Tinkering with Deerslayer

DEERSLAYER LINKS including vendor sites for parts and tools as well as sites for old truck and hot rod organizations

TINKERING WITH DEERSLAYER chronicles the day-by-day maintenance and improvements episodes for Deerslayer, a '37 Chevy farm truck hot rod.

CRUISIN' WITH DEERSLAYER Roadtrips, cruise-in's and truck show stories and tall tales.

TONY'S DUNGEON Tony Pascarella's forum entries at OldGMCtrucks.com regarding Deerslayer, particularly the 302 GMC engine build in his farmhouse basement.

DEERSLAYER MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for Deerslayer, including required tools, materials and procedures.

PROJECT NAILHEAD Chronicles the rebuild of a 1954 Buick Roadmaster 322 nailhead engine as a future replacement for Deerslayer's Jimmy 302.

52. When we last left our hero

January 19^th 2022 Misplaced my ambition somewhere in the shop for a couple of months. Getting acclimated to my new choppers has made me cranky as well. Took me a few months to claw my way out of the lazy pit I had stumbled into. Started by detailing my Caddy, Elvira, before getting back to the Nailhead.. She hadn't been cleaned in months.

I also got a jump start from my landlord. My three year lease is up at the end of February and lease extension papers for two more years were sent to me. Ruinous increases of $500/month for 2022 and an additional $132/month for 2023. It's not a time for shopping real estate in South Florida due to the influx of Blue State refugees driving up prices. In March, I will paying three times what I was paying three years ago to rent the BillyBob Shop. Gotta get these trucks done so I can eventually move into smaller digs.

On the bright side, I obtained a '53-'56 Buick Dynaflow flywheel cover that I had been looking for almost as long as the Vertex Magneto. The Transdapt Adapter bellhousing was designed for this cover.

Beer of the day was Ellicottville Brewing Co's Foggy India Pale Ale. Background music was Jefferson Airplane Volunteers.

May 26^th 2023 Well, it's been over a year since I've done any real work out in the BillyBob Shop. Lot's of false starts but nothin' substantive. I'm gonna take another run at breaking out of my "analysis paralysis" and slap things together a little less carefully because I'm running out of time and money.

A friend, Jason Hartmann, suggested I report on all the BillyBob Shop projects' status, since the shop has been quiet for so long. That's a capital idea so, here's a recap.

BillyBob - I haven't touched BillyBob since March of 2019 when I pushed him into his current position at the East end of the shop. He's covered with dust with several half-completed mockup tasks layin' about. The nailhead engine for Deerslayer will continue to be the main focus but, I intend to find some time to get BillyBob back on track too.

Deerslayer - Covered in dust as well, Deerslayer's body and chassis work stopped with painting operations on the bottom back of the cab in March 2021. I have to do some cleaning and get back to that too.

Nailhead -  Was working on cleaning up the heads to take back out to John Carey's house for some minor machine work when the wheels fell off at the shop. That was in October of 2021. I'll get back to the heads after I perform some bottom end assembly on the block.

Jimmy - The 302 is currently sitting on blocks awaiting attention. The head, carb and intake manifold is finished and wrapped in Seran wrap. I plan to clean the rest of it up and assemble it so the move will be easier if I have to leave this place.

Elvira - She's a little ragged and in need of some TLC. My only running ride and I have to do more of my own maintenance now that Bidenomics have made my expenses greater than my income. Elvira currently needs a good detailing, including pulling the wheels and patching a tire, maybe two, for slow leaks. The interior carbon fiber trim needs re-glued and the touchscreen needs replaced.

September 25^th 2023 Trying to pick up where I left off two years ago with the nailhead. I had left the valves unattended and they picked up some surface rust in the meantime. First thing is to do some remedial work. I sat in the Deep Ponder Mode chair, in front of the fan, with a Sugar Plum Fairy Complex Dark Ale from the Alphabet City Brewing Company, listening Gram Parsons Grevious Angel, planning the fastest way to derust the valve heads (there was no rust on any of the valve stems).

