The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Completed Journals 1966 Chevy C-10 Short Stepside -- Step by Step

Hello All, been lurking on the various GM forums since picking up (no pun intended) a '66 C 10 short stepside pickup in Dec '21.

My wife & I own a small mom & pop warehouse & out door storage business. Thru that business I received title to an old abandoned RV that happened to have a 454 engine. Naturally, my first thoughts were "I need an old truck to put this engine in".

Back in the 60's & early 70's I was a real gearhead, but somehow I got sidetracked into motorcycling. Spent the last 40 yrs doing everything from racing motocross to tour cross country coast to coast. Now that I'm of a "certain age" aka old, the bikes are taking a back seat and my 66 Stepside is front & center.

I grew up working & hanging out in my fathers garage business in the 50's & 60's. I learned a lot , but the skills I'm seeing on the various old car & truck forums, including this one, is truly humbling. I've spent my whole working life refurbishing old(er) trucks & equipment to put back in service for the self-employed business's I've owned, but wasn't prepared for the professional level work that is being done in backyard garages & even just backyards.


I wish I'd have studied these restoration threads before starting my project. But, I'm here now & hope to learn a lot & maybe make a contribution now & then.

RB

Edit by Peggy M . 8.3.23: RB started in the Welcome Centre and moved up to the DITY Gallery in just a few months. He's done such a great job with his "story," and such detail, his "story" was really a resto-blog. So, we asked if we could move to the Project Journal area. And here it is!

We believe there are plenty of folks who would like see what he's been doing. And judging from the 2,357 views in less than six months, we think his C-10 saga is in the perfect spot for sharing now!

We kept a few of the greetings from the WC but for those who are looking for ACTION, it starts here a little further down this thread.

Soak it up!

RLB has dropped a note in the Southern Bolters Forum in the thread looking for the Florida truck folks.

Pics? My inlaws have a place in Polk County. About as far away from either coast as can be, ha. Where ya from? Id like to relocate in that direction. Currently from Pennsylvania. The land of taxes, lol. Hope to see ya around.

Thanks for the welcome. I'm in the Melbourne area of Brevard County.

Welcome RLB from a fellow self-acknowledged "gearhead" - LOL!

You are right in the midst of a whole passel of folks just like yourself. Previous knowledge will come back to you the more time you spend with your truck. The "skill" side comes with getting in there and doing the hands on stuff, but am sure you already know that from your own other experiences.

Glad you decided to join us in our madness!

Looking forward to seeing and sharing conversation in the other forums!

Dan

My wife & I own a small warehouse/ outdoor storage business. A few years back a tenant gave me the keys & title to his RV that he had quit paying for rental space. Thinking it was an old Chrysler chassis, I was surprised to find it had a Generation V 454 engine First thought I had was: I need an old Chevy pickup to put this engine in After several years off casually looking, I stumbled on this 66 C10 in Joblin, Mo via eBay. Four days & $2500 & it was in my new shop in Florida TBC

The Plan for the truck was to keep it looking stock but install the 454 with a m20 4 spd. Using as many GM parts as possible. Pretty much like we would have done back in the 60’s or 70’s. I decided to first get the cab & chassis more or less squared away before starting on the engine /drivetrain First order of business was to strip the cab & remove it & bed from the frame. I had a 2nd generation sandblasting guy that I’d used years ago. He was happy to help me out. First the cab then the frame.

Correction: I had the frame sand basted first, then the cab. Also, just to be clear, I picked up the C 10 in Dec '21. Started work in early Jan '22. So I'm posting off photos I've taken along the way & my memory (which may or may not be reliable)

While the cab was at the SB 'ers. I Por 15 rustproofed the frame. Brushed it on rather than sprayed, but it flowed out very nicely. While looking the chassis over, I realized how rough life had been for this 'ol C10. The one of the front lower control arms was bent & one of the rear trailing arms was broken in half, minus about 10% that was holding it together.

I'm just guessing here. The title for this truck indicated it was last purchased by someone in Kansas in 1978. I think t lived out it's former life as a farm truck. After it's usefulness as a work truck was finished, I believe the farmers kids finished it off by off-roading it in the woods & fields surrounding their farm. I'm not sure how it could've gotten in such rough shape underneath otherwise.

I ordered both new re-pop trailing arms complete with bushings & a complete re-pop front suspension & steering linkage kit.

I installed the trailing arms while waiting for the cab, but decided to hold off on the front suspension installation.

After getting cab back from the SB'ers, I had mixed feelings. On one hand I was happy to have old the old rust, dirt , corn husk, seeds , birds nests, rodents nest etc gone. OTOH, I was disappointed to find rust in places that I thought were OK. But, it was what it was, so I started in on it.

Maybe some have noticed that I was starting work in a brand new building with no tools or shop equipment other than some hand tools & a few power tools left over from my former life. After thinking it over, I decided my priority (at age 76) was to have an old 454 powered C 10 I could ride around in & tinker with, not to have a fully equipped shop for old truck restorations. With that settled , I started in.

First off, I dug out an old pair of iron saw horses that were left over from my family's former garage business. The story goes that my father bought them from a iron works & fabrication shop in Balto Md that went broke in 1933 (During the great depression) I used them along with a couple of yellow pine 2x12's to hold the cab up off the floor & also used my over head lifting device to help steady it as well. Once I was satisfied with the safety aspects, I started in on the drivers side . Well, actually I put a quick coat of primer on the whole cab. The salt air enviroment here in coastal Florida is brutal on bare metal.

I'm posting a few photos from the drivers side. After looking at my photos again, apparently I started work on left side of cab before taking it to the sandblaster's. Once I started cutting rusted metal out , I decided to sandblast it before going any further.

Well Rob, you certainly have a good attitude there. "With that settled, I started in."

I did notice the clean shop (admittedly, some of us do! ). That was a nice set of images in the earlier posts, plus some great explanation and story. Now, the recent rust ones! Oh my. That's sad to even see!! But, I get you'll get it done!!

Keep us posted and know that the gang is here to help with questions.

Rob,

It looks like you are going like gang busters in make progress on your project!

