1948 Chevrolet fleetmaster.

[craigrk]

Feb 17, 2017 22:09:38 GMT Dez said:

craigrk , I've just bought a supposedly working m/c off US eBay, so I think I'm sorted on that. Most importantly it comes with all the arms, so even if it turns out to need rebuild, I've not wasted my money.

As for handbrake setup, i think i've figured out this big crescent shaped bracket with a pin halfway along goes here, and connects to the dash pull at one end and the linkage dangling under the car at the other-





The column linkage on the right here is obviously for the shifter, but what's the additional bit on the left attached to on yours?


And finally, what's this bracket for? Looks like a horn bracket to me but it's in a damn odd place if it is-

Just spotted this, been a bit swamped with family, will try to have a look as soon as, but might be a few days as wife away on business this week, so me being mom & dad for a few days!!

[Dez]

No rush, Not a massive amount I can do until bits start turning up from the states anyway. Apart from psyche myself up To do that trunk lid....

[Dez]

Great excitement!
Bits have started turning up from all over the world.


I managed to get some rear 1/4 window sliders as one half of one of mine was missing and the other was a bit rusty. So now I can get a second bit of glass cut and get those closed up.

New brake hoses are fairly self explanatory, and I managed to snag a complete pedal assembly with all the bits i was missing, that supposedly has a 'good' master cyl on it. It certainly looks like it'll be ok, rebuild kit at worst I'd guess.

So, I can now get on with the brakes and clutch too.

[uberlow]

Got to love this one.

[Dez]

The car itself is nice but those wheels are a travesty.

I kinda disagree with a v8 swap on these too, the soundtrack should be the rap of unsilenced split pipes on a six on one of these, not the burble if an eight.

[bstardchild]

Ahhhh explains purchase of triple webers

[Dez]

This truck sounds a bit better to me, may just be a better recording. Same engine though. It's the split pipes ;so cyls 1-3 in one pipe and cyls 4-6 in the other that give it the distinctive rap.

[Dez]

Mar 30, 2017 22:09:32 GMT bstardchild said:

Ahhhh explains purchase of triple webers

Wrong

[bstardchild]

Mar 30, 2017 22:10:30 GMT Dez said:

Mar 30, 2017 22:09:32 GMT bstardchild said:

Ahhhh explains purchase of triple webers

Wrong

curse word - what the heck else have you got that they are going on???

[Dez]

this

[bstardchild]

Mar 30, 2017 22:14:00 GMT Dez said:

this

Forgot you had that one and it was a 6.............. Been following that thread but it's gained 2 pages since I last checked in

[Dez]

Yeah I'm basically doing 4 cars on rotation at the mo as parts arrive and they get ramp time, and they're just the ones for myself!

[Dez]

A few weeks ago I had chance to stick this on the ramp and have a look underneath.

Floors are amazing. Pretty much mint.


Body isn't bolted down, showing its been off recently. There's a small patch each side here that you can see.


Some small holes to bottom of spare wheel well but nothing serious-


There's been some 'additions' welded to bottom of rear valance, presumably to straighten it back out, as rear bumper is a bit bashed too. Rear crossmember is good though. In fact the entire chassis is.


As you can see, everything is olive drab.


There's various small repairs been done on the wings, they're overlapped but seem to be fairly neat so I should be able to tidy them up a lot.


Moving onto the running gear, it all seems to be here, more or less.


Comically small gearbox for size of car-


Air shifter setup is almost as big as it!


Front suspension. Again, all there and in good order apart from a few brake bits.


Clean under the front too. Valance and inner wings and that are all straight and seem for free.


Back to the bits that need my attention. Rear suspension setup is unusual, it's a torque tube so the axle pivots above the leaf Spring mount to stop it binding. This is particularly handy if you're planning to ditch the leafs as its springing method, as its basically a 3-link.


This is where the brake master was supposed to be. As you can see the lines been cut and I'm missing the adapter that joins it to the master, so I have to source one.


