest of the metal work, it was all primed and placed in storage... That was until a few weeks ago.

As of now, after hours and hours of sanding, both halves of the hood have been painted. Top side red and the bottom side black, then two coats of clear where shot on... At this time I must say this, "Yea! No runs." For the first time in all the spraying of clear coats on this truck, this is the first time I have not gotten any runs. I guess you could say that I am learning.

Now on to the process of the rivets used to secure the two halves of the hood together...

After sending a few emails back and forth with another restoring friend, he informed me that these rivets are called 'semi-tubular' rivets and gave me a web site that had some information about them. Again, I kept on digging for more and more information and ended up learning more about rivets than I thought I would ever know. Things like head types, diameter, length and grip sizes. Most of this being common knowledge yet fun to find the facts about. The hard part was determining the size rivets I needed and where to get them in stainless steel.

For this I ended up ordering through Grainger. With this company, once I figure out what I want, give them a call and order what is need and then pick it up at a local store in a few days.

Now to figure out what sizes to order I first measured out the existing holes with a digital caliber and this measurement coming in at 0.235 inches. With this information along with knowing that the two pieces being joined together both measuring out just under 0.05 inches, I had a basic information needed to start digging away at Grainger's site.

Again, this being a learning process, I narrowed my search down to several possibilities. Not being sure exactly what the 'one' rivet I would need, I went ahead and ordered 8 different sizes.

Here is a comparison chart one what 8 rivets I ordered:

Item	Head	Rivet Diameter	Length	Grip Range	Hole Size
1HEE7	Truss	3/16	3/16	0.057 - 0.097	0.201
1HEE8	Truss	3/16	1/4	0.120 - 0.160	0.201
1HEE9	Truss	3/16	5/16	0.182 - 0.222	0.201
1HEF1	Truss	3/16	3/8	0.245 - 0.285	0.201
1HEF2	Truss	3/16	7/16	0.307 - 0.347	0.201
1HEF6	Oval	1/4	5/16	0.130 - 0.192	0.266
1HEF7	Oval	1/4	3/8	0.193 - 0.255	0.266
1HEF8	Oval	1/4	7/16	0.255 - 0.317	0.266

As of now, I don't figure the 1/4 diameter rivets will work with out enlarging the existing holes but yet, the 3/16 might be a little to small... Once the hood has been polished out and the rivets picked up and everything put together, I will give an update on which rivet worked the best and any issues I had.

March 1, 2010

The front fenders are now complete and mounted on the truck along with the grill surround and one of the top plates or cowlings that connect the radiator frame to the grill surround.

After finishing sanding out the goof I had with the grill surround it was painted, clear coated, sanded and polished out. Before mounting it, again I cut some rubber pieces to fit between it and the front fenders. For most of these areas that I do this, I doubt it was done originally but for me, I like the idea that it is there. This should help a great bit with the metal rubbing together and rubbing the paint away giving rust a place to call home.

Next comes the hood. This evening after cleaning up the garage some, I will start sanding on the etching primer that was shot on the hood a few years back.

Like all the body metal, when they were taken off the truck, all the metal work was done. Followed by blasting, cleaning and then sprayed with a self-etching epoxy primer. Then with each part coming back out of storage for all the final work to be done, the primer is sanded down to accept a few coats of filler primer with a good sanding between and after each coat. From there they are sealed, painted and two coats of clear being shot on. From there they sit for a few days to cure and then sanded and polished.

With the hood, not much will change. After pulling both of the two halves out from storage, I gave them a good look over and at this point don't think any further metal work will be needed. So hopefully here in a week or two (depending on the new stainless center strip coming in) the hood should be mounted.

At the same time, I am hoping to have the three hood emblems re-chromed... This morning I sent off for to get a quote on home much this will cost from a local chrome shop. If the price is good, not having any idea at this point what it will be, I will be dropping them off.

February 23, 2010:

The front left fender went on last night and in a way, this is another bench mark in the progress of the restoration.

To step back and look at a truck and watch it start to transform into something you can recognize is pretty cool.

The night before last I mounted the front brace for the fender, well last night it had to come off, along with removing the bolts from the inner fender to the radiator support. All this so that the inner fender could be pulled down and out so that the outer fender could fit over the inner fender and under the radiator support frame. But before this, I cut some neoprene that would fit between the outer fender and the cab along with were the front brace bolts to the outer fender and where the inner fender and outer fender meet next to the grill surround.

From there the outer fender was maneuvered in place and lightly bolted in place. Before tightening the bolts down, the fender welt was cut to length and slid in between the cab and the outer fender.