Very interested in seeing more as you can share. Of course all the pictures you can muster are always greatly appreciated!

Dan

Thanks, guys. Last couple wks have been busy with family visits & other stuff. I'll try to post more regularly now.

As I said, sandblasting an already rusty cab revealed even more rust damage than I knew about. I used a 4 1/2 in grinder with HF cutting disc and began triming back the rust damaged parts. As I recall, on the drivers side that included the lower front door post, floor pan up into the lower firewall, lower kicker panel, rear cab corner & inner & outer rocker panel. Some rust damage extended pass the limits of my new patch panels, for those extended pieces I used sheet metal made my own patch extensions. Also front & rear floor braces were gone as well.

I know my methods are not the current way of doing things, but I was determined to use my existing experience (from years past) along with tools I already owned to keep my project moving forward. Here, I refering to my cutting away of the rusted metal to allow for approx. 1 " overlap of the new panel (whenever possible) This allowed me to use self tapping screws to bolt every thing together tightly.

Apparently I didn't take photos of the cut away, but the photos of the installed patch panels prior to welding should show my results.

Ment to show brazed panels in next post. Since, as I said earlier, I wanted to keep job moving along with skills & equipment I already possessed, I chose to braze panels in. I already had a torch & full bottles of gas & air leftover from the old days. After brazing, top & bottom, I removed metal screws & brazed up the screw holes.

More photos

The left side door was not in too bad of shape, so I was able to re install it to double check fit & gaps prior to brazing new panels in place. Gaps were not perfect, but close enough.


My apologies for being a little disorganized with the photos & narrative. I took photos with my phone a year & half ago for my own record. Now I'm having a little trouble sorting them out . Hopefully, I'll get better at it as I go. As an example, I was certain I had a photo of the left door fitted prior brazing , but now can't find it.

Rob,

Thanks for the continued updates and picture postings. We all very much understand when family visits and other stuff can take over as the priority. Your pictures show great progress and explanations confirming checking/verifying door openings and such fitment before full welding (brazing in your case) are a testament to your knowledge and skills.

Keep up the great work and will continue to follow your projects progress!

Dan

Thanks Dan.

Hopefully, a few more photos of the left side will show up below lol.

After brazing up the drivers side, I switched over to the passenger side. That was pretty much a re-run of the drivers side. A few photos before I started cutting out the rust. The photos don't show it but the right side front & rear floor braces are completely gone as well.

Rob,

That's a bunch of work to resurrect that cab, but you are certainly getting it done. I've seen Swiss cheese with less holes than some of the cab sections you are replacing - haha!

Keep on it sir. You are becoming quite skilled with adding photos. Due to a glitch in the UBB software that the site runs on, if you don't add your own captions to new pics, the caption from previous pictures carries over to your newer pics (you can see the caption along bottom center of the pics when displayed). You can take one more step to make your pics better by adding "captions" when you upload them via the Attachment Manager.

When you can, maybe take a look at this post by Peggy M as it gives you everything you may want to know about posting pictures. If you look at the lower section of the first post by Peggy, you will see an "EDIT" by fellow member and moderator klhansen (Kevin) that has a link to a short video he created that gives you what you need to do to add a caption to the photos in the easiest way possible.

After watching the video, give the steps a try for your next pictures (you need to do the steps for each picture as you add them) and the captions you add will match the content of your picture.

Looking forward to seeing more!

Dan

Thanks Dan. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks but I'll see what I can do.

Apparently, I didn't take photos of the right floor rebuild, but as I said earlier, it was pretty much a repeat of the left side. With one glaring exception. On the left side I had a decent door for trial fitting prior to brazing everything in place. The original right side door was not re-usable or reparable. When it had been damaged prior to my owning it, the inner panel that supports the door hinges was badly damaged. At the time, new re-production doors were pushing $1,000 if you included freight & sales taxes. In retrospect, that might of been my best bet. After checking Craigslist daily, I found a door that was rough but fixable for 50 bucks.

After sandblasting the door, I painted insides with rust prevention black paint, installed new outer skin & lower inside panel, brazed it up, did necessary grinding & sanding with body filler & shot it with two coats of Viper red . I admit my painting is a little rusty, like the rest of my skills. OTOH, painting as I go gives the metal protection & gets paint in places the might not have gotten it if door were mounted in place.

Now I had a usable door for test fitting my right side of cab floor, rocker, cab corner, floor braces, etc prior to brazing them up.

Rob,

Thanks for the great pics, including the captions (woohoo!) and filling in the details on the right door.

Dan

That before and after pix sequence of the door is amazing. You are doing a remarkable job here.

The captions help a lot here!!

Thanks thanks!

(I'm thinking you have stepped up from DITY to Project Journal material. Way to go Rob!)

Hi Peggy.


If it's all the same to you, I'd rather just stay here in the DIY section. The projects & builds section has some really nice work that is a step (or two) above what I'm doing. I'm just a former truck & equipment mechanic bringing a truck back to life much like I'd have done years ago. A trip down memory lane, so to speak.

Having said that, I trust your judgement on what's best for the SB.com forum. Thank you for being the glue that holds it all together.

After trial fitting of the right hand door, I finished brazing new patch panels, used sanding disc on 4 1/2 in grinder to removed old flux & excess material, used seam sealer on all joints or seams & primed.

Next, I started finishing the cab corners. Using the 4 1/2in grinder with sanding disc, I removed all excess brass & flux from brazing & roughed up metal surfaces prior to using body filler to smooth transition from new cab corners to existing metal. The photos I'm posting will look like a lot of excess bondo but ends up being just a paper thin covering. The goal is to have a perfect feather edge where the filler meets the metal, with no dips or high spots visible when painted.

Next step in finishing the filler is priming & sanding to fill any imperfections or pin holes in the filler prior to final sealer/primer & painting.

Nice job!
You definitely have skills that I can only dream about!

Thanks Rich, I appreciate that.

