Operation Yankee joe
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 1:30 am
I'm a long time lover of vintage iron and a long time addicted collector of any junk i can get my hands on. since i was 14 ive probably owned around 30+ cars and im 19 now. one of these pieces of garbage i currently have in my possession is a 1942 Chevy G7116 Cargo Dump.
this is how i found it, parked in the same place my uncle left it 16 years ago.
my Grandpa bought this truck a long long time ago and used it to haul grapes for Sunkist some time in the 50's. my uncle then bought it from my grandpa and did the same thing for a while and used it for various farm tasks. and finally the condition i found it in was where it was parked to work as a engine puller. well one day i asked about it and he mentioned he was talking to a guy about scrapping it for $300. i then screamed NO! and told him for $300 i would take it home. now how i was to get it there was quite the dilemma. this was in Chino and i lived in Hemet, around 2 hours drive on the freeway in a car, so needless to say it was going to be a long drive home in this.
so after a few days work it was running, rolling and considerably lighter \:\)
the trip home took a total of 7 hours of navigating around the back roads and dirt trails of Southern California to get it home without attracting any un needed attention from the authorities.
this truck hauls ass!
finally done, meeting up with some fellow pieces of American Iron.
over all this truck, even being an ancient and abused piece of farm equipment, made the trip without incident and like a champ. it did develop a few small issues while i was commuting to college in it but the leaking gas lines and the master cylinder getting stuck were to be expected.
but sadly after all this i just ended up parking it at my dads property and its been parked there for around a year.
and the other night i fell asleep thinking about the trip I'm going to make this summer i my baja down to SoCal from Washington. and for some reason i dreamed that when i went by my dads property the truck had rotted away and only the wheels were left. so needless to say it was on my mind for the next few days. i was getting kind of anxious about it and i came to the conclusion that i was going to take it back up north with me when i visit.
so im here to learn as much as i can in an attempt to get all my ducks in a row so i can make a minor restoration of this beast happen in a weeks time. yeah i know im pretty much Batshit insane but ive done this thing before. that and this truck dosen't need a whole lot of serious work to be road worthy. most of the work i have planned is just a serious cleaning, decreasing and some paint.
the more serious problems that i need to remedy though are the following.
1. The brake system needs to be rebuilt and flushed.
2. the 235 runs like a top but has an unknown number of miles on it and i would feel better if i knew what was going on inside of it. a friend of mine is an old engine pro and hes built a few hot rod Chevy I-6's so im going to get him to point me in the right direction in regards to the build.
3. this thing needs to be converted to 12v. its 6v now and normally i would leave it but for the convenience of the matter and because i want to possibly run more modern gauges and ignition it needs to happen.
4. and finally the biggest problem of all. the one i will need the gurus help most on, is the transmission. it has the original straight cut, non synchronized 4 speed and i must say it works well but i don't trust it. mixed with the serious amount of noise it makes and the fact that i know its been used without service for at least 30 years it makes me uneasy.
not to mention that i want to be able to cruise the freeway at a decent speed and the original trip home in this beast averaged at around 35mph the whole way. that would make the trip up to WA seem like an eternity. i did however get this beast up to 47mph at one point going down a freeway on ramp in 4th gear with the gas floored and the wind to my back. the engine seemed ok with it but the transmission sounded like it was going to go Chernobyl on my ass. i did the math with the tire size and the stock gearing and figured that the engine was only at 3000RPM's so with a transmission upgrade, an over drive and slightly taller tires i think i could get this thing to cruise 55-60 comfortably.
well that's about it, if this week bonanza build comes to be i will keep the forums updated.
this is how i found it, parked in the same place my uncle left it 16 years ago.
my Grandpa bought this truck a long long time ago and used it to haul grapes for Sunkist some time in the 50's. my uncle then bought it from my grandpa and did the same thing for a while and used it for various farm tasks. and finally the condition i found it in was where it was parked to work as a engine puller. well one day i asked about it and he mentioned he was talking to a guy about scrapping it for $300. i then screamed NO! and told him for $300 i would take it home. now how i was to get it there was quite the dilemma. this was in Chino and i lived in Hemet, around 2 hours drive on the freeway in a car, so needless to say it was going to be a long drive home in this.
so after a few days work it was running, rolling and considerably lighter \:\)
the trip home took a total of 7 hours of navigating around the back roads and dirt trails of Southern California to get it home without attracting any un needed attention from the authorities.
this truck hauls ass!
finally done, meeting up with some fellow pieces of American Iron.
over all this truck, even being an ancient and abused piece of farm equipment, made the trip without incident and like a champ. it did develop a few small issues while i was commuting to college in it but the leaking gas lines and the master cylinder getting stuck were to be expected.
but sadly after all this i just ended up parking it at my dads property and its been parked there for around a year.
and the other night i fell asleep thinking about the trip I'm going to make this summer i my baja down to SoCal from Washington. and for some reason i dreamed that when i went by my dads property the truck had rotted away and only the wheels were left. so needless to say it was on my mind for the next few days. i was getting kind of anxious about it and i came to the conclusion that i was going to take it back up north with me when i visit.
so im here to learn as much as i can in an attempt to get all my ducks in a row so i can make a minor restoration of this beast happen in a weeks time. yeah i know im pretty much Batshit insane but ive done this thing before. that and this truck dosen't need a whole lot of serious work to be road worthy. most of the work i have planned is just a serious cleaning, decreasing and some paint.
the more serious problems that i need to remedy though are the following.
1. The brake system needs to be rebuilt and flushed.
2. the 235 runs like a top but has an unknown number of miles on it and i would feel better if i knew what was going on inside of it. a friend of mine is an old engine pro and hes built a few hot rod Chevy I-6's so im going to get him to point me in the right direction in regards to the build.
3. this thing needs to be converted to 12v. its 6v now and normally i would leave it but for the convenience of the matter and because i want to possibly run more modern gauges and ignition it needs to happen.
4. and finally the biggest problem of all. the one i will need the gurus help most on, is the transmission. it has the original straight cut, non synchronized 4 speed and i must say it works well but i don't trust it. mixed with the serious amount of noise it makes and the fact that i know its been used without service for at least 30 years it makes me uneasy.
not to mention that i want to be able to cruise the freeway at a decent speed and the original trip home in this beast averaged at around 35mph the whole way. that would make the trip up to WA seem like an eternity. i did however get this beast up to 47mph at one point going down a freeway on ramp in 4th gear with the gas floored and the wind to my back. the engine seemed ok with it but the transmission sounded like it was going to go Chernobyl on my ass. i did the math with the tire size and the stock gearing and figured that the engine was only at 3000RPM's so with a transmission upgrade, an over drive and slightly taller tires i think i could get this thing to cruise 55-60 comfortably.
well that's about it, if this week bonanza build comes to be i will keep the forums updated.