The only bits that really let the car down are some bits of welding around the door sill steps that are a bit messy. They seem to be solid and not plated over rust though. I'm going to check them out and if they're sound I'll just tidy them up and leave as is.


The actual outer sills all seem good apart from one tiny patch at the bottom each B-pillar that isn't that neat so I'll redo it.




So, overall I'm pretty pleased with that. I know there's some patches in the door bottoms too, and the bottom edge of the front wings, so as I strip the paint I'll redo anything I'm not happy with. The biggest part do the work on this car is getting the body ready for paint, once
That's done the rest is fairly straightforward.

Whist it was on the ramp I got the steering box bolted back on properly once I'd retapped the bolt holes and found some suitable bolts, as well as reassembling the steering arms and brakes correctly. Pretty much all the play is now gone from the steering so it doesn't look like I'll have to replace any of that, which is nice.

[Dez]

Removed the trunklid to assess the situation. It ain't pretty.




Before I started I bare metalled the outside to see the true shape, rather than all the filler that was on there. Lots of very bad previous repairs.




Then I tried it against the roof skins I had. This minor one is close to the curve, but not big enough. I'd have to do it in two to get the curve I need.






So then I defillered the inside too. Not pretty here either. The bottom edge is just folded over onto nothing to give the impression of original construction, then tack welded to the cut back inner and gobbed over with filler.




So then I separated the skins. Ground through the folded over edge til it popped, then air chiselled any other bits to pop the cr4p welds.


The inner is pretty rough.










The outer is bin fodder. Kept as a pattern for now though.


Now I've got to decide if it's worth fixing, or if I can get the one I've found in the states into the country for reasonable money.

[drdick]

Looks good Dez. There's a chap in Braintree will bring in the deck lid for not much cash.

[Dez]

Yeah I got a couple of people who can actually bring it in, issue is I need someone on the ground in Whittier, CA who can pick it up off the guy breaking one and forward it to the actual shipper.

[Dez]

No progress on the decklid, so i decided to sort out another deal id got lined up. To get all the ancillaries for the engine it was just cheaper to buy another engine, which I did for £150! It came out of a '51 truck, but is basically identical to the one in. Complete apart from exhaust manifold, and it had been running to get the truck registered before it was pulled apart to modify. Good stuff.

I tried to hire a van to go pick it up, seeing as I got rid of my 'utility vehicle' to get this, but the useless idiots at thrifty cocked that up for me, but luckily I could borrow a mates transit recovery truck to save me having the hassle of rearranging everything.

So I spent a day with my dags in this, getting my traveller on-


And he's my treasure-


A very long time later(transits are slooooow) I'm back at the yard and unloaded. It came with the gearbox and a load of other smaller bits too.


Ign. system seems in good order, which is important as I need all that. Just needs a set of leads and plugs to freshen it up.


Fuel system also looks to be newer than things around it.


The carb also looks to have been rebuilt and has a new looking (or at least refurbished) oil bath filter, but I forgot to take a pic of that.

So then i popped the valve cover off to have a look inside. Seems pretty clean to me.


So then I pulled all the front end panels off the car, in readiness to hoik the Old engine out so I can have them side by side to compare/swap bits over.


And I stripped a few bits off the front of the chassis in readiness for the next stage. I already swapped that passenger front tyre out last week to get it to sit level(er) as it had 3x 6.00x16s and one errant 6.70x16. It's only a scrap tyre though, as it won't be wearing these wheels anyway.

[eternaloptimist]

That looks a great buy for £150. Nice one

[Deleted]

[Dez]

Apr 21, 2017 10:17:38 GMT eternaloptimist said:

That looks a great buy for £150. Nice one

Yeah it certainly wasn't expensive. Like I said, less than sourcing the ancillaries separately. When it comes down to it these engines have very little value, as the vast majority of the trucks they come in get them pulled out in favour of v8s. You occasionally see a hot rod built with one, but not very often.