I skipped a step in the process. Once the cab floor & associated parts were installed, cab was set back on the frame. I wasn't concerned about the rear cab mount location, but the front mounting area had received a lot of work with potential for mis -alignment . Thankfully, all lined up well. I used the newer style polyurethane bushings. Since then I've read some are complaining they ride too harshly & help transmit noise. They're in there now, so I'll just keep the bolts tight & see what happens.

I have to admit, it felt good to have cab mounted on frame again. Felt like I'd finished phase one. Only 999 more phases to go LOL.

After placing cab on frame & finishing up the body work, I decided to paint the bare cab. Back in my working life, we always painted our trucks red. Inside & out. While I really like the original Chevy green, tradition won out. Paint is Viper Red. Acrylic enamel w/ hardner added .

First, I had one of those surprises that sandblasting the cab uncovered. On the '60/'66 models that have been sitting for a long period time mice crawl up into the eyebrow section of the roof (That area directly above the windshield) & build a nest. Then they urinate in the area next to the nest & cause rust in that area. When I picked the truck up in Joplin Mo, the seller pointed out that those areas were not rusted out on this truck. Sort of a bonus point, I guess. And, in fact, it did look good. However, the sandblasting said otherwise. I had rust through areas on both sides of the windshield & on the inside behind the passenger sun visor area. All three areas were about the size of silver dollar + or -
I cut the offending rust out used some sheet metal I had to bend patches to match the cut out areas. Luckily for me, the flange that the windshield rubber connects to was not damaged. After brazing the patches in place, areas were leveled out as well as I could then I used body filler to finish prior to painting. Sorry, I didn't think to take phots of this repair.
Also, while rust was cut out, I used those openings to use high pressure air to blow out any mice nest or other debris from that area. For those not familiar with the 60 thru 66 models, the headliner area is a metal panel, making the area between the roof & inside ceiling impossible to get to.

The new paint job revealed two things to me. Number one was it was too much red. I did not like the red interior. Number two was that I had good size but very shallow dent in the top of the dash. Near the left side defrost vent & radio speaker area. I had just not noticed it before but the shinny new red paint made it stand out.

Nice.... I was looking at the pix and was distressed that you did all that work, but didn't fix what appeared to be a "crushed" cab roof!!! Then I saw it was paper!

I was looking at that too, Rusty. Paper? Wow.

Rob is doing such a great job with truck and giving us a very detailed blow-by-blow.

Hey! I'm not above screwing up now & then. But not this time. I'm saving the roof for later on. Even though guys make fun of me, I've always used yesterday's newsprint for taping off paint jobs. That's difficult to do in this age of internet news. That's OK though, I don't plan on doing any more paint jobs after I finish this one. LOL

Somewhere along the way, via CraigsList, I found a really nice bench seat that had just recently been completely redone. Black vinyl with grey cloth inserts. It was in Ft Meyers Fl, which meant it was a full day's drive round trip. The seller had a really nice '72 that he decided to install bucket seats in. We pulled the seat right out of his truck. The '72 seat doesn't fold forward like the '66 but otherwise s a bolt in swap.

It also, since I didn't like my red interior, gave me the new color combo for the interior. Slate grey with flat black dash & kicker panels.

I fixed the dents in the dash that I mentioned in the previous post. It was pretty straight forward, but I was happy that the windshield had not been installed yet. Gave me much better access to the top of the dash.

At this point in time, I'm trying to get as many parts up off the floor & on the truck due to some new interior walls going up in my shop. As it turned out, I, along with my neighbor & my wife ended up doing the whole job ourselves. Due to the building boom & shortage of help no contractors even returned our calls. The construction project pretty much shut down the truck work for about 5 months.

When construction is complete, I'll have gone from a 2400 ft shop to 800 ft. Still plenty of room plus now I've got income from the other two 800 ft bays I'm renting out.

I thought the same thing! He's worried about the dash and the roof is caved in?

The rumpled roof line was a tad confusing to me too until I looked closer (through my tri-focals - lol) to see the newsprint peeking through the red paint.

Thanks to Rob for coming back and clearing up that little eye challenge - haha!

Dan

Looking better all the time! The gray interior does look really nice.

Thanks Rich. I like it too. More importantly, the Missus does as well

After 5 months of framing metal studs , hanging 5/8 sheetrock, & caulking & painting, not to mention dealing with building inspectors, I was happy to start work again on "That darn truck" as my wife calls it.

First I mounted a Cardone rebuild 68/72 power steering box, The 68/72 box seemed to be a popular choice on the old truck forums, so I went with it. It's not a bolt on swap though.
Copying what I found on the 'net, I heated & hammered in a curve in the side of the frame rail similar to the 68/72 frame. Also the new box has 4 bolts thru the frame rather than the 3 bolts that the 66 manual box has. One of the original holes lined up with one of the new p/s box . I then marked & drilled the other three. Also, the later model frame comes with the bolt holes protruding outward about a 1/8th inch. Helping to off set the box from the frame rail slightly. I used double grade 8 flat washers to replicate the protrutions. It looked like it belonged there when finished. A well respected member on another Chevy truck forum sells an adaptor bracket to do the same job. It seems a lot of guys use that bracket & make it a bolt on job. But I'm happy with the way mine turned out.

Next, I stripped the front suspension so I could install the complete new reproduction suspension kit, including big block rated coil springs, I had waiting. Also installed new standard ride height , 6 lug, spindles & disc brake conversion. New after market front swap bar too. All straight forward remove & replace , except the sway bar took a little bit of drilling & fitting. Also, the idler arm that is listed in most parts books is not the correct one for the '66 C10. I found a NOS item on Ebay.

Next in line was a new Ididit tilt , no shifter, unpainted steering column my daughter & grand daughters had given me for the previous Christmas. Preet straight forward nstall . I did use the old original '66 lower shaft that connects the steering column to the rag joint. I shouldv'e used a later model, colapsible shaft, but like the steering box mod, I had all the stuff on hand to get 'er done. As opposed to ordering more stuff online & the bills that go with it.

Treated my self to a Grant 15" steering wheel to top it off.

Sorry, not too many photos. Mostly of the finished product.

Next up is starting on the engine & transmission

My goodness gracious. Everything is so clean and purrrrdie. That dash looks amazing. The gauges look so classy. Wonderful chrome on the steering wheel and the shift rods. I really like it!

