'46 Chevy Shorty - Page 19

ol trunt · 11-14-2012, 09:09 PM

Bet you'll sleep good after all that is over! Don, your art is at the head of the class--I hope you are able to turn a bunch of it into CASH to spend on your bus (why else would you sell it?). Jack

GreyEagle · 11-15-2012, 08:41 AM

AWESOME Picz........ Even thought I cannot make it to Houston and the Artcrawl...... I did enjoy viewing the picz,
A big Thank You for sharing........

Tango · 11-18-2012, 09:15 PM

Thanks Guys --- the 'Crawl was a blast but I'm worn out. Will sleep for a couple of days then try to post some pix. Gotta get rested back up...I got a bus to build!

ol trunt · 11-19-2012, 08:55 PM

Hey Tango, sleep is over rated. It's almost Tuesday--how much sleep do you need?

Glad to hear your fest was a success! BTW, where are the pics of the A/C trial instal? I know, I know ,take your Kodak and stuff it where the light don't shine.

I'm finally over the "cold" given me by the cute little thing who makes my SPECIAL coffee at Mickey D's and I'm again full of P&V!--Details, measurements, engeenering, that sort of thing , that's what I need so up and at 'em! Jack

Tango · 11-19-2012, 09:03 PM

Hey Jack --- Hope to get back to work on the bus by mid-week and will try to remember to take a couple of pix. Glad to hear you've made the leap back to the living. So far my annual VA flu shot is keeping the bugs at bay.

"Up and at'em Atom Ant!"

GreyEagle · 11-20-2012, 08:34 AM

Hey Tango........ Any leads on that rear end? for the bus of course........

Tango · 11-20-2012, 09:02 AM

Hey GreyEagle --- Do have a fellow here locally that is checking the gearing on one "out in the pasture" but nothing solid so far. Still have feelers out around the web and keeping my fingers crossed. Hope to know about the local truck before the week is out. If the gears are right I still need to drive down and have a look-see regarding condition. Need some kind of resolution soon...my tranny will get mated to the engine in a couple of weeks and the installation work will begin. I hate the idea of blowing money on an interim driveshaft if I have to go with a completely different rear end...which I really hope to avoid.

Tango · 11-20-2012, 10:00 AM

As promised, below is a link to some pix from the 20th annual ArtCrawl here at my studios. We had a great show and as usual I am whipped from several weeks of trying to pull everything together.

Trying to get a bunch of artists organized is like trying to herd cats...with a bulldozer.

Now maybe I can get back to Bus Biz.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tango88...7632055541123/

bansil · 11-20-2012, 10:16 AM

Looks like a great time!
Thanks for sharing the pics

GreyEagle · 11-20-2012, 10:37 AM

Nice pics..... You sell any while you where there? Looks like a good turn out.......

Tango · 11-20-2012, 05:44 PM

Actually, I rarely even have my door open during these events...I'm too busy "herding cats" from dawn to midnight. However, I did pick up a new commission from one of the artists who shows here routinely. Go figure.

Tango · 11-23-2012, 09:14 AM

Hope everyone had a great Turkeyday! With any luck, I may get a little bus work done before the holiday weekend is over. Sitting at my studios right now waiting for electricians to finish up changing out a breaker box then I can get back at it.

Meanwhile...my brand new 6-speed Allison tranny arrived! Still waiting on a couple of other related parts, then it's off to Diesel Specialists shop to get it mounted onto the Cummins engine. After that, the serious work of stuffing the whole package into that Art Deco front end begins. Should be interesting. I'm actually more concerned with where to put all the cooling equipment. Somewhere in her pointy little nose I have to mount a radiator...a big turbo intercooler and a fairly large transmission cooler. Hmmmm...

ol trunt · 11-23-2012, 08:08 PM

Hey Tango, Sounds like you've had the best Black Friday of any of us--I mean the arrival of the NEW tranny! Sure would like to be close at hand to watch you stuff the drive line into that pointy 'll front end. That will be something! As I remember, you have the intercooler layout figured out. As to the rest of it, just think "outside the box" or in this case outside the pointy nose. All those cooling devices don't care where they are as long as they have good air movement (fan?). Jack

Tango · 11-23-2012, 10:41 PM

Hey jack --- I have actually been thinking about a rooftop mount for the tranny cooler. Why not? With a little chrome trim it could look cool...or at the very least...different. Course any leaks could get real messy.

