56chevtrk build thread

Looking pretty nice . Deciphering things like brakes just seem to be part of our sickness but is usually quite satisfying when that aha moment arrives . PS Looking at your pic it appears as though the fender may be a bit high at the back and when it comes to aligning gaps on vehicles that were never nicely aligned to begin with every few mm helps .
 
Well life continues to throw me curve balls when it come to getting my truck on the road.

Finally worked up the courage to load it in my new enclosed trailer. Escape door works good and sure helps but if I can modify the bottom of the door it will work even better. I just need about another 3/4 inch to be able to open the truck door even more. More on that later!

Anyway my wife did a great job of guiding me into the trailer but the first time I could not open the truck door enough to get out. So no big deal I decided to back the truck out and move it over an inch or two. Managed to get the truck out and then - NO START!!!

Truck has been starting every time, first time no problem for months. Wife was loosing faith in me - it was plain to see on her face...

Luckily I had installed a mount in the front of the trailer to mount a winch. So I grabbed a battery from the shop and we pulled the truck back in with the winch. Worked great. Now I had loaded it twice - my confidence was rising.

Got the truck to the mechanic and again no start - at first. But then it started! Pulled it out and got it up on a lift. All the mechanics in the shop came over to look and ask questions. Life was good as I showed off my last 15 or so years of free time.

It now became apparent that if you tap on the bottom of the fuel tank you could get it to start. Weird right! More on that in a bit.

Anyway we started looking at the front end and decided that we needed to replace the 1980 OEM lower A-arms as one of the new lower ball joints had "popped" out when I had the truck jacked up in my shop. That didn't seem right.

I had figured on leaving the truck and the shop could get the A-arms in and a new fuel pump. Well that plan was not going to work. No 1980 Chev C10 A-arms available right now. Covid strikes again!

We decided that leaving my truck at the shop with a weird fuel pump thing going on was not a good idea. We tapped on the bottom of the fuel tank and it fired right up and I loaded it back in the trailer. I have now loaded it 3 times. I was now a pro!!!

I started looking for OEM lower A-arms and was surprised at what I found. Even LMC was backordered and blaming it on Covid. They actually have upper A-arms in stock but no lowers.

Started looking for tubular and finally found some at PerformanceOnline but they are currently getting a bunch of lowers built. Should be about 2 weeks. It was at this time that I decided I was going to replace uppers and lowers if I was going tubular! So now I wait again.

I started looking into the fuel pump thing and it appears that sometimes I can not hear the fuel pump turn on when I move the key to the on position. Other times it makes a weird noise and still others after tapping the tank it make its normal whirring noise and fires right up. At this point I am not sure if it actually the fuel pump or I have a loose wire or something. Anyway I found the correct Walbro in-tank fuel pump at CEP in Lethbridge - or at least they can get one in from the U.S. In a week or so. I am now waiting for that to unload the truck from the trailer as I am taking the opportunity to clean and re-arrange my shop with it now being empty.

I am thinking it might be an easy fix if something shook loose but wanted to have a new fuel pump in hand just in case. Luckily I can drop the fuel tank relatively easy and take a look.

So I'm in a hold mode once again.

As we live right on the highway to Waterton Park I am seeing lots of classics going out for rides but not me. Maybe this summer!!!
 
Damn, I feel the pain...anxiety in your words. I am with you, understand, when the key twist doesn’t start your “home-built” project as the wife watches... uggg!
Sounds like a plan, wait a bit longer; a few hours more in your shop and you should be good to go.
Good luck!
Greg
 
Ya she was trying to be so supportive and nice when I couldn't get it running but it was not a great feeling! She did jump in several times to go for short rides around the yard and field so she knows it runs...

I have had to promise her that I would never build a vehicle to this level again as it costs so so much.

She is about to get home from pickle ball and I am going to inform her I am going to look at a 50 Chev 1 ton with dump box that a friend of mine is considering getting rid of.
 
it really sucks when you see others out there driving their rides and your sitting watching them slide by. ..you feel like you should have a sign out front with pictures that tells them you have a ride too..and you should be out there with them..ha.....my vote is for the wiring thing..maybe a bad ground..the fact that you can hit the tank and it works makes me lean that way...I would check all of the connections before I replaced the pump...this is exactly why I tell my wife...I need second ride...just so I don’t have to sit on the side lines..good luck with the 50 truck....eh.
 