I determined the fastest approach would be to place one of my drill motors in the bench vice with a brass wire wheel. Each valve that showed rust had it removed and then all valves were given a thin coat of Marvel Mystery oil to keep the rust away until I was ready to do a better job on them down the road.

September 26^th 2023 Cleared the Hank Langsenkamp workbench and started cleaning one of the Buick heads. Went at the combustion chambers with wire wheel cups in the electric die grinder. Problem is, due to the speed, the wire cup turns into a wire wheel in short order.

Put a wire cup in the 1/4" drill and tried that. It worked better with the lower speed. Got out the Oil Eater solvent and went looking for the Dremal tool, along with wire wheels and ScotchBrite buffs for it. Took some thrashing around in the dark since I had misplaced them.

September 28^th 2023 Ports are tight. Dremal tool with wire cups in combination with Oil Eater and Extreme Simple Green passes were made. It was good enuf fer govern't work after a couple of hours but I'll probably do a few more passes later. Beer of the day was Atlanta Brewing Co's Soul of the City American Pale Ale. Background music was Neal Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

September 29^th 2023 Next task is to hit the manifold mating surface with gasket scraper and wire wheel in the electric die grinder and to apply the Dremal tool wire cups and Oil Eater / Extreme Simple Green routine to the intake runners. Also got the engine bottle brushes out for this work as well.

October 5^th 2023 After the intake runners, the rocker arm area was cleaned with wire cups in the electric die grinder, drill motor and Dremal tool. Finished with Scotchbrite buffs in the Dremal tool. Turned out to be less tejus than I thought it was going to be, for a change.

October 6^th 2023 Okay, time to remove a couple of freeze plugs and clean up loose paint as well as the exhaust manifold surfaces and ports. Then I'll be almost ready for this head to go back out to John Carey's carport machine shop.

November 16^th 2023 Finally got the first head clean enuf for the first pass. More nooks and crannies in this area to clean and wire cups in the electric die grinder and hand drill along with Scotchbrite buffs in the Dremal tool were used to get all the loose dirt and paint off. The two freeze plugs were slightly easier to remove than the battle I fought with the other head. They were heated up with the MAP torch to break the sealant grip and after they cooled down to room temp again, they were hit with the CRC Freeze-off spray. After that, they were chiseled out with punch and hammer. I did screw the pooch by knocking one of them down into the water jacket and that required extra combat with needle-nose vice-grips as well but eventually got it out.

Got the loose rust out of the water jacket with a telescoping pocket magnet. Finished up by relieving the approaches to the pushrod channels with die grinder burr in the Dremal tool. This area is a little tight, even with the original 1/4" pushrods. The replacements most likely will be 5/16" and need the extra clearance. Beer of the day was Alphabet City Brewing Company's Village India Pale Ale. Background music was Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins Neck and Neck.

April 8^th 2024 A couple of weeks back, Jon Carey dropped off a pair of ramps at the BillyBob Shop for me to use with Elvira's maintenance chores. While he was there, he examined the Buick heads and, while I wasn't quite finished with rough cleaning operations, he determined they were good enuf for me to bring them out to his place for machine work. Last Wednesday, I arrived at his place with the heads and valve guide cutter and a twelve pack of craft beer. Jon spent a couple of hours lining one of the heads up and making a guide for the cutter. When he cut the first intake guide to accept a valve seal, it was too much and he had to make a shim for the seal. The cutter which cost me $75 from Summit, wasn't true! We broke out the beer as the sun was over the yardarm by that time and planned our next moves.

