Sam the 52 Chevy

[mini]

Let me say a couple of things before we get started on this thread.

1) I am not wealthy.  So this thead will progress with elbow grease, sweat, and pennys I pinched.  Sam was the right price, so I was able to buy him.  I cant afford going out and spending $25000 on a show truck.  If hes ugly to you, thats fine.  Hes mine.  And I will do with him as I see fit, and as finances see fit...LOL

2) This will progress slowly.  I will try to keep it updated, but pictures and a thread on a forum do so little to tell the story of the actual time it takes to complete a project.  Or the phone calls, the hunting parts, so on and so forth.  So dont give up on this thread.   

3)  I do not know everything about vehicles and vehicle repair.  I see this as 33% learning, 33% talking to those who know how to get it done, 33% doing, and 1% using my own brain power. 

4) Enjoy.  And after I get him running, stop by for a ride.  My goal is to keep him on the road as much as possible.

[edit to add #3]

[mini]

Well, as of 3:30, September 22, 2011, Sam the 52 left Arkansas for what is probably the first time in his life. and entered Oklahoma.

A little story from his vin:  He was "born" in May 1952 in Kansas City.  I imagine that he was shipped to Arkansas, and spent every hour there until we crossed the OK/AR state line last Friday.

By 6 PM, we had him off the trailer and started working on him. 

(if you want to see a picture of something about Sam, let me know and I will try to get a pic of that.  Like if you want to see his interior, ect)

First thing we did when we got Sam home is take his gas tank out.  To do that, we had to drain the tank.



Roscoe told me it was pretty nasty, and he was right.  This is what was in the tank:




Pretty nasty!

Next, removing the carb and the starter (along with a little help from my kiddos).

[Lynx]

Yes I would like to see the interior.

You aren't wasting any time I see. 

[Roscoe]

Oh, yeah! Go, Sam, go. Please.  I'm gonna have to drift thataway with Rusty once you get Sam running....

[The Purple Fuzzy]

I want to know what the floor says in chalk?

[Lynx]

I was also wondering that, but didn't want to interrupt the truck tinkering.  I was thinking at first a kid's scribbling but it looks too neatly written and purposeful. 

[mini]

Saturday 9/23

Chelleebelle had a early class, so I loaded the kiddos up and we went to work on Sam.

The kiddos were having a great time yelling, hollering, and playing, so to quiet them down a bit, I put them to work.



Funny story here:  I was working on him, elbow deep in pulling his starter, learning a new side occupation of fussing at him, when my cousin and his wife pulls up.  She bolts out of the truck and comes running up to Sam oohing and awing over him.  I'm gonna have to get a branch of the ugly tree to keep the women folks away from Sam.  Its like the old lady who passed me on I-40.  She was riding in the lap of luxury, a Mercedes, and gave ME?!? a thumbs up about Sam.  What is up with that? LOL  Sorry, no pics of the starter.

Next was the carburetor.  We tried to get it started Friday night, but it wasnt getting gas.  After opening up the carb, we discovered why. 



Apparently the PO (previous owner, not Roscoe, but the young man we bought sam off of) had left Sam sitting long enough to get the carb gunked up seriously.  YUCK! 

Where Sam stands now:

The gas tank is nasty but I think I can clean it up.  If not, I will look for a fuel cell or something that I can mount in the bed.  Its $150 for a new tank to put behind the seat, or I can order a nice stainless round tank offline for $160.  I like the looks of a stainless tank, and it wont be much more to plumb it.  Plus, it will be outside of the cab, and allow me room to put some speakers or something behind the seats.

The starter is missing something.  Its the correct starter for the engine, but there is a (for lack of a better term) extender arm off the solenoid that holds the gear out.  It would hit full length and start some, but would not hold it in place.  Finding that little arm?  Its gonna be tough.  Our starter guy is doing that...

The carb, as I showed you, was plum nasty.  I dont use that term lightly either.  Luckily, dad has just enough teeth missing (any CarTalk fans?!?) to know how to work on them, and the rebuild kit and float was only $30.  It should be in soon.  Then we will have the carb rebuilt.

Again, no pics, but the oil has been my biggest concern.  We drained it last night and there was water everywhere.  This could be caused by one of three things.  1) The PO left the hood off, and water got in through the tappet cover gasket.  2)  The PO left straight water in the radiator, engine froze up and cracked the block or 3) the temprature changes has caused condensation in the engine.  We shall see...

[mini]

I want to know what the floor says in chalk?

I was also wondering that, but didn't want to interrupt the truck tinkering.  I was thinking at first a kid's scribbling but it looks too neatly written and purposeful. 

It was my daughters "Welcome Home Sam" letter.

[mini]

 

Ok, I know this is a thread about a old 52 chevy pickup.  But there is something I have realized in the last few days...people are interested in it.

And its opened a few doors for me to talk to guys, be friendly, etc.

Take today for instance.  One of my locals out here told me a few months ago he was working on a old car.  He has a history of....er....grumpiness. 

Well, in the few days since I got Sam, I've been a pretty proud pop...so I decided to go talk to this local guy.  First thing I see is this:



Its a 30's dodge, not much to look at, that he is in the process of doing a frame off restoration on.  When I mentioned that I now had a 52 Chevy, his eyes lit up, and he said "I bet you aint ever seen this one have you..." and took off to the other side of his hangar.

Someone better call LouLou and tell her to have a mop handy...once Roscoe sees this he will be drooling like a sieve...

1929 Model A "Hot Rod"




I know it doesnt look like much, but it was his car in 1960, he sold it, bought it back in 1970 and has had it ever since.  That is amazing.  He even had original photos of him drag racing it in 1961 or so.

