GMC General at abandoned house

[smorse54]

I like that battery box. I cant make out the brand name on the stickers. Could you tell me where you ordered it and how much?

Thanks, Steve

[m16ty]

If you fasten that box too rigid in that position, it will break apart in no time. There is too much frame flex in that area.

Take this from somebody that mounted a aluminum hyd tank in a similar fashion. After fixing cracks several times, I finally got wise and moved the tank.

You may get by with a flange clamp with some springs on the bolts. Only issue you might run into is it walking around due to it not being positively fastened.

[DieselDeere]

Hope your not planning on drilling thru the flanges of the chassis to mount the box as this is a no no out here and they wont let your register it once its been done

just saying

Paul

Nice welding on the battery box. I would think some gussets on the battery box for support. After some miles of bouncing around the aluminum would either crack or bend. Like Mrsmackpaul said drilling frame flanges is a nono.Maybe mount a cross support to frame to bolt box to. Joe D.

The box came with large clamp mounts with teeth. Similar to how you would clamp down a camper shell on a pickup bed, only considerable larger. Everything I've done so far has been using existing holes in the frame and I plan to keep it that way.

I like that battery box. I cant make out the brand name on the stickers. Could you tell me where you ordered it and how much?

Thanks, Steve

I got the box from a website called uscargocontrol.com. shipping was super fast and cheap. to my door in 2 days for 33$.

http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Flatbed-Trailer-Products/Headache-Racks-Trailer-Tool-Boxes-Semi-Truck-Fenders/Aluminum-Battery-Box-w-Hinged-Lid-12-x-23-x-26-3-4

I have gotten a lot done but unfortunately nothing that is worth taking too many pictures of. I made some brackets to relocate the main supply tank and air dryer under the cab and move the front air storage tank from behind the old battery box to the inside of the passenger side fuel tank. I did this because I plan on putting a new air-shifted PTO with the pump all as one unit. No more driveshaft and separate pump. Since the hydraulic tank will be the driver side fuel tank, the Large hydraulic lines will run from the pump up that driver side of the frame and out to the fifth wheel. I plan on mounting a hydraulic filter in the return line on the backside of the large grey bracket that holds the supply tank. That way its easy to get to and service. I also got the Y pipe made and some preliminary exhaust routed under the cab just to make sure everything clears. 4" would fit much better but the truck already had 5" so thats what i used obviously. It took a while but i got all the interior trim off the back wall of the cab (without damaging anything which was a small miracle b/c it is so brittle) to expose the wiring junction block. I have to rerun the trailer plug wires and while im here im also going to run a 7 wire lead to a standard pollak connector for my gooseneck.

[Joe Ditchkus]

Keep up the progress report and pictures. Thanks Joe D.

[JTFormula]

If I hit the Powerball, I'm buying this back from you... After you get done of course

[DieselDeere]

Made some visible progress this weekend. Got the dual exhaust finalized. I'm a stickler for symmetry so it took me a few interations to get it right. Also got the old pitted hinges off the radiator and replaced and painted with clean ones and new hardware, and got the smurf hood on. i'm still working on finishing up the air lines underneath and cleaning up some brackets for the air tanks. I went and looked at some Alcoas today but they werent as nice as i was hoping.

Edited January 18, 2016 by DieselDeere

[DieselDeere]

I got all the plumbing done underneath to the new locations of the air brake components done tonight. Also got the front supply tank mounted permanently to the inside of the passenger side fuel tank brackets. I had to make some bolt plates because the bolt heads would be inaccessible when the fuel tank was in place. If i ever had to take the trans out, i would have to remove that air tank and I wouldnt want to have to remove the fuel tank as well. Tomorrow night a friend of mine who is a bodyman is going to swing over to assess the cracks in the hood and the large dents in the back of the cab. im hoping to borrow some tools this weekend to get the dents out of the cab and the fuel tanks.

[carlotpilot]

well done quite the fabricator

[thomastractorsvc]

post about the dent pulling in the tanks.

[1958 F.W.D.]

Do you work on old Hahn firetrucks?

[j hancock]

He does like them Deeetroits!

[DieselDeere]

post about the dent pulling in the tanks.

i will definitely try to document my process in detail because I've learned as i researched how to do it, that either nobody has real success, or if they do, they don't post results. I don't have high expectations, but I am curious to see how much of a fight they put up.

Do you work on old Hahn firetrucks?