Looking at the photos taken during the process of taking everything apart, it shows that fender welt was used not only on the outside of the fender between the outer fender and the cab, but on the inside of the fender as well. This being toward the bottom side of the fender. For me replacing that welt, I decided against it and stayed with the neoprene instead. This not being exactly the way it was originally but hopefully will help eliminate the rust that happens in this area.

As for tonight, both fender braces will go on along with bolting the inner fender to the radiator frame and will start sanding the other fender; getting it ready to polish out.

February 22, 2010:

Almost three weeks have passed from the last update, yet not much to talk about other than the front fenders are almost complete.

The front right fender, after brining them back out of storage needed more work than what I remembered. That or the fact that my skill level along with the attention to detail has increased. Either way, the primer and filler was all removed. From there spent many hours bumping out the metal along with a few layers of filler along with many many hours of sanding. Then primed, sanded, primed, painted and clear coated. As of right now, the left fender has been polished out and will be mounting it this evening and then will start sanding out the clear coat on right fender.

In order to hold the finder steady during the process of polishing out the clear coat, I built a stand to hold the fender in place. When doing the sanding on I was not worried about it moving around but with the polishing and the force it takes, I did not want to take the chance of messing up what work had already be done. (You can see pictures of the stand on the 12th page under front fender)

The biggest issue I have had recently is the mistake I made with rushing the job when painting the grill surround.

Once again after many hours of prepping the surround for painting it was ready. From there I shot on the first light coat of sealer, with some left in the gun, I waited 15 minutes or so then shot on a second coat then took time to clean the gun, straighten up some and then mixed the base coat and shot on that nice pretty red paint. Then my goof showed is ugly face.

By not considering the cold weather, the high humidity and most importantly not watching the clock, the base coat went on before the sealer could dry. As a result, the base coat slid off like a mud slide. Yuck. Not to mention the cost of the paint. Still, I called it a day. Cleaned the gun up and went inside to relax in front the the tv and wait for it to dry.

So now the next day, time to sand it down to the filler primer, clean, prep and shot on the sealer again. This time I waited and waited.... Strange how long it takes when you watch the clock. Any ways, this time the base coat went on great followed by two coats of clear.

The surround is now sitting and curing. Once the fenders are polished out and mounted, the surround will be brought back out for its final sanding and polishing.

February 1, 2010:

It has been a few weeks from the last update to the web page. During this time, the inner fenders have been taken out of storage and are now have them bolted in.

Originally when the inner fenders were taken off the truck, all the prep work was done before they were stored. This meaning that the paint was stripped, blasted, metal straitened and then primed. Now being pulled out of being in storage for over a year and a half, the primer was sanded down in order to receive a new coat of filler primer. From there the inner fenders were sanded down smooth, a black base coat applied and then clear coated. After curing for a few days they were prepared for bolting in place

Off line I ordered an inner fender seal kit for this truck. This being a roll of padding foam and some felt padding die cut to match the original felt padding used back in the day. For me, the foam padding I used, the felt padding I used as a pattern to cut out neoprene rubber to use instead. The felt padding just does not do it for me.

With this kit, along with the foam padding that you have to cut to specific lengths, you get some generic staples to use to hold the padding in place. This replacing what was done originally. The staples in the kit are nothing more than what you would get if you shot some out of your own staple gun. Staples that would most likely rust away in a few years. So in stead of using them, I used weather stripping adhesive. Works great, easy to use and in my mind, looks better than using some cheap staples.

With the felt padding that came with the kit, I laid them out over some neoprene that I picked up from Ace hardware, used a silver marker to trace them and cut them out with a pair of scissors. From there used the same weather stripping adhesive and glued them to the inner fenders. By doing so, they are in place and I would not have the bother of holding them in place as the fender was bolted on.

Else where on the truck the two cab vents were blasted, primed, primed, sanded, sealed, painted and clear coated. Hopefully here in a few days, they will be secured in place. Also, the temporary gauges that were set up and used to get the motor running have been removed and everything routed to the dash. Here everything works great with the exception of the temperature gauge. For this, I don't know yet why it is not working and will be putting it on the back burner for now.

Now to the motor and transmission.

About a month ago, I managed to get the timing set and the engine started but was running a bit rough. So with some research and a help of a good friend, we pulled the valve cover back off and adjusted the valve spacing and that fixed all the problems. The engine now purrs like a kitten. (way cool)... To adjust the valves, we first pulled out all the spark plugs to remove the compression on the engine allowing us to turn the motor with the cooling fan.

Starting with the intake on the first valve, we loosened the valve adjusting bolts and set the spacing to .006 of an inch. This of course being after the motor was turned so that the intake valve was fully closed. To do this, you simply turn the motor till the particular valve you are working on starts to open, and then back up some till it stops moving. At that point, the valve is closed and you set the valve gap or spacing you want.

