The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts I need some ideas!!! (Newbie with Big Bolts!!)

Hey guys, Just brought me home another project. 1966 Chevy C60. This truck was givin to me by my brother in law after his father passed away. It is an old farm truck that they let sit for about 10 years. Well it's mine now and time to get to work on it. The problem is... Where do I start? The body itself is in good condition other than a couple rust holes in fenders, and the wooden bed is completely rotted out. It doesn't have a battery and i haven't had the time to get one yet. So im not sure how much work it will take to get fired up. This is where i need you veterans. Where do i start?

Battery, plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter ????

Im basically turning this into a car hauler so im more worried about running and driving condition than looks. Il try to get some pics posted for you guys!

Start with borrowing a battery and some fresh gas, spend as little money as possible finding out if what you have is any good.
Then if it is what you want and seems decent spend money as necessary to met your goals.

Grigg

I don't know if i did this right.... but i believe you can now view pics. Also, sorry the pics are kind of fuzzy. I took them with my phone. Better pics will be up sometime this week!



http://s1273.beta.photobucket.com/user/hairyapeman/library/

Ditto what Grigg said about fresh gas. Drain the old stuff out, and you may need to clean the tank. DO NOT run any old gas into your engine. For the initial start up, it's probably best to disconnect the line to the tank and rig up an auxiliary tank, or even run a hose to a gas can sitting on the ground. Once you get it started, you'll have an idea where you need to go from there.

Nice project, & it's a complete truck. Half your battle is over already, it's all there & in one piece, (and the price was right).
Getting the GM master parts & repair book for that truck would be your first good investment. It will help replace/rebuild most everything on the truck & it have your adjustments & alignments & most important, part numbers. eBay should help you locate one quick if you can't find one in Stovebolt for sale?
As Grigg said, keep it simple & inexpensive till you find out if it runs or not. But before you take it around the block, take the time to go through the brake system good. Sitting outside for 10 years probably wasted the rubber seals on the brake cylinders, & the brake lines may be partly gummed up from old fluid. If the fluid leaked out from sitting, now you may have dry crusty particles in the lines that may not show up right away, but will destroy brake cylinders later. Flush & blow the lines out good & replace or rebuild the brake cylinders/master cylinder. New springs & shoes would be a good investment to. Once the brake system is done, you won't be going back to finish what you didn't do the first time.
Keep it simple but keep it safe

Thanks for the info guys! I was told the motor (327 4 speed) was in good working condition before they parked it. Let's hