truck

In The Beginning

26 September 2003

We're going to get the truck

Well here we are at the start of going to pick up Matt's 1955 Job Rated Custom Regal pickup truck in Las Vegas and are 30 miles into the trip and have started blowing fuses. Go Figure. At least I have bad luck. Think my last name should be Murphy or something.

Made it only to Grand Island Neb the first day and the picture tells you why. Moms Shopping and I'm carrying. It's a Flying J. Have blown 5 fuses getting here so in the morning I purchased a kit to rewire the car dolly and were on the road again

27 September 2003

It is now Saturday and we made fairly good time today as you can see by the picture. Another Flying J.

Lots of really nice scenery along the way and we stopped at a motel in south west Colorado. Mom & I both were sick and just want to sleep. Accommodations were none to good and the food was not home cooking. Maybe better tomorrow.

28 September 2003

Lots more breathtaking landscapes and many more flying J's and we are now in south western Utah. Will spent the night here and then arrive in Las Vegas around noon on Monday as we told Mike Miller.

29 September 2003

No pictures taken in Vegas so my honey will be in here as the story continues. Arrived at the shop and mike said truck wasn't there and would bring tomorrow. Told him he was informed when I would be there and I needed it today to start home. After some grumbling from his sitting on his five gallon bucket we could get it after work at his house. Killed several hours and when we got the truck no transmission or floor plate. He said it was in a machine shop and would ship it later. Told him to call shop and I would pick it up and they were closed so no answer. Would wait till tomorrow. When we arrived Tuesday the machine shop said he picked it up but we could not find it there. Decided to give up for then and head home and let Matt handle it legally as he still has $800.00 of Matt's and his transmission. What a waste but we have the truck at least.

30 September 2003

We are headed home with Matt's baby and glad to be rid of Las Vegas, the problems, and the 104 degree temps. All wheel bearings etc are holding up well and the journey home will be fun.

Lots of nice scenery and the van is running pretty hot so stop a lot to cool off and enjoy.

01 October 2003

More stops for important things like moccasins.

Restroom break and the speedometer on van has quit so now have mom time me with second hand on her watch and use the tachometer to gauge speed. Have the long boring haul across Nebraska yet and then home.

02 October 2003

We're back here again and some things never change.

Almost home now so see you when we get there.

03 October 2003

We have arrived home and the work on the truck has started. Got it running but needs some tune up stuff and have got the anti freeze in for the winter here. It is now Sunday 5 October and the trip took us a full week to complete. Matt has contacted Mike and said we have to have the transmission and he said he would find it and ship it and the floor plate.

Wednesday October 8th ordered a throw out bearing from NAPA as they still stock lots of parts.

Monday October 13 picked up the throw out bearing and found a transmission right here in Carroll, Iowa. It is from a 53 or 54 car with Hemi engine and is a three speed manual with overdrive. Sure hope it will fit ours.

Tuesday October 14 measured the transmission and it will bolt to our bell housing but the input shaft and the throw out bearing carrier are different and wont fit the length.

WHY ME

Now have to decide if we should try to use the new bell housing which should make it fit and then deal with drive shaft, shift linkage, clutch linkage, and overdrive linkage that won't or try and get the correct input shaft etc.

OH BOTHER

Wonderful, the transmission place that could help me with many of these problems has quit working on manual transmissions so am back on my own.

WEDNESDAY 15 OCT 2003

Here are the transmission parts I received today and it is a go. The input shaft and bearing retainer are the only difference and if we cant find them, a good machine shop should be able to rebuild them to the correct specks if I can figure them out. The splines for the clutch plate and all match. Will have to remount the old park brake assy. but have that here from the old transmission. After close inspection of the original clutch and pressure plate I believe we should replace them also as there is some cracked metal on the pressure plate. Maybe the new used ones will work and then just have get a clutch plate. Am going over to Marion this weekend Saturday to pick up another transmission and maybe the input/clutch shaft and bearing retainer sleeve will fit.

ARE WE COOL OR WHAT

More later

18 October 2003

Went to Marion today and picked up the other transmission and it should fit but maybe the input shaft is to short. Will get a better look tomorrow. It appears to be from an older model and the rear shaft and things are different. Maybe will have to get the input/clutch shaft and bearing retainer remade from this one we have. Will figure it out some how.

19 October 2003

Measured the shaft and it is to short so will not work how I wanted it to so will have to do something different. Redo the one we have if we can't find the right one. Probably easier to measure and get this one remade than find the other.

22 Mar 2004

Been slow getting here but now have the shaft out of the newer transmission and now the process of finding the best shop to machine it to the specks we need.

03 May 2009

As you can tell the posts came to a halt as all the coolness and such went away. Short version is none of the stuff we had worked out to that point so had to find a correct transmission. this went on till about mid 2006 and we could not find one with the overdrive unit so decided to get just a regular and then worry about the overdrive later. Around mid 2007 we finally got the correct transmission, no overdrive, and guess what It did not fit as the pilot shaft was to long and and to big around. What the heck is this, back to square one. Finally Wally got numbers and all together and discovered the engine someone put in was a 331 Poly from a 1956 Chrysler not from a 1955 truck. That particular engine was made with and automatic transmission only and the manual would not fit as they had not made the pilot hole and such for it. Even back then they made two Crankshafts, one for automatics and one for manuals. Go figure. There was not a manual crankshaft for this engine as it was never made that way. Found some that might work but no one was sure. We took out the crankshaft and took it to the machine shop had it drilled and fit and Walla it is good. Had to get some motor mounts made as the ones there were shot and the originals would not work. Got a drive shaft made as the ones we had would not fit because we could not fine the overdrive. The engine has the crank turned for smoothness and has new rod and main bearings in it. Lets see some truck pictures of before we started.

Enough of all the chatter lets see what happens when you click on the picture below.

17 May 2009

Well so much for all that. The movie link is dead and have posted the clip at the multiply group. Also did a trip yesterday after getting the brakes loose and the oil pressure gauge line broke and shot oil all over the engine. Oh Bother. Will get this all right some day.

31 May 2009

Got the oil line repaired and got the battery wires and such cleared up and the electrical going again. Got it started and went for a run but forgot I did not put in much gas so ran out. Got to get the gauge going. Any how it ran well and is so much fun. Need some brake work now and then the registration and may do some road trips to see if it can make it to Florida. Maybe I should break something so it can't go as it is so neat. SHHHH!!! don't tell Matt. The Movie link is back up now and will play with Media player from the link above. Now just need Matt to get the Power of attorney, plates, and registration here for some miles on the road to get all the bugs cleared out.

06 June 2009

Found the old girl had a leaking differential front seal and got that fixed and is getting some brake work done now so that will be good. Found the bad wire for the gas gauge so will get that fixed here soon also and then can see how much gas it has. Also need to figure out the speedometer as it reads zero and that is not good at 70 MPH. Hee Hee. Hope it is not the head that is bad. The emergency brake needs a cable and then should okay for some road trips. Yaa!!!!! It will need a set of tires before the big trip also. Where the heck is my registration and plates and things so we can run it out some.

08 June 2009

The brakes are all done and found a bad wheel bearing in the front so did that also. Found the wire for gas gauge that was broken so no wonder the gauge did not work. Will get that fixed now. Sure need some registration and plates and such.

10 June 2009

The brakes are working good but had a lifter or valve stick when I went to pick it up so used some sea foam in the oil and down the carburetor at a fast idle. This reacts like steam and cleans sludge and junk out and it had quieted down by the time I got home. If it acts up again I will use water next time but you must be very careful doing this so you don't blast it to hard. Now it acts like it is running hot but it is full of water so will check timing and see if it is running real rich washing the cylinders dry. Seems more like timing as it now wants to diesel some when you shut it off. Can't figure out how that would just start. Oh well it is going and when I can get it on the road will get some of those bugs out. Need some stuff so I can drive it some now.

11 June 2009

Much quieter tonight but is still dieseling or run on when I turn it off so will need to check that out. Now I believe it just will need some road miles to blow out all the old rust and dust from setting for 6 years. I put in a new thermostat but that was no help and it sure was a cheap one, I almost left the old one in. Hooked up the gas gauge and it now reads something but not sure it is right. I ran out of gas I think so I dumped in about 4 gallons and the gauge says it is almost 1/2 full. Will have to figure that out as it gets run more.