The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1963 Chevy C10 LWB Stepside - My First Bolt

Thanks for the introduction, John. This is a great site!

First, some backround
I have always been interested in old cars and trucks, and I knew that when I was able to buy my first car, I wanted something older than 1975. So, about 2 years ago, when I got a chunk of money from my grandparents for helping them sell a Sportsmobile 4x4 Camper that they inherited, I started looking. At the time, my family was renovating a house, and we did not have a truck, so I decided I needed a pickup, something I could drive now and restore later. Being a die-hard GM fan, I was looking for any GMC or Chevy light or medium duty truck between 1936 and 1972. While doing some internet research so I would know what to look out for, I came across Woogeroo's (very helpful!) 60-66 buyer's guide, which led me to this site. Four months later, after looking at about a dozen trucks I found this one on craigslist in West Virginia, advertised as only needing brake lines and a fuel pump to be driveable (1st picture). I went to look at it, and saw that it also had a sizable dent in the drivers side of the cab, but that would just be a little welding and some hammer work, right? The engine didn't run, but turned over easily, and it appeared to be the original straight 6 with the 3 speed column shift transmission, which where both things I was looking for. It had most of the typical rust issues to one degree or another, but overall it looked to be very original and in pretty good shape, particularly the bed (although I didn't know at the time that long stepside beds are difficult to find), and it was my favorite color combination to boot! I went home and thought about it, and offered them $1600 for it ($200 under the asking price) and waited on pins and needles for the reply: Yes! I rented a U-haul trailer, recruited my grandpa and his Ford F-250, and went to pick it up. We used a come-a-long to winch it up on the trailer 3 feet at at a time, dragging the locked up rear wheels (2nd picture). I later found out this was because the parking brake cables had rusted in place. We only had one scare on the trip home - about 5 minutes after we left, while decending a particularly steep hill, my grandpa shifted into low gear and killed the engine. We coasted to the bottom, restarted the engine and went on our merry way. I brought the truck to my grandparents house, because my grandfather, who is an aircraft mechanic, has a very nice collection of tools and a garage/shop. It's actually a hanger, they live in a subdivision built around a private airstrip.

After we got it home and unloaded, I went through the brake system and ended up replacing not only the lines but all 5 cylinders. All the drums and shoes looked to be nearly brand new, but I had to replace the rear shoes because dragging the truck with the parking brake on tore the lining off of one of them. I also replaced the parking brake cables, sandblasted and painted the wheels brigade blue and had new tires installed, rewired the tail lights, rebuilt the carburetor, replaced the fuel pump, Changed the oil, and found an air cleaner at Leon's. I am a very fortunate Stovebolter, as Leon's is less then 5 minutes up the road from where I live!

All this took about a year and a half, and the final step was to get the engine running. I rigged a temporary tank out of a one gallon gas can sitting on the frame. The first attempt was aborted because there was a gas leak where the fuel line goes into the carburetor. I tried a few different things, and eventually found that there was a crack in the carburetor right where the fuel line went in. I put some JB Weld on the crack and came back a few days later for a second attempt. The fuel leak had stopped, but the engine still wouldn't start. My grandpa hooked a timing light up to it to see if the timing was off, and while cranking it to check that, It fired up!

All this took about a year and a half, and the final step was to get the engine running. I rigged a temporary tank out of a one gallon gas can sitting on the frame. The first attempt was aborted because there was a gas leak where the fuel line goes into the carburetor. I tried a few different things, and eventually found that there was a crack in the carburetor right where the fuel line went in. I put some JB Weld on the crack and came back a few days later for a second attempt. The fuel leak had stopped, but the engine still wouldn't start. My grandpa hooked a timing light up to it to see if the timing was off, and while cranking it to check that, It fired up! Two days later, with my family watching, I put it in gear for the first time. I wasn't used to a manual yet, and I think I let the clutch out a little fast. I shot out of the garage like a bullet, spinning the rear tires (leaving some commemorative skid marks on the floor!) . I went about 50 feet and the engine died. After jump-starting it, I made sure I did have it in first gear. That transmission has some very high gearing for someone who is used to tractors! My family took turns riding with me around my grandparents property, and I eventually got pretty good at shifting the transmission. My high school graduation was a few days later, and we had a party at my grandparents house, so I got to give all the guests rides! The third picture is what it looked like after I had gotten it running and driving.

I trailered it to Homecoming last year (2016) and SWEET and some others helped me get the engine running smoother. A LOT smoother. Thanks guys!

