"Papa Smurf" - 1966 GMC 1500 Custom

[Funky61]

To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?

[LordNatedawg]

Time for a truck/life update and a question.

To sum it up, February and March sucked. I haven't been able to do much due to personal injury. About a week after my last post I was rear-ended and my car was totaled. The injuries to my neck and back prevented me from doing anything on my truck. I'm still not 100%, but I have now been medically cleared to continue life like normal.

So nothing got done on my truck due to my inability to twist and contort beneath it. But I did manage to get my 351E into the garage last week (with plenty of help). The problem I was having was that my dad's 1974 GMC is lifted, so my hoist didn't have enough height to pick up the engine in the bed of his truck. Solved this issue by putting the hoist on a trailer first.

Question:
I'm trying to remove the clutch assembly from the engine in order to get the bellhousing off so I can put the engine in a cradle. But for some reason I can't get a socket/wrench on two of the bolts. It seems like the pressure plate shifted. Again, it is only restricting two of the bolts. I'm inexperienced with clutches; I've only ever removed one. Is this issue solved by realigning the pressure plate? How would I do so? I don't want to pry on things and break something. This clutch is brand new, according to the PO (fresh grease on the throwout bearing, too).

I hope you are all doing well in these crazy times. Stay safe.

[James]

Originally Posted by LordNatedawg

To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?

Time for a truck/life update and a question.

Question:
I'm trying to remove the clutch assembly from the engine in order to get the bellhousing off so I can put the engine in a cradle. But for some reason I can't get a socket/wrench on two of the bolts. It seems like the pressure plate shifted. Again, it is only restricting two of the bolts. I'm inexperienced with clutches; I've only ever removed one. Is this issue solved by realigning the pressure plate? How would I do so? I don't want to pry on things and break something. This clutch is brand new, according to the PO (fresh grease on the throwout bearing, too).

You will need to rotate the engine to access the other bolts. The clutch assembly is heavy, be careful. Having an extra pair of hand will help.

[LordNatedawg]

Originally Posted by James

To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?

You will need to rotate the engine to access the other bolts. The clutch assembly is heavy, be careful. Having an extra pair of hand will help.

The problem isn't with that. I was able to get the other 4(?) bolts broken loose by turning the engine (and the engine turns very smoothly, which is exciting). The issue is that two of the bolts have some sort of obstruction near the head.

[tbucketnut]

Throw a box end wrench on the head of the bolt, hopefully it is not rounded. Then take another combination wrench and hook the first one to make a lever arm. If it doesnt come off you will have to cut the pressure plate off the flywheel then remove the bolt.
Hope you feel better recovering.
Steve

[James]

Originally Posted by LordNatedawg

To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?

The problem isn't with that. I was able to get the other 4(?) bolts broken loose by turning the engine (and the engine turns very smoothly, which is exciting). The issue is that two of the bolts have some sort of obstruction near the head.

Someone had operated the clutch without the transmission in place and the clutch disc had drop down. Somehow you need to operate the clutch to allow the clutch disc to move away from the bolt

[LordNatedawg]

Originally Posted by tbucketnut

To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?

Throw a box end wrench on the head of the bolt, hopefully it is not rounded. Then take another combination wrench and hook the first one to make a lever arm. If it doesnt come off you will have to cut the pressure plate off the flywheel then remove the bolt.
Hope you feel better recovering.
Steve

Unfortunately the wrench trick didn't work. I can't get a box wrench on the head. I'd hate to cut if off and possibly ruin the pressure plate, but that option keeps creeping forward. Guess if it comes to that I should confirm: this engine with the NP435 will work with a 11" or a 12" clutch?

[Cfriis]

A trick I’ve done in the past when having A rounded Bolt or inaccessible is tack weld another bolt to it Allowing a small extension

[LordNatedawg]

Tack weld. That seems like a good option. I'll have to give that a shot. Although I have yet to learn how to MIG weld. I've done Oxy-Acet welding, but not MIG. I'll contract this job out to my younger brother and let you all know how it goes. Lol. He was taking a welding class in high school and he's been dying to weld something for me.

In other news: I finally did the power steering conversion. The job that started this whole mess. Two hours of work that took almost a year to do. I initially drilled 2 holes using the CPP kit. This put 3 bolts for the steering box through the frame and one is left beneath the frame. Later I found CaptainFab's bracket that puts all 4 bolts through the frame. Bought that and installed it today. Hardest part was drilling the hole that overlapped an existing hole. Ended up using a file to elongate the existing hole.

Everything bolted up easily after that. Torqued the bolts to 70 lb/ft after adding a bit of threadlocker. Then I installed my hoses, my steering column U-joint, and my rag joint flange. My back started hurting at this point so I called it a day. All that is left to do is to cut my collapsible steering shaft to fit. After that I can install tierods, drill holes for relocating the idler arm, and install my power steering pump pulley.

I still need to order 2 nuts for my steering system. The pitman arm nut (7/8-14) and my pump pulley nut (9/16-18).

Things are finally coming together and it's exciting. Once steering is done, I can get my truck out of the dirt and into the driveway. From there I can finish the brakes.

[LordNatedawg]

Originally Posted by James

To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?

Someone had operated the clutch without the transmission in place and the clutch disc had drop down. Somehow you need to operate the clutch to allow the clutch disc to move away from the bolt

Didn't see your post until now. I'll add that to my list of things to try next; priority 1. You're probably right. I have no idea how I'm going to activate it again, but I'll figure something out.

Another update on Papa Smurf. I finalized and secured my front brake lines. I secured one end of the line to my fuel line, then drilled a hole in my fender and secured both brake lines to that. I also rebent the second brake line to route it differently and tidy it up.

I also installed my steering shaft. Managed to get my drill press working, which made the job super easy. Last time the drill press didn't work was because it was plugged into an extension cord, and the extension was not plugged into power. Go figure. Once that was set, I measured the required length, cut it to fit, drilled necessary holes to secure it, and got it installed. I got the steering wheel pretty close to center, relative to the steering gear. I think it's off by a few teeth, but I'm happy with it. I can always pull the universal joint off the steering column to adjust it, or just deal with the fact that I'm losing a small amount of steering to my right.

Steering isn't done yet. I thought I had the correct socket for the pitman arm nut, but I don't. Waiting for one in the mail. I need to torque the pitman arm before I can install the steering linkage.

Lastly, I finally installed a new heater resistor and heater core (just in time for summer!). The resistor is located on the backside of the passenger side duct. Disconnect it from the firewall (3 screws), then disconnect it from the other duct (2 screws). The duct should wiggle out and give easy access to the resistor. One of the thumbnails is upside down, but if you click it the image will orient itself properly.

Small rant: The LMC heater core was less than ideal. The heater core was subtly different from the OEM one, but it was just enough of a difference that I had to make small modifications to my heater core box. The hangers for the core did not fit properly on the new core, so i had to drill a new hole in both hangers in order to get them to work. Not a huge issue, just annoying.