With the intake valve on the first cylinder now set, we worked our way down the line and then moved on to the exhaust valves setting them at .010 inches. Then with me being as picky as I am, we went back over and double checked each valve.

With the valves now adjusted, the engine runs real smooth and starts like a champ. Also to include with this note, I have yet to see any oil leaks which is a bonus.

Now on to the issues with the transmission, which turns out, was an easy fix.

When I originally put the transmission back together, I simply dropped the cover back on and bolted it down, not realizing it had slipped out of neutral. This now being a problem. With the motor running, the back yoke would turn with the transmission in neutral. When putting the transmission in gear and letting off the clutch, the engine would die... Once again, I have to redo and fix a problem and learning a small lesson.

To fix this problem or issue all that needed to be done was to pull the cover back off the top of the transmission. Work the gears around sliding them back and forth until neutral was found and I could spin the drive shaft freely. By the way, the drive shaft is now in. Anyways, once the drive shaft could be spun freely, with the use of the stick shift in the cover, the forks (on the cover) were positioned in neutral and then the cover slipped down in place.

After one last check if make sure the transmission was still in neutral by spinning the drive shaft by hand and moving the stick shift back and forth, the transmission cover was bolted on.

Now the fun news for the day... The truck now moves under its own power.... After pulling the jack stands out from under the back end, the truck was lowered to the ground. The garage door opened, truck started and away it went. Out of the garage it rolled and with a quick test of the breaks, the truck came to a quick stop.... Yea! The brakes work and the truck moves. Then again, it had only been a few feet, it runs! Now it's time to take it for a road test... Wait, can't do that. I have no tail lights and no tags. Oh well, to the end of the drive way it went. Stopped and then backed up to the garage. Yea again. That was fun and rewarding. So again it went to the end of the driveway and then slapped into reverse and backed up to the garage.... Ok, now my wife is laughing at me and it is time to park the truck. Then again, I have only made six or seven trips to the end of the drive way and a few more would not hurt. "This is a blast!"

January 15, 2010:

For the last week, due to a busy schedule, have not spent much time on the truck. Although, major mile-marker was passed.

As of this week, after working some on the starter and the carburetor, the truck runs. It still needs a bit more fine tuning but when you crank it, it sets there and purrs. Yea!

With the flywheel, when it was put back on after finishing the engine and transmission, I forgot to set the motor on top-dead-center and align the flywheel properly. Instead I lifted it up and bolted it on… Lesson learned for the next time but as it turns out, God blessed me with that 25% chance that it would get be correct. As it turned out, it went on correct and lined up top-dead-center.

To set the timing took some learning. A few times, or several times I had to turn back to the service manual to get a good understanding of what it was saying and what I understood. The manual says to first turn the flywheel to align the marks to top-dead-center and then move on to the distributor.

With the distributor cap off and the clamping brace loosened, lift the distributor and turn the rotor to point to the number one cylinder wire. From there lower the distributor back down and then rotate the distributor in a clockwise (or counter clockwise) to close the points. To me, I assumed this, closing the points would be that small spark inside the distributor. From there you take off the wire from the Ignition coil to the distributor cap. This being called the high-wire. After pulling the end off the distributor cap and space it out about a quarter of an inch from something that grounds on the truck and then turn the distributor clockwise until it sparks. Again, the manual said to turn the distributor one way and I did and it didn’t work, that is get a spark, so I turned it back the other way and it sparked… That was fun; so I spun it back and forth a few times to make sure where the distributor was suppose to be… From there you gently tighten up the clamp, put on the distributor cap and reattach the high-wire and your good to go.

With the motor now running, I still need to pull out the timing light and double check the timing. Most likely I will pay with it some as for advancing and retarding the timing to see what happens. (This is a learning project for me) From there do some fine tuning on the carb. Once that is done, tie up a few lose ends and on to the inner fenders.

January 5, 2010:
Updated the web site today and added to the list, ‘Oil Lines’.

January 4, 2010:
Happy New Year!

As of right now, I still have a few things left to complete with the doors. Putting in new glass and window frames along with installing new panels and hardware. From there I will be working on running the new wiring harness down the back of the frame so that it will be ready when the time comes to do the bed. After that, picking up a few loose ends as I wait on a new starter to come in.

Over the holidays I rigged up a steel rod on a cordless drill to run the oil pump and get oil running through the motor. This in preparation to getting the motor to run. As it turns out, I was unable to get it to crank up. If the battery is not fully charged, the starter wouldn’t turn the motor over. The starter is weak and on a 12 volt system, it should be humming. Then again, when it does turn over, I am still unable to get the motor to run. For that, it has to be the timing. Timing I am still working on getting set in.

The service manual lines it all out for me but yet, I have had no success. Then again, tomorrow is another day.