The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks My '65 C10 longbed's return to the road thread

Starting a thread on my '65's return to a driver. Hasn't been driven in seven years, and has lot's o miles. Super-greasey high-mileage 230 that may even be the one that came in there is still running great somehow. Need to swap the axle shafts and differential, do the brakes, bush the a-arms, put the correct steering box & column & wheel on it, get some tires & I'll be good to go. Will also shoot some tractor paint on it and do some bodywork.

Yesterday I hooked up the electric fan with a relay & under the dash toggle switch. Only took a few minutes and is much nicer than having to get our and connect and disconnect the fan.

Today I pulled three wheels and checked the drums. I already knew the left front was an un-useable 11.300", right was 11.090" or something like that, both rears were 11", one a redrilled 5 lug car drum. I have another 3 11.090's and one 11", I'll put two good 11's on the front and put 11.090"s on the rear. When the stuff gets in from Rock Auto I'll rebuild the master cylinder & wheel cylinders, put the new hoses on, swap some wheels and go for a ride. Right now I'm going to try to clean up & lube the new old steering box & column before it gets here, just need to get my pitman arm puller or make one.

Parts came in just after I finished typing that! Anyway, it's all in now, just took the master cylinder off, I'll at least take some pictures of rebuilding & honing that and the wheel cylinders, but I hope to get more done today.

Great to hear about getting your ride back on the road- Why has it sat idle all these years?
Please post pictures when you can!

Thanks. It's kind of a long, somewhat stupid/puzzling story. But to make a long story short(er), it was never really a good truck, but it most always got where it was going, so it's stuck around. My father also started having money problems, and ended up getting a good '66 from his dad, so he parked this one. I found a cheap parts truck with good mechanicals to put it back together "right" for myself a few weeks ago and the story goes on.


And here's the photobucket album, sorry. Pictures

Update. Inventoried parts, still missing a box with the front brake hoses & pinion seal. I'll put the rear hose on it tomorrow, and I guess the new vacuum advance. Got the master cylinder apart, found my 1" honing mandrel, but it won't hone deep enough.

And that's when things took an unfortunate turn. I was going to go to my grandfather's house to get the 1-1/8" mandrel for the front wheel cylinders, a glaze breaker type hone for the master cyl, and see I had a pitman arm puller, or if I needed to make one...

And it turns out he had just had a stroke and fell out a few minutes before! He's in the hospital now, I hope he's doing ok, my father drove over there to see what was going on, should be back soon.

Also I'm having alternator trouble, and have turn signal clickers and parking lamps, but no turn signals. Hasn't been a great afternoon.

Well my father got back, turns out he didn't have a stroke, just fell out. Said he seemed real dehydrated apparently, I don't know. Anyway he's back at his house and doing fine now, someone's going to stay there tonight and make sure nothing stupid happens.

We'll go see him tomorrow, we'll get the honing stuff then, too. Hopefully I'll get some stuff done. And hopefully that extra package comes in soon, too, so I can get the axles shafts & differential transferred over and get the rear axle done.

Didn't get much done today. But, I got the electtrical stuff back good. Wasn't charging because the voltage regulator had become somewhat... non-existant. Stuck one on the inner fender that I had, and now it's charging like it should. Had one messed up parking lamp/turn signal bulb; they did actually work, but the mechanism is disassembled and I was only actuating the clicker, had to squeeze higher up to get both. (The new column fixes all that nonsense.)

Anyway all the lights still work, no problems. Got my brake hone and honing mandrels finally, will fix the master cylinder & wheel cylinders tomorrow & put new shoes and good drums on it. Then I guess I'm going to change rear axles & bush the a-arms, and fix the steering. Would do the brakes after but have to have them to get it on the concrete.

Will get some more pictures, too, if anyone wants them. (Is anyone actually reading this crap?!)

Pictures add interest. Always a good thing. Seems like you know your way around when it comes to DIY repairs. That's cool.

Most members use this forum to ask questions and get help with problems. There is a thread in the General section for "what did you get done on your bolt today?" That's probably a good place to find readers who will follow your posts.

Also, you could create a website (I use www.weebly.com for free) and create a blog with pics and updates. Click on my signature at the bottom and see what mine looks like. It's a great place to document your work. Just a suggestion.

Thanks, that thread would have been more appropriate. Maybe I'll quit blabbin' and do something more useful like a how-to acticle format, too. Anyway, I'll finish up, the '65 is driving again now. Been fixed a couple days, got great brakes now besides a leaky master cylinder (got it apart now), everything else working OK. Still need to fix the steering back "right", bush the a arms, and change rear ends, but those will come later.

I sent you a PM. I live in Columbia, SC. Not very far from Atlanta. I also have a 65 1/2 ton but short stepside. Mine ain't runnin' yet, but maybe soon.

It is hard to keep yourself motivated and I myself really appreciate all the people on Stovebolt. We have to encourage and support each other, a lot of these projects require months and months of hard work, elbow grease and of course money. It is easy to get discouraged along the way. Keep up the good work and your posts are not crap.

Hey 66Sub,

Welcome to the bolt! It looks like you have a neat project there. That blue '71-'72 looks like a nice truck too. Keep us updated on your progress and remember, "we love pictures!"

Thanks, I'll keep posting if it's of help/interest to anyone, I'll try to make it more informative/helpful, too. I can't get into photobucket now, I'll make another account or something and get some pictures up. Anyway, I put the correct manual steering box back on it yesterday after disassembling, cleaning, and re-adjusting it. Also put the right steering shaft and wheel back in. Turn signals still need fixing and I may hook the horn back up, but it's a good driving truck again, brakes and steering now being good-as-new.

So, for now I suppose I'll do some work on the '71. I'll try to get some pictures of it as I go, most all of it is the same for the 60's trucks, too. I'll do a few little step-by-step type articles if I can the next few days.

Chaz