Thanks for all the details!

Thanks Peggy I think the shift rods you mention are the turn signal lever & the tilt steering wheel lever. Shifter is a Hurst floor shifter connected to a mid '60's wide ratio Muncie 4 spd
This model steering column came with no shift levers, it's especially for trucks with floor shift transmissions.

I decided the C10 was finally ready for an engine & transmission. As I said at the beginning of this thread, I had acquired an old RV with a 454 engine A '92 model, which meant it was a Generation V 7.4L/454 cu in one ton truck engine. The up side to the Gen V eng is the one piece rear main seal . The downside is no provision for mechanical fuel pump or boss on left side of block for mechanical clutch linkage. Most hot rodders do not like the small (peanut) port heads that came on this model. But the internet reports I've read say they make good low to mid range power, which is perfect for my application. My goal is to have a smooth, lively powerplant that pulls good vacuum at idle & runs well from idle to 5000/5200 rpm. In short I wanted good low end torque with decent, usable hp.

To help achieve this, I've done away with the TBI & installed a Weiand 8122 aluminum intake w/a Edelbrock 750 cfm carb. Removing the TBI required a different distributor as well. For this, I used a Jegs (house brand) R2R (ready to run) unit. This is an electronic unit, but uses a standard 40,000 volt coil rather than a separate ECM. Also, it has small dia distributor cap which really helps firewall clearance when installing the BBC in a"66 C10. Especially when using the stock "66 rear motor mounts.

Due to the low zinc content of today's mainstream engine oil's, I read a lot of reports of wiped cams from guys who had installed high performance flat tappet cams in the 454. My Gen V engine came with the flat tappet cam, but the Gen VI came with a roller cam. Gm sold (up to just recently) a Gen VI 454 high output (425 hp@ 5200 rpm) crate engine . I managed to find a new take out HO roller cam from a hi performance Chevy dealer online (Pace Chevrolet) for half price. The Gen V cant use the Gen VI roller lifters, but I managed to find a set of Morel street rollers (up to 6000 rpm) on year end clearance, I could use the Gen Vi HO pushrods , Pace had a set of those on sale as well. I used Comp Cam rotater eliminators, CompCam retainers & CompCam.050 off set locks. It only took a minute or so to type the above, but took about a month of research & then measuring of everything. This cam was about the most hi performance I could've used without cutting the valve reliefs in the pistons & probably machining the tops of the valve guides.

Since the engine ran so well when I had it running in the RV (And since I was already in sticker shock at my monthly credit card bills) I was determined to not dis-assemble the eng if I didn't have too. I knew if the heads came off the engine due to the cam install, mission creep would set in & the expenses would greatly increase.

A few pics below. Sorry, I didn't take photos of the cam install & valve train upgrades.

To be continued

Once I had the 454 out & cleaned up, I had to figure out how to make it fit the C 10.The goal was to do it as close as possible to how we would have done it in the "old" days.

That meant using as many existing parts & or donor vehicle parts as possible. In typical Chevy fashion (in my experience) the bell housing from the '66 6 cyl bolted up to the 454 just fine which gave me the ability to use the stock rear motor mounts along with the stock clutch linkage(With one exception) However, once Chevy enlarged the BBC to 454 cu in., it began externally balancing the crankshaft assembly via the harmonic balancer & the flywheel. When searching online, I found lots of confusing info regarding which flywheel had the correct balance factor for which crankshaft assembly. But I found no definite answer for my combo. I finally decided to use the KISS method. Since I had what was a '92 one ton engine, I checked on a '92 454 one ton aftermarket flywheel. It was a 168 tooth ring gear as was the 6 cyl flywheel that formerly fit inside my bell housing & after receiving it I saw it had the balance weight in oz stamped on it as the flex plate for the auto trans that came on the 454. I ordered a complete '66 11" clutch kit including pilot bearing & throwout bearing at the same time. It all fit together perfectly.

I had earlier, via CL again, found a good condition mid '60's M20 Muncie 4 spd trans with older, original style Hurst shifter. Since they were about the same yr, the front bearing retainer on the transmission & clutch spline fit perfectly into my bellhousing & clutch. Things were coming together nicely, but I still had a couple hurtles to overcome.

If you recall, I mentioned in the last post that the Gen V did not come with the typical Chevy clutch linkage boss cast in the block. I found another hi performance Chevy dealer in Tx that sold a stainless steel bracket for mid '60s Corvettes that allowed them to use the Gen V or VI engine & retain the stock clutch linkage . I made the correct guess that bracket would work on my mid '60's truck as well. Some minor grinding of excess material & slightly reworking one bolt hole & it fit perfectly.

My next problem was exhaust. The truck manifolds that were on the RV weren't going to work. The left side exited right where my newly figured out clutch linkage had to reside. I reasoned that if mid 60's Corvettes clutch linkage & left side exhaust manifolds co-existed on Vette's, then they would do the same on my C10. I found a pair of mid '60's 427 Vette manifolds on AutoZone for cheap. I knew the top of the frame would need a little clearancing, but so would just about any exhaust I came up with.

Again, sorry. Not many photos of this phase of the project.

In the above photo of trial fitting there's a white chalk mark on the firewall by the valve cover. This area needed a light but firm re-shaping with a 2 lb hammer to allow engine to move rearward enough for rear engine mounts to line up. Also chalk mark is visible on top frame rail . This area needed to be ground out to allow clearance for the 427 exh manifolds. The left side firewall & frame received similar treatment.

Once I had firewall clearance, frame/exhaust manifold clearance, I had to work out the front engine mounts. I ended up using stock replacement '66 front mounts on the original front brackets in the original crossmember & top of frame flange bolt holes. Original brackets were modified to clear the down sweep of the 427 exh & lowered about 1/2 inch to keep carb level .


I like using the original '66 engine mounting system as it provides for a 4 corner mounting system. Keeps the engine as rear mounted as possible & helps with weight bias. Plus, that's how we did it in the old days. LOL.

Your progress is amazing and documentation on your build is top notch! Keep up the great work!

