VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans 1936 1 1/2 ton Low Roof Semi Lots of Pics

Mike
Check that the pedal is fully returning and not holding the master cylinder partly applied.
Tony

Check to see if the front brakes are tight also, if they are then I agree with the master cylinder. If only the rear I would suspect a bad hose(even if new). Sometimes if you wiggle a hose it will release the pressure. The a thought.

I'll look into these things tomorrow.
Don, I loosened the line into the front of the rear hose and the rear wheels would roll. Don't think it's the hose.
Since I did not replace all steel lines, I'm wondering if some debris has come loose and created a check valve somewhere.

Mike

Every time I had all four brakes lock up it has been the master cylinder or a brake booster,check the adjustment and the little return holes in the master cylinder.

Dad isn't you brake pedal unusually high off the floor, could it be returning to the wrong spot and not releasing the fluid? Maybe the one brake seemed like the only offender because it had the broken spring and was easiest to apply?

I talked to my Dad last night and he has not been able to work on the truck as his powder coating shop is supper busy with work.

He said his plan is start at the MC and work out from there. He does not think that the pedal hight is a factor but it would be nice for it to be a little lower just for comfort of driving. Any other 36 guys out there that could share how tall your pedal is would be a help.

Finally got a chance to crawl under the truck after work. I noticed the threaded rod that connects the brake linkage to the master cylinder did not have the jam nut snugged down.
The rod did not want to turn freely so since I had already disconnected the line from the other end I decided to remove the MC. When the bolts came out of the cylinder it was immediately pushed forward by the return spring pressure from inside the MC.
The rod being too long was not letting the MC return to it's "full rest" position. I chased the threads on the rod and in the yoke and reassembled everything and adjusted the rod until it relaxed with the MC mounted.
No help for a proper bleeding so I pumped some fluid out by loosening the fitting at the MC. This gave me brakes enough for a test drive to the gas station. Everything seems to be working fine, so far.
Steam Show this weekend. I hope I Make it.

Mike

Well the truck and trailer have been out for an adventure. My Dad's local car car club Old Wheels Car Club had their annual car show today and the Semi was on hand and totally under its own power to and from the event.

My Dad drove the truck home from his work where it has bee stored, it is about a thirty mile or more drive. The truck did great and the tires seem to getting more round every day. The fact that it gets driven in and out of his shop every day we think is helping this as it never sits very long one spot. Then it was off to get hooked up to the trailer. My mom followed him back to their house to be ready for the show on sunday. She took this video fo the truck on the way home. It is fun to see the whole thing running down the open road.

The rig was a hit as usual and the setting made it look home with all of the old buildings around. My Corvair Wagon was there as well as it is being stored in MO until I have a place to put in under roof here in NC. Hope you guys enjoy the video and the pictures.

I am sure my Dad will chime in with a few more details as we were only able to chat about the day for a second.

The truck performed pretty well with the skeleton of a trailer in tow. No brakes on the trailer yet so I was cautious to anticipate stops. The truck brakes stopped us OK even though my bleeding job on the truck brakes was not quite as good as I had hoped.
I'm still having gas tank problems so I'm giving up on the JB weld. I'll get some copper sheet and sweat solder it to the tank and see if I can put an end to my misery. I see some tanks on ebay, once in a while, but I'm afraid they will be no better than the one I have.
My engine seems to perform well and is comfortable (but loud) at about 40 MPH. My buddy, Jim, was following me on my trip from the shop. He said we hit 45 on some downhills. Scary? You bet. I don't know if it was the warp speed or the fear of a connecting rod exiting the crankcase that caused my anxiety.
My doors need a final adjustment to align the belt lines and center the dovetail.
I think I will let the truck rest for a while, my tractor needs attention.
Sam's Corvair wagon was a hit at the show. Most people don't remember that there ever was a Corvair wagon so It is always a conversation starter. Sam always raises the rear hatch and deck to show off his engine, (and to make sure people know where the engine is) so I did the same.
Some club members asked if Sam was there, after seeing his car, and were disappointed to learn he was not.

