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| | | | Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 Member | | Member Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 | Ah, the joy of bringing home a new toy.. Pics as soon as I can upload them to my site ( www.speedyoldtruck.com) Truck is a light blue and white Chevrolet 2-ton "ramp truck". it has 5/10 fronts and 10 lug duallies in the rear, 20" or 22" I haven't got out the tape measure but they're big ones, budd rims. Dual speed vacuum rear. Big ramps running up the back of the cab for hauling cars/trucks, a dysfunctional electric winch, no motor, no transmission. It has the wraparound windshield so I know its 60-63, haven't received the title yet so no idea which year exactly it is. The PO unfortunately got a little happy with the fiberglass/bondo so the cab is in lousy shape - windshield frame and leading edge of the roof is all but destroyed thanks to a fiberglass "repair" that trapped water against the good metal. The hood has a hole in the front and center (looks like it was punctured, not just rusted thru) but the vents/lights are in perfect shape and so is the rest of the hood. I've got a lead on an older caprice wagon with a 350/TH400 or 700r4 for $50 that should power this truck nicely for the time being (eventually I'd like to go with a 6.5 MFI TD/5spd from a newer chevy) The ramps on the back of the truck are in fine shape but there aren't any ramps for getting the vehicle from the ground to the truck ramps so I figure I'll have to build those. Depending on how much use this truck sees I might even add a wheel lift so I can haul two at once. I paid $250 for the truck and hauled it home using a friends lifted '97 Ram 1500 4x4 and a tow bar (only had to move it a whopping 4 miles). Now, a few questions: 1) The same junkyard has an early 80's C65 cab & chassis truck that I'm planning on stealing saddle tanks from. It also has a 5 speed & dual speed rear combination, what 5 speed would this have and would it have an overdrive? I would like to be able to cruise at 65-75 on the freeway without winding the motor up to 7 grand, and I can probably get the transmission for under $200. 2) Will a 60-63 (or 60-66 for that matter) truck cab fit this truck without modification, or how much work am I looking at? Eventually I think it is a better idea to swap cabs than to repair the oodles of water/rust/fiberglass/bondo damage on the current cab. For now though I'm going to concern myself with getting it running/driving. 3) The truck needs to have the brakes repaired (some lines are rusted/missing) and I have no idea what condition the MC is in, but it is a full manual dual reserve MC...this scares me for a truck this big. Any aftermarket places sell a vacuum boosted MC for this truck, or will one from a later truck fit? Did GM ever offer a vacuum boosted MC in the 60-66 trucks? | | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 424 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: May 2000 Posts: 424 | That sounds like a cool old hauler, is it from Litfin's? Are they selling everything now that Sonny's gone?
You usually won't find a vacuum boosted master in a bigger truck, even the 1-tons used a hydroboosted master. The boost came from the hydraulics in the power steering pump. | | | | | Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 Member | | Member Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 | Originally posted by Barry Weeks:
That sounds like a cool old hauler, is it from Litfin's? Are they selling everything now that Sonny's gone?
You usually won't find a vacuum boosted master in a bigger truck, even the 1-tons used a hydroboosted master. The boost came from the hydraulics in the power steering pump. Yeah, I did buy it from litfins. I live on the exact opposite side of delano (between delano/watertown on 16 SE) thus I only had to haul it 4 miles. Since sonny's death his kids have been slowly working on cleaning up the yard, scrapping a lot of the literal "junk" the guy has stashed away. His son greg let me take a full tour of the yard and write down some things I was interested in, I found a bashed in miller CC/CV AC/DC inverter welding case sitting by an old buick that looked like the innards had been stolen and scrapped, it made me want to cry. Since his kids aren't really into maintaining the yard I think pretty much everything is for sale. I told his son that I was interested in saddle tanks & transmission from an '83 C65 chevy cab & chassis truck as well as a near-mint hood from a '67 Chevy LWB. If you PM me I'll send you the numbers for his sons greg and jeff, both real nice guys, easy to deal with and very reasonable on pricing. Regarding brakes, my truck doesn't even have hydroboost, it has nothing but the manual brake MC and my dad's 89 V3500 has hydroboost - its ugly, leaks a lot and if I could do without it and use a vacuum boosted MC I'd prefer that. | | | | | Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 5,152 Cruising in the Passing Lane | | Cruising in the Passing Lane Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 5,152 | That should be fun.
Is that a combination brake/hydraulic clutch master on the firewall?
I'd expect this truck used bellhousing mounts instead of a transmission crossmember. I think if it were mine I'd buy a set of those generic engine and transmission mount crossmembers to mount the engine and transmission you are talking about.
