No so Low buck 52 / 53 farm truck

[Sim6]

Looking good Mike! You have to drive it and make sure it works. And you'll regret it if you don't
Jeff

[mikec4193]

Originally Posted by Sim6

Looking good Mike! You have to drive it and make sure it works. And you'll regret it if you don't
Jeff

Hey Jeff

I found a local guy on the Stovebolt page he has agreed to come drive it...

I think I am just about done with it....gotta call late Friday after noon that the bench seat was done....$722.25 later this is what we have....



this is what they started with....



so other than some rubber pieces for the doors and hood....cowl seal...and a glove box....I think I am just about done....

This is the strangest feeling I have right now...I feel such a sense of relief getting this thing done....I feel like I have been let out of prison...sorta like the feeling you get when you walk out of a job for the last time....

It is almost a "born free" moment...

MikeC

[Sim6]

Lol, I've had those same feelings on projects. Seat looks good! Best of luck getting er gone

[mikec4193]

Hi Everybody

Had to swap the starter and the battery too...still no start situation...I was getting frustrated...so I said the only way to get this thing to run is to throw more money at it...so I did...



yea old starter....



our local NAPA store had this brandy new rebuilt starter for less than $75.00 picked up a new gas cap too...




I figured I had might as well swap out the battery...battery is changed out too...It cost more for the battery than the starter...now thats funny...

So I am at church on Sunday talking to a gear head...he says..."if you have spark and you appear to be getting fuel....you better check the compression"...so I am thinking...Ok let me give it a shot...
Here is what we ended up with....
#1 cylinder @ 120 lbs
#2 cylinder @ 115 lbs
#3 cylinder @ 0 lbs
#4 cylinder @ 0 lbs
#5 cylinder @ 145lbs
#6 cylinder @ 30 lbs

So I yanked the head off...


here is what is left...



all snug in the bed of my S10 daily driver....I took it the machine shop this morning...he is talking about $500.00 to do the valves...

The fellow that sold me this truck told me when he was driving it around the yard...he would hear a clattering noise...well in cylinder #6 the intake push rod was bent....bent so bad I couldn't get it out of the head...hmmm...

So if your truck is giving you fits...throw more money at it...$$$$$ makes everything happen

we will see...

MikeC

[mikec4193]

Something happened in the above post...

here is what we have now...



here is the photo of the head enroute to the machine shop...kinda blurry..



next is cleaning the top of the block for the reconditioned head when it arrives in a week or two...

MikeC

[mikec4193]

Took a couple of days to visit my son in Kansas...cant wait to move there permanently....sometime in Dec 2018 or 2022...depends on my mood...but back the Howard Knapp truck...

Cleaned up the head a little more...



I have been told this is a 1958 Chevy 235 cu in car engine...I think they call it a "Blue Flame"...not sure...to get this pig to turn over by hand everyone is telling me to get a 3/4 to 1/2 socket adapter....



but for the life of me...it wont fit in the round hole in the end of the harmonic balance...



Does Chevy sell a spanner wrench maybe for this front pulley???...I am at a loss for sure...

Any insight from stock 6 cylinder guys out there???

Oh yeah got a call from the machine shop on Thursday....price went from around $500.00 to $780.00 now...something about needing all new valves and the bent push-rod could only be bought in a group of 4....not sure why but thats the way cookie crumbles I guess...

MikeC

[Sim6]

I have some push rod Mike. Have you bought any yet?

[mikec4193]

Originally Posted by Sim6

I have some push rod Mike. Have you bought any yet?

Hi Sim6

The machinist already bought a set of 4 new ones...thanks for the offer tho...I cant wait to get this thing out of the garage....everyday I see it sitting in my garage begging for more money to be spent on it...I just wanna see it back up and out of the garage...

you wanna come up and drive it???

Dont want to really drive it now...way too big and combersome for sure...I am S10 kinda guy...small and practical...

MikeC

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by mikec4193

but for the life of me...it wont fit in the round hole in the end of the harmonic balance...

weld it on there!