I'll work on anything. i just like tinkering. I dont have much experience with anything outside of General Motors though lol. Actually this is my first large truck. i told the wife I needed a larger truck to haul the tractors before we had a kid. I've always worked with light duty trucks like my 1 ton or my 3/4 ton. It is refreshing to work on this big stuff because its much more forgiving and less tightly packed than the small stuff like the Duramax's. Also on that note, If you guys see something that i'm doing that looks "fishy" please chime in and say something. You guys have a lot more experience with this stuff than i do, and I would like it all done right.

I've been brainstorming since i got the battery box on how to re-arrange the air lines so they wont be in the way of it. Tonight i played around with what seems like my best idea so far. During the great re-route of the utilities under the cab i moved the rear air lines to the driver side of the frame and made a steel plate for all the bulkhead fittings. i welded that plate to a piece of angle that bolts to that rear cab crossmember. I set the top of the angle flush with the top of the frame rails. i figure i can drill and tap two holes in the top of the angle and then make a solid aluminum deck plate "filler panel" to bolt down to fill the space between the cab and battery box to cover the air line plate i made, and to provide a thick surface to put the two trailer airline bulkhead fittings through. Dont worry, that piece of angle will be dressed a little more in its final state. The last picture is how the air lines were originally routed.

Edited January 21, 2016 by DieselDeere

[bandit1trucking]

This is probably a longshot, But we used to have a '78 General. In the early 1990's, we needed a couple of windshield wiper motors for it. Westfall GMC in Kansas City was where we finally found some. At that time, they had a lot of new Old Stock parts for the Generals. I don't know if they might still have anything stored away, but it might be worth a shot if you needed anything body/interior wise...

[carlotpilot]

This is probably a longshot, But we used to have a '78 General. In the early 1990's, we needed a couple of windshield wiper motors for it. Westfall GMC in Kansas City was where we finally found some. At that time, they had a lot of new Old Stock parts for the Generals. I don't know if they might still have anything stored away, but it might be worth a shot if you needed anything body/interior wise...

jim price chevrolet in charlottesville va has a decent line of gmc older stuff also. most parts have to be ordered though and all at premium price

[JTFormula]

I'm am seriously thinking about driving up to you to do a Save the General video when you are done.

[Vladislav]

Nice air line bracket.

Nobody would disagree that experience is a good thing but ingeunity together with common sence make the most any deal done.

[DieselDeere]

I finished up all the air lines and pressure tested them without any leaks thankfully. Gave the area of the frame where the battery box goes a quick coat of paint on the inside and temporarily sat the box in so i could measure and make battery cables. i ran all new 2/0 cable from the starter back to the box and remade all the joining cables. I only bought black cable because it was already expensive enough. I just color coded the ends of the cables near the eyelets with shrink wrap. Came out pretty clean i think. I decided I would start it to let it run for a while and pull it outside to sweep the floor and clean the shop a little so i put a 5 gallon can on the tank supports and started it. It mustve trapped a bubble in the lines because it started to studder so i shut it off before I ran it completely dry. so i never got it outside. I also started sanding some of the cab so i could start working on the dented areas.

[41chevy]

Damn, been painted a few times! Paul

[hurstscrambler]

Looks great, the old paint color make me think it was a former Ryder truck. Andy

[JTFormula]

Original color was Red. It was painted white next. Yellow was from a construction company called Johnson Bros in NJ. Blue was Best Paving out of Toms River NJ.

[DieselDeere]

I got the stacks almost finalized tonight. Really wish i could find a driver side cab stack mount, but i'm sure ill come across one. now the next decision is what to do for toppers on top of the mufflers. I'm thinking just flat top 5" to keep it somewhat original. I'm not a huge fan of turnouts, so my other option would be a pair of mitres, which im not opposed to. Nothing is finalized yet (which is evident by my ratchet strap fixturing haha) so any input is welcomed.

[41chevy]

Miters would look best IMO. What do YOU like? Paul

[tjc transport]

mufflers???? how are the neighbors going to be able to hear you coming home with mufflers on it?

[DieselDeere]

mufflers???? how are the neighbors going to be able to hear you coming home with mufflers on it?

Well...... I cant stand the look of straight pipes up the side of a cab, especially on older trucks where i associate a heatshielded muffler with their look. So I picked these up new for cheap (120$) for the pair and i will most likely cut the bottom baffle out and sleeve the whole length with a section of straight pipe. That way i get the look I want, and the sound i want.

[j hancock]

I like a small radius and then a vertical cut. It keeps most rain out if it is parked outside. Not a fan of flappers or bull hauler pipes.

http://www.grpipes.com/stacks/KStack.pdf