What is even more amazing, is that this is the FIRST time in 10 years that the guy would hardly speak to me.  (not just me, hes the same to everyone...).  We have in 10 years talked maybe 10 times.  And only when we had to.  He won't wave when he drive by, nothing.  But today, not only did he talk to me about his Dodge, but he took me, showed me his Model A, and took me to his office to show me the pictures of his car.

Anyhoo...just really surprised.

[Lynx]

CRACKED the BLOCK?!  Perish the thought!     I hate to think what you'd have to do to get an engine block for that thing. 

You can go off topic if you want, it's your thread. 

[mini]

Actually, the engine is the least of my worries.  I can pick up a entire drive line (engine, tranny, rear axel) for not much money.  The old 235 engines are plenteous still.

[sunlight]

:like:

:grin:

[Roscoe]

Actually, the engine is the least of my worries.  I can pick up a entire drive line (engine, tranny, rear axel) for not much money.  The old 235 engines are plenteous still.

Yes....we have an  engine and tranny combo within ten minutes of me, readily available..

And dude, that's AWESOME about the old guy and his first car. See if you can get pics of it in '61- that would be killer.
Something else you'll find when you start driving him- old cars will come out of the woodwork while you're gassing up. I've bought three after having a brief conversation at the gaspump with the owners-" I've got.....or Dad's got one like that in the barn...."
  And you'll be able to use it in ministry too- it'll break the ice with people as you have saw, and it won't be long, you'll be talking church and won't know how it happened.

[Chseeads]

Did you strike a match and throw it into that gas goo to see if it was still flammable?      (not the same kind of fire...but...fire anyways)

[MelodyB]

OOOOOooooo!! Take a video of it if you do!

[mini]

No!  NO FIRE!  BACK BACK BACK!



A little update for today.  I took my lunch break, ran to town, and got my carb rebuild kit, float for the carb, a new oil plug, and 5 quarts of oil for Sam.  $65 poorer, I was ready to tackle Sam for a while tonight.  Quickly, I dropped the parts off, then ran back to work.

Tonight, when I got to Ma and Pa's house, Pa and my Uncle were both standing around Sam.  I  asked Dad if he had put the drain plug in Sam, and he said he couldnt get it started.  So a few minutes of fiddling, and I decided phooey on it, the old drain plug worked just fine when Roscoe had Sam, so I stuck it back in.



I had to run into the shop to get a 3/4 inch wrench, so I snapped a picture of Pa and my Uncle.  Here they were in deep discussion about something Farmall.

After coming out and getting the oil plug in good and tight, Pa and my Uncle had started in with the "Whats wrong with the starter?" discussion.  I pulled the starter out in the open, they went to work talking and carrying on about it...



It didnt take long till we realized the solenoid needed moved...



If you notice, right by Pa's fingers is a small bolt.  There are 4 of those on the solenoid, along with the bracket and bigger bolt at the back of the solenoid.  A quick adjustment, and it was time to see if it would "jump."



Again, notice the jumper cables on the starter.  And the positioning of the screwdriver.  Basically, we hooked the starter up to a battery via jumper cables, then "shorted" across the posts, and got the starter to engage.  With the small adjustment, Sam's sarter is working great!

Also, look at Pa.  He is dying laughing here...every time he would start the starter, my uncle would jump, carry on, and nearly run off.  Both of them knew he would do it, they were both expecing him to do it, and both would laugh at him doing it.  I tried to get a video of it, but it didnt work...

Next Pa went to work on the carb. 





Now by the time we got the carb on, and was able to try to get it to turn over, it was getting pretty dark.  So more pictures as we make more progress...

[mini]

Yes I would like to see the interior.

Here is a picture Roscoe took of Sam's interior.  Its not much now, but we will get there... :grin:

[Chseeads]

Your uncle is wearing a pink and purple shirt...does he drive a Miata?

[Lynx]

About the interior:  Whataya mean not much?  It's perfect for an old truck.  Clean out the cobwebs and pin that dangling wire up so you won't rip it out when you move your feet and you're done.

[mini]

I plan on doing some sanding and cleaning on the interior to make it shine....

Also, dad met a guy yesterday at the junk yard who is restoring a 1950 Chevy truck.  He had a gas tank for sell...for $40!  I have his number and will call him today.

[okieoliveoyl]

a video of Uncle Johnny doing his holler/jig combo would have been great.  I was there and it was still funny.  

seth - he doesn't drive a miata..just a short bus.  HAHAHA  (he works for a vo-tech and actually does drive one of their many short busses around to pick up kids)

[mini]

Today is my day off, so I tried to do a little work on Sam.  I wanted to clean up his inside a bit.

Here is a picture of the oil.  You will remember that I was worried about water in it.  After sitting, and letting it sit in this gallon jug, we have probably a cup of water.

If you look close at the bottom, you can see where it changes color.  Thats water at the bottom.

Also, heres a walk around before I start washing on him:  (click on picture and it will take you to video)




Now as promised, I am not gonna try to cover up Sam's flaws.  Instead I want to show you what his problem is, then as we go though and fix them, you can have a good idea what I did.

Someone along the way put in some old 1/4 inch metal in Sam's floorboards.  I wanted to take that and the seats out, powerwash everything, and see how bad it really is.

Here I took out the passenger side floorpan:


Next, with his right side and left side floor pans out, seats out, and everyting bare metal:



Its hard to tell here, but everything has just been washed:



Here, everything is back in, including the seat frame:


A look at his "fancy" floor pans:


More later...

[sunlight]

I still wanna know what your daughter wrote in chalk on the floor... what does it say?

[Lynx]

He never would tell us...  The floor is now open for speculation as to the cause of his reticence. 

[chelleebelle]

It says something to the effect of her being glad that her Daddy now owns Sam...