I think I asked this before so forgive me, but where is your son in kansas?

[mikec4193]

Hey JoeD

Yuppers my son lives in Kansas...started out in Wetmore...then Topeka now he is in Lawrence...I love your state...planning to move there in about 3 years...

back at the truck...throw good money after bad at it...just got in from the local NAPA store...$850.00 big ones to make it better...hoping this is the last of this kind of spending...

these are all the spare parts...




new gasket set too...


coming home in the back of my S10 daily driver...



all unwrapped



is this clean or what???



So I am kinda stumped here...Fel-Pro says I need a gasket sealer for the top of the block and the top of the copper gasket???



I have not had a push rod head off or a car like this since 1980 or so when we were racing 250 cu in 6 cylinders at the local dirt track...I dont remember having to put anything on the gaskets...set the head on and torque stuff down....do I need sealer???

Dazed and confused in Mechanicville NY tonight...

MikeC

[mikec4193]

Ripped the copper head gasket....called NAPA...it will be 3 to 5 days to get another one in their store....

This is not fun anymore.....I am broke and everytime I work on this pig something breaks...

Now I know why you guys update these trucks...you can get parts for them...every single part on this truck excepting the starter is special order...vintage trucks are cool to look at but suck to get parts for them...


so friggen frustrated with this truck...I am taking offers...somebody needs this truck...just not me...

Anybody wanna buy it???

MikeC

[joedoh]

I do that too, sell em right about the time they are all figured out and the headaches are over. seems like I always get the transient state and someone else gets the steady state (thats my one EE joke)

kansas is really pretty up by lawrence, everywhere else has flat and brown in abundance. let me know when you move and I will come for a visit!

[mikec4193]

Originally Posted by joedoh

I do that too, sell em right about the time they are all figured out and the headaches are over. seems like I always get the transient state and someone else gets the steady state (thats my one EE joke)

kansas is really pretty up by lawrence, everywhere else has flat and brown in abundance. let me know when you move and I will come for a visit!

Where is Doohah Kansas???I have never heard of it before...any-wheres near Lawrence???

Ok back at it and we go...

So to the mess I am into....waiting for parts....stopped at the local ACE hardware and got 2 1/2"x20 by I think 4" long hex bolts...




Before I did a little cutting on them...



front one



back one

oh yeah...here is the gasket I messed up...




so we are hanging under the hood...literally...



not sure how all this will play out but...we will see....should be picking up gaskets on Monday or Tuesday...

Anybody wanna try and drive this thing for me???

MikeC

[Advanced Design]

The locating stud is a good idea Mike. Good luck on this one.

[Sim6]

Yes good idea, for a second i thought you were going to torque that head down with that shinny bolt.

[mikec4193]

Howard Knapp

He still wont run...

It wouldn't be a night in the garage if I didn't end up my night thumbing thru the Jim Carter truck parts book and ordering more new parts...

Every night I work on it...I break something on this truck...

Last night was the throttle cable broke...not sure when it broke but when I went to hook it up the cable would reach the carberater....hmmmm...

I did get the head torqued down onto the block...intake/exhaust is mounted up too.....got all the push rods in place also...we have a clearance issue with exhaust valve on the #1 cylinder...time to take the side cover back off .....gotta see what is going on there...

I bribed a mechanic to come over and take the pile of junk out of my garage and try and get it running....

I am sick and broke...

MikeC

any takers??

[mikec4193]

So I have a guy at work who wanted to get this Howard Knapp truck running...

So we pushed it outside...17 months it has been since it saw the light of day...



We loaded it up on the tow dolly and off it went...



leaving the building here...



The fellow says to me...turn on the flashers...I turn the switch on ....and what happens???...the headlights flash with the flashers on....the last time we had every working correctly...I could feel my blood pressure building after this...the fellow who is working on it for me says...."Mike we will fix that up for you....don't worry"...bought some special washers with bolts attached for the valve covers and they would not fit either...nothing fits like it should on this truck...

