1966 Chevy C-20 Fleetside Longbed

Owned by Doug Juvinall "TomSawyer" Bolter # 20840 San Clemente, California Talking about this truck in the DITY Gallery

More truck pictures in Photobucket!

From Doug :

Well, here she is! This is my 1966 Chevrolet C-20, with four on the floor and a "granny" gear low. She's now boasting a fresh 350 V8.

Kind of a cool story on how I ended up with her...

For the last year or so, my Father has been pretty ill. He lives about an hour and a half from me. So many weekends I am driving up to see him.

Well, back in the day, Dad taught me to drive in a 1966 International Harvester, four on the floor, granny gear low, no power anything. It was the family vehicle for many generations until age, time, and lack of parts finally took its toll.

Fast forward to the present. As I am leaving his house this last year, I noticed a rusty 1966 Chevy C-20, four on the floor, granny gear low, no power anything, parked on my Dad's street a few blocks away. It had a for sale sign in the window that said $2500 OBO.

I stopped and checked it out. Later that night, I started dreaming ... I always had a "thing" for that generation truck.

As the weeks went on, every time I went to see my Dad, I would slow down and check out the rusty old Chevy. I noticed the sign now said $2000 OBO. Hmmmm.

Weeks later, $1500 OBO. It was time to talk to the owner!

Apparently, it was registered to this guy's Mother who lived in the nearby mobile home park that was being shut down in a few months. The truck had to be "unloaded" asap.

This classic truck needed a LOT of love, but the potential was there. The guy told me, if I was serious, he would go $1300 firm. I told him I would sleep on it.

I came home, looked under the couch cushions, kids' piggy bank, etc., and came up with $925 cash. HE TOOK IT!

So, the following weekend, I rented a truck dolly from U-Haul. I took all the straps, chains, come-a-longs, tools, differential fluid, etc., and brought her home. Kind of ironic that I purchased an almost identical truck that I learned to drive in, on that same street, some 20 plus years ago. It put a smile on my Dad's face.

Of course when things seem too good to be true, they usually are. It turned out to have a cracked block (the previous owner ran 305 heads on a 350 and didn't torque them correctly). So ... I purchased a re-furbished mild 350 and I am up and running.

For now, the biggest hurdle is figuring out how to get streetable gears in the rear end. The truck currently has an Eaton HO52 rear with 4.56 ring and pinion. I am looking into a later model 3/4-ton differential or a half ton truck differential to get something I can cruise on the freeway and also have access to parts.

That's it in a nutshell. I love my truck and am excited about watching it become nicer and nicer. I'm even going to paint it myself! Feels pretty darn nice to pick my son up from school in something with so much soul when everyone else is driving a mini-van or sport ute.

Feel free to check out my "in progress" pics in my Photobucket account.

Thanks to everyone on Stovebolt for help and tips along the way. This is a great site!

Nice story, this guy is living the Stovebolt life. ~ Curator

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