By this point I was beginning to decide that the truck was not in good enough shape to fix up a little and drive, which was my original intention. One of the things that helped me decide this was a miserably ineffective attempt to repair the cab dent. Ten minutes of continuous pounding with a pneumatic hammer had almost no effect. That probably wasn't the correct way to try to repair it, but that plus the rust issues, which were worse than I originally thought, convinced me I needed to find a new cab. since I would have to tear almost the whole truck apart, I decided to go ahead and tear the truck down to the frame and rebuild it from there. There was a 1961 C-70 sitting derelict in a field next to my Aunt and Uncle's house which the owner had already let me pick some parts off of (including an original bench seat in surprisingly good shape). I had a closer look at the cab, and it was also in fairly good shape, even though the front sheet metal was completely shot. The only problem was that the body of the truck hung over the top of the cab and there was only about 3" of clearance. I spoke with the owner, and he said If I could get it off, I could have it, and the 348 engine too! So I spent the next few months removing the front sheetmetal and disconnecting all the wires, hoses, lines and linkages (picture 4). With a lot of help and the neighbor's tractor, The engine and transmission were wrestled out, and finally the cab came off . It took a lot of maneuvering to get it out, and there are a couple new dents in the roof and drip rail, but we got it! I plan to sell the engine and a few other spare parts to help finance my project.

After bringing the cab home I stripped the truck down to the frame and started sandblasting. My rear trailing arms had started to rust, (the two halves had up to 1/4" gap between them in places!) so I bought a spare '66 frame that had a very nice set of trailing arms. Again, I am planning to sell the remains, including a decrepit oldsmobile 350 and TH400 transmision that had been grafted onto the chassis. The amount of spare parts I am accumulating is becoming alarming!

Me and my grandpa rigged a sandblasting area out of a collapsible canopy and some tarps, and I am almost done with the frame.

Whew! I think that gets us all caught up to where I am now.

Thanks for sharing. It makes my day to see a young man not afraid to get his hands dirty and also appreciate the old Chevy's.
Keep us posted and good luck.

very cool

Well unfortunately, with Christmas preparation and one thing and another, I wasn't able to get anything done on my truck since my last post, but I thought I would mention some things forgot last time.

I am planning to restore this truck to original factory condition, with a few exceptions. I am going to include a few things that are stock, but not original to this particular truck, such as two tone door panels, arm rests, side mounted spare tire, deluxe wheel (If I can find one at a reasonable price), and seat belts. The big exception is the engine. When I bought the truck, I assumed that the straight 6 under the hood was the original engine. I googled the block casting number (3994257) and came to the conclusion that it was a 250 from around 1971. I am still deciding what to do with this engine. I have had it running, and it runs smoothly except for what I believe is a sticky push-rod, and doesn't smoke, so I am kind of thinking along the lines of "if ain't broke don't fix it", plus it's 20 extra cubic inches, and I think it would be a little easier to find parts for since it was being produced more recently. On the other hand, the 230 is not really hard to find parts for, or lacking in power, and it would be original. At the moment, I am thinking I'll paint the 250 like a 230 and leave it, unless a good deal on a running 230 falls in my lap. I'm still deciding what to do with the engine if I do keep it. Like I said, it runs smoothly, and I'm a little tight on money, so I am hesitant to do a full rebuild, especially if it doesn't really need it, but I can see through the oil fill hole that there is a lot of crud built up under the valve cover, and it seems odd to be going to all this effort with the truck and not doing anything with the engine. I have had more than one person tell me to just leave it unless you plan on tearing down the engine or you'll do more harm than good. If it would be possible to clean it out by just doing a partial tear-down (i.e. removing the head), I might do that, but we'll see. I've got some time to think about it.

Since I have driven the truck without any issues (even though I have never driven it on the road, I have driven it in all 3 gears), I am thinking I'll leave the transmission alone except for changing the gear oil, although I might take it apart, replace the seals etc. and see if I can detect any problems on the horizon, like chipped or worn teeth or something. I'm not really sure what to expect. Same thing with the rear differential.

I am going to repaint it the current Brigade Blue and Cameo White two tone exterior with the Fawn interior. I am fairly certain that the truck was originally brigade blue (the paint code on the GVW plate is 504A), but i'm not sure if it was originally two-tone.

I am planning to attend McPherson College in the fall of next year (they teach automotive restoration, which I plan to do as a career), and I need to have the truck done by then. I would like to be able to drive it to homecoming next year, but that's looking a little ambitious. As I mentioned in my first post, I was planning to use the truck as my driver, but It's looking like I may have to sell it to help pay for college. I hope to have it done in time to enjoy it for at least a few weeks before I sell it. We'll see how it turns out, I might end up keeping it if I need a vehicle at college or something. If I can find someone who could teach me auto restoration, I might not even need to go to college at all.

As soon as I finish sandblasting the frame, I am going to repair the cab mounts. The mounts are fine themselves, but the bolt holes are rusted to about twice their normal size. I am going to make some steel patch plates with holes matching the factory ones and weld them to the top of the brackets. I don't have a picture yet, but I'll try to get one soon.

Tomorrow I am planning on doing some more sandblasting, hopefully I'll get the top done and get it ready to flip to do the other side. I'll try to take some pictures of the frame and sandblasting setup and post them tomorrow, but until then, here is a link to some more photos and videos of my truck. Hopefully it works!

1963 C-10 Album

Leave the engine. Hotrod Lincoln might suggest a cleaning method but the 230 wont make the truck anymore valuable when and if sold. Enjoy the running 250. Thanks for the update and dont be affraid to ask for our help if that is what you need for homecoming.

Thank you very much for the offer, hambone, I might just take you up on that sometime! And thank you for your advice regarding the engine, I wasn't sure what I should do with it, but you're input really helped.