Mike

Very cool ole truck and trailer,I miss my ole 41 1/2 ton chevy with 235,4spd,2sp rear,12ft flat bed,my son called it big green,you can see pictures of it on stovebolt.com,look up Randy Cox,also I had a 70 suburban 4x4 with 250 six 3spd,on there too.

I took the '36 for a spin this afternoon. I drove over to my buddy Ed's place so he could have a look at my cracked fender. I'm not sure he has ever had the opportunity to fix one of these before some long ago blacksmith had a go at it.
He will pull the front of the fender and bracket forward a little to get the stress out of the cracked area. I might have him bump out a few random dents while he has the truck.
While I was there, he gave me some advice about door adjustment.
I noticed I am getting a little front tire squeal when I make a right turn. I have not checked the toe in or tie rod ends. It has new king pins and spring shackles. I should check my tire pressure as well.
My Brother, J.D. is home from Japan for a month so we will try to finish the seat while he is home.
I like the truck better every time I drive it.

Mike

is just the passenger side fender cracked?

The passenger side fender has two cracks at the top of the arch. Ed thinks the fender was bumped on the lower front corner which put stress in the place that ultimately cracked.
If you pull forward on the front of the fender, the cracked area pulls back in line.
I think there are some other cracks in the firewall. Given the condition of the rear cab mounts, it appears that the truck has seen some rough terrain in it's 76 years.


Mike

Is he going to take a look at the bow in the hood? Is ed a busy as ever?

My Dad and my uncle JD have been working on recovering the seat in the 36. I know that they had a few broken springs to replace but overall they are in ok shape. They did the backrest a while ago and it turned out very nice. Hopefully we can get a few pictures of the finished product.

I talked to my Dad last night about the progress on the split seat. My Uncle got the broken springs replaced and and all new padding material put on. He also got the covers made but not installed, the hold up is the way that the covers are held in place. They do not use hog rings as we are used to on most older upholstery, instead the cover material is jammed into a channel that runs around the bottom of the seat frame. The little pieces that held the cover in the channel were not reusable and they are woking a on suitable replacement.

The other discovery was that what was thought to be original upholstery material looked to have been a very early recover. They found some remnants of of another cover inside the seat.

My Dad is hoping to work on them more some time this week and snap a few pictures for us of the progress.

They should be more comfortable with the fixed springs and new padding when done.

Anyone have any early Chevy upholstery tips they could share?

It has similar seats to my 37 and when I redone the seats I welded wire to the seat frames to use hog rings instead of the clips it originally had.

Jeff, did your seats bottoms have a sheet metal bottom that inclosed them? My Dads are this way and he has never run into it before, it looks factory.

Mine did not have a sheetmetal bottom so that must be a 36 only part,the cushions on mine are open and can see the springs.Can you post some pics of the seat bottoms.

Yes, when my Dad works on his seat this week he will take some pictures for us.

With the holidays and being busy at work the seat bottoms are waiting.

We have made a little bit of a break threw on the trailer lights. I have been researching what would be an appropriate early connector for the lights on the truck and trailer. I found a great guy named Bruce on the ATHS forum who shared a picture of the original Warner connector on his 32 White 643. After doing some digging I discovered that the same connector was used on most Us military vehicles in WWII especially Jeeps.

We have already found the male trailer end and now have to find the socket and cover. It is a four prong heavy duty setup that should look right at home and provide enough wires for tail, brake and signals.

If any one has lead on a socket and cover send my Dad or me a PM, Thanks

This is the whole setup we need.


The socket on it's own.






Here is the wire end with the cover removed


Here is the trailer side plug


As I said most WWII jeeps had the Socket mounted on the drivers side just above the tail light.

A local junkyard has a few old trucks and some remains of military jeeps so I will look the next time I am there.

Thanks Jeff.

Nothing to much to report the truck and trailer are resting for the winter at my great uncles barn. The seat and gas tank are the things that we want to have done for the spring.

A little while back my dad found this tool box to add to the truck. It will mount on the frame in front of the rear wheels and should look right at home. What do you guys think?

Quick update while the truck and trailer sleeps in the barn.

My Dad found another gas tank and it is on its way from the pacific north west. It is supposed to be a nice clean tank with a little surface rust on the outside. Cross your fingers that it is in good shape so we can check the tank problems off the list for good.