So I felt rather odd when it left the yard...it was like a huge weight had just been lifted off my chest...not sure what is going to happen now....the guy that took it seemed confident he can get every working the way it is supposed to be working...

I am not a mechanic by any means...I can turn wrenches but that is it....oh yeah...I can cut grind weld...repeat.....

MikeC

[joedoh]

yeah sometimes you need a break!


doodah is wichita, news columnist coined it in he 80s but it was an affectation for decades before I guess. lawrence gets the hills and trees, wichita gets the fllllllat. and bare. I was out by attica the other day and at a high spot you could literally see 8-10 miles.

[mikec4193]

I got to drive Howard Knapp this afternoon....

I feel like just wasted the last 17 months of my life rebuilding this thing....I felt the same way when I got my 1947 Willys CJ2A done and that was 18 months to rebuild it...

In stock form...not what I had hoped for that is for sure...

In 1953 I bet it was the nuts...in 2016....not so nice....

MikeC

[mikec4193]

Got the Howard Knapp back last week...

Waterpump was piddling like a leaky faucet...NAPA didnt have one...Advance Auto didnt have one...finally found one on Rock Auto....I thought I had it made...I ended up having to ship on my nickel the waterpump I had taken off out to Cardone Industries in Texas....Should be there with in a week...then 5-7 days for them to rebuild and then ship it back to me...should be done in 3 weeks or so...ended up being over $100.00 when it was all said and done...

MikeC

[Sim6]

Sorry Mike. sounds like it's time to sell or trade.

[mikec4193]

Waterpump came from cardone



the cardone folks even made a new handcut waterpump gasket...



new rebuilt waterpump



they swapped out the front hub on it....had to bore out the original fan pulley to .99 dia...used to be .851 dia...



trying to get the truck more presentable



A little clearer photo here....still waiting for parts from Jm Carter truck parts...



Next on the docket....trying to drive the old truck on the highways and byways of upstate NY...oh yeah gotta get insurance on it too....

Anybody have any tips on driving an antique truck on busy upstate NY highways and byways???

Until next time....

MikeC

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by mikec4193

Anybody have any tips on driving an antique truck on busy upstate NY highways and byways???

keep a hand free to give them the old one finger "go around!"

[mikec4193]

Originally Posted by joedoh

keep a hand free to give them the old one finger "go around!"

I wish I could...need two hands to drive it....

So it is official Howard Knapp is insured through GIECO and yesterday I got new license plates on it...

Today we went up and got gas...about 5 miles round trip...

4.10 gears and 45 mph is about it for a top speed....sounds like it wants to blow up at that speed...

Gas gauge still wont work...always reads full....brand new everything and it still wont work....voltmeter doesnt work either... I think I can fix the voltmeter.....gas gauge I dont have a clue....

So the maiden voyage went off with out a hitch....Howard wanders around on the roadway like a drunken sailor.....

First gear is....hmmmm....not sure...second gear should be first...third gear should be second gear and fourth gear should be third...really really really needs a 5 th gear....

The folks at the local DMV told me it would be at least 30 days and maybe up to 60 days before I would get the offical transferrable registration for Howard Knapp...

I am thinking about selling it after I get the paperwork in my hot little hands...

I have to say.....Very very very cool trucks.....but...just really slow....very unstable....very loud....transmission is awkward...wipers are sketchy at best...

I have a new appreciation for our ancestors as they actually drove these vehicles on a daily basis...I remember being a young boy of maybe 7 or 8 and riding around in my dads 1950's Dodge Pilothouse truck.....I never knew any difference either...

live and learn we do...

MikeC

[chev3600]

Sorry that machine is causing you such headaches. I went through the same on my first truck. 3/4 ton 5:11 gears, rode like a covered wagon. Worked out well though, I sold it and built another one with all the suspension and engine upgrades. Hope you can find a situation to enjoy yours or get top dollar on the sale.