Tough stuff. I’d go looking for a wiring issue too. I’d start by looking for bad earth. Hopefully your control arms won’t take too long.

I feel your pain about watching other go for a run. Mine is still not finished either.
 
Ya once the new fuel pump comes I am going to start by looking for loose wires. If I fix it I will at least have a spare fuel pump for down the road. I can't really be driving yet because of the A-arms being delayed anyway. All I can do is complain.

Its going to be so good once its on the road. I have already had several flashbacks when driving around the field and the yard with my wife in it. I can tell that engine just wants to go!
 
So why do you think those ball joints popped?...something has to be causing it to bind and come out..shouldn’t come out by jacking it up..something your going to have to figure out first...and what the hell is a pickle ball?
 
Last edited:
JohnnyBgood said:
...and what the hell is a pickle ball?
Click to expand...
Something old folks do in their spare time....younger people are now picking up the game too.
What is it....a game resembling tennis/badminton, in which players use short-handled Paddles, a little bigger than a ping-pong paddle,
to hit a perforated ball, similar to a whiffle ball, over the net. Court size is half the size of a tennis court.
Pure fun. Ball is slow compared to a tennis ball.
Quite popular in the west for sure.
 
Huuu..thanks for the info..never heard of a pickle ball game before..I like the idea of a slow game and the paddles...has the possibility to become a full contact sport..haha
 
Funny you mention hitting the tank with a hammer deal. I had an 87 S10 in a previous life that had a bad starting problem. Would turn over, sometimes start, sometimes not. Had lunch with an acquaintance and mentioned it, as he did diagnostic work for various shops. He came over, looked it over, tried to start it, and it would not. He asked me for a large hammer and I said Huh?? He said never mind, and proceeded to reach under the box side and give the bottom of the fuel pump a fairly solid whack. Got in and it fired right up. He told me it was a common problem that the fuel pump would stick.
Did I ever have a lot of fun with that after that day. Carried a big hammer with me and was in front of Princess Auto one busy Saturday. Wouldn't start and I gave it a big whack with the hammer, fired it up and drove away. The looks I got were hilarious. Eventually the truck died.
 
JohnnyBgood said:
So why do you think those ball joints popped?...something has to be causing it to bind and come out..shouldn’t come out by jacking it up..something your going to have to figure out first...and what the hell is a pickle ball?
Click to expand...
So sorry to take so long to get back on this.

It was just one lower ball joint that popped out.

No idea except maybe the A-frame was worn, stretched or something. I watched him press them all in!

Its hard to describe pickle ball! Cross between ping pong - tennis & badminton. And its pretty much for old people.
 
1Kool52 said:
Something old folks do in their spare time....younger people are now picking up the game too.
What is it....a game resembling tennis/badminton, in which players use short-handled Paddles, a little bigger than a ping-pong paddle,
to hit a perforated ball, similar to a whiffle ball, over the net. Court size is half the size of a tennis court.
Pure fun. Ball is slow compared to a tennis ball.
Quite popular in the west for sure.
Click to expand...
Should have read things a little closer. Your explanation is far better then mine was.
 
Finally got the new fuel pump and after dropping the tank a bit it was plain to see that there was no loose wires!

Dropped the tank, disconnected everything and laid the fuel tank on the bench to operate.

Replaced new fuel pump after having to wait another day for a new sock/filter to put on inlet. It appears there are subtle differences in the Walbro pumps. I got one slightly different than what I had!!!

Put it all back together and so far it has started every time I have asked it to.

Kind of weird because it did start when I pulled it out of the trailer but that fuel pump had to go.

Drove it all over the yard and field this afternoon and just came back in after shutting shop doors and it fired right up again.

I could not find OEM A-arms so ordered some tubular ones - both upper and lowers - from performance online in California. I am hoping they ship out this week then back to shop. Everybody is back-ordered it seems.
 
I've had very little back order issues through the pandemic until the last few months when everthing went to s^&# .
 
Ya I hear ya. The last few months when I was/am trying desperately to get my truck on the road finally has been the worst.

Hopefully things will get better.
 
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