Thanks Phak1. I admit I'm struggling a little to transition from body work to mechanical. The mechanical took so much more time & research, especially working out the roller cam & valve train upgrades but have so little (none, really) photo documentation. But, I'll keep posting & if anyone has a question about anything they can just ask .

I was thinking over the previous post where I outlined how all the original '66 bellhousing, clutch & rear motor mounts plus a '92 one ton stock replacement flywheel all came together perfectly, but forgot to mention one other important part. The '66 starter has a 3 bolt mount that bolts directly to the bell housing. The '92 454 starter is much heavier duty but bolts, via 2 long bolts, directly to the block. I'd read that by doing some grinding & matching that the 2 bolt starter would work with the 66 bellhousing. But I had also read that some guys were having trouble with the starter drive gear not properly engaging the ring gear on the flywheel. We overcame this by installing the nose cone & bendix drive from the '66 starter with the '92 454 starter. Bolted up like a stock '66 & worked perfectly. Sorry, no photos of starter as modified.

Once all fitment issues had been resolved, engine was painted, had intake & distributor installed then installed in truck for (hopefully) the final time. Engine & transmission were installed as one unit. Then 750 Edlebrock & stock 8 mm plug wires, along with the original '92 RV plug wire holders. I was even able to reuse the original '92 sparkplug shields which I believe are visible in the photo below. Anything to save a buck, if possible.

At this point, I decided to work on being able to start & test run the engine. While I had been very diligent while installing the roller cam & valve train, how it would all work out was an unknown. As shown above, I had the carb, intake, distributor, plug wires & plugs installed at this point.

Next I installed (original) right side inner fender & new, & repop core support. Left all bolts finger tight as this was a mock up to hold my new 4 row Amazon/Chinese radiator in place for the initial engine start up. Re the radiator. I had read on another classic Chevy truck site that there was a very reputable radiator shop near Atlanta Ga . They had top reviews & I had decided to use them for my project. But somehow I stumbled on to this Amazon rad . 4 row & 200 bucks delivered to my door. My thought was I could use this cheap rad to get the truck running & to deal with any unknown build issues that might arise then get the good USA rad when truck was almost ready for the road (In a year or more down the road) TBH, this $ 200 rad looks so well built, I'll probably leave it in till it fails. It fit almost like stock. The upper & lower tanks are slightly thicker to accommodate the 4 row core & is about 1/2 inch wider that original 6 cyl rad. All easy to overcome.

Next problem was the fan. I wanted to use clutch fan from the RV donor, but the fan blades were 19 " 5 blade & were going to interfere with the lower radiator hose. An internet search turned up a set of 17" 6 blade GM fan blades for 1/2 price (They were returned units) They fit my clutch hub & were perfect for my application.

Using exh flanges from the old donor RV exhaust & tubing & mufflers from Advance Auto, I brazed up a temp exhaust system.

Misc items like the ign coil, Temporary fuel line, electric fuel pump, necessary temp wiring, etc had to be worked out. I had planned to re-use the battery box, which bolts to the rad core & the right inner fender, but after soaking it in vinegar realized that it was more rust than steel. So a new battery box was added to the install. I had purchased a new, high cranking amp battery (that fit the C10 battery box)back when I first started the engine in the RV, so that was installed as well.

After filling rad with 50/50 coolant, adding 6 qts 10-30 oil to the crankcase along with new oil filter, engine was ready to fire up. Actually, I had already installed oil & filter & had used an adaptor & electric drill to pre-lube the engine prior to installing the distributor. Sorry, memory needs to go on auto- correct once in a while.

Engine started & ran well after a few minor adjustments. I had hooked up a timing light w/tachometer before starting engine & used it to set initial timing & idle (fairly smooth @ 700 rpm) Temp went to180 F ,oil pressure was 20 psi idling & 40 at higher rpm's.

All was well. Or so I thought. Turns out, I had a couple or three issues to deal with.

After several 15 (or so) minute run cycles, I checked the oil to see what it looked like. Uh oh, There was water in the crankcase. To make a long story short, I had bought an El Cheapo no name aluminum intake from Ebay that was so poorly made that one of the water ports barely matched the water port in the head. Just looking at the manifold out of the box, it looked great. But after being installed, the residual gasket marks showed that there was only about 1/16 to maybe 1/8th inch of gasket engagement on that water port. Once engine warmed up enough to build up a lb or two of pressure it started leaking coolant & had no where to go except down into the oil pan. I ordered a Weiand 8122 aluminum intake, which is what I really wanted to begin with. Even though it had Cast in China stamped on the underside, it was obvious that someone had been paying attention to quality control on this unit.

Once I had manifold/water leak resolved (Yes, I did change the oil & filter. Left drain plug out for several days so it could drain as well as possible), I had to deal with the carb loading up. Turns out, I needed a fuel pressure regulator. My electric pump only put out about 6 psi, but I ended up with regulator set at 3.5 psi. That may have to increase a little after truck is on the road, but for now 3.5 psi is working well.

Next problem was the ign timing. While setting the initial timing, the timing marks, as shown by the timing light, was very erratic, jumping plus or minus 7 or 8 degrees or so. Up till now I had just set it at a happy medium, but now it was time to get it right. As I said earlier, I used a Jegs house brand R2R distributor. This unit has a really nice billet housing , but basically a copy of a late '50's /60''s GM distributor, except it has an electronic module in place of the old points & condensor. Uses an old style external 40,000 volt ,remote mount coil. Very compact unit that fits well where space is limited, like next to the firewall on a '66 C10 with a BBC installed. The distributor comes with complete instructions for setting up your preferred advance curve including several sets of springs (to establish how quickly timing will advance) and small L brackets (or clips) to set how far timing can advance. Instructions also tells spec's on how distributor is set upright out of the box. Which In my case was perfect. Or so I thought. The kit that came with unit listed 3 sets of springs. One that matched the out of the box setting (that I preferred to use) and two different colored springs for quicker advance curves. Since the springs that were already installed in dist as delivered matched the springs in the kit that I wanted to use, I assumed I didn't need to change them out. But after dealing with the erratic timing, I guessed that the springs in dist were too weak to control the mechanical advance weights & were allowing them to bounce back & forth at low rpm. I installed the desired springs from the kit & discarded the springs that came in the distributor and all was well. Initial timing settled down & I was able to set it at the desired 10 Degrees before TDC. For the record, timing is set at !0 degrees initial & 34 degrees total @ 3000 rpm. May not be perfect, but definitely close. Engine pulls 15 in vacuum @ 700 rpm but jumps to 21/22 @1200. Should work well for power brake booster, vac. advance on distributor, etc.