Tango · 11-30-2012, 09:52 AM

Going painfully slow on a batch of "Little Things". You know, the ones that always eat your lunch kind. Managed to get one of the wheel wells patched, cleaned up, rust treated and a good layer of undercoating/sound deadener applied to the outer surface. Also have mud flaps in place on the passenger/curb side. Another of those tasks I wanted to complete before putting the skin back on...much easier to access now than later. Had to fab & weld mounting brackets as there were none originally. I put a semi-rigid flap in front of the duallies to try and limit how much debris builds up on the fuel tank. Will do the same on the other side for the black/gray tank.

"New" wheel well.

Rear Mud Flap

"Front" Mud Flap

Bunches of other minor tasks completed but still so much more to do.

Ah well...Onward!

ol trunt · 11-30-2012, 11:10 AM

Hey Tango, I sure do like your bolt down wheel wells better than my welded ones. How do yours articulate with the side of the bus? Jack

Tango · 11-30-2012, 11:37 AM

Howdy Jack --- the wheel wells were attached on three sides of the upper surface with big sheetmetal screws while the outer edge has a lip that hangs down over the outer edge and was bolted between the floor & body spacers just below floor level. But since I am radically re-shaping the wheel cutout, I'll have to rearrange how it all fits together. The new opening will cut away a large portion of both the body spacer and the wheel well. Frankly, it's gonna' be tricky and I do not yet have a fully developed plan, but it will most likely involve fabricating a new lip that attaches to both the inner & outer skin and closes the gap between them. Gonna' be very important to close it all up tightly there or face some rapidly deteriorating metal.

Will post some info/pix once I get it worked out more.

Tango · 12-02-2012, 08:43 PM

Well Krud! --- drove an hour southwest to look at a '46 ton-and-a-half that was being used as a rose arbor in hopes of finding a good 5.43 rear end. No such luck. Pulled the inspection cover (the gears looked great) but right there, stamped into the ring gear was 36-7 and a GM part number...another 6.14 set. Beginning to wonder if all my Chevy truck books have the specs backwards and its' the 6.14 was really "standard".

Wasn't a total waste, as I met a great guy (high school auto mechanics teacher) who builds and races several varieties of cars, some from scratch. Really knows his stuff and has a shop twice the size of his house. May be able to help find and configure the wiring harness I need for the Allison.

Meanwhile...at least his wife's rose arbor still has good gears.

Onward!

opus · 12-02-2012, 09:35 PM

Ok, this is taking too long and I am losing patience for you to complete this.

What exactly do you need? I will make some calls around here for you.

Tango · 12-03-2012, 09:02 AM

LOL! --- "Taking too long"...tell me about it Opus! But hey...I'm sticking by my story that this is a "two-year project". That's what it was when I started a year and a half ago...and that's what it remains. Still only looking at two years to completion. Must be right on schedule, right?

The big hang up right now is the gearing in the rear end. I'd been told it was 5.43:1 (and foolishly did not attempt to confirm until recently) which would have been perfect. Turns out that what I have is actually 6.14:1...(which is NOT perfect & will NOT work properly with the new transmission)...so I've been on the hunt for the right ring & pinion set. While all the Chevy books state that the 5.43 was "Standard" and the 6.14 "Optional"...it appears that everyone must have opted for the option 'cause that is all I have seen.

So...

if you or anyone else comes across a set of usable 1941 through 1952 1.5 ton (Series 4000) Chevy truck ring & pinion gears...I will gladly reward the finder with a generous $20 dollar gift certificate to Taco Bell (very handy when on the road)...or...a lifetime subscription to Skoolie.Com (essential to any bus converters sense of well being). Heck, I might just throw in both.

Ring gear: 38 teeth
Pinion Gear: 7 teeth

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