1963’s rule.

Well, after a long silence, I'm back. Unfortunatly, I still have nothing to report.

It's been so cold since the beginning of January that I haven't gone down to the unheated shop to sandblast. I'm not off to a very good start with this project journal.

To be honest, I'm posting this more for advice than as an update. While I haven't been able to actually work on the truck, I have been doing some research. My original sandblasting setup consisted of a collapsible 10' by 10' canopy with a 16" board clamped to two of the legs towards the top. The board supported a tarp. I put the frame under the canopy and sandblasted into the tarp. I'm sure any of you who have experience with sandblasting are cringing at this point, and as you might expect, sand went everywhere, particularly when I wasn't paying attention and pointed the nozzle in the wrong direction! To help remedy this, another board and tarp was hung on the opposite side, creating a sort of tunnel. This helped collect the sand, but since the whole setup was outside, any noticable breeze would wreak havoc with the tarps, the sand was hard to sweep up, and it took several hours to set up every time I wanted to use it. After a few days, we decided this setup was not working, so we managed to rearange the packed hangar and moved the setup inside. We put the canopy about 10 feet from a regular size garage door in the side of the hangar, and hung the tarps so that they made a sort open tunnel from the back of the canopy to the garage door frame. We put another tarp on the floor to help collect sand, and used yet another tarp to close of the end of the canopy. This system worked MUCH better, unless the wind was blowing directly into the door it didn't bother me, sand was easier to sweep up, no daily setup was required, and I could even work after dark. However, half of the top of the tunnel was open, and the walls of the "booth" weren't completely air tight. To finish making a short story long, I am worried about the amount of dust getting into the hangar. I have tried putting a couple of box fans at the garage door, but they aren't powerful enough to do much.
I was wondering about some other options, such as POR-15. I was originally considering organic rust removers, but it sounds like the part has to be submergedinthe solution, which rules out using them on a frame. I recently heard about POR-15. After doing enough internet research to make my head spin, I found there are several other products of a similar nature are available, the most promising sounding of which was eastwood's rust encapsulator.

I just thought I'd pick stovebolt's collective mind about which of these would be best, or any other ideas about what I should do with my frame. It has what I thinking would be described as medium rust, it hasn't weakened the frame any, but there is noticeable pitting. I'm open to just about anything, just as long as it doesn't cost too much.

Thanks in advance!

Admission is Free so I'll chime in with my opinion. First I like the POR 15 just follow the precautions and wear bad clothes, use throw away brushes and have a little air movement. Cheap brushes will leave a bristle here and there but keep on trucking. No big deal or pull them off later.
Also, I like to drill a 1/4" hole in the top of the POR15 can and pour out a little at a time. It will skim and dry fast when you have a little wind moving around. I put a piece of duck tape over the hole after wiping clean. I have went back and use the stuff months later. You just can't let it dry which it will in a skinny minute. (Carl, a skinny minute is faster grease lighting)

Even though you can use POR15, and rustencapsulator, over rust, my conscience would not let me do it since I had a bare frame. The por15 will not do its job if put on/over any grease, sand, or greasy stains.
Do a search on sandblasting and you'll find plenty of reading as well as search POR15. Much has been said about both. The por15 will take about a month to come off your skin so wear gloves.

......I had my chassis on two saw horses with a big piece of plastic on the ground. Even had a mild wind blowing but no neighbors were at home! The sand basically fell to the ground and in the end I shoveled up the used sand and sifted it though a screen type gizmo made for that purpose. Use it to finish up the chassis but the finer sand was a little more dusty.....but no neighbors complained.

FYI...for what its worth, I get "dust" when I use my blasting cabinet after which I use the air hose to blow it out the door or a fine bristle broom to sweep it up and use a vacuum cleaner.

So many ways.....but most use what they have.

Cedric, if i am reading you right over the last 2 years, the wirewheel and POR15 route is what you need. My green 62, you have seen, was done that route. Knock off the rust scale with all sortz of wire wheels and pads, do some cleaning to get all of the grease and dirt off and then brush on the POR. The POR self levels and leaves a nice hard finish. A top coat of some other paint should be used for UV protection.

Thank you both very much for the feedback! I am thinking POR-15 sounds like the way to go. I'll hopefully have another update soon!

Nice to see a young man doing the dirty work on old iron.

My first vehicle was a 1963 Chevy C10 Longbed Fleetside. I got that when I was still 15 years old and paid $500 for it. It was a rolling basket case, but it ran. It was also that same baby blue as your truck, except for the front right fender and grill surround, they were bright orange. I used the time I had from when I got it until I turned 16 to go through it and get it up to speed mechanically. When I turned 16, I had a reliable vehicle to get to work and go to school in. At that time, it wasn't much to look at, but it got me where I needed to go. It had the original 283 V8 and Powerglide 2 speed automatic. Over the years, I did a lot of work to it, including paint and various power train combinations. When I finally had to sell it, (I was getting married and needed money more than I needed 2 trucks and 2 motorcycles) it has the dark blue metal flake in the pictures below and had a 400 SBC and TH400 3 speed. I was 19 years old in those photos.

