The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1965 Chevy C20 "Crusty Biscuit"

I guess it's time that I share my truck and the slow progress on the modifications/upgrades/repairs that I have done since I acquired it in April 2015. I'll start with the back story first, then I'll post up some photos.

Grandpa was getting a '65 C20 ready for me back in '85. I didn't know this until about a year later. I saw the truck on the north side of the station, but figured it was a customer's truck. It had a 283/SM420/4.57 HO52. Your standard 3/4 ton truck setup. I daily drove it and my '56 210 2-door Sedan. In '90 I swapped the 350 from the '56 into the truck, and I found an axle from a '68 C20 Suburban, yeah, the 3.54 Dana 60. That made the truck way more highway-friendly, and it got the name Mean Green, because it was just a mean truck. Mean Green got rolled in 2005 on my way to church, also being my mom's birthday. Obviously I survived, but Mean Green didn't.

I bought another '65 C20 locally, with a 283/SM318/4.57 HO52. I saw the frame wasn't in great shape, had a frame shop do some repairs, then bought a front disc brake conversion kit for it. I decided it would be much easier to install if I pulled the front clip off. That is when I discovered the frame on this truck was a far worse condition than I originally thought. Still having the frame from Mean Green, I compared the two, and Mean Green's frame was in great shape compared to this one. I was going to do a body swap, but I don't have a garage or shop, and the economy tanked, the homeless population exploded in my area, and my engine hoist and floor jack got stolen, so I stalled on the body swap.

I went without a truck until 2012, when I bought an '81 C20. It was nice and all, but I longed for the whine of the old gear box, and a truck that rode and drove like a truck. In 2015, I began searching. I found a '66 C20 with a 292/SM420/4.57 HO52 setup, up around Elk Grove, CA. The guy was cool to talk to, I got the loan from my credit union, and then he backed out at the last minute. Got my first taste of Craigslist and how things can go south.

I found my current '65 C20 locally, and it remained nameless until 2017. It was in pretty good condition except for some rust spots in the normal areas. It was a contractor's truck, at least I think it was by all of the rope hook bolt holes in the bedsides, and the rack setup in the bumpers, and what looked like a dual antenna cb setup at one point. But I got it without the rack, or the cb, or rope hooks. The PO said it had an overdrive transmission, and that had a 283. He was wrong on the engine. And he didn't tell me how to use the overdrive. I had no idea the borg warner overdrive has a free-wheeling feature. I discovered that as I was fast approaching the first stop sign with a bunch of cars in front of me, there was no engine braking to be had, the engine just sat at 600 rpms no matter which gear I shifted into. I was able to stop the truck without hitting anybody, but I learned really quickly not to follow close at all, and to allow plenty of room to come to a stop.

That weekend was a crash course in learning all about borg warner overdrives. This one is not wired in with all of the extra components that make it more of an automatic, it has a toggle switch for the solenoid, and no kickdown switch on the carburetor. I was able figure out that I can just use it as a regular 3 speed around town, and use the OD on the highway. I'll stop there for now, as the truck started getting upgrades right after this.

Here are some photos of Mean Green, and this truck (Crusty Biscuit) the day I got it.

A couple more of Mean Green, the truck that forever got me into 1965 Chevy C20's. If I knew then, what I know now, I would have kept everything from this truck, but that cut-up cab was hauled off by code enforcement. We agreed on that as long as I hid everything else.

The front of the bad frame of the yellow truck. I did install the disc brakes, but I never got this truck running. And the inside of the cab on the first replacement C20. The body is either full of bondo, or it's actually pretty straight. I never did go around with a weak magnet to find out.

After this post, it's all about Crusty Biscuit. I'll explain that name a little later.

Edit: I do not use those jack stands anymore.

Crusty Biscuit. When I got this truck it was just "The 65". But I have a name for each vehicle, for the most part. Little Blue, my 2007 Forester XT. The Jeep, my 1991 Cherokee Laredo. The 81, just seems fitting for that truck for some reason. But, "The 65", just wasn't cutting it for this truck. I had Mean Green, and it got it's name because of it being a really cool, mean truck. Because I saved most of Mean Green, and had also bought a bunch of goodies to build the Yellow '65, which never happened, I got to thinking. This truck will be getting parts meant for Mean Green originally, or from Mean Green, or that were going to be installed on the yellow truck, all of which were to make it a much better version of its prior self.

In 2017, it was time to name this truck, and wanting to go with the Mean Green theme, I pulled up the thesaurus, typed in Mean, and from all of the synonyms, I came up with Crusty. This truck being beige in color, I typed in beige or tan, now I can't remember, but out of the synonyms, I came up with Biscuit.

