The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks '62 C-10 Restomod build begins/ends

Cold Pepsi and Hot Dogs on me, or if you prefer Chic-fil-a.

Nice enough outside by mid afternoon so went out to do my 15 minutes. Gotta keep Alvin happy. Rigged up a temporary accelerator cable and changed the bracket on the carburetor to accept the 700R4 TVI cable. Still engineering the final accelerator linkage and throttle return springs. Pumped the accelerator once and turned the key. Instantly fired up and idled with a very nice thump to it. This thing is going to be a beast when finished. 🛠

The routing of the plug wires was not to my liking. The plug boots were 90 degree and I couldn't keep them off the exhaust manifolds. Replaced the wires with some straight boot 10mm wires and all is good. Topped off the A/T fluid and checked the oil and antifreeze. Still working on a accelerator cable setup. Exhaust is the next thing on the punch list. Going to go visit the local shop in the morning to get an estimate for 2 1/2 inch manifold back duals. I have my own glass packs, so pipe, welding and labor is all that's needed. Once that's complete I'll be left with the small bits and pieces of the interior and a good cleaning. 42 and light winds and lots of sunshine so today was tolerable to work outside. 🛠

Decided it was time to check the operation of the 700R4. Jacked up the rear end and got out the good jack stands. Blocked the front wheels. Started the engine and put the transmission in reverse. Looked at the rear wheels and they were turning backwards. Went back to neutral and let the wheels stop then put the transmission in drive. The wheels were turning frontwards. Didn't try to check up shifts or down shifts. So far my junkyard transmission is doing ok. Now for the downside, the brake pedal went to the floor. No brakes! We had pedal when Terry B and I bled them but that was several months ago. Back to the starting line on that project. Ran out of time for today. One step forward and one step back. Guess I'll take it. 🛠

Thoroughly bummed out today. Went out to work on the brake problem and it appears the new master cylinder just might be bad. More testing to do. Then I moved on to the origin of the oil spot on the driveway. I’ve had the engine started several times for a total run time of maybe 3-4 minutes. When I looked under after today’s run is saw a drip then another and another. So, up the lift went again. Either the front seal is leaking or the front pan gasket is leaking. I’m not talking a drip or two overnight I’m talking serious leakage. As many will recall, this is a fresh rebuild. The shop is very reliable and builds some of the engines for some of the lower tier guys on the “Street Outlaws” TV show. They have been around for 40 years and I’ve never heard a bad word about them. Obviously someone in the process overlooked something when putting it back together. I guess I will go by in the morning and talk with the owner and see how he wants to handle it. Two steps back today.

Even the pro's have their mistakes every now and then. Hopefully they can get it resolved without you having to pull the motor.

Good luck.

John

John, my thoughts exactly. I’m going to ask the owner Jerry (no not our HRL) to come by and look at it. He probably will, I've known him for 30+ years. If it’s an easy fix I can haul the truck to them. Pain in the posterior but I can do it. Problem is this shop is usually 3-4 weeks backlogged.

Spoke wit the shop owner just now. He was very concerned and gave me one thing to check before arranging to bring the truck to him. I checked the bolt in the block that holds the fuel pump push rod in place while you install the pump. Bolt was in place and no leak. Waiting on him to let me know when to haul the truck to his shop. As usual his large shop was 90% full.

Arrangements were made for him to get the truck Sunday evening so he can get to it next week. I busied myself today with some small projects. I had noticed the other day after shutting down the engine the exhaust collector on the passenger side was blowing hot exhaust gasses directly on a rubber gas hose. I relocated the hose farther into the frame and made a temporary heat shield until the exhaust system is installed. Then cleaned some surface rust off the 14 X 3 air cleaner. Wire brushed the whole thing then used wadded up aluminum foil to polish out the remaining rust spots. Bought a new element at one of the local FLAPS and installed the assembly on the carburetor. Re-bled the brakes again, still no peddle. The new master cylinder that came with the power brake kit must be defective. I'll run some tests tomorrow before loading the truck on the trailer. 🛠

Report from the Machinist, the master rebuild kit comes with two different front seals. His apprentice installed the wrong one. He didn't mic the crank prior to installing the seal. Good thing, it's all on the shop and not me. I was afraid I had done something wrong. He said my work looked good. Truck is on a lift in his shop so hoping it will get fixed by the end of the week. 🛠

Fantastic news!

