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

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.

Thanks. It’s a generic Viper Red via. eBay seller in OK

Starting to look more & more like a truck. A friend is visiting from up north for a couple days so I put him to work helping me install newly painted rear fenders Probably tackle the tailgate next

What is the hole on the top of the driver's fender for?

Gas cap for under frame fuel tank

No major advancements on the C10, just small odds & ends. Have had a slight cold engine valve tap from the Morel roller lifters. After reading all I could on line ,the best & most easily tried solution I found was to change from the 15/40 diesel (high zinc) oil to the thinner 10/30 oil that was spec'ed for this engine originally. Plus the RV this engine came out of had large oil cooler mounted. It called for 8 qts of oil. I guessed that I cut that back to 7 qts by not installing an oil cooler, but have now cut that back to 6 qts. One cam supplier who seems to be a high volume distributor for Morel says that the oil orifices in Morels are small & have trouble flowing the thicker oil when cold. Makes sense to me, plus it was easy to test.

Also found a leak in my header pipes that I had brazed up when I first got the engine running. Removed that pipe , re-brazed & re-installed, installed side exit tail pipes along with tail pipe hangers . Exhaust is nice & quiet yet still sounds throaty (If that makes any sense LOL) It all just clamped together for now. We'll see how it does once the truck is on the road.

Picked up a matching set of 15 X 6 wheels & tires off a mid '80's K10 & installed as-is (for now) just to see how truck sets with matching tires & wheels. Had to shim R front corner of bed to level it up.

Did a few other small things, installed rubber door bumpers, rear view mirror, new dome light, new tail lights, etc.

Sorry, not too many photos.

Started on my least favorite part of this project, installing the American Autowire kit I bought about a year ago. It's been slow but steady progress. I've installed the headlights, parking lights & backup lights as part of this phase of the project. I'm about, by my estimate, 3/4 of the way thru the wiring. The donor alternator that came with the '92 model 454 didn't match up with the wiring kit, but I managed to find the alt that I needed at the local parts for a reasonable price & they took the old one as a core.

A few photos below showing work in progress.

Got the wiring completed (for now) Amazingly, everything works! A few photos below.

Very nice clean installation. It's always great when things work like they are supposed to - LOL!