During the years I had it, it went through a lot of changes. Just about everything on it was repaired or replaced. I figured out later that the only things left on the truck from when I bought it to when I sold it were the rear window, the drive shaft, and the sheet metal in the cab. Everything else had been replaced at one time or another. Even the frame and suspension were from a 1965.

I treasure the time I spent working on that old truck with my Father. He taught me a lot during that time. Now, I am doing the same thing with my daughter on a 1962 C10 Shortbed Stepside, only this time, I am the teacher, not the student.

It sounds like you are doing the same thing with your Grandfather. It's all time well spent.

Like others have already said, there is a wealth of knowledge on this site. Feel free to ask. There are no stupid questions, except the ones left unasked.

Yes, seeing the younger generation tapping in with us is a good sign. I see more and more young'uns around here doing the same thing. There is one young man who works at Chic-fil-a that is trying to get an old jeep on the road. Needless to say, I am helping and encouraging him when I visit CFA....which is every day!


Stick, that picture of you and your dad is priceless. Enlarge it and hang it in your special place...... .my dad died when I was 15 but, like you, I had my daughter helping me along the way. Priceless memories for sure.

63Step,

I was looking at your album of photos and noticed you have the full gauge cluster in that C70 cab. That's a major score. You'll want to refurbish that and use it in your C10. A factory original tach is hard to come by and the aftermarket replacements are expensive. There are a few minor wiring changes to be made, but you'll like having the full instrumentation over the standard "Idiot Lights".

Edit: The Tach may not work on your 250. Those tachs were designed to work with the V8s. I'm not sure if it can be changed to work on an I6.

I made a little bit of progress today, so I thought I would post a quick update. Thanks stick for pointing out that I could use that gauge cluster in my truck. That hadn't occurred to me. I was thinking about the tachometer, there was a black box (excuse the lack of technical language :)) in the engine compartment that was wired to the tach, I assume this was the actual "gauge" and the needle in the dash is just a readout. Would it be possible to get one of those black boxes from another truck, maybe a 67-72 model, they could be optioned with tachs I believe, or a big truck from my era that had a tach and a 292? I haven't done any research on it yet, so I'm just throwing ideas around.

I brought the a arms, springs and trailing arms to my house, and picked up a quart of POR-15. I wire wheeled them today, tomorrow I plan on cleaning them with TSP and putting on a coat of the POR. This will be sort of a practice round before I do the frame. I also started making the patches for the cab mounts. I'll try to post another update tomorrow to say how it goes.

Well, it took me a little longer than I expected, but I got the A-arms, trailing arms, springs, and axle crossmember painted with POR-15. I have some black chassis paint that I bought at NAPA that I will put over it for UV protection. It went very well, except for the first coat on the inside of the axle crossmember. I wasn't planning ahead, and painted the outside first, and then got paint all over my arm trying to paint the inside. Oh well, It's mostly gone now. We discovered some asphalt and tar remover that actually took it off pretty well, with a lot of scrubbing, as long as the POR was still tacky. It turned out alright though, and I am pleased with the outcome. I am going to use it on my frame and axle as well. Before I paint the frame, I am going to weld some patches on the cab mount brackets. I made them by taking some steel plate and marking out the holes for the cab mounting bolts, and then drilling around the perimeter of the holes with a 1/4" bit. I knocked out the centers and finishing them with a half-round file. I got the dimensions from a set of plans I found on the internet and measuring the intact mounts on my spare frame.

I think, after a long slump, things are finally moving again!

After I get the frame and suspension reassembled, I am going to reinstall the drive train. I plan on painting the engine (Instead of red, though, I think I will paint it the blue that the original engine would have been painted), and breaking into the transmission, just to check for any excessive wear and to replace anything perishable. I was thinking I would reinstall the radiator and core support, exhaust system, brake lines, and tail light wiring before I start working on the body. I may even run the engine. I would like to clean out the crud under the valve cover, if I can figure out a way to do that without a full tear-down. One thing I noticed was that I have a very odd oil fill cap. It's basically just a rubber plug, but all the ones that I can think of that I have seen are the metal, vented type. I need to replace it, the rubber is dried out, making it loose in the hole. I have not seen this style of fill cap for sale anywhere, and I like the vented style better anyway, so I'll probably install one of these, unless there is something special about my engine that prevents me from using one. I'll be looking into that. I am also starting to think about the wiring harness. The one I have now is a mix of the butchered and deteriorating original harness, and jury-rigged additions and modifications (I swear the headlights are wired with an old electrical cord!). I think I will replace the whole thing, but I am unsure what supplier to use. I am also unsure what supplier to use for the exhaust. I noticed that NAPA has the complete system for a reasonable price, but I am not sure how well it would fit. If any one has ever replaced any of this, I would appreciate any advice.

