1931 Chevy 4door into pickup.

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Drove the 31 up to a car show last night. Engine got a bit warm on the way and puked coolant out. So looks like I need to do something different with the cooling system. Tempted to ditch the rear mounted radiator and figure out how to mount the radiator up front without having to redo the front frame. On a cooler note, a local business owner offered me a job as their lead welder/fabricator at his body shop.
 
It's nice to be wanted. Are you going to take the job?

I know a few guys with rear mounted radiators that cool just fine. You might want to look at the fan, fan placement, shroud, radiator capacity, etc. before you go through all the work to front mount it.
 
It's nice to be wanted. Are you going to take the job?

I know a few guys with rear mounted radiators that cool just fine. You might want to look at the fan, fan placement, shroud, radiator capacity, etc. before you go through all the work to front mount it.

I’ve really really got to think about it.

I’m going to gess that it’s a few different things leading to the hot run condition. It shouldnt be too hard to mount up front I’ll just have to move the panhard bar and the front cross member.
 
I put a Maziere inline water pump on the 53 1 ton I just got done with, for the extra coolant flow I needed. Worked excellent.
 
Getting the engine for my 33 back together right now but next on the list once that’s all said and done is to bring this one back in the shop to address the cooling issue. I’m really thinking that the best and easiest solution is going to be to move the radiator up front. With that being said, I will have to rework the front suspension. I am almost thinking of taking the lower links and moving the rear mounts inboard to triangulate it but I can’t say I’ve ever seen it done so I don’t know if it’s a viable solution or not. The other option would be to cut the ends narrower and have it ride directly above the front axle but we’ll see more when I get it back into the shop for surgery.
 
So the 33 is done(ish) and ready to leave the shop but I’ve still got junk blocking it in and no way to take it off to scrap and working a lot of long hours so the 31 still hasn’t made it’s way back into the shop. So with that said, shop work has been minimal just moving things around a little here and there and practicing my tig skills(or lack thereof.) Hoping to pick up a new to me trailer this coming week so I can take the brown turd off to scrap and then I can move the 31 back into the shop.
 
Finally got her back in the garage to redo a few things. Starting with the pedals. It was a bit to far of a stretch to comfortably push the brake and clutch in all the way so starting with the brake pedal arm, it was easier to remove, I welded on a 4” extension and I can now reach the pedal easily. Tomorrow I will tackle the clutch pedal. The gas pedal will also need moved forward but I will need to order a new cable first because the current one is going to be too short. Then last thing I will have to do for the inside(to make it more driveable) is tilt the steering wheel down to a more normal angle/height.
 

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Got the clutch pedal extended some. I think it could have used an extra 1/2” or so but much easier to reach and get to the floor now. Cut out the lower portion of the dash to open up the steering so I could adjust that. Got the steering box bracket cut, adjusted, and welded back into place. Then I cut down the steering column from the 76 parts truck to fit into this rod. Cut down a total of 11-1/2” of the housing. I’ve got to figure out what the total length of the column needs to be before I cut the shaft down. Also need to find a bearing that will fit into the lower end of the housing, I want to keep everything turning as smooth as possible. Tomorrow I am hoping to find a bearing that fits, get the shaft cut to size, and mock it up in the car. I will need to get a piece of 18ga for the lower dash, cut it to fit, and weld it in before the inside changes are finished. Anyhow, that’s all I’ve got for today. Here is the before and after of the clutch pedal.
 

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I was able to find a bearing to fit the lower portion of the 76’s column. Had to ream it out a bit to fit and then tack welded it to the column. Cut 11-1/2” from the center of the column and welded it back together. It seems to be the perfect length. Bolted the column back to the box. I will need to get another piece of sheet metal to rebuild the dash and make a column support but most of the hard bits are done. I’m thinking for the support, using 1-1/2” thin wall bent into a “u” and bolt the column to that using a u-bolt or two. That will have to be done after the dash is put back together.
 

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Picked up a sheet of 18ga and some 1-1/2” tubing yesterday. Today I got the new dash cut and welded in. I like the way it turned out. Tomorrow I’ll bend the tubing and weld it into place. Then I’ll work on moving the gas pedal.
 

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