Wamego: 1949 GMC 150

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joedoh

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
Messages
1,725
Location
doodah ks
hannah is fun to drive but I am bored again. originally I planned on a COE as the next project but I already have all the parts for this one. well donor parts anyway. wamego is a small town in northern kansas, I always liked the way the name sounded.

got this 49 GMC from Wayne, 93 years young. same guy the last 1 1/2 projects came from (Hannah and half of Fenix). I caught an ad for a 41 and bought 5 cabs and 6 beds haha.

IMG_0176 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

it was shredder fodder for certain, but I liked it anyway. wayne thought I was crazy, he had nicer cabs (and I bought those too), but waste not want not.

I got an 03 longbed s10 donor this january, it languished on craigslist till I called, turns out it had a bad case of RLS (runs like sh...) and he tried to convince me it was the cat. which he had already removed, to no effect. I took the drive anyway.

IMG_8266 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

we put a booster pack on it and it started right up and idled perfectly. I thought I was lucky till he revved it and it broke into a coughing cacophony. I took a chance on a cap and rotor and only needed the rotor.

IMG_8264 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

he was happy it was simple, and I drove it home. all my S10 donors have to make the trip home without a trailer, its a good way to shake out any problem areas. this one drove and shifted fine, no overheats or problems.

today I started teardown on the S10, I had already pulled the cab and clip from the 49 when I cleaned off my trailer last year. did the first bit outside, but it was hot so I moved inside after that.

IMG_0154 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0155 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

here is a tip for the s10 swappers, if you disconnect the alternator connector and are careful you can unbolt the firewall air box and the compressor and pull the ac in one big chunk, fully charged.

IMG_0157 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0158 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0160 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


I tried once before to use the s10 AC setup, but its too wide under the hood. I have a method to fix that maybe, so stay tuned!

the 98+ S10s use T47 torx bolts to hold the inner seat bolts on the 60/40 and they were installed on the line by some guy named Moose who used a cheater bar to install them. they are really tight, but sometimes with some oil and some heat and a little luck, it only takes 4 or 5 minutes to break your T47 bit.

IMG_0166 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

so I cut them out, without my usual swearing and angry boogie wrench throwing fanfare. my reward for such patience was this, tucked under the console side of the seat bracket, previously inaccessible even by the very determined.

IMG_0167 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I got a great deal on the truck and the owner was a real sweetheart even though I replaced the rotor right in his driveway and turned his inert "drag it home" truck into something that made a 40 minute drive without a hiccup, so I called him and he was elated. he thought he had lost it forever.

after that I got everything off the firewall and marked some cuts, I want a bunch of this sheetmetal.

IMG_0168 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I bought a little yard wagon at a yard sale and it worked great when I needed to rescue my cherry picker that was stuck in the mud under a cab

IMG_0174 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

with my wifes help I had the easiest cab/front clip move ever from the back yard to the front. I bought a forklift recently but its a smooth tire and gets stuck if you even hint that you might drive near the grass. but this little yard wagon sheesh! made it so easy, I would do this again in a heartbeat, which is good!

IMG_0171 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0172 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0173 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


yes thats daylight, the kicks are GONE but the floor is solid. nice for me, just flat work and a good solid floor. I like the spiderweb crack in the passenger windshield too. I am thinking of keeping it. I have lots of spare GMC front clip parts too, a whole spare clip actually, but lets see if I can bang this metal around a little before I give up. I have a nice bed, I have some nice running boards I got at the same sale I got the yard cart. you can see I already scored the missing door in a matching color, I even got the mounts cut already and maybe tomorrow I will weld them up and mock up the cab. everything is coming up joedoh!





so anyway, once more into the breach! :lol:
 
Dang Joe! Terrific start. Appreciate the ac removal tip. Been wonder'n how to deal with the ac on my 2001 donor [S

Look'n forward to following along on your new build. More photos of the purchased Wayne treasures would be fun. [P [cl
 
sure it is exciting getting one done, but remember that the done truck is exactly what I saw in my mind when I started, except whitewalls instead of blackwalls. besides, my friend scott used to say "dont worry about the swaybacks from wayback" :D he was talking about ex girlfriends but I think its the same principle.

I got hung up already, my mother in law dropped a balljoint in her CRV yesterday and I lost time waiting for the tow with her and figuring out the fix, which I have to do now because its blocking my garage door, nothing in or out!

55121813997__993428FE-ACDE-4D8A-A3A5-8AFA2D56F0C8-1 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

she wants a new car, which is nice because so do I, but we both dont have the money and thats only important to me I guess. poor thing, she is definitely her duaghters mom. :(
 
turns out, she hit a drainage ditch cut across the road at like 40mph the day before. sheared the cotter pin and just the nut fell off the balljoint. I got another and got it back tight but she is scared of it now and wants something else. sigh.


I farted with that the rest of the week and had to clean up the driveway yesterday for big birthday party today. today I got a little more forklift time, using the forklift with all these heavy parts is a game changer, it takes literally longer to find the forklift keys than it does to woop woop up to whatever you want to move and move it. I moved the sold cab to the front, organized the rest, and pulled the cab off the s10 all in about 3 minutes. love it.
IMG_0197 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

got my firewall chunks.
IMG_0196 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


pressure washed the frame, cut off the original mounts. my garage is a real wreck again haha.
IMG_0195 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

tomorrow is a project day so I will get the bed floor cut and the new mounts welded up and maybe even the cab on.
 
got the frame cleaned of the rear cab mount/bed mount bumtangle. in dantes version of hell, ted bundy and his ilk are probably down there taking this mount off S10 frames. what a giant pain in the poker.