Sorry, no photos documenting any of the above. I know a post is worthless without photos

Now that the engine was up & running, I decided my next goal was to get truck running under it's own power & able to be moved in & out of shop if & when needed.

When i installed the bellhousing, prior to installing the M20 4spd, I had cleaned up & re-installed the original clutch/throw out bearing arm. Along with a new , re-pop rubber boot. I had all of the original clutch linkage, but upon closer inspection realized it was all completely worn out. I ordered every part from the clutch arm (In the bellhousing) back up to the clutch petal swing arm/pivot . Luckily all of it was readily available & installed easily. The SD clutch pivot bracket that I posted a pic of earlier worked perfectly. (This bracket was for Gen V & Vi BBC & some LS engines that did not come with the traditional clutch linkage boss cast in the block).

Once clutch was resolved, I tackled the mid '60's Corvette Hurst shifter that came with the M 20 Muncie 4 spd . This shifter had the old, original style shift lever that was a permanent part of the shifter rather than the more modern shifters that had the two bolt mounting system where by the same shifter could be used in different applications by using the correct lever which is held on by two bolts. My shifter had had the original lever cut short & the mid 60's Vette lever grafted (welded) on. I used my trusty 4 1/2" grinder & ground off the welds so I could remove the Vette shift lever. Once that was done, I had about a 3" long stub sticking up to work with, similar to how later model Hurst shifter. I had read internet posts that Hurst made a lever for '66 c10'swith bench seats, but the closest I could find for my application was a 55/57 Chevy car bench seat shift lever. I made a bracket out of 1/4 inch flat steel that bolted up to the stub on my shifter & allowed me to mount the Tri5 shifter far enough forward to clear the bench seat. I wanted shifter to clear the seat in all positions & still be easily reachable. Later on, I'll replace the steel bracket with an aluminum piece, but for now it seems to work well.

However, the shifter extends thru right where the low hump floor board meets the higher hump under the seat. I made a couple brackets that taper down from the high hump under the seat to the low hump & allow me to use a Hurst super boot to seal up the area. It works better that it sounds LOL.

Next I installed thepower steering pump & brackets along with the remote reservoir from the RV donor. Had local hyd hose shop make up the hoses needed.

While I was dealing with the shifter I had a local shop shortening the original 3 spd drive shaft to accommodate the M 20 Muncie 4 spd. Installed new u joints & front slip yoke as well.

I decided to convert to an outside the cab fuel tank. One of the well known vendors had a 21 gal Blazer fuel tank that they had assembled in a kit to fit the carbureted 66 C10. That's the one I chose to use. With the 454 reputation as a gas hog, I thought the larger tank was what I needed.

It's probably overkill but I installed remote mount spin on fuel filter as well. I 'll probably need to relocate it later on when I retro fit AC.

Up to this point I had not bleed the brakes yet. The pre bent front brake lines I used are OK for now but I'm going to replace them at a later date with a neater looking setup. Rear brakes are not functional yet, but front brakes are working so truck can now be moved in & out of shop or around the yard.

Next on the to do list is clean out the old seam sealer in the drip edge around the roof. A small flat blade screw driver & a rotary wire brush attachment in a variable speed drill worked well for that job. Then a tube of the same seam sealer I used on the new floor boards. Smooth it out with a small cloth dampened with a little mineral sprits.

I thought I had one dent in the exterior roof over the rear window, but once I started working on it, I found that there were numerous small dents that needed repair. Most likely hail damage from years past. Nothing serious, just time consuming. After a thin skim of body filler, several coats actually, with sanding between coats with a in line sander, it was looking good. Then several coats of hi build primer to fill any scratches or pin holes in the body filler and the roof was ready for sealer primer & 3 coats of Brite White acrylic enamel with hardner.

While I was at it I taped off the left & right out side mirror stems & new replacement mirror heads & shot them as well.

Just as an fyi. These photos are from April 7th 2023. I'll keep posting from my photos on my phone & my memory till I get caught up, then I'll post as I get more done.

It's an incredible journal. While I realize the pace of the restoration is quickened by the entries, it still reflects a lot of work in a compressed timeline. Impressive for sure. Thanks for sharing the details and pictures. This archive will endure for other's reference. This is what it is all about. Cheers.

Thanks HB. I know I picked up tidbits of info along the way from random searches, especially when researching info on 454's. Hopefully I might post something that'll help someone else.

Speaking of tidbits of info, I was having trouble with getting my doors to close properly after installing the weather stripping in the door way. It felt like I had a 2x4 wedged in the door jam, on both sides. My brother who's done about 10 full on restorations swears by Steele Rubber Products. Others speak highly of Precision Products. Then there's the '09 Honda Civic 2 dr Coupe units that some swear by. I ended up with the Precision units. I'm not sure who made the first ones I had installed but the Precisions were much better, especially after lubing them with silicone spray. Still not good enough though.

I happened on a C10 thread where some guy had installed aftermarket door latches called Ezi Latch. He swore by them. After a quick internet search, I had a set coming for my truck.
Installing them takes a little bit of nerve because you have to cut a good size hole in the door using a template they supply. The second door is much easier. LOL In their instructions, they say their latches will not solve weather strip interference or door adjustment problems. But in my experience, they'll solve a big portion of them.

If 100 percent is the goal, then these Ezi Latches moved me from about 75% to about 95% on my drivers door. The passenger door is a little tougher nut to crack. I went from about 50/60 % to about 75/80 % there. I have the doors adjusted to the cab & fenders pretty well so I'm not moving them again. I've noticed as time goes by, both doors are opening & closing better. I'm thinking I'll just leave the doors shut (unless I'm working inside) & see if the weather strip collapses & conforms to the door over time. I can always address them later on if needed.

