235 Distributor Upgrade...

One of the major limiting factors in a Chevy 235 is the ignition.  GM had a very interesting idea of rotating the entire distributor in the block for the vacuum advance.  When the motor rev'd up, it looks as if the distributor is loose.  Also, whenever the oil was changed in the car, the mechanic was suppose to give a quarter turn of the grease cup located on the side of the distributor.  This lubricated the upper bearing and in most cases, never got done.  While they worked for all of those years, most of the time nowadays, they are just plain worn out.  Couple that with the fact that I completely and utterly despise points, you have the bases for a "modern" electronic upgrade.

I say "modern" because you still have to use a distributor that is approaching 30 years old.  1983-1985 Chevy S-10's with a 2.8 V6 still had a carburetor.  This meant that they still had vacuum advance.  After 1985, GM switched to EFI and controlled advanced electronically.  While they look almost the same, 1986 and later dizzy's did not have the vacuum pot.

With a little bit a machining and swapping of the drive gears, now you can have electronic ignition with proper vacuum advance.  The two distributors on the left are modified version of the stock distributor on the right. 

'40 fender fix...

The driver's read fender developed a little issue recently.  I half-ass attempted to repair it but it didn't work...shocker.  So, I finally took the time and fixed it right.  The underlying problem is how thin the original fenders are.  I should have started with better metal, but it's too late now.

The majority of the weld was ground off with a thick cut off wheel in the die grinder.  I find that a typical "body" grinder puts way too much heat into the panel and actually very rarely use one.  To finish this off, I'll go back and use a right angle die grinder with a 1 1/2" diameter 60 grit disk.

Sorry that thing have been slow around here the last week.  The local county fair is going on and I haven't had much time to get out to the shop.  Once a year, I allow the redneck in me to come out out and I go over board...especially on the food.  It's sooooo good!

East Bound and Down...

I didn't know Burt Reynolds visited Northeast Ohio....

Aluminum cooling...

Had a customer drop off a radiator to be modified over the weekend.  It's for a '50 Plymouth convertible with a small block.  The problem was that the original radiator was fairly deteriorated and with the cost of copper and brass, it would have cost a fortune to fix.  So we went with a much more cost effective universal aluminum radiator and modified it to fit.

Most universal radiators are cross flow...I don't know why...but they are.  So, to make it look right, we had to move the filler neck.  We also had to move the inlet and outlet positions

The lower hose is gong to be very lose to the fan.  I tried to offset it as much as I could to allow for a little additional room.

Usually when I modify radiators, I cut the entire top tank off and remake it closer to the original. This takes care of the unsightly patches.  Regardless, it will still work great and cool much better than the stock one.

Mister Twister at it again....

Running 11.90's with a heavy ass car....

I love the bald fat guy's reaction at the end..."Oh yeah!"

Shit just got real....

T5 install pogress pics...

Here are some more progress pics on the T5 install on the latest '50 Chevy truck.

This truck had the original torque tube drive rear end.  Obviously, it needed to be changed to an open drive rear end for it to work with the 5 speed.  One of the issues with this is that the spring mounts are offset from the centerline of the rear end.  So, the locating holes in the new spring perches need to be drilled off center.  In this case, it was 2". 

I have not been able to find quality aftermarket spring perches that are not 2 1/2" wide.  Most pre-60's cars and trucks had 1 3/4" wide springs.  What usually ends up happening it that I start with these HERE and cut the necessary amount out of the center and he weld them back together.  This also allows me to drill the locating hole anywhere I desire.

We found a surprise when the clutch was disassembled.  The motor is a 235 from a 1958 Chevy.  However, it had a 9" diameter clutch.  All of these era Chevy trucks I have ever torn apart had 10" clutches in them.  So when I ordered parts before the truck was delivered, naturally, I ordered a 10" clutch. The flywheel in the truck was either an early 235 or a 216 coarse tooth flywheel.  Later 235's after '55 uses a slightly smaller flywheel with a fine tooth ring gear.  The flywheels are interchangeable but you also have to change starters.  Luckily, we had a 10" 1956 truck flywheel and starter in inventory. 

As for the clutch, we went with a raised diaphragm pressure plate compared to the original style flat diaphragm pressure plate.  There are several advantages to this.  First, these clutches are much more forgiving.  Secondly, they also can handle much more power and finally they use a standard GM short throwout bearing.  They also bolt right up as they are a standard 10" GM clutch from the 60's.  As for the clutch disc, we used a 9 11/16" diameter 4x4 S-10 blazer disc.

The new 10" clutch and flywheel on the left and the "original" 9" clutch on the right.  An 11" flywheel is in the center.

You can see the difference between the height of the two throwout bearings and pressure plates.

The drive shaft was fairly straight forward.  We used a '57 Chevy car drive shaft with 1310 u-joints.  The "new" rear end used the same joint but the standard S-10 transmission yoke does not.  It uses a 1344 u-joint with clips on the inside.  This is easily solved with a conversion u-joint from MOOG.  Part # 372.  You can get them through Napa or Summit Racing.  As for the length, we did have to shorten the shaft about 3"

First cut the weld...

...knock out the end...

...cut to length and then reassemble.

Spring plates had to be made to accept the new U-bolts.  Everything tightened down quite nicely and we were able to reuse the factory shock mounts.  The new transmission looks right at home.

Another T5 install...

...in yet another '50 Chevy truck.  In case you missed it, we did another one here. 

This truck has a 1958 235 with the original column shift 3 speed and torque tube rear end.  The customer wants to keep the original look, but be able to drive it on the freeway.  The solution....a T5 5 speed transmission out of a 91 S-10 and a rear end out of a '57 Chevy 1/2 ton truck...

More to come...

Coats 4040....

I came across a deal to purchase several Coats 4040 tire machines.  One was pretty much in working order but the other needed some work.  I traded to working machine away and keep the basket case since I felt like I needed another project.  I have slowly been making progress on it.  Surprisingly, you can get almost every part you need for these things.  Just call Ron at North Coast Equipment Specialists.

There is still some work to do but it coming along well.  I have been using it quite a bit actually even in it's current state.

Pics from Grenfield Village...

I spent a great deal of time at Greenfield Village's machine shop....needless to say, my wife did not find it as interested as I did since as how she put it..."all of the machines started to look the same"  Regardless, it's definitely worth the trip as there is plenty more to do and see than just the machine shop.  It truly felt like you stepped back in time.