IMG_0203 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I cut the mounts a while ago and couldnt find them, they were on the shelf outside. and I didnt cut the front tops. its always surprising how I can let myself down.

IMG_0204 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


but I got them squared up and tacked for a trial fit.

IMG_0206 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0205 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


I would put the cab on but it started raining. neither me nor the forklift would melt but my oldest daughter flew in from arizona for my youngest daughters birthday so I feel like I should be less obsessive about truck parts.
 
I love my girls. its tough when they are young, because I am so hardwired for compliance and consistency, we seem to "lose" them for a couple teenage years. but they come back!

I had to get MIL CRV out of the way of the garage door to push out the frame and try the cab mount, so I did the brake line and put a washer under the balljoint castle nut to line up the cotter pin, it looked a little far away. drove up the block and it squeaked and groaned like an orgy (I have been told). crud. I picked up a new loaded strut, and step ONE was disconnect the lower balljoint. it was 102 with 57% humidity (111!) and I did the strut in the sun. I thought I was going to melt like a candle. but got it done. needs a proper road test but she is standing proud again. the old strut looked ok installed but was reaaaallly bent. like a banana.

IMG_0211.JPG by Joe Doh, on Flickr

getting ready for the cab fit tomorrow, I should have my flatbed back and be using the forklift to load that 41 cab up for delivery. I thought I would measure up the mounts and see what was up, would you believe they are all square and level and the fronts are exactly 46 3/4" apart center to center? just like the mount holes in the cab. I am pretty pumped for tomorrow. except that the water heater gave up the ghost today. always something.
 
been a busy couple days.

a long non truck warning, skip this paragraph if you dont like complaining. home warranties are not what they once were. when we had it at the old house it was amazing, water heater went out the first week and new water heater installed and brought up to code the next day, all free beyond the 40 dollar service charge and the 30 dollar monthly fee. stove and microwave went out, NEW stainless jenn air stove and microwave installed, $40. dishwasher, ceiling fan, even the AC, all repaired ASAP, $40. we got the new place and.. monthly fee started going up over the years. now the monthly fee is $75, and the service charge is also $75. and they dont replace anything any more. we have had them out 7 times for the dishwasher, still hand washing dishes. 4 times for the exact same problem with the washing machine, thats $300 we have spent in service charges and the same part keeps going bad. AC, they dont cover freon any more. so $250 in freon last trip. now the water heater went out, rusted. simple right? no, the plumber wants $990 beyond the water heater and install cost to "bring the install up to code". Well I have had only about 6 home inspections in the last 8 years and nothing was out of code. I ask him to break it down in parts and labor, he cant. only chunks. need a pan under it (no you dont, its in a machine room with a concrete floor sloping to a sump). $79 for the pan and $141 to install the drain line. its 3 feet to the sump hole, and what could possibly cost $79 for a $7 drain pan from any hardware store? "we have to install it". you mean PLACE IT UNDER THE HOT WATER TANK?. $275 for new flue piping and install. its 3ft. last I looked 3 ft of b vent is $12. the rest is "miscellaneous work". So I call the office and tell them work will not progress till they break down the quote in parts and labor. they tell me, and I am not making this up "IT COSTS WHAT IT COSTS for us to do it! You just have to agree to it". so I got more quotes. a plumber came out yesterday and installed a new 9 year warranty water heater with a permit for 2/3rd of their EXTRA work quote. I expect to get a further 2/3rd of that back from the home warranty cash out, so in total I will have spent about $200, not $990. the original plumber doesnt know the work has already been done. Their comment to me on Friday was "well we will have to see how long it takes to break this invoice down, might be sometime after the first of the week, and there is a holiday wednesday too." the implication was clear. I told them that a) running water was a necessity but heated water was a luxury, and I did not care how long it took to get the breakdown, 3 days, 6 days, two weeks. they were not getting the ok until they did it, and b) they were not the only plumber in the world or even the city. Thieving crooks.


so after the SATURDAY INSTALL no extra charge (my new plumber for life) I delivered the CRV and picked up my flatbed, then delivered that 41 cab to andy. remember andy? for guys who never followed my 41 build he had the datsun powered 46 panel truck.

IMG_9670 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_9672 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

well he wants the 41 cab for the chassis that his panel is on right now. when I dropped off the cab he showed me the NEW chassis for the panel, and so the cab I sold him will go on the datsun powered chassis. he let me take a few snaps of his new chassis, all jag running gear including the v12.

IMG_0218 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0219 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0220 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0221 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I am staggered by his work. turns out he is a retired import mechanic, which explains all the weirdy powertrains. I would drive em in a heartbeat though.

today I cleaned up the garage, it was a clusterfreak from the teardown. got everything organized, took the shackle mounts off the bottom of the cab (old dog learning from last time), took the e brake pedal and bracket off. both of these were super easy and safe using the forklift, no more balanced cab on a cherry picker or rolled on its back. after that I plopped the cab on the mounts.

55216780568__40B35528-26EA-43B4-8AAE-311F69171016.JPG by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0231 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0232 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0233 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0235 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

mounts all line right up. still 1/2 low in the back because the s10 bushings are not on yet, I have to trim the shackle bracket. but looks great. I will pull the cab back off and move the motor back tomorrow.

for guys who want to know how far you can move the V6 back, its <9"

IMG_0236 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


I have some scrap to take away, I need to work on that this evening, cutting up the s10 cab leftovers and moving that 41 frame stub to the front to load on the flatbed. but should work all three days of the holiday. especially now that I can take a hot shower. I cant wait to hear their response when I tell them the work has been done already hahahahahaha
 

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