Sometimes its just nice to take an old part and remove the built up grease and dirt to reveal its inner beauty. Spray some paint and marvel at the transformation. With all these engine parts being cleaned and repainted, I decided to scrape off the old grease and stuff from the engine block. With the radiator, fan and water pump removed access was greatly improved. In fact as you can see its standing room only inside the bay. I also discovered a tag with the number 441 wired to the engine. Not sure what this is at this point but will update once I learn more.
The engine cleaning was a combination of camp fuel, paint brush, putty knife, pick and lots of elbow grease. I also decided to remove the crankcase down draft tube. Again thanks to the oldGMCtruck forum. I was able to learn how to remove it without damaging the tube. Rubber mallet and patience. I banged it left and right on the main tube so as to rock it back and forth in the engine. Then smack the smaller down draft tube so that the would spin the tube inside the engine. Over and over and over until I was able to twist the tube out.
My day was almost done, and I had spent the last 4 days focusing on the engine. Already dirty I slithered under the truck and decide to take off the rear shock to see what its condition might be. After removing the first rear shock it was apparent that there was nothing inside those old shocks that provided any type of help to the suspension. I was able to slide the two ends back and forth like a slide trombone. No resistance, no music.
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| PARTS IN PROCESS |
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| SLOW REVEAL |
If you like complex puzzles. the kind that test your patience and investigative skills, then get yourself an old truck! The starter on my truck has always had a problem. You stomp and it might wind up the starter motor but miss engaging the engine. But it eventually would connect. That's an important part of this story. Why? because if it works some of the time that makes it low on the priority list of things to fix.
As I removed the starter and scraped off the grease and dirt accumulation of many years I found that the starter has a part number and a brand stamped on its side. DELCO-REMY. So I go online to either find this part or a kit to rebuild it. Turns out that this model is hard to find. When you do it can be very expensive to replace. At the time of this writing I found it for $130 plus an additional delivery fee because its so heavy. I also found it for $320 plus shipping.
Bottom line was I decided to find a rebuild kit, which are available. However the part that seemed to be an issue was not easily found. Since I am not knowledgeable in the names of the various parts of a starter I had to educate myself as to the part I am looking for. The first part is called a shift lever, and the part that is bad was called a button. My buttons are worn out half way. Calling Delco technical support I was lucky to find a man who knew the name but they no longer made them. He suggested getting a new shift lever instead of just searching for new buttons, which is also no longer made. However he said I if I really want the buttons I might want to try a company called WAI Automotive which might have them still in stock as they sold to them at some point.
Calling one of the distribution locations for WAI I found that they no longer have them but I
should try Obsolete Parts out of Ohio, or Amsco, they might have some. He asked where I lived and suggested I try a company called Hagemeister Enterprises, Inc. After calling the other places and getting nowhere I called Hagemeister.
Dave answered. Turns out he works on Thursdays, lucky for me. After some back and forth on describing the shift lever for my starter, as well as some pictures texted, I now own a brand new shift lever.
I also posted on the oldGMCtrucks discussion board and had another jewel to this story. The knowledge that is available is outstanding, and free. Turns out that the problem with my shift lever is really a symptom of the real issue. My starter drive is not "kicking" back as it should so the buttons remain in position slowly wearing down on the back side. So after a new lever, starter drive, brushes, and solenoid I am into it about $50. Not bad, plus the greater understanding the puzzle created by so many pieces. Thanks to all for your help.
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| REBUILT STARTER |
Its been awhile since I last updated this blog, probably because I haven't done much on the truck. Have you ever hear the saying, "give a mouse a cookie"? Its a kids book about what happens when you give this mouse a cookie, and he decides that he needs more and more and more. Well a simple water pump repair turned into multiple projects.
About two weeks ago a friend asked me if I could bring over my truck as a prop/seating for an outdoor movie they were having. I said sure, mostly because it had been quite some time since I had driven it was good to get things lubricated and warmed up. Everything was fine until I arrived at his driveway and noticed that Mavrick was peeing without any shame. Engine temp was at the top end of the limit and clearly I had a coolant leak!