The only down side I can see to the Ezi Latches is you lose the ability to lock the door from the inside.

Since I'd installed a frame mounted fuel tank I needed to do away with the hole left in the side of the cab when the seat tank & filler cap was removed. I cut a patch panel & brazed it in place. Roughed are up good with abrasion disc & smoothed area over with body filler. Primed area with hi build primer to fill any small pin holes or sanding marks.

Much as I hate to say it, I realized that I needed to eat a slice of humble pie at this point. I noticed had a couple of small bubbles developing in the areas where I had brazed in some patch panels . Just a couple small spots, nothing major. I quickly realized I had not completely cleaned the flux from the brazing rod prior to prepping for paint and/or body filler. Just a dumb mistake caused by not being diligent.

I ground down the problem area's , making sure all old flux was cleaned off, prepped area's for re-painting , taped off the glass & the newly painted white roof & shot the cab for the second time. Just to be clear, it had been just over a year since I shot it the first time.

My C10 didn't have front fenders when I got it . I'd picked up a used pair off CL, but they were so rough I decided against using them. I did stumble upon a new set on sale & snapped them up. They were packaged well & fit perfectly. One side was 100 % damage free & the other was maybe 99%.

I found there was some rust thru on the original grille support that needed patch panels. I cut out the rust with my 4 1/2" grinder w/ HF cutting disc and made up some patches from spare sheet metal. Brazed the patches in, ground them down as well as possible then filled any pin holes with seam sealer. Worked out well.

I also found that grille support had been damaged & repaired on the right side . The grille had been pretty beat up over the years as well. I reworked the old damage repair on the grille support , not perfect but suitable for my needs. The grille needed a little hammer & dolly work, I also removed the brackets that hold the headlight buckets in place by drilling out the rivets that hold them in place. New head light brackets were then installed using 1/8th inch dia screws with flat washers. The new brackets sort of forced the area around the headlight back into the correct shape. Hopefully the accompanying photos will help explain.

After doing a mock up of the new fenders & grille assembly, I removed everything. Then primed & painted my new fenders. Then finished repairing grille assembly & grille. Once all painting was complete ,I assembled fenders, grille support , grille & grille support to core support braces.

Also cleaned up & painted used but straight front bumper I'd found on CL.

Next up was the hood. It had some damage when I got the truck but not too much. It had been waiting patiently for me to get around to working on it.

The most oblivious damage was a dent in the right front & a very small patch of rust in the same general area. The hood is a double panel here so hammering the dent out was a little tricky. I used several different pieces of scrap steel to wedge in between the inner panel& the dented area to knock out the dent as much as possible. Then the usual grinding & roughening up off the dent & surrounding area & working in some body filler. It took a while but came out looking OK, imo.

There was a small rust area down where the front panel of the hood mated up to the main hood panel which easily cut out & a small patch panel bent to shape & brazed in place.

I thought I had two more small dents near the center of the hood that I needed to address, but as was working them , I realized that I had a few of the same small hail sized dents that I'd found while doing the roof. Again, nothing serious, just added time & a little more material to the job .

After priming the whole hood with several coats of high build primer, including hand sanding each coat, I thought I was ready to paint the exterior side . I was wiping down the hood one last time prior to prepping for paint & on the front panel between the right parking light & the hood latch area I felt what I thought was some dirt or something. Upto this point I had no clue of any trouble spots other than what I've already described. After getting out a small screw driver & started poking around Found a area of soft (rusted) metal that I had not found up to that point. Out came the grinder with the HF cutting disc for more rust cut out & patch panel install. Hopefully photos will give a better idea of the repair.

Also cleaned up the underside of hood & gave it several coats of rust resistant black paint. Also installed new insulator strips between hood braces & outer hood panel.

Seems like a lot of work to save this hood, but new repo hoods are around 1200 bucks plus shipping now days. Even then , there's no guarantee that it'll be damage free when you get it.

A few more pics of the hood

You have done all of this in a year. WYH? It took me 2 years to do what you have.

I was moving out pretty well but life has gotten in the way this summer & fall. Hopefully I’ll get going again in November. Thanks for checking in. RB

Nice work and motivation for me as I start my 66 SBSS. What year blazer is the tank for? Looks perfect!
Great progress!

Thanks! Re: the gas tank. I don't have my records with me right now, but seem to recall I bought it from CJ Pony on sale. Brothers has a U tube how to video of the same tank. I'm sure a online search for a 21 gal tank for a 66 C10 will give you good results.

RB

Life has gotten in the way of working on the truck this summer but I did get a little bit done. I wanted to install a 3.08 differential to help a little with Highway cruising rpm’s. Plus the rear housing in the truck when I received it was worn almost thru because of the rear U bolts having been run loose for a long time. Via CL, I found complete 3.08 (non posi) rear from a 69 C10 in SC. The rear had been installed in a 59 pickup which had different spring saddles I ordered in some new 66 saddles & had a neighbor weld them in A few phots below showing the old & the new/used

Finally getting back to work on my truck.

I mounted an aftermarket sway bar on the front when I did the front suspension earlier and now have one on the rear as well. Photos below, I hope LOL.

Got the bed loaded up & delivered to my sandblaster. He's 2nd generation in the business & is really good at what he does. Does not damage the sheet metal but does get rid of the old thick undercoating , dirt, grime & rust. Plus, unfortunately, shows up rust in places you might have thought were rust free.

After getting the bed back in the shop , I put the wife to work helping me remove the fenders. I was up inside the fenders with the torch heating the nuts on the bolts while she used a small impact wrench with # 3 Phillips bit to run the screws out . Worked out well, but I'll still get a new bolt kit for the fenders but it'll be good to have some old spares in case I need them.

Of course, the angle strips that are spot welded to the bed sides were completely rusted out, so I used an air chisel & grinder to finish removing them.

Then primered everything to cover the bare metal.

