'46 Chevy Shorty

[ol trunt]

Hay Tango, Didn't I hear you mention something about a slide out or was I juat dreaming that. If so, what are your plans and if not why not?

Can't resist bragging about the Venture brand slide out mechanism I found on epay--less than a hundred bucks and new. The devil of it is that now I have no good excuse for not trying to do a pop out for the "bedroom". If you are thinking about building a slide out I'd like to pick your brain for ideas.

I'll get some pics of the bus body up as soon as I get the bus back on the frame and the sides ripped off like you did. J

[Tango]

Ahhhh...a slide out is probably beyond my skill level. I'm trying to keep it as simple as I can (to match my wits). That said, I would love to see what you come up with. And finding anything on Epay for a hundred bucks worth bidding on is in itself an accomplishment! But a slide mechanism...??? Very cool.

Say...what part of the country are you in? I'm in Houston, TX.

[ol trunt]

I'm in sunny Ca in Oxnard (you have to snort the letter x in order to truly appreciate the name of the city). It's on the coast about an hour north of LA and 1/2 hour south of Santa Barbara.There are various nice RV parks around here and several State parks as well.Sooooo if you ever get out this way we'll have to plan an outting!

BTW after seeing that door you made I know you have all the skill needed to build whatever you chose! Jack

[chev49]

slides are not very difficult to build. there are several pictures of the construction on the net. mostly a box with the arms that pivot, roller assy, and the motor. the only trick is to make up a metal or wood outside box so you can test it before you put it in the bus...

[ol trunt]

'49 I've seen lots of pics of slide outs on the net but none so far that show much in the way of the mechanics--have you any leads along those lines? thanks

[lornaschinske]

Check out HWHwebsite. They make many of the Slide out mechanisms that the stick-n-staple RVs as well as pro custom coach converters use.

[lornaschinske]

Sorry double post (lost internet connection)

[Tango]

Hey Trunt --- Negatory. Sorry but I don't know a thing about them bud.

I am, however, looking into heavy-duty sliders of the battery/generator drawer type as a possibility for extending my rear deck when parked.

[ol trunt]

Hum, that's a good idea, I'll think about it as well. I bought several HEAVY duty drawer slides at a building material recycle place called "The Restore" hear locally. I think they are more or less nation wide--some sort of eco nut deal with gov $ I'd bet but full of good buys

[lornaschinske]

The Restore is the resell store for Habitat For Humanity.

[Tango]

Yeah...we have a few Habitat stores here too. Funny thing is, of the two near me, one is dirt cheap with great stuff and the other is higher than normal retail for mangled crap. Go figure.

[ol trunt]

Maybe the shoddy one is run by Habitat for INhumanity!?!

[lornaschinske]

We have pretty much stopped buying from the Habitat Restore. Prices are too high (often can buy new cheaper at a regular store) and the selection is poor. Now in the past we bought a lot of stuff. Half of my vintage Gold Butterfly Corelle Dinnerware (our "camping" dinnerware for the pop-up) was bought at a Restore. I bought the other "half" at a Humane Society Thrift store (what we call "the puppy dog store"). Cost for essentially a double set was $10 total from both places. It has survived being bounded down the road from TN to VA and back, all over GA, TN, NC, out to NM,down to TX and back to NM. Haven't lost any to traveling. I paid $5 for my 5 litre Futura pressure cooker pot.It was unused with all the stickers still on it. I suspect no one really knew what it was. I've had it for several years. I use it for pressure cooking AND regular cooking (it's my pasta pot). I did have to buy an owners manual/cookbook online but it's a nifty thing. Retail prices when I bought were $100 to $150. Pressure saucepans are not very popular any more. I have gotten more than my $5 worth out of the little pot.I've bought several things over the years but at one point the Resale store changed and we would look but not buy. We haven't bought anything from the Resale store in several years. We get better buys at Goodwill although none on building materials. Yellow tag clearance at Home Depot is better deals.

[Tango]

Been a while since any updates but I have made a fair amount of progress under the bus and will post a few pics shortly. Now have all of the requisite spacers & hangers for both the fuel & black/gray tanks in place. I hate working underneath this sucker...can't sit up...can't lay down.

But, after searching for months, I finally scored big time on a tranny! Been working with an Allison tech to try and find a solid Allison 2200HS at anything under $5 grand and danged if he didn't come through in spades. Located a zero-miles 2012 take out from a brand new truck that got smashed up at the dealership. Truck was totaled but the engine & trans untouched and they had no idea what it was worth. It is a state-of-the-art, double overdrive, close ratio, six-speed automatic that should provide the gearing I need to get the MPG I am hoping for(dreaming of)...26-30? Next comes trying to figure out how to stuff it and the turbocharged, intercooled Cummins diesel into that little Art Deco front end.

It's times like this that I really wish I lived closer to Ol Trunt!

Onward!

[ol trunt]

That would really be fun. Probably the only thing you'd learn from me is how to swear--but with that great find on the Allison you will probably need no help inventing new swear words I will have to extend the radiator cover and widen the bottom edge of the hood and cowl to get all the goodies covered--hope you have better luck!

[Tango]

Hey Trunt --- I can't recall...is your engine intercooled? That's one of my biggest concerns...where the heck to route all that large scale piping. Right now, I am thinking there may be room to go around the radiator on each side through the inner fender panels and back into the grill without interfering with wheel play. But since the engine and chassis have yet to actually meet...???

Meanwhile, I seem to have the swearing thing down pretty good (four years in the Navy helped)... but, even that didn't prepare me for rebuilding an antique bus! There are times when it makes my Viet Nam years seem almost peaceful & pleasant (LOL).

[bansil]

very cool find,this sounds like it'll get fun

[ol trunt]

Tango, lazy sort that I am Itook the easy way out and plan to spread the bottom of the cowl and hood flaps and and widen the inner edge of the front fenders where they meet the hood flaps in order to cover the pipes for my intercooler. Now you have me thinking (a dangerous and costly event in most cases) that the intercooler pipes could drop into the frame rail or even below the frame and then there would be no need to monkey with the cowl and hood flaps--hmm. Unless you are looking for the Dusenberg look I don't think running the pipes out to the fenders would be the best route to take. Damn! I thought I had that "devil in the details" all worked out!?

I am sure that you have measured the fit (of the diesel) many times over by now but I am curious as to how you're going to get that big diesel lump between the narrow front frame rails. I am assuming that Chevy/Gmc was still pinching the front frame as late as '46? My '35 frame was a full 6" narrower in front than at the rear---guess it just made it easier to roll the thing while trying to parallel park--who knows.

[Tango]

Hey Trunt --- based on "book measures"...I should easily have a good 3/64ths to play with all around (my front frame rails are parallel). Of course, I won't really know until the tranny & engine are bolted up, but any way you cut it, it's gonna be close. It appears (I looked again today) as if I may be able to run my intercooler hoses out through the inner fender panels and then back in to the grill area under the front of the fenders. Will most likely have to re-position the radiator forward an inch or two, but like I said, until I have a real hardware package to work with, it's all just guesstimating.

Given that a V-8 350 Chevy now occupies the space, I'm hoping the narrower inline four will give me a little breathing room, but we'll see. And soon, I hope. 'Course then there's the turbo...and A/C...and Power Steering...and...Power brakes...and...

[chev49]

maybe they widened your frame as my 31 chev 1 1/2t dump truck has the frame width the same from front to back.