Jon said he could fix the cutter and I could bring the valves with me to the Senile and Surly Car Club Sunday morning coffee at Dave Sexton's shop. He asked me to check the valve spring pressures as well. I pulled out my Dad's '59 Chilton manual and checked the Buick valve specs. Installed ht for the '54 322 engine is 1.5" and the outer valve spring pressure at that height is 46 lbs while the inner spring pressure is 23 lbs I set a telescoping gauge to 1.5" and commenced to measuring the springs. I wasn't getting consistent readings with the telescoping gauge until I had a "Eureka" moment. For me, that's a palm slap to the forehesd moment. I set the telescoping gauge aside and found a hex bolt slightly shorter than 1.5". Put a hex nut on the tip to make it exactly 1.5" and now I had a "stop" for the spring testing tool. Made short work of testing the valve springs after that and they were all consistent and close to the Chilton specs.

Gave the valves, springs, retainers and keepers to Jon Sunday along with the Chilton manual and some notes I found on the Intarweb and he will now finish up by putting two angles on the valves and seats for me. 

April 18^th 2024 Jon Carey showed up at the BillyBob Shop yesterday with the Buick heads. He had installed the seals on the intake valves and put the two-angled cut on the valves and seats. Jon said the valve seats had been cut before and he was not aggressive in his cuts leaving room for the future. He also added thirty thousandths shim washers below the valve springs to maintain stock pressures.

Jon installed the valves with assembly lube and  also fixed a spark plug cover mounting screw I had broken off during disassembly and pressure washed the heads before bagging them to bring them to the BillYBob Shop.

I was fixing yet another tire puncture on one of Elvira's tires when Jon arrived and I ceased operations as he also brought beer with him. This illustrates again why I don't ask Jon for help unless he volunteers. He's one of those people who won't allow you to pay them back for their efforts. Glad to have him as a friend. Beer of the day was Atlanta Brewing Company's Homestand Pilsner. Background music was Songs of the Civil War (Waylon Jennings, Richie Havens, Judy Collins, Hoyt Axton, John Hartford and others).

Well, this log entry is as long in the tooth as any I've ever published and it's time to let the BillyBob Shop followers know that the lights are still on in the shop, even if it's only one fixture at this time. Next log entry up will be about more bottom end assembly on the nailhead.  

In Memory of Tony Pascarella

Tony built the Deerslayer. When he put up the truck for sale, he offered this seller's description: "This is a 37 Chevy PU highly modified but retains a somewhat stock appearance.All steel,except for fiberglass fenders,the bed is very nice,the cab is solid,no rot,but a few old small dents are still seen here and there,the running boards are solid but show some slight damage typical to trucks,epoxy primer paint job is 10 years old,looks respectable.The interior is stock except for a decent fitting mini van bench seat,stock gages all work plus a tach.No radio or heater.The stock front axle has Camaro disc brakes,mono leaf springs,sway bar,gas shocks . Frame is not cut.The rear axle is a 57 Chevy car,3.36 gears,leaf springs ,lowering blocks,Panhard rod,gas shocks. This truck sits about 2-3 inches lower than stock.46 Chevy steering box. All glass and rubber parts replaced 10 years ago,has a working electric wiper and turn signals,halogen headlights,12 volt GM alternator The engine is a 56 302 GMC inline 6,Venolia 9.25 forged pistons,3/4 hot cam,small block V-8 valves and springs,home made tube headers,400 cfm Carter AFB,balanced,HEI ignition,much more,runs very smooth and powerful but does require premium fuel.Camaro 5 speed transmission,Hayes clutch etc. This truck runs straight down the road,handles better than most ,the ride is firm and controlled,not bouncy or harsh,can cruise all day at 70 mph,2100 rpm.Doesn't rattle or shake. It's built to my taste,very basic,nothing fancy,very little store bought parts.I built the truck 10 years ago ,it was powered by a Chevy 6 until I built the GMC engine 3 years ago.Truck is always been stored indoors.It can still function as a truck,has a receiver trailer hitch and can carry a load if necessary."

On Sunday morning, March 19^th, 2023, Tony lost his long battle with the big "C". You can't beat the grim reaper but you can make the bastard work for it, and Tony did. Thanks to Joe Mendola for the photo of Tony with the Deerslayer in the background and Jimmy 302 ready to install.

< Back to IntroMore to come. Stay tuned >

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Issued  Friday April 19, 2024

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