Cool! A potential project helper! Thanks, bub.

 

I want to see how this turns out.

 

The wheat harvest is about a week away here. Once that's done, the Perkins will be available for transplant! Just gotta figure out how I'm gonna get it out of that combine!

I've been working on the sides of the flatbed where it was rusted. I bought 40' of 2 x 3 x 3/16" angle, cut it to length and stitch welded it to the side of the bed. A bead of Fast & Firm (body caulk) where there's no actual weld and it should look pretty good. I borrowed a buddy's chain hoist to lift the bed off the frame (it's a heavy sucker). Then I can get started blasting the frame.

I'm really wanting to find a good dump hoist to put under that bed while I have it off. Both the Perkins and the T36 transmission have hydraulic pump drives, so that's a non-issue. Anyone near north-central Ohio have a dump hoist they'd like to part with???

 

Well with the brutal heat/humidity this summer, coupled with my ridiculous 7-day-a-week work schedule, changes on the old-46 have been slow, but i have made a little progress nonetheless. I got the flat-bed pulled off and the sides replaced with 2 x 3 x 3/16" angle. I got the engine/transmission pulled and sold to a guy in Columbus, OH. who wanted it for his '46 Chevy 1.5-ton.

I'm now cleaning up some of the separate pieces with the pot-blaster such as the headlight buckets and the grille. As using "sand" is a big no-no due to the silica, I'm trying to find an alternative blasting media that doesn't cost more than the truck. Has anyone used "Black Diamond" or "Black Beauty" abrasive? Heard it's supposed to be pretty good stuff but I don't know anyone personally who has used it.

I still had some sand left in the blaster, so I used it in the pics below. Was a real pain in the *** due to the moisture. The sand wouldn't feed down but I did get a little done before running out.

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Glass bead for media. It dosen't pit too bad,and can be buffed out fairly easily.

 

There's always baking soda, unless you need something stronger

 

Well crap! Looks like the Perkins idea may have to be "upgraded". After some very intensive looking for info on this swap (and very little finding) I finally learned something about using these farm equipment Perkins diesels in automotive applications. First and foremost is THEY MUST HAVE A HARMONIC DAMPER INSTALLED ON THE CRANKSHAFT! A broken crank is all but guaranteed if you don't. Well guess what my Perkins DOESN'T have???

So I call the local Massey Ferguson dealer, who refers me to the local IH truck shop (Perkins diesels were optional on the IH LoadStar 1600-1800 grain trucks)... nothing. Not a clue. So they refer me to a regional Ohio Perkins distributor. Nothing. So they refer me to the main Ohio Perkins dealer. He tells me it's no longer available but knows a gentleman in St. Louis who likely will be able to help.

So this morning I call St. Louis. Nice guy and very willing to help. I give him the story and He tells me the numbers to look up on the block and that he's confident he has the proper unit. So I take the liberty to ask what the price is on the balancer... Howz $700.00 sound?

Sorry, but I have no intension of spending that kind of money on a pulley. He was nice enough to tell me the engine is internally balanced and most likely any neutral-balanced harmonic damper "could" work if it can be machined to fit the crank snout but good luck getting the belts to line up.

Now I can't help but think a 250 I-6 gasser and a 4-speed don't sound that bad!

 

Cummins

Actually I've always wanted to put a Cat into a project like this, that would sweet

 

Where does this stand... ?

 

The truck is moving along slow but steady, albeit with a 250 I-6 Chevy gasser between the frame rails, for now. Ultimately, I'd still like to go diesel, probably Cummins 4BT. Right now the little gasser is bolted to a 700R4 automatic with OD to help tame the 6.17 axle gearing and a 4BT that was originally mated to a TH-400 will bolt right up and not spin itself to death. Someday.

I ended up having to replace most of the truck's frame. On these old 2-ton Chevy's, the factory riveted heavy steel plates to the sides of the frame rails to stiffen them. Well after 65 years. all the dirt and moisture between the frame and those plates rotted holes in the side of the frame big enough to throw a baseball through! It wasn't anything some 5/16" steel plate and a bit of hammering, cutting, welding, grinding and cussing couldn't fix though. When you live in the mid-west, you learn how to deal with rust!

I upgraded (kinda) the brakes. The stock 14" front and 16" rear drums are now powered by an 8" dual-diaphragm power-brake booster and dual circuit master cylinder located under the cab floor and I cut out the rotted section of the cab where the fenders bolt on and welded new steel in there.

I started assembling the interior and installing the wiring harness yesterday. Once I get that done (hopefully this week), it's off to my buddy's place for the bodywork and paint.

Of course there's been more done that just these items. These are just some of the highlights.

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Figured since it strayed away from the diesel aspect, no one would care!

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A few pics.

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