Its probably got a multi-piece driveline. You'll probably need to have the front shaft modified for length and to take the yoke to fit your transmission.
I know they are ugly, but the hydroboost brake system works well, and since that truck weights an easy six or seven thousand empty, you sure don't want to mess with less than adequate brakes. Get another three or four thousand pounds on the back and it will be fun to stop...
1955 1st GMC Suburban | 1954 GMC 250 trailer puller project | 1954 GMC 250 Hydra-Matic | 1954 Chevy 3100 . 1947 Chevy COE | and more...
It's true. I really don't do anything but browse the Internet looking for trouble... | | | | | Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 Member | | Member Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 | Originally posted by OldSub:
That should be fun.
Is that a combination brake/hydraulic clutch master on the firewall? Nope, truck was originally an auto, looks like thats just a dual chambered MC. I'd expect this truck used bellhousing mounts instead of a transmission crossmember. I think if it were mine I'd buy a set of those generic engine and transmission mount crossmembers to mount the engine and transmission you are talking about. More pics: http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/ramp7.jpg http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/ramp8.jpg http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/ramp9.jpg http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/ramp10.jpg http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/ramp11.jpg http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/ramp12.jpg Its probably got a multi-piece driveline. You'll probably need to have the front shaft modified for length and to take the yoke to fit your transmission. I've got a good drivetrain shop I've worked with that is reasonably cheap. And yeah, its got a 2-piece shaft. I know they are ugly, but the hydroboost brake system works well, and since that truck weights an easy six or seven thousand empty, you sure don't want to mess with less than adequate brakes. Get another three or four thousand pounds on the back and it will be fun to stop... Yeah, thats why I was trying to see if anybody makes a vacuum booster for these trucks. | | | | | Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 117 Member | | Member Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 117 | That sure looks like a dual clutch/master cyl to me.
and isn't that a vacuum operated 2 speed axle?
I'm thinking the only auto trans back then was a powerglide..to be sure they wouldn't put that in a big truck? | | | | | Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 Member | | Member Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 | Originally posted by Don Gwartney:
That sure looks like a dual clutch/master cyl to me.
and isn't that a vacuum operated 2 speed axle?
I'm thinking the only auto trans back then was a powerglide..to be sure they wouldn't put that in a big truck? I'll double check up under the dash, but the truck only has a throttle & brake pedal, no pedal for clutch and no hole in the floor for a toploader shifter... | | | | | Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,236 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,236 | The first year for an automatic transmissions in Chevrolet BIG trucks was 1956. It was the 6-speed Powermatic made by Allison. Mike  | | | | | Joined: Feb 2000 Posts: 268 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Feb 2000 Posts: 268 | Looks like the MC has a plug on the Clutch side.... As for you brakes, look under the cab for a boooster, there should be a Vac Booster under the drivers side, the MC on the filre wall just operates the under cab booster. You need to spend some time looking over this website for more info about these bigger trurks. http://www.chevyc60.com/ there is even a page for rebuilding the brake booster... | | | | | Joined: Feb 2000 Posts: 268 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Feb 2000 Posts: 268 | Auto trans for 1960 as listed in the Dealer data book, "Allison Powermatic" (with single-spd rear axle only) The Powermatic is a 6 speed.
If there is a two speed, and it looks like form the photos, then some one changed that somewere along the way. | | | | | Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 Member | | Member Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 45 | Originally posted by Jolly:
Looks like the MC has a plug on the Clutch side....
As for you brakes, look under the cab for a boooster, there should be a Vac Booster under the drivers side, the MC on the filre wall just operates the under cab booster. The MC does have a plug on one side. I (mistakenly) assumed that it was both brakes, as every other dual MC I've seen has the clutch on the same side as the pedal, on this they're reversed. The truck doesn't have a clutch pedal and I don't see a hole in the firewall for a clutch rod. I did find the vac booster, but with no motor I can't yet test it and see how it works. The MC seems to be low on fluid, I should fill that up and see if I can get any pressure response at all from the brakes...right now the pedal just drops to the floor. You need to spend some time looking over this website for more info about these bigger trurks. http://www.chevyc60.com/ there is even a page for rebuilding the brake booster... Thanks, that site has a vin decoder that actually works for the big trucks. My vin: 0C633J121663 0 = 1960 C = conventional cab 63 = 2 ton 3 = Cab & chassis J = Janesville assy plant 121663 = Unit number Regarding the transmission, mine had an auto as it has an auto shifter on the floor...but the shifter appears to be for a 3- or 4- speed, not a 6 speed. Sure would be nice if the vin had details regarding the drivetrain... | | |
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