The '63-66 C-20 is basically the same truck.. The 292 6cyln is an excellent engine, in good condition it will run off and hi,de from the 283 V8. The 4spd trans is a brute, almost indistructible. The rear ends are also very stout, generally the ratio is 4.56 which makes the truck all done at 60+. If you want a good reliable work horse just repair the mechanical components as needed.
If you want the truck to drive better at highway speeds pick up a donor truck, '72 or later C20. swap out the complete front end, it is a bolt in application. That will give you PS, Power disk brakes. The '72 and later 4spd's are nice transmissions, a little more user friendly, a 400th trans or a 700R4 AOD would be an up grade. General speaking the rear axle in a '72 later C20 will be a 4.10/3.73, much better highway gearing. I don't care for stick transmissions, however, if you are going to do a lot of towing the sticks hold up better.
If you want to make the truck into a 1/2 ton then use a C10 truck as a donor.
My brother has a '64 C10 that started life as a C20, it had been rolled prior to him buying the truck. We stripped the truck down, changed the cab to a big window, used '81 C10 running gear, a 200R4 OD trans and a 350 trans. It is a very nice stock looking truck that has won several awards at car shows.
My own '64 started it life as a C20 special built extended cab. I put the body on a '97 C10 extended cab chassis, 5.7 V8, 4L60 trans, 342 rear end with a 6ft fleet-side bed in lieu of the step side. pretty neat truck.
The moral to this story is, don't get in a big hurry to tear the thing apart until you are sure what direction you want to go. Wm.
Last edited by Wm L; 04/21/2020 4:12 PM.