It became Crusty Biscuit.

When I was looking over the truck at the PO's house, he mentioned it running hot, and that he ran straight coolant in it. It had a two row radiator in it, and the cooling system was not up to snuff. I had a new three row radiator, and new shroud in the back shed. So I drained and flushed the cooling system, replaced the radiator, shroud, and put a flex fan on.

The PO had car tires on this thing. It was a pain to steer at slow speeds, and I didn't want car tires on a 3/4 ton truck. Off with the wheels and tires they had on it, and on with the set I had bought for the yellow truck. They were 10 years old at this point, but were stored in a shed, and never saw daylight until I brought them out and mounted them. Load Range E, much better suited for a 3/4 ton truck, and they look cool as heck on there.

These photos are from May 2015

July 2015

As I said before, the PO told me it was a 283. I didn't believe him, but didn't say anything. The tell tale sign, for me was the valve covers. They weren't scripted, and the heads had accessory holes. Other than that, it could have been a 283, but the numbers on the pad, and casting number on the back of the block showed it being an L48 350. He did have a square bore intake on it for the old style engines with the oil tube in the front. And the carburetor was a Carter AFB. I hated that setup. Had to adjust it weekly as it would lose it's settings. I like quadrajets, prefer them actually, and also had a new/rebuilt one waiting to be installed. So off with the Carter and square bore, and on with the Edelbrock performer II and the quadrajet.

I forgot to add the photo of the coolant temperature after idling for a half an hour in the July heat. 160 degrees at the radiator, I believe that is a good thing...lol...

Not knowing the history of this truck and wanting to make sure it lasted me a good long time, I started going through the running gear. Drain, clean, fill with fresh gear oil. Or as I have read on here, Moose Juice!...lol... The oil was black, but there wasn't any shavings, nothing to be worried about.

These are from August 2015.

So I just read your post in it's entirety, cool story. I drove my Dads 3/4 ton GMC through High School(in California) and loved every minute of it. I had the only truck in a parking lot surrounded by Camaro's and Mustangs. I still love the look of a longbed (wood truck is what they call them in Ga).

You may be the only other guy I know who likes a Quadrajet, when they run they are outstanding, when their not it's just a brick...

Craig, Thank you. Was your dad's GMC the one with the big V6? The Q-jet, some many hate them, but they are a great carburetor. It just takes time to learn them, and I am still learning them.

August 2015.

While idling you could hear the input shaft bearing of the transmission making all kinds of noise. Instead of just doing a drain and fill, I decided to do my first transmission rebuild. I was a bit apprehensive as I had never seen the inside of a manual transmission, let alone rebuild one. I had seen many illustrations on their operation, but it was still a mystery. It was the tail end of July when I popped the cover of the spare SM318. It had sat still attached to bellhousing, and with a coffee can covering the tailshaft for 10 years, and it looked great inside. I had to order the rebuild kit, so this went in early in August. Getting the BW OD trans out was a bear, not because of the bolts or anything. I couldn't jack up the truck high enough to get it under the exhaust pipes. Well, and there was the e-brake cross member that had to removed, too. But now the trans can be removed in about 20 minutes.

August 2015

Rebuilding the BW OD transmission, which is not a BW transmission in this case. It's another SM318 with the hole drilled in the back of the case, and the BW tailshaft installed. It was a fight getting the tailshaft on, but Pop finally remembered putting into gear to be able to get the output shaft to turn, to get the rear cam bearings to ride on the lower part of the cam, and allowing the drum to slide over the bearings. Unfortunately, the rebuild wasn't a total success. It didn't shift properly, and had to be redone. The thrust washer needed to be replaced, too. But it's been in service now since the second rebuild with thousands of miles put on it.

Oil change is August, the Puppy Girls in the back is in September 2015.

I couldn't believe how much oil was in this engine. 8 quarts!! The PO had a dipstick tube that was too long, or the dipstick was too short. I can't remember, but I had a tube and dipstick for a 350 that wasn't being used, and it read perfectly full at 5 quarts.

Going through these old photos to share with you guys, and jarring loose some memories, I recalled that the first camping trip was with the spare SM318 installed. That was when I had to take out the pretty blue, freshly rebuilt one to have it gone through again, to replace the thrust washer a couple synchros. These are the puppy girls. Sybil the old one (02-2002 to 10-2018), Bugsy the tan and white one (We call her the deer-dog because she looks like a dog but runs like a deer), and then Pepper (She is a short little s***, I mean Queensland...lol...). Top speed on that trip was 3,000 rpms. I think that equates to 50-55 mph. Got 12 mpg's the entire trip. No bad. Made that platform so the girls could ride up higher to see out the front, sides and back, and to allow for storage under the platform.

