The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Hello from a '64 Chevy K10 in the Bay Area, CA *

Hi all,
I’m the proud caretaker of “Big Tan”, a ’64 “K1404” SB step side with a 292 ci engine, SM420 4 speed transmission, and T-221 Rockwell Standard transfer case, and 3.73:1 gear ratio, front and rear. As the experts out there know, this is a factory original 4WD, not a Napco conversion. I got the truck from my Dad, who bought it new. It’s a family heirloom. Here’s the story.

Although the truck was built in Fremont, CA, about 20 miles from where I currently live, it spent the first 27 years of its life in Northern New Mexico. My Dad bought it when he was selling firewood. I was three years old at the time. We have pictures of me as a little tyke with an Easter basket in front of it. Being short, high off the ground, with a short turning radius, the truck was perfect for hauling wood on narrow Forest Service logging roads. It was ordered with optional 2-spd wiper, deluxe heater (good for those cold mountain winters), rear shock absorbers, locking front wheel hubs, oil bath air cleaner, a SM wheel carrier, HD radiator, and my favorite, a foam seat. He took good care of it and got pretty attached to it before he finally decided to pass it on to me.

I live in the Bay Area, California. Dad and I drove it out in 1991, and it’s been out here ever since. Since then I’ve done minor work, changing the carburetor, fuel pump, radiator, distributor, water pump, and gas tank, brakes, tires, rebuilt the rear end, and so forth. I finally decided to rebuild the whole truck earlier this fall.

After having years of grease, oil and dirt removed by professional steam cleaning, I started by pulling the front end apart. They salt the roads in the winter in Northern New Mexico so there’s a fair amount of rust. Many of the panels will be easier to replace than to repair. The truck was a standard version (not custom) so the bumpers, mirrors, and grill are about to be sand blasted and powder coated white. I’m keeping the custom made rear bumper my uncle built. He always complained about the quality of the welds. Considering it was –20F when he did the work, the rest of us think it looks pretty good. It weighs 120 lb and is pretty imposing, all the better to keep the little cars off my tail!

I pulled the engine, which is being rebuilt at Gromm’s, a local racing shop. Bob’s been building engines since 1971 and knows his stuff. We’re keeping the compression ratio at 8:1 but we’re installing a custom cam to improve the performance a little while keeping a smooth idle. The block is being re-machined and balanced. The heads are being rebuilt with larger (Corvette) intake valves to improve the breathing. My Dad tells me this engine had hardened (Stellite) seats. The rebuilt head will as well, so there won’t be any question about using unleaded gas. I’ll install new water and fuel pumps and rebuild the starter and alternator. I’m thinking about having the manifolds ceramic coated. Once the engine is done, it will be painted Krylon “Detroit Diesel Green”, the closest I could find to the original color.

I just finished rebuilding the transmission, using a rebuild kit from Novak. It doesn’t appear to have ever been painted, unless by chance it was “dirt brown”. I’m thinking of painting it black to match the rest of the undercarriage, but haven’t made a final decision. Dad tells me it was always “cast iron” color.

Next, I plan to remove the cab and bed and strip the frame, which I plan to have sand blasted and powder coated Cardinal 20% gloss black. Over the next 1-2 years I plan to work on the rest of the chassis, drive train, brakes, etc. The cab and bed will be (lightly) sandblasted and primed before I take on the patch panels. Eventually, the bed will get new wood.

The truck will be painted the original tan color. The order sheet called it out as Desert Beige but that color was discontinued in 1963. The same “528” color code became Fawn in 1964. None of the color panels I’ve seen (AutoColorLibrary, etc.) match the tan color, so I guess I’ll have it matched by a body shop once I finish the bodywork. The cab interior is also called Fawn, although it contains more silver metallic. I’ll keep it the same color, with white accents.

I had the seat recovered a few years ago, but the seat back hits the arm rests now (the upholstery shop installed new foam and vinyl over the old). I’m thinking of having it stripped to the springs with new padding and a seat cover to match the original.

Once it’s done, it will still look like a (mostly) stock truck. I plan to keep the white spoke 16” rims with 265/75-16 LT Bridgestone Dueller A/T tires I installed a few years ago. I can put up with a lot but those old tires weren’t up to the task, either off-road or on. My Dad installed some “Deluxe” trim features (passenger arm rest, seat belt, and various trim parts) that aren’t strictly original but look nice. Hopefully, it will last another 40 years and be driven long after I’m gone.

Aside from the paint, I’m having trouble finding some parts. The first is the thick foam pad that goes over the transmission gearshift bulge under the cab cover floor hump panel. It’s about 6” in diameter with a 2.5” bore, 2.25” thick. I guess I’ll make one from closed cell shipping foam. The second is the transfer case shift lever boot. It’s tougher to fabricate on my own. My original is ripped but I think there’s enough left to have someone like Minor Rubber make one. If I can get one of the suppliers of “Old Truck” parts to go in on the tooling, maybe I can get some fabricated. If anyone else out there is interested in one, let me know.

Well, I’m off to a good start but the work’s just begun. I look forward to discussing the details of “Big Tan” with other ’60-’66 fanatics. One of these days I’ll get around to posting pics.

Welcome aboard! Sounds like you have one heck of a truck. It's going to be really nice once you get it done. Plus, the sentimental value really makes it priceless. The best part is that you know how it was treated over the years.

Oh, and please post pics as soon as you can... We all like to drool over projects

Welcome

Welcome aboard. May your stay here be loooonog and helpful. Lots of neat guys and lots of goooood information to help with those problems you encounter. Lots of great folks around here. Young and old mix well together when your talkng trucks

Welcome to the site. It's neat to see these trucks stay in the family so long. I'm sure you'll like it here.

Welcome to the Stovebolt, Big Tan.

Welcome to the Bolt!!!

Great Story! Welcome to the Bolt!!