After I finish the chassis, I believe I will start with the bed, instead of the cab, as the body work will be easier and good practice for the cab and front sheet metal. one of the few modifications I would like to do to the truck is add a side mounted spare tire. I haven't decided yet whether to buy a fender with a cutout, or fabricate my own cutout, or just fabricate my own mount and forget about the fender cutout altogether (I have checked the dimensions with my current tires, and they will fit between the fender and the cab). My first choice would be to buy a fender, since the one I have now is pretty beat up (but not irrepairable), but they do seem to be expensive, so I guess I'll keep my eye out, and cross that bridge when I come to it. I did found out this week that there is a difference between fenders for an 8-ft and 6 1/2-ft beds, which I did not realize. Good to know. I am somewhat surprised that no one seems to make kit to install a cutout on a regular fender. It doesn't seem like it would be all that hard to do, but maybe I am underestimating the difficulty.

Anyway, that's my update for now, I'll try to be better about posting more often. I hope to get the patches welded on this week and get a coat or two of POR on during the brief warm spell that's coming through.

There was a fairly major development with my project over the weekend, I am going to be using a different frame. I got the patches welded on to my frame, my first real welding job. They turned out pretty well I thought (1st two pics, the frame was upside down when I took them, so the background is the ceiling of the shop if anyone was wondering). Unfortunately, about the time I finished, I happened to notice a fairly major rust issue that I had somehow previously overlooked. Just ahead of the frame cross-member that sits directly over the rear axle, there is a small section of the frame rails that are reinforced with a second layer of steel. I had noticed that this second layer didn't sit tight to the frame rail, but I just thought that it was supposed to be that way. However, upon closer inspection, I found that they had been pushed apart by a large amount of expanding rust! (3rd pic)

Once I realized this, I could see that the whole reinforced area was badly eaten away from the inside out, and there was a noticeable bulge on the outside of the frame rail where the rust was expanding. I decided that, since that was the only area of the frame that Chevrolet decided to reinforce, that area must pretty critical, so I had better do something about it. I am very fortunate that, despite my attempts to sell it, I still have the spare frame that I bought for the trailing arms. It is a 1965 long bed half ton frame that is missing the parking brake and transmission support cross-members, and the rear cab mounts. It had a crudely fabricated cross-member that was designed to support the tail shaft of a TH400 and two steel plates welded to the to of the frame rails and the front axle cross-member to serve as motor mounts for a Oldsmobile 350. Modifications aside, It is in very good shape, better than my original frame, in fact. There is a lot less pitting, and of course that rust issue with the reinforcing plates is not present. I had actually thought about using it earlier, but I didn't think my original frame was all that bad, and I wanted to keep as many original components on the truck as possible. So far there are 4 different VINs associated with my truck! I spent some time yesterday and today removing the brake lines, rear springs, front axle suspension, and steering gear (with a nifty little ball joint separator I picked up at harbor freight) from the '65 frame. I also got a good start on grinding off the homemade motor mounts before I ran out of daylight (This frame is at my house, and not my grandpa's, where the rest of the truck is, because I was originally planning to sell it, which is easier to do from my place). I hope to get the '65 frame wire-wheeled and cleaned, and get a coat of POR on it by the end of this week. I will then transfer the two missing cross-members and the rear cab mounts over from the '63 frame. At least I get to use some of the welding I did! I am not sure whether I should use bolts or rivets to attach the missing cross-members, I believe bolts don't hold as firmly, but I'm not sure how one goes about installing such monstrous rivets. I could probably get by with bolt on the parking brake cross-member and the cab mounts (I noticed in the LMC truck catalog you can buy repro rear cab mounts, which are installed with bolts) but I'm not so sure about the transmission support cross-member.

I am not sure what I'll do with the rest of the '63 frame. I don't think it's completely irreparable, but it's beyond my current abilities. I guess if anyone is interested in it they can PM me, but I'm thinking it's just going to be scrap metal. I wouldn't mind hanging on to it until I have the time and skill to repair it, but I don't think it's really worth storing, as it would probably be at least 3 or 4 years until I could get to it. As it turned out, even though I spent a great deal of time doing a partial sandblasting job, I really didn't loose more than a few days by switching frames, as I was going to use POR-15 rather than finish the sandblasting anyway. That stuff is the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Well that's all for now, hopefully I'll have some pictures of a fully painted frame by the end of the week!

When I had my old '63 C10 longbed, I bent the frame when I backed into a telephone pole at about 35mph. I hydroplaned on a wet road and spun out.

I replaced it with a '65 frame and all was good. One thing you need to look at is the way the track bar under the bed connects. '65 is different from '63. It's not hard to make it work, but it is something to consider. When I moved the transmission crossmember rearward to switch from the Powerglide to the TH400, I reattached it with bolts.

I drove that truck for another 6 years before I sold it and I know the new owner drove it for at least another 3 years before he sold it. There were never any issues with the frame or crossmember. I used grade 5 bolts when I did it. Stronger than standard grade 3, but not as brittle as grade 8 when the frame flexes.

I'm glad you caught the rust issue before you finished the frame and installed the body. It's a lot easier to do the switch at this point.

Cedric, you and i are on the same track. Currently repairing cab mounts and crossmembers, wire wheeling in prep for POR. Hope by homecoming you all will help me drop the motor on.

