How To: C15a Wire-3 restoration

[Robert Bergeron]

Awesome is the only word that comes to my mind looking at your pictures Jordan !

[Jordan Baker]

Battery box project is moving along nicely.

[Jordan Baker]

And then this happened a few days ago. Another milestone hit for this truck.

[Stewart Loy]

Congratulations - that is the final hurdle.

Now you can parade to your hearts content!

Well done.

[Jordan Baker]

Took the truck out for its first good road drive. It handles great with no wobbles and stops fantastically. I did have two issues with it. Number one was my speedometer went haywire and started spinning all over the place. I’m not sure if the cable was binding up in the outer casing or if the speedometer itself has issues. The second issue I had was the temperature gauge going up over 220 degrees. The radiator is a new core and the engine block was totally flushed out. I’m thinking I’ll check for any restrictions near the thermostat. When I stopped off at a friends farm I left the engine idling. When I left about 6min later the temp was down to 170. By the time I got home it was up around 210 or so.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Jordan

On the speedometer try loosening the cable nut on the back of the speedometer. My HUP with late style dash the speedometer doesn't like having the cable nut tight been that way since got it 40 years ago. Same problem with three different speedometers, if nut on cable is tight I think it loads the bearing on the little cup inside just enough so it rubs and makes the needle jump around. Loosening it a half to full turn seems to solve the problem.

One speedometer I had to replace spun up so hard that it rapped the needle around the limit pin.

On the thermostat did you say this was a new or old one and did we discuss exercising thermostats before installing?

Also do you have the steam relief valve open or closed? With my trucks I've found I get more accurate and quicker response from from the temperature gauge if the steam relief valve is just barely open, it helps the coolant flow up through the fittings and passed the sender.

Great work on your truck, I've really enjoyed following your progress.

Cheers Phil

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Curious about the heat. It seems to be under load and OK when at an idle. Blockage? Timing? Rich mixture (what do the plugs look like)? I've had that problem with Fords but have a hard time getting Chevs up to a working temperature. I look forward to hearing what the cause is. Is rad fluid making it to the overflow can? Why is the can on the outside?