The main problem with the bed bolts is that there is very little left of the Phillips head on top. And if I was going to destroy the bolts by cutting a slot in them it was a LOT quicker to blow them off. I ended up used a hot wrench on them.
I have three big cans of Kroil and all of them have stopped spraying. I have cleaned heads and changed heads. I got this liquid wrench you can see in some of the pics and it works just as well as the kroil, and it always comes out. I have to say I am amazed at the fact that 95% of the bolts are coming out. I am unscrewing bolts that have completely rusted away where they protruded beyond the nut but they were still holding in the threads and they still threaded out.They don't make hardware like that anymore, or in the last 50 years for that matter.
Got the bed all apart and stored away for the time being, got the beast turned around and wedged back in the garage backwards so I can get to the rear brakes. Going to get the disc brakes on that I bought from Dcook a while ago. If anyone has pictures of how this setup goes together that would be great. This was a complete setup so all of the machining is done, all I need to do is take off my drum stuff and put in the disc stuff. I see that the backing plates are riveted to the axle housing so right off the bat I am back to grinding. Made some more interesting finds as I took it apart. First, the drum retainer screws came fight out with no problem! Then the drums actually came off without a lot of coaxing. That was when I found that someone had replaced the shoes on the drivers side but not the passengers side. Got to love it when people cheap out. Wheel cylinders were full of corrosion so it is all junk anyway. The drums look to me to be very thin. I will take one to the shop sometime and measure it with the drum gauge. I figured I might be able to pass the drums on to someone but not looking good. Pictures of this stage will be a bit fewer since I was all greasy and dirty and did not want to trash my camera. I will get some tomorrow morning of the drums and stuff.
I got a stock master cylinder with the disc brakes but I think I am going to plumb in a dual system master. I am too old for the excitement of total lost brakes.
rickf wrote:The main problem with the bed bolts is that there is very little left of the Phillips head on top. And if I was going to destroy the bolts by cutting a slot in them it was a LOT quicker to blow them off. I ended up used a hot wrench on them.
I have three big cans of Kroil and all of them have stopped spraying. I have cleaned heads and changed heads. I got this liquid wrench you can see in some of the pics and it works just as well as the kroil, and it always comes out. I have to say I am amazed at the fact that 95% of the bolts are coming out. I am unscrewing bolts that have completely rusted away where they protruded beyond the nut but they were still holding in the threads and they still threaded out.They don't make hardware like that anymore, or in the last 50 years for that matter.
If you have a compressor and a rubber tipped air nozzle, remove the cans nozzle, put some air back into the can by using the rubber tipped spray nozzle against the van and pull the trigger. 50psi is plenty.
As promised here are the pics of the brake disassembly. It is an interesting compilation. The passenger side had old shoes but it has an outer hub seal with short axle studs, the drivers side had brand new shoes with no outer hub seal and longer axle studs. You can see the pics of the drums and how thin they are. And remember when I said I squeezed the beast in there? You can see I was not kidding! Anybody need a 350 small block? They are all four bolt main engines.
Last edited by rickf on Sat May 11, 2019 4:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Progress, I had to call Charles Talbert to ask how the hell to get the brake backing plates of the rear axle. What a pain in the arse!!! Won't be using that backing plate again! Going to try to save the other side but man, those rivets were never planned to come out in a million years.
Pictured below is one of the disc setups on the truck but it is going to have to come back off to be derusted and painted. I am going to make up all new lines and I am pretty sure I am going to run a dual master cylinder and power brakes. I am going with the disc brakes for safety so why stay with a singe stage master cylinder? Kind of defeats the purpose.
Thanks for that picture, I sort of figured my line was not placed on the caliper correctly. These brakes were never used so the parts are just put together for transport. They weren't even very rusty til they sat out under a tarp all winter. in the process now of cleaning and painting. Did get the other side backing plate off with a bit less drama but it was still a royal pain. How many times have you had a 1/2" drill bit shatter into four pieces?! YEE-HAAAA
This is for anyone who finds this and is contemplating putting on disc brakes. When it comes tome to remove the backing plates on the rear axle you are going to have to drill the rivets. Do not try to torch them because back when they put these rivets in they KNEW how to put rivets in!!!! Generally when you torch cut off a rivet head there is a microscopic gap between the rivet and the housing and that is all that is needed for the torch to cut the rivet but not the housing. These rivets are so tight that the rivet head and the housing are one. You WILL cut into the housing! On top of that even with the head cut off the rivet body id still not going to come out. Here are some pics of the one side that I tried to torch the rivets off, unsuccessfully. I ended up having to weld up the gouges and redrill the holes in the housing so that the bolts would seat evenly and solid. The weld spots on the face of the housing are where I drilled off center. The black paint hides the grinding involved in getting all the welds perfectly flush with the original flange. Should have taken the pics before painting.
I tried that before the torch, I was hitting the punch full swing with a 3 lb. sledge! Then I had an air hammer on it with a cut off toll I use for driving, Nada. If you have gotten them out of a M37 this way then you were lucky. That is how I get them out of later vehicles with no problems.
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