Thank you for telling me about the track bar 62Stick, that's good to know. I looked at it, and the mount seems to be missing altogether. I'll probably remove the bracket from my frame and put it on the new one, I'll have to do some research and find out if that will work. Doug, It's neat that you and I are at the same point, it'll be fun to follow along with each other.

I got most of the frame wire wheeled today, I would have had it done sooner but this big wind slowed things down a bit. I found a whole lot of numbers stamped on the frame, and have no idea what any of them mean. It also appears to have 2 VIN numbers!? The first is in the normal spot, top of the left frame rail about 20" from the end, but whoever stamped it seems to have had a problem with the last digit. I think it's a 6. In addition, the VIN is repeated on the same frame rail, about were the cab sits EXCEPT that the last digit is a 5, not a six. Very interesting. There was also a long string of numbers on the side of both rails, right behind the front cab mount, and "S-17" on both rails, right in front of the core support brackets. I'm going to do some research and try to find out what these mean.

anyway, just thought I'd share what I got done today.

Cedric, you must be busy with school. What is the latest progress and what are we going to see at homecoming?

I'm very sorry that It's been so long since my last post. I was kind of waiting until I had something earth-shattering to report, then I started getting more than usually busy with school and application to the 4-year college I plan on attending in the fall, and the project journal kept getting pushed to the back burner until I sort of forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me Doug, sorry it took me two weeks to notice it!

Anyway, to get caught up, I got the frame wire brushed/wheeled and got the POR on it. It is now at my grandparents house. I drilled about 34 rivets to remove the rear cab mounts, 2nd and 3rd crossmembers, upper rear shock mounts, lower radiator mounts, and the upper trac bar mount (there were 5 3/8" rivets holding that sucker on!) from the old frame. All of the above were missing from the '65 frame. Can't imagine why, but at least all of them were present on the old frame and were serviceable. After 62Stick mentioned that the tracbar mounts were different, I went out to check and found that it was totally gone frome the new frame, and the 3 out of the five rivets which hold it (and a frame crossmember) on had been removed. I checked to see if the holes lined up with the bracket from the old frame. They were a perfect match, so I'm just going to drill out the remaining two rivets and bolt on the bracket from the old frame. I now have all of the chassis parts PORed (except the front wheel hubs, which I tucked away in a corner and forgot about) and was ready to paint them with the topcoat of black chassis paint last weekend, but I hit a snag. Whether the man at the paint store didn't give it to me, or I misplaced it, I did not have the paint data sheet for the Martin Senour chassis paint I was going to use as the final layer. When I finally got araund to tracking them down and printing them off of the Martin Senour website on friday night, the thought dawned on me that I might not be able to put that stuff directly over the POR. I don't know why I hadn't thought about it before. I bought it several months ago, when I was still planning on sandblasting the frame, and it doesn't require a primer under it, so I guess when I decided to go with POR, I just automatically assumed that POR-15 was just as good of a substrate as bare metal. Anyway, after some research (and an inquiry in the "Paint and Body Shop") I found out that no, you can't apply paint directly over POR. In order to topcoat it, you have to A.) topcoat it before the POR is fully cured, B.) wetsand the POR, or C.) put POR-15 'Tie-Coat Primer' in between the POR and the topcoat. I am planning to go the primer route, as I think this will require the least amount of time and effort. I'm glad I caught it before I started spraying the topcoat, that would have been a mess! Hopefully I'll get to the primer this week, and be ready to spray next weekend, provided the weather holds. My last class is May 3, so I should have a lot more time after that.

As far as homecoming, I don't think I'll be bringing my truck, it's not worth my borrowing a trailer to haul just a rolling chassis all the way up there, and I don't even know if I'll be that far along by homecoming. But I plan on being there for Saturday, unless an unforeseen scheduling conflict arises.

Thank you all for your patience, encourangment, and technical support.

Ok. Glad you are back on the case. Be sure to bring your shopping list to homecoming. I have some things you may find you need or want.

I will definetly do that, I also have some parts of my own to bring.

Glad I was able to help with the track bar info. Sounds like you have that handled well.

School is much more important than that old truck. School has deadlines and requirements. The truck will still be there when you're done with school.

Doug, just for planning purposes, will I need a truck to haul any of those parts?

I dont think so. We can see what you might need and go from there

I made Some major progress this week, unfortunately I didn't have time to post it sooner. Last week, I bought a can of POR tie-coat primer (the gray stuff in the pictures), and my grandma helped me brush it onto all of the chassis parts. On Friday, I applied the first round of the topcoat. Through some oversight, I had forgotten to get any reducer for the paint. My grandpa had off of work that day and was going to help me, so rather than take an hour out of the day to pick some up, we brushed that on as well. On Tuesday, the rain held off for a day, and I was able to spray the last coat, since I had by then picked up some reducer. It took me a while to get a feel for the gun, but after I got used to it, things went very smoothly. At first, I had one of the valves way too far open, and I went through 1 cup of paint in about two minutes! I was suprised how quickly the gun was using paint, so next time I mixed a triple batch, and started having doubts about there being enough paint to finish. The triple batch turned out to be more than I needed, but once I mixed it I had to use it or loose it, so everything is VERY thoroughly coated now. I am going over tomorrow to begin assembling the chassis.

