[Bob Carriere]

Where do I start....

Phil....... if you think I have a head start I am still struggling along I never imagined that doing the whole thing from the grounds up would take so much time....BUT... I ain't gonna quit now.....

If I can get the springs done....now that I have my new sping shackle pins I should be able to get back to a rolling frame.....

I plan to sandblast the axles next..... as is... and try giving it a first coat of POR semi gloss black.... then I will disassemble them and rebuild as necessary...... that way if any sand gets in I will have a chance to cleanup in the rebuild stage. My wheel are done and the tires should be installed in the next week. Took my rad out to have it recored........ is there a end to this....LOL

Joyce and I had a wonderful time at Weare... really enjoyed you company/discussion and the chance to pick your brain.....

Mark...fire away all the questions you want.... would be glad to share my experience.

In the frame member department.... when I took apart my Cab 11 I found that the rear engine support was not beefed up like the later cab 13.... the part that bolts/rivets on to the frame the upper two rivets on each side had broken off completely.

So I cannibalized the cross member from a C60... I grinded the rivet heads off..... I hate using the blue wrench for fear of gouging the frame....punch them out..... about a minute each. I re-assembled using 3/8 grade 8 bolts lock washer and nuts. It would be nice to rivet again but that is not an option for me. How good is it....??? I feel it is has good has I can make it and would meet safety requirements but not original. I undertand that there are some river head bolts available for hard core restorations but I don't know the specific source.

Then later on I discovered....wjen removing the sand and crud inside the front crossmember that it had rusted trough inside the valley part so I removed it and replaced from a domor ex-water truck which had benefitted from a leaking engine.... the crud was oily.

Both crossmembers were sandblasted and painted with POR twice with a binder coat and one brushed on OD before assembly.
That insured that the inside of the crossmember was properly coated.

From experience POR is a bitch to work with but provides on hell of a hard finish....and so smooth that after it dries regular paint will not stick to it. again from expereince I learned that following the POR instructions works best. It goes like this...sandblast...degrease with a waterbase corrosive spray...rinse...let air dry..... spray with phosphoric acid to etch...let air dry....rub down with a soft 3M pad...blow dust away then spray 1st coat of POR....wait two hours.....dries faster on a humid day...rush like hell for the second coat... in gray for contrast
....let air dry fro a couple of days... apply the semi gloss Chassis Black which by exception acts as a binder coat......pray that not to many bugs land on it while it is still wet. 2 or 3 top coats of OD is still to come.

POR is like a crazy glue with pigment if you allow it to dry on ANY thing it is on for good...... I have used up on full box of surgical gloves..... black paint will stay on your skin for about two weeks until it wears off....... hard to explain when working in an office.

Also had to give myself a hair cut...... I paint using old cloths and wearing old pillow case that I wear as a hood.... in a moment of inattention...after spraying..... I walked underneath the frame and brushes my hair withouot noticing it..... so 5 hours later I had to cut off rock hard strands of jet black hair...hahaha

Now the engine....... So much has been said about waht is the right color for the Chevy engine..... I have always heard gray.... some of my old Dodge M37 had rebuilt engine by the military and they ahd gray engines... shows oily leaks real good..... so I opted for gray... now what shade of gray...... well the shade that looked good to me.... not very technical..... but POR has a nice Gray color which is a perfect match for the NEW Ford gray engine color available at CDN tire.......Now don't ask me what was the OLD Ford gray........ so I painted the block..oil pan...valve covers.. all in POR gray...... the I screwed up the oil pan... so I painted the special binder coat over the shinny POR gray then over painted with the NEW Ford gray.... once assembled you cannot tell them apart. I also did the bellhousing in POR gray.... from a different can.... and crap the gray is slightly darker..... maybe I did not stir the POR properly.......

My wheel were done the same way...... needle gun to remove the rust scale....sandblast...two coats of POR 2 coats..brushed on of OD.

CAUTION... read the instructions on the POR can....... becuase of the volatile nature of that crazy glue composition you need a pressured fresh air supply mask to spray paint..... there are no know filters to protect you....and since that chemical hardens with humidity you can imagine what can happen with your lungs.....
If you use a paint brush in a well ventilated area you should have no problem.......

My truck is 64 years old... when I am done it should last at least another 64 years... by then we will be out of gasoline.....and so will I...!!!!

I am not claiming that everything I do is authentic... although I am striving for the 1940 character of the beast....I prefer due consideration for safety, durability, a truck I can show around actively......and a machine I can use with no fear that it will not start or stop and I intend to get it dirty once in a while........

Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's suppose to be a hobby........

Is it not what it's all about.......So lets get on with it.........

Bob C.