The left side fender , which has the spare tire cutout seems to not be currently available , so it looks like I'll be doing some major rust repair on the fender. (The wife & I really like the side mount spare. So switching to the plain fender which is available, is not an option.)

The bed was in much better condition then the cab, thankfully. Turns out the bed is square, all cross members including the rear sill are in good shape & the sides, while having some rust pitting and some dings, are nice & straight. So except for replacing the front panel that was rusted out & new angle strips, I decided the bed was good enough to use as is.

Also, my plan to have my fuel filler off to the side in the bed floor didn't work out so I've come up with filler cap located in the LR fender which I believe will work well.

A few photos below .

Got bed wood bolted down & bed mounted on truck, permanently , I hope. Everyone but me probably knows this trick, but when installing a rear mount tank, especially like the 21 gal tank I have, you pretty much close off any access to two of the rear bed mounting bolts. Using the top hole in the frame as a guide, I drilled the bottom flange of the frame and used two 12" carriage bolts instead of the 5 or 6 " bolts that come with a kit. One side just dropped right in place, the other took about 10 minutes of jiggling. Hopefully the photo below will help explain.

Sorry, I don't have any photos , but Santa, disguised as my oldest daughter brought a Yukon dura trac for Christmas. Got that installed & buttoned up. Used a dial indicator to check back lash before disassembly & reassembled (the pinon to ring gear) back lash to the same spec. Installed new carrier bearings ,wheel bearings & grease seals. Used the Yukon shim kit & Yukon posi trac lube additive along with the recommended gear lube. I feel confident re the install but a proper road test will let me know if I did good or not.

After finishing up the posi install, I installed all new hardware including new drums & emergency cables on the rear brakes.

Next step is installing E brake cables & hardware , long with plumbing up the rear brakes.

If jack stand and floor is level the front right corner of the bed needs a little shimming. I am running into the same issue right now on my bed, but its the right rear.

Very much enjoy your pics.

Good catch. Front tires are mis-matched, I borrowed tires & wheels just to have something that would hold air. I'll look at all that once I get it on 4 matched tires & wheels. I'm sure I'll have a long punch out list.

Glad you're enjoying the photos. The old saying is "One photo is worth a thousand words"

Spend yesterday working on the spare tire rack & mock fitting it on truck. One of the tire mounting studs was broken off when I got the truck. The studs are factory installed in such a way that the mounting rods are welded onto the back side of the studs. Rather than try to disassemble all those welds in order to replace a oem stud that's probably not available anyway, I cut the broken stud off flush with mounting plate, center punched the cut off stud as accurately as I could. Then drilled thru the remaining stud & the mounting rods & welds . Then slid a 7'16 fine thread grade 8 bolt into the hole, bolted on a tire to make sure stud was centered up properly then brazed bolt in place. Seems to have worked out well. Also chased the threads on the other two studs to clean them up.

Also worked on fitting the tire rack & all the supporting brackets, including the one under the bed. Pretty much took all day to sort it all out. I'll leave it all in place till I'm ready to Paint the fenders, tailgate Etc.

Replaced the last piece of the old original worn out suspension bits as well. I'd been waiting for a good used piece to come along & finally found one via Ebay.

Hopefully photos will help explain.

You’ve got a really nice project going on and you’re making great progress. I’m interested in seeing how your rear fenders turn out. You do have a bit of rust to repair, but judging by your past work, that should be a piece of cake. Your bed looks awesome!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks. Waiting on E brake parts so I can finish up rear brakes. Then I’ll start on fenders

Re the tank, I also am doing a 66 SB SS and am curious where you are going to put the filler? (Before I order my tank᠁looking for ideas, would like to keep the filler out of the bed area.)
Thanks!
Alan

This is the plan. Still a work in progress though.

Cool. Thanks!

Got the rear brakes plumbed up & bled. I'm really pleased with the petal "feel" & how brakes work. Nice full petal& smooth application, at least in the parking lot. Hopefully they'll be equally as good out on the road. Still waiting on a couple of E brake parts but that should only take a little time to finish install & adjustment.

My left rear fender with the spare tire cutout is in pretty bad shape. According to my online research there are currently no new reproduction short ss spare tire cutout fenders being produced. I found a used one online that said it had dents & surface rust for either 4 or 500 (don't recall which). Allow 200 for freight & maybe sales tax & I'm up to maybe 600 to 750 for a used fender that needs work. Also, no one makes patch panels for these fenders, that I could find.

I had the bed, with fenders still installed , sandblasted to get rid of the original heavy (thick) undercoating & to remove & kill any rust. That meant that the mounting flanges for mating the fenders to the bed did not get sandblasted. So along with repairing the rust & dents that I could see, I also had rust damage on the flanges as well.

Hopefully pics below will show my progress on bringing fender back to life. It won't win any prizes but it will serve my needs. I'll probably outlast me LOL. There's a heavy commercial/industrial roofing company next door to my shop that has it's own metal fab shop. I was able to pickup some scrap pieces of 20 gauge & have them bend a 2" 90 degree bend in a few of those pieces. The rest of the bending & shaping had to be done by hand. Then after metal was brazed in place, roughed all reworked areas with 36/40 grit disc & smoothed over thin layer of body filler as needed. Also, prior to starting work on fender, I treated the rusty, non sandblasted areas with Rustolum rust killer gel, which worked realy well, imo.

The work in progress below.

More photos. As I said, a work in progress.

More photos of LR fender refurbishing. Body filler smoothing out metal patches, bolt flange repairs , rusted out back up light area & big dent hammered (on rear of fender) out as well as possible . Not quite finished yet. My 35 year old in line air sander gave up the ghost. Picked up a new one from HF so I 'm back in business.

Finally got around to shooting the rear fenders & the spare tire rack. After body work, several coats of primer & several passes with glazing putty & lots of block sanding, We were ready for two coats of non sanding sealer primer & 3 coats of acrylic enamel w/hardner. Things were looking pretty good when I left the shop. Hopefully it’ll still be that way In a couple days. The last photo is the LR fender with the rusted out backup light area repaired. Still have to drill necessary holes to mount a new bu light

Is that Omaha Orange?
Looking good.