I was able to go to the Stovebolt Homecoming a few weeks ago, I didn't bring my truck, but I had a great time anyway. I learned a lot through Jerry "Hotrod Lincoln"s cylinder boring demo and starter motor tear down, and Grigg's brake line bending and flaring demonstration. I was talking with "Lugnutz" while I was there, and he was telling me about the overdrive that he has in his truck. I am completely sold on those things now! I did some research on them, and found out that the standard 3-speed in the 60-66 trucks is a Muncie SM318. If a customer wanted overdrive, the tailshaft was replaced with a Borg-Warner R-10 overdrive unit, and this was called an SM319. Armed with this knowledge, I have begun a search for a GM Borg-Warner R-10 planetary overdrive. I think this will save me a lot of money on gas and wear and tear on the engine, especially if I end up driving the truck out to school in Kansas.

Speaking of School in Kansas, the fast-approaching move-in date has caused me to change my strategy slightly. I would really like to take the truck with me when I go, but I don't think I will be able to complete the full restoration in time. I have decided to leave a few things undone, and finish them at school. It will be a great way to practice what I learn there (If I haven't already said, I am going to attend McPherson college, the only college in the nation that offers a degree in automotive restoration). One of the things I plan on leaving are the seat, since it's serviceable for the moment, and McPherson teaches is upholstery. I also think I'll leave the engine alone, except for cleaning it up, rewiring it, and installing a new exhaust system. I was told that I could replace some of the oil with diesel or kerosene, run the engine at low RPMs to clean out the crud under the valve cover, so I might do that as well. As I get closer to having to leave I'll get a better feel for whether this will be enough to allow me to bring the truck, if not I will re-evaluate leaving it behind and finishing it next summer.

I know this has been short, but hopefully it was enjoyable/informative. Hopefully I will be able to get a lot of the suspension assembled tomorrow, I'll try to do another post if I do.

Over the past week and a half, I have reattached the frame crossmember and brackets that were removed from the old frame, assembled both the front and rear suspension, all four brakes, installed most of the brake lines, and set the engine back on the chassis. I also dug the cab out and set it on the frame so that I can begin working on that.

As suggested by 62Stick, I reattached the transmision support crossmember and parking brake equalizer crossmember with grade 5 bolts. However, I used grade 8 on the cab mounts, trac bar bracket, radiator mounting clips, and upper shock mounts since they do not need to flex as much as the frame crossmembers.

I had a few minor setbacks with the suspension and brakes that prevented me from getting it together sooner, but I am still very pleased with the progress I have made. First, I had forgotten to order the u-bolts for the lower a-arm shafts, and calls to all of the auto parts stores in the area revealed that they were not available locally. I ordered them from classic parts, and they arrived within a few days. I also realized as I was puttinbg the last brake drum over the last completed brake assembly that I had forgotten to install those winged washers that go on the anchor pins and help keep the shoes in place . So, off came all of the wheels and brake drums, and shoe springs again.

I used OE style rubber bushings on the trac bar, but I went with urethane rear control arm bushings, because they are easier to install.

While I was working with the front suspension, my grandpa and a friend of mine worked on reinstalling the pre-bent stainless steel brake lines. We were able to reuse all of the original junction blocks. I bought the ten piece brake line clip set from classic parts, but I can't remember were all of the clips go, so I'll have to do some research on that.

With some help, a tractor and an engine hoist I got the cab set on the frame so that I can start rust repair. Every time I look at that cab, the rust problems seem to get worse. The main one is the floorboard, especially on the driver's side, right were the rocker, kick panel, and floor board all come together. I have no experience welding pach panel, and it seems that cutting out that critical area to weld in new panels would make it very easy for the cab to get out of alignment, so repairing that rust is a rather daunting task. In fact, that area has deteriorated to such an extent that moving the cab 3 times make have already messed it up. I am toying with the idea of getting another cab in better shape, if my budget allows.

I am having a lot of fun tracking down information on my truck when I am not working on it - I downloaded the info package or my truck from the GM heritage center, and have spent many hours looking it over. Among the information is a list of available options for my model truck (C1504). One of the options listed is "G50 - Springs, Rear, 2000 lbs each." The more I look at my springs the more I think I have this option. I have a full set of half ton springs from my spare frame, and the rears on my truck seem much beefier. I have never heard of anyone else having these heavy duty springs, which makes me wonder how rare they are. My shop manual gives measurements for both types of springs, so I should probably measure them sometime to confirm that. My GVW plate reads 5000 lbs, but its a little hard to tell from the wording in the manual whether that is the GVW for that particular truck, or if that is just the maximum possible GVW that truck could have if it was optioned right.

Very nice progress!

Most people weld in temporary support struts before they cut out for the patch panels. That keeps the cab straight and in alignment while working on it. Usually, a couple of struts from front to back in the door jamb is all it takes.

What you've done so far looks great!

Since my last post, I have mainly been kept busy doing odd jobs to help pay for the truck, but I did work in a few things.

