The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk My new 66 c10 longbed

Love the truck and just getting started...don't know much about cars but am willing to learn....Ordered some books, friends going to show me some stuff. (will have pics posted on Monday)

Well I drove it back from Napa to Pacifica about a 11/2 hour drive with traffic....Hard to steer/hard to stop/has 1-4 gears...1st gear is super low hard to control so just used gears 2,3,4 which was ok..

Questions

1. When I start it for the first time in the day...1st try dies right away, 2nd time close but dies, 3rd time hums good and no problems...Why does this happen?

2. Need power steering hurt my arm surfing years ago and it to hard for me to take sharp turns...This is beyond my skill level...How much would parts cost? and how many hours to install? to figure cost

3. Same as question two but for new brakes (disc brakes)

Thanks in advance...Have already learned a lot and the pics are coming....darn it looks good....well at least to me others think I'm nuts

BTH Welcome to the bolt! As for your questions #1 I am guessing (cause I don't know but someone will) that it maybe the way you are starting the truck. Try pumping the gas pedal once or twice before you try to start it and see if that helps.

Don't know about power steering but you may want to try a suicide knob. It is a knob that attaches to the stering wheel so you can use one hand to crank the wheel.

# 3 check out the links and FAQ section you may find someone that offers a kit or has done what you are looking to do.

Good luckand have fun!

what engine do you have?

Straight inline 6

As for power steering...Head to your local bone yard and find a '73-'87 truck with PS, and a strait six. Take the gear box, with the steering shaft up to the joint at near the firewall, the pump, and the bracket that the pump is attached too. Try not to hurt the lines that run from the pump to the gear box. Get a "REZ" power steering conversion kit. It is a simple bolt in,deal, takes a couple hours, and you got power steering.
As for disc brakes, there are vendors that will sell you a conversion kit for big $$, or you can take the following from the same truck you find the power steering goodies on.... Upper and lower A arms, tie rod ends, center link, idler arm, master cylinder, brake booster and dont forget the proportioning valve.
There are some other details to take care of, but it's all pretty straitforward.

Welcome BTH.

-W

Your truck probably has a manual choke. Pull the third knob out about half way and it should start right up. Remember to push the knob back in shortly after starting it.

You evidently have the four speed with the granny gear. You can drive it as a three speed by using 2nd as the low gear.

Yeah I drive it using 2nd as the low gear....Why is 1st gear on that thing so tough to control? Is there a purpose for it...I didn't grow up driving these things, so sorry if these questions are kind of dumb....It's fun to drive though.

a granny gear is for when ya haul stuff, or tow stuff - or if youa re doign somethign else with the truck where ya need to pull but go slow, like throw hale bales on a truck takin'g them out of a field... or whatever else farmers and construction guys could think of back in the 60's.

If it won't go in the granny gear, then yer overloaded...

-W

What do you mean by tough to control?

I drive a truck with the same transmission and rarely use 1st as others have suggested. But I would not describe 1st as hard to control, so I'm wondering if something might be wrong with yours?

BTH, Welcome! Are you related to BFH? I see him mentioned here alot! I think he must be a mechanic/troubleshooter or something 'cause he's always around when there is a big problem.

My '67 (soon to be somebody elses '67) has that granny 1st gear, too. Lots of low speed power in 1st gear, but again like everyone has already said and you've discovered.. it's not really a "road gear". Starting off in 2nd is the way to go.

As far as starting, carberated engines need a bit of "warm up" time. Usually once the engine is running, you should let it idle for 30 seconds or so before popping it in gear and taking off.

The first start of the day outta fire right up after 2 or 3 cranks of the motor.. if not, you may have to adjust the choke lever.

Turning the steering wheel in one of these trucks has been compared to wrestling an aligator.. turning the wheel while the vehicle is rolling is usually much, much easier to do, but still no substitute for having power steering.. especially if you have an exsisting arm or shoulder injury.

Welcome to the bolt, man.. i'm looking forward to seeing pics of your new pride and joy!

What size tires do you have? It could be that you have wider tires, and that will make it a bit harder to steer at low speeds. Also, make sure they are not under inflated.