Thanks to the Listees who insisted it was no big deal to open the pumpkin,
I replaced the leaky rear axle seals today!
No real problems to report, amazingly enough - it had been done before by a
PO, so at least SOME maintenence had been done in the last 51 years!
Differential cover had major internal dents in it - the ring gear had
apparently come loose at some point and slammed into it, nearly grinding
thru the cover. What could cause that? It seems to have been some time ago,
and a different gear, as I could see no damage to the current gear or
bolts, and the ring is pretty worn, so appears fairly old. Maybe the cover
was off another truck...
The ring gear had razor edges, a good amount of pitting, and the pinion
has about 2/3rds too much play but my neighbor the Porsche mechanic said
"the way you drive it'll last another 50 years!" I figure that this makes
a good excuse to start saving for a Patrick's setup. Rear wheel bearings
are not good, but not bad. At $40 apiece, they are great for now!
Should have measured the spacer block to see if a larger one was needed due
to wear, but a) so much other stuff was worn it seemed silly and b) who the
hell has spacer blocks in stock? The nearest old-time tranny shop who
might've had one got run outta town so us taxpayers can build a hotel for
someone else to make money off - they torn down his shop to make a parking
garage for it :P
Next we turned to the brakes: cleaned and adjusted; someone had replaced
the Huck with Bendix, and the passenger side floats too much and rubs the
drum. Gonna have to drill the plate and put in a brake pin I guess. Drums
are RIGHT at max wear; does ANYONE make a replacement? Without all that
goop flying past the rear seals, I should have excellent brakes now.
Lastly, we went after the balky motor; for starters, it looks like the
motor is not well-grounded - we get an orange spark when touching a plug to
the head nuts, and a pretty white one when I am the ground!! Also found the
motor was overheating... got too hot to touch the radiator while IDLING!
Tossed the thermostat, flushed the radiator, got a new hose, new
thermostat, etc. Water pump seems to be ok... the radiator has a ton of
pinholes up top, could that be a problem? I would assume that just means I
don't get the added pressure to help the boiling point.
Gonna check the timing tomorrow. Gosh, if all goes well, it looks like the
Easter Bunny might just get a ride this year!
Oh, one more thing - are there any BRASS parts in the differential housing?
I put in some 80-145 hypoid, and realized AFTERWARDS the jug said GL5. If
you didn't know already, DO NOT EXPOSE BRASS GEARS TO GL5!!!! It will turn
the working surface of the brass to swiss cheese in a matter of months!
Most of the stuff looked steel, but I'm gonna drain it if there is any
yellow metal back there..........
craig
caretaker of
stephanie's 50 3104 216 5-window deluxe
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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