squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

We had a little bit of weather roll in, so if it clears up a bit tomorrow I might drive it a bit and then pull the plugs. Can't really run it in the shop much with the exhaust sticking straight out the sides like that, it really stinks the place up

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Be careful with that. We need you around here!

I'm amped up because one of my best friends that I've been in loose contact with for years is coming over tomorrow for a joy ride in Goliath.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

hey....goliath has 4 wheel drive, right? too bad they're all on the back!

Should be interesting, be careful

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Roads are 100% clear now. It'll be driving on dry asphalt.

Monday's drive was the interesting one. I was nervous about how the thing would stop on snow/ice, but it did well with the new rubber.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

compression test, bottom right corner is cylinder 1, top left is 8:



Plugs, in the same order as the compression numbers:



I had a fun drive getting the truck warmed up. The exhaust leak is much quieter now, so that lets me hear all the popping and backfiring and other fun noises. I got down to the end of the driveway, and the engine died. The carb had gas seeping out the bottom, so I picked up a rock and beat on the air horn (where all the other hammer/rock marks are) and then held the pedal down and cranked until the battery was about dead (generator doesn't work, battery is 5 years old) and it started to catch, then fired up. I love old trucks, you can fix them with a rock.

[JOES66FURY]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Might seem a little worn out and/or used up...time for the big block.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Yeah, it is worn out. But I kinda want to see how bad it is, I have some ideas for where to use a worn out engine.

I almost had to downshift to 2nd to get back home up the "hill". It's not much of a hill, I notice it when riding my Schwinn but you can't tell just looking that the road is sloped.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

What kind of rock?

[DanStokes]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Just right, I'd guess based on the outcome.

Dan

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

A hard rock. None of that gypsum crap for working on trucks!

I replaced the four (!) fouled plugs with new plugs of various types that I had laying around (they are all 14mm gasket short reach type) and it runs a lot better. Not perfect, but it only pops and sputters when accelerating in high gear now. It actually accelerates "uphill" in 3rd. It could be up to 80 hp or so.

I might replace the 3 plug wires that have big bare spots in the insulation, and maybe even put the dwell meter on it and play with the points. Too bad my old Sun ignition scope isn't working anymore.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

compression test, bottom right corner is cylinder 1, top left is 8:



Plugs, in the same order as the compression numbers:



I had a fun drive getting the truck warmed up. The exhaust leak is much quieter now, so that lets me hear all the popping and backfiring and other fun noises. I got down to the end of the driveway, and the engine died. The carb had gas seeping out the bottom, so I picked up a rock and beat on the air horn (where all the other hammer/rock marks are) and then held the pedal down and cranked until the battery was about dead (generator doesn't work, battery is 5 years old) and it started to catch, then fired up. I love old trucks, you can fix them with a rock.

You better start, or I'm gonna hit you with a rock. Where's a rock?

Randal yelling from Ely, "Make sure you use a hard rock!! Don't want sand in the carb!!"

[Caveman Tony]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

thanks!

A little bit more progress today, I finished some plumbing on the new gas tank, and took out the old tank. Put a few gallons in, drove it a couple miles (shhh no plates) and it seems to work ok. Then I got the bright idea to try to do something about the exhaust leak on the pass side, it had a blown exhaust manifold gasket because a bolt was missing (although it's not supposed to have gaskets between the exhaust manifolds and heads, but that's another story). Easy to fix...but one bolt was stuck in the manifold with carbon, I had to pull the manifold off and beat the bolt out with the big hammer and punch. It does sound quieter now, but I can hear other interesting noises in the old 283. I'm temped to pull the plugs and run a compression test just to see how bad it is. Smokes pretty good out the driver side tailpipe until it warms up.

[Caveman Tony]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

thanks!

A little bit more progress today, I finished some plumbing on the new gas tank, and took out the old tank. Put a few gallons in, drove it a couple miles (shhh no plates) and it seems to work ok. Then I got the bright idea to try to do something about the exhaust leak on the pass side, it had a blown exhaust manifold gasket because a bolt was missing (although it's not supposed to have gaskets between the exhaust manifolds and heads, but that's another story). Easy to fix...but one bolt was stuck in the manifold with carbon, I had to pull the manifold off and beat the bolt out with the big hammer and punch. It does sound quieter now, but I can hear other interesting noises in the old 283. I'm temped to pull the plugs and run a compression test just to see how bad it is. Smokes pretty good out the driver side tailpipe until it warms up.

If that 283 has a forged crank, I'll handle its disposal for ya.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Should be steel, I have another steel crank too. The engine is running ok now, I kinda don't want to tear it apart. But I also have another block...59 car 4bbl stamp on it...and a pair of PP heads with dates real close to the block date. So I kinda want to keep all that together.

I played with the generator and voltage regulator for a while, and read the shop manual, and decided there's something wrong here. Appears the regulator cuts the generator out when it gets up to 7 volts, which is what would happen if I had a 6v regulator on a 12v system. So I need to scrounge a regulator...or give up. The battery charger is easy to hook up

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

I thought about it for a while and decided to go searching thru the Magic Kingdom (my sheds) and I did find a 12v regulator for the generator. And it works! It probably needs adjustment, but it's showing a slight charge, and when I turn on the headlight it still charges. It's only charging at about 12.8 volts, the battery is at about 12.5 or so without a load. But it will do the job for now.

I adjusted the dwell and timing, and the engine runs ok but it's popping back a bit more now. I noticed that the engine was cranking hard, like the timing was up too far--it was--but that was probably to make it run without spitting back so much. It belched several times when I was revving it to check the charging system, I really need to get the air cleaner installed. I have an old oil bath for it...needs cleaning, and maybe some oil.