62Stick, good tip about reinforcing the doors before I start cutting. I have included a few pictures of the main areas of concern, and there are some more added to my shared Google photos album (now accessible through my signature, not the prettiest link, but it works. I'm still trying to become UBB literate). I also got some of the wiring and heater components stripped out of the cab

I also pulled the big truck gauge cluster from the new cab and started digging around about how I can get the tachometer work with my six cylinder. Apparently there is some kind of capacitor that can be swapped to make an 8 cylinder tach work on a six cylinder. I also confirmed that it is an external input unit, so I'll have to get the rest of the gauge off of the C-70's fender well. I was a little disappointed to find out that it is not a factory tach. It was made by Sun Electric, and it has been modified to make it fit into the factory cluster. It fits, and looks good, so I'll probably use it anyway. I noticed when I was stripping the wiring etc, out of the cab that there were 3 aftermarket gauges (temp, oil pressure, amperes. Judging by the style of them, I'd say they were installed in the 70s or 80s) that are redundant to the ones in the cluster, so I'm guessing the gauges in the cluster don't work. Hopefully I can repair them.

The main thing was that I found a Borg Warner R-10H overdrive on Craigslist in New Jersey. I picked it up on Thursday, timed it just wrong so that I was on the I-495 beltway in the middle of rush hour. It turned out when I got there that it was actually a package deal for 3 transmissions (all passenger car trannys, and only one with overdrive). The Idea is to take the overdrive off and put it on my transmission. I think I can sell the other two transmissions for close to what I paid for the lot, so that will help offset the cost of the switches, relays, etc, none of which were included. Anyway, I tore it down this morning to inspect it, it is internally in good shape EXCEPT for the planetary gears. I looks like all three shafts holding the planet gears into the cage sheared off, and one of the planet gears got pretty badly mashed up (pic attached). The sun and ring gears are still good, although the sun gear is definitely worn. I guess they must be made out of stronger material the planet gears, so the planet gears basically acted like a shear pin. I am going to post in the driveline forum about possible solutions.

You're welcome. That's what we're all about here.

Are you sure that's the best cab of the two?? That rust is pretty nasty. I know the original cab had a major munch on the driver side rear quarter, but what about chopping and combining the two? It would be a major undertaking, but in my opinion, it may be easier than repairing the large rusted out areas in the "new" cab.

Yes, believe it or not that is the better of the two. The only places on the old cab that is better than the new one is the area on the driver's side inner skin, and the bottom of the door pillars. In addition to having all of the same rust areas of the new cab (minus those 2), it is rusted all of the way across the top of the windshield both inside and out, and on the corner of the door column near the gas tank filler neck. I will have to scare up some pictures of the old one. An interesting suggestion about combining the two cabs, I was going to do that on a slightly less impressive scale with the two areas I mentioned. Honestly, for the cost of the patch panels, I'm thinking I could almost afford a better cab. Hambone gave me the number of a fellow in Pennsylvania who brings parts back here from the southwest, and I beginning to wonder how much he would charge for a cab.

The hole on the rear of cab (where a seat belt might go) is curious. They dont rust there. I suspect you have a big nest up in the roof and the rust is caused by something that was living up in there. Poke around up in there.

Doug, that's what I was thinking too. I'll do some poking around and report back. Unfortunately, that area got banged up on the old cab, so I'm going to have to either try to get it back into shape, or try to find someone who will let me cut it out of their cab. I would think that piece would be the same on both styles of cab?

I also thought I'd mention that I found another sm319/R10 on ebay and snatched it up. Hopefully this one is in better shape, it looks like it in the pictures anyway (which obviously tells me the inside is in good shape, right? :))

More updates soon hopefully

Cut a patch out of the passengerside of the crushed cab. You should be able to cut a section with the same curve - might have to flip it vertically.

Otherwise you can cut all you want from my old cab. I have all the bits and pieces off of it and it is going to scrap.

Doug, thank you for the offer. I am going to talk to Marty about getting a new cab on Sunday, but if I decide not to go that route I would definetly like to get that piece off of your cab. Unfortunately, the rust goes all the way down to the bottom edge of the panel, which is of course the mirror image of the opposite side. If it was above the edge, I'd have been fine.

I am hopefully going to be working on the radiator core support tomorrow while I'm waiting to decide the fate of the cab, if so, I will try to post an update.

For your enjoyment, I have included some pictures of the old cab.

Also, on an intersting side note, I have heard from several sources that the firewalls on these trucks were painted the same metallic beige as the interiors. However, I can find no evidence of this on either of my cabs. Both were originally brigade blue, and although both trucks were repainted, the firewalls were not, and both appear to be painted the primary body color. I have included two pictures of the firewalls to illustrate this, you can see the top layer of blue paint with red primer directly underneath. Maybe it varied based on assembly plant?

My 62 firewall was interior cab color. That surprised some folks as most are painted truck color. I never did find the reasons. My guess is that some plants just painted with what they had in the gun. I like the fawn collar on the firewall and I am considering what I will do with my 66 cab.

By the way - time and money goes with a new cab. You will spend quite a bit on panels, and filler on those holes.