September 2015

Spent a week camping and when we got back, a neighbor from a street over saw us pull up and warned us of a homeless guy that had taken up residence at the house next door, which was purchased by the church years prior. That turned into a huge mess, and while I fought with the church and employed the help of code enforcement and PD, my battery got conveniently stolen from my truck. The guy didn't admit guilt, but it sure was one heck of a coincidence that it happened while I was working to get him evicted from a place he was trespassing on.

A call to my auto parts store, a trip to OSH for a locking cable, $140 later for both items, and I had a fresh battery and a cable to lock my hood. At that point I had vehicles that didn't have a locking hood for 35 years. Now any vehicle that doesn't have a hood latch that can be undone from inside the cab, which is only Crusty Biscuit at the moment, gets a locking cable to keep from supplying the town with car batteries.

October 2015

You'll see gaps in time. I admittedly enjoy driving the truck more than working on it, so I do a project, then drive it. In this case, it was down nearly two months. But the upgrade was by far the best one yet. The PO said he had replaced the brakes, but this thing just didn't have the same stopping power as Mean Green did with the same single master cylinder/four drum brake system. Couple the lackluster stopping power, with the borg warner's freewheeling feature, and it was time for the disc brakes to go on. But first, the removal. Had to remove the components from the yellow truck, so they could be cleaned and painted. They were already cleaned fairly well, as I had did all that back in 2005. Here's the disc brake components.

Edited to show the removal of Crusty Biscuit's front suspension components. The driver's side didn't fight me. The passenger side, well, that was a day of pulling everything I had to throw at it, only for it to laugh at me. I had to make a spreader to go between the ball joints, and that got it break loose in short order. I will never use the hammer method again the get a lower ball joint to break loose. I was taught to use the hammer method, but I much prefer the spreader method now that I know about it. I guess I should have expected the passenger side to put up more of a fight because it has more rust on that side. A good learning experience.

October to early November 2015

Got the frame cleaned, rust reformed, and painted silver.

Hey there;

I thought you might enjoy a couple pictures of a 66 chevy which got a body swap on to a 96 Chev chassis. The original truck was built for the US forestry service and had the cab lengthened before delivery.

That is the original paint too. Except for a couple spots where rust repairs were done.

It's name is "Snow Flake"

Keep posting, keep fixing!

Steve

Good job. I love it.

Great story.

Cool pics, and truck, Steve, but that is a '63.

November 2015...

Reassembly time. It doesn't look that clean now in 2020. But it shined for a while. When I swap in the 292 it'll get cleaned up again while I have most of the front end sheet metal off.

November 2015...

With the suspension portion done, it was time for the booster bracket, master cylinder, and getting it all plumbed. I bought the kit thinking it was a plug and play type of thing. But we all know how that goes. I got the booster and MC from Rez Engineering, and their power steering kit was a great, easy kit to install. The booster gave me fits. I had to design a mounting plate, draw it in CAD, take the CAD file to the fabricator so they could plasma cut it, and the thread the holes that needed threading, and bolt the sucker up to the firewall. It sounds easy now, but I was really scratching my head figuring it out while in the moment. Used 3/16 plate, two threaded studs, and the rest bolted up using factory attachment. It worked out pretty slick. Here are the views of the plate design. Having the firewall section of Mean Green in the backyard, I was able to use some red art charcoal and then used that to create the CAD file.

More of the Brake Plate...

More of the Brake Plate, and of the New Booster and Master Cylinder installed....

Edit: After getting this all together, and getting the front end aligned, I was on my way up the Kern Canyon to Mom and Pop's for Thanksgiving when a horrible noise developed. It was speed-sensitive, but I could not find anything loose, it was loud, though. I turned around and drove back home. It turned out the left front lug nuts had loosened-up, allowing the wheel to flop around. Could not feel it in the steering wheel, nor did the truck bounce, but the noise was very loud. My guess is that I may have applied too much paint to the rotors mating surfaces, and driving the truck caused the paint to wear down enough for the lug nuts to loosen. I know they were tight before I left. But it was another learning lesson for me. Nothing was damaged, and there hasn't been any issues since then.

December 2015...