It was difficult to see where the leak was coming from, but my hoses are new and the leak was coming from someplace near the engine on the passenger side, but was hidden from the oil canister. Based on my best guess it looked like someplace near the side of the water pump.
I hate bent fins on a a radiator! not sure why but it has always bothered me. Perhaps its the clean organized pattern of the fins jarringly altered by a bent fin that causes me to fret. So I drained the fluid to find that my petcock was clogged. So I removed the lower hose and drained the system. Removed the radiator and water pump.
Turns out that a water pump for a 270 engine is a bit of a challenge to find. After several hours online I was at my wits end. Sometimes when I am overwhelmed on a project I like to look at other peoples videos on YouTube and see them being successful and thereby giving me hope. This is where I found a guy named Jeff who has a channel called Elderly Iron out of Selma Oregon. Turns out he has a whole series on a 58 GMC. As I live in the same region as him I contacted him about the water pump rebuild and he gave me a company one town over called The Flying Dutchman. Problem solved. Wade will fix it up in a few weeks and I will be back in business. If only it was that simple.
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| Made in the USA |
That radiator is an old Harrison PN:3140882. I like the look of it and the history of being part of this truck. This is were it gets complex. There are new aluminum radiators all bright and shiny, that works great or even better than before, but it feels to new for the truck. When you open the hood you can see the history and wear everywhere. The Harrison blends in to the whole package while at the same time behaving as an entry point into history as you lean over it to see the rest of the story in all its oil and dirt stained glory. Harrison is no longer in business.
So I can either have it re-cored or buy a reproduction radiator that looks similar, but NOT a Harrison. Just look at that font used on the Harrison name. It screams 1950's. Observe the fine wire mesh installed by Luther (Grandpa) at some point after he bought it in '59. More importantly there is a small tag that says "Nevada County Rad." A repair at some point or maybe a replacement. Either way that's a mark in history that's why I will re-core this radiator. I just have to figure out how to save that tag. UPDATE 06/10: I took out the radiator and had it tested. They were unable to find any issues so I reinstalled and called it good, for now.
My rule of operation has been that when I "fix" or "touch" something in the truck I will try to clean it up a bit, meaning remove any grease, oil or rust. I will also repaint parts if I can to look nice. Here is where the mouse got greedy.
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| Starter PN: 1107634 |
The thermostat could use some cleaning and an inspection since the cooling system is dismantled, so off it comes. Fan blade is off from the water pump so it to will be cleaned and painted. Might as well take out the radiator support since I'm there. Well look at that generator its a mess. Should be easy to remove and clean, and give it some maintenance of the brushes and commutator.
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| Generator |
I should have stopped right there, but before I removed the generator I disconnected the battery and of course why not clean the battery tray and hold down. Now I looking at the other side of this great engine and noticed that the push-rod valve cover was leaking. Gasket ordered and many bolts removed and cleaned. Did you know that in order to remove the pushrod cover you need to remove the oil canister and ignition coil as well? And now I am removing the starter, by
the way actually does have a problem! When I stomp the starter I will
often get a spin of the starter motor but does not
engage the engine. I promise this is the last thing to pull off the truck. Except
maybe I will replace the shocks back and front, which depends on how
much time I have available.
Sometimes its just nice to take an old part and remove the built up grease and dirt to reveal its inner beauty. Spray some paint and marvel at the transformation. With all these engine parts being cleaned and repainted, I decided to scrape off the old grease and stuff from the engine block. With the radiator, fan and water pump removed access was greatly improved. In fact as you can see its standing room only inside the bay. I also discovered a tag with the number 441 wired to the engine. Not sure what this is at this point but will update once I learn more. 
The engine cleaning was a combination of camp fuel, paint brush, putty knife, pick and lots of elbow grease. I also decided to remove the crankcase down draft tube. Again thanks to the oldGMCtruck forum. I was able to learn how to remove it without damaging the tube. Rubber mallet and patience. I banged it left and right on the main tube so as to rock it back and forth in the engine. Then smack the smaller down draft tube so that the would spin the tube inside the engine. Over and over and over until I was able to twist the tube out. 