And I presume there was no damage. That's good news

I had less than 4 minutes total run time on the engine. Several 30 second runs, so no damage.

Martin ..... Hi There

I just read through your build ..... very nice. Looks good to me, and stay with it ---
those 15 mins. all add-up, you'll get there. I like your style


Jim

Thanks, nearing the finish line. Really really want to drive it with the new drivetrain.

Machine Shop called about 4:15 and said the truck was ready. It was as they suspected, the wrong seal was initially installed. Ran for 5 minutes and no drips. No charge. I had them look into the brake issues while they had it on the lift. Lengthened the rod 3/8 of an inch and adjusted the shoes a bit tighter and re-bled the whole system. Now have brakes. I will pick it up in the morning. Probably leave it on the trailer so I can take it to the exhaust shop next week. 🛠

Drove the '62 C-10 up onto the trailer this morning. My first drive under the new power plant/tranny transplant. Engine is a bit cold natured. I still need to dial everything in. Left it on the trailer as planned, so off to the muffler shop next week. 🛠

Dropped "Blue" off at the muffler shop this morning. The head pipe flange is an odd size so I'm off on a parts search. 3 1/8 inch center bolt hole to center bolt hole on the 3 hole flange. Luckily the new rams horn manifolds came with flange gaskets so I can match up what I find. O'Reillys had 2 that measure right at their OKC warehouse. Should be here on the 2:30 truck. Fingers crossed they will be the right ones. If not I will have to drive into OKC to a specialized exhaust supply house used by all the area muffler shops. 🛠

Just drove the '62 C-10 home from the muffler shop. Exhaust sounds awesome. Transmission shifts through all the gears smoothly. OD Switch works as advertised. Brake pedal travel is a bit long but it stops on a dime. Still need to bleed the air out of the power steering. So, I've now got a whopping 2 miles on the new restomod setup. 🛠

Was a bit disappointed after picking up the truck yesterday and driving it home. Bad exhaust leak at the manifold rear head port. Muffler guy told me about it but since he didn't do the manifold install he didn't want to try to fix it. Turns out the rear gasket didn't seal and blew out both on the top and bottom. I have never seen that before. Trip to the FLAPS for a good one piece gasket to replace the cheap 3 piece set that came with the manifolds. Thirty minutes work and the leak is fixed. Made sure to torque the bolts to the recommended 25pf. Now on to the accelerator cable and linkage and the TVI cable hook up. 70 degrees and lite winds tomorrow so maybe I can get a bit closer to the finish line. 🛠

Began work on the accelerator hook up. Lengthened the bellcrank to match up to the level of the carburetor linkage. Reinstalled the accelerator pedal to the floorboard. Installed the TV cable into the bracket on the Carburetor base. When I put the carpet back in a while back I noticed with the new raised transmission tunnel that it wouldn't lay down right. I made some relief cuts to allow it to lay flat on the floor. Some carpet will have to be added to the area across the tunnel hump. Everything is in place for me to fabricate the accelerator cable and hook it up along with hooking up the TV cable and making the final adjustments. Weather is forecasted to be rotten for outside work for the next 7-10 days so all is on hold for now. 🛠

Caught a break in the weather yesterday and today. Accelerator assembly fabricated, painted and installed. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. 8-10 hours of work left before calling the project done. Will post some photos tomorrow before the weather sets in again.

Latest project finished.