I didn't get any photos of the lackluster headlights, but I can tell you they illuminated to the tune of about 20 feet visibility. I could have just cleaned grounds, and connections, but I had already purchased the headlight relay kit from LMC. So off with the grille, and time to mock up the new harness. I maybe should have isolated the high and low beams on separate fuses, but I didn't, they both run through the same 30amp maxi fuse. I keep extras of the 30amp and 50amp maxi's just in case they go out. Although, the 50amp wasn't need at this point, as I hadn't rewired the truck yet. That comes later. That photo is with the light on low beam. These are halogen sealed beams.

Yup, Canadian Guy you have the “Knee Knocker” doors.

December 2015...

Out for a drive with the puppy girls. Sybil, the old girl, she was such a trooper.

You can see the hood not completely closed, the cable is not there for that, as you read a few posts back about the battery theft, the cable is a permanent fixture on the truck until I figure out something way more cool than a cable, that to me, makes the truck look like it has a runny nose...lol... Well, maybe not in that photo, but I have it routed better now, so cable secures it twice, not once. Of course if someone wants in there, all they need to do is cut the cable. The hood latch was messed up, so I had to source another one from a different hood. The replacement latch isn't much better, but it holds the hood closed. You'll also see the body lines aren't matching too well. Good old dried out 1965 rubber mounts.

Lost track of time, but there really wasn't anything getting done except a fan clutch and fan blade got installed in January, and a clutch replacement at the end of July before our first camping trip together since we got married. Besides that I was just enjoying the truck. The trip was great, the truck ran great, and the 12 inch clutch wasn't slipping like the 11 inch clutch did. RPMs down the road were spot on, not higher due to clutch slippage. It was nice to get back to nature. Much needed break from the insanity of the city. Coming home on August 6th, disaster struck about 15 miles from home. We are okay, but the truck sacrificed itself to save us. Wide open road, long straight away, nothing blocking visibility, my long time fear of someone pulling out in front of me from a side road came to fruition. Had nowhere to go. Waiting for the authorization to take it to frame shop to see if the frame is okay. The impact was all body, no frame, so it may be okay. We'll see. The driver's side is pristine, and from initial inspection the cab and bed are fine except for the passenger-side-front-of-the-bedside. With that said, here is the carnage.

Not to make lite of your situation but I bet the other guy doesn’t look that good.

Actually his truck faired much better. He was able to drive his away from the scene. It being a 3/4 ton or 1 ton Dodge Dually, it sat high in the rear which is why our front end got crunched in so badly. You can see in the photos where the corner of his bumper and truck impacted the front of ours. We ended up with no tow service as AAA wouldn't or couldn't dispatch anyone. So we had to pull the fender out from the tire so it would steer, and tow-strap-towed it home. It didn't wander, still tracks straight.

First " Thank the Good Lord your safe".... Second, it can all be fixed. It may not be much but the impact did miss that beautiful bumper. Glad you all are okay.

We definitely thanked Him! I told my wife after another disappointing call with AAA's roadside assistance that everything in front of the cab may be munched, but everything else is good, He protected us. The windshield didn't even crack.

And you're correct, it can be fixed, I just need the frame shop to check it and do any tugging required if it needs it. As soon as I get the authorization to haul it to the frame shop by the insurance company, I'll remove the damaged parts, and also the driver's side fender and inner fender so it is wide open for them inspect and fix. May even remove the engine and transmission, but may leave that in so they can lock it in gear so it won't roll in the event the emergency brake doesn't hold.

I also told my wife, if everything checks out, this truck will be down for a while to get all the goodies I have put off installing because of enjoying the truck as it is.

These are the plans with a good prognosis from the frame shop:

4.11 gears
13 inch - 14 bolt FF rear brakes on the HO52
SM420 with ranger gear-splitter overdrive
292
4 core radiator
Power Steering
Grant Steering Wheel
Front Sway Bar
New Bed Wood

It doesn't seem like much, but the truck will be a completely different animal. It will drive much differently with the different gearing, 8 forward gears, being powered by the 292, having power steering and smaller diameter steering wheel, sway bar, and with the SM420 replacing the column-shifted transmission in there now.

I was looking at your project. I have a 65' C20 with a 283. I did some restoration on over last winter. I called it my corona project. I put in 4:10 gears from a '70 pickup instead of the 4:57's.

I am looking forward to driving this truck with the "new" gearing. I had 4.57s in my other '65 back in the 80s, and the tachometer read 4,000 rpms to keep up with traffic. That was before everybody had speedy cars and drove 80 mph everywhere. Wouldn't think of trying to spin the engine up to keep up with traffic today using 4.57s and no overdrive.