Well, as with every conversion you are bound to run into a few bugs. I’ve had my share with this build. From motor mounts to transmission mounts. Modifications to the supposed ready to install PS kit. All overcome with a bit of patience and fabrication skills I had long forgotten about. Then the newly rebuilt performance 350 leaked oil from the front seal and the power brakes quit working. Machine Shop took care of both problems, no charge on the oil leak. Exhaust flanges were difficult to find but the exhaust came out fine until the engine was started. Major leak at the rear of the manifold. New thick gaskets and that problem cured. Then I noticed antifreeze around the thermostat housing. Pulled it off and found a bad gasket and a corroded spot in the sealing surface. New housing and gasket and problem solved. Now dealing with brakes lights not working when they were working prior to it’s last trip to the machine shop and the L/F turn signal which all of a sudden quit. I can see the finish line but what was a bright light is a bit dimmer. Polar air arrived this morning and is supposed to linger for the next 7 days. No outside work for awhile. Working w/o a garage is a real pain.

Weather has been good enough the past 2 days to get some work done. Installed the parking/turn signal under hood harness purchased from Classic Parts (thanks bartamos). Cleaned up the light buckets and made sure the grounds were good. Moved to the inside, installing the sound/heat shield on the floor and putting on the shifter boot. Repositioned the carpet to work better with the larger transmission tunnel. Couple more things crossed off the list.

Cloudy and 40 degrees this morning but no wind. Put the '62 C-10 up in the air and began fitting the torque converter cover to fit around the high torque starter. The starter is square at the front and the cover is made to fit a rounded starter nose. Took off about 1/2 inch and it fit perfectly. Ran a tap in to clean out the mounting holes in the transmission and bolted the cover in place. Baby steps but still moving forward. 🛠

Perfect outside working weather. Terry B along with the younger grandkids came over yesterday for some Electrical gremlin chasing. Worked on the steering column connector. It was an old one I had laying around for several years and apparently had a bit of corrosion. Some lights worked and some didn’t. With a bit of cleaning everything works but the hazards. Terry is studying the various methods of wiring them with the ‘62 two prong flasher and an additional two prong flasher. He’ll get it, just not right now. With 4 kids under the age of 8 his project time with dad is very limited. We fired Blue up and drove a couple of miles noticing the engine was running rich. After they left I decided to tackle the engine running rich problem. I haven’t worked on a Holly in about 40 years (haven’t had to) so I watched a couple of YouTube videos to refresh my 72 year old mind. I don’t have a vacuum gauge so initially it was a hit and miss deal. Got it close enough so my next tool purchase will be a vacuum gauge and I’ll fine tune it later. Enough for this session.

As with every project, when you're getting close to calling it ready, the little gremlins start popping up. Spent a couple of hours this morning chasing vacuum leaks. Think a couple of hose clamps and an extra torque on a couple of bolts got that taken care of. Since the engine was built with HP in mind I'm getting the feeling the 3 X 14 inch air cleaner may not be flowing enough air. I planned on purchasing a Vacuum Gauge so I added an infrared hand held thermometer and a 5 inch air filter to the shipment. I've got plenty of room under the hood for the taller filter, so why not. "Blue" is running and driving. Tracks straight and stops straight. All systems seem to be functioning properly with the exception of the carburetor. Needs a bit more fine tuning before I'm satisfied. Close, oh so close. 🛠

Well, today is the day. I'm officially calling the project done. At least for now. Who knew when I started the end of May last year that a simple engine swap would take 10 months. Of course the simple stuff began to grow and more was added to the list. Motor, transmission, power steering and power brakes. Today I completed the adjustments of the timing and carburetor with the aid of my new vacuum gauge. Runs smooth (for a Hotrod Motor) and starts easily. Transmission shifts through all the gears and it will turn and stop as intended. So, for now I'm going to enjoy driving it for awhile. This Fall I will tackle the A/C install. Happy trucking everyone and thanks for taking the journey with me.
Here's a video of the completed project.

"Justhorsenround" '62 C-10 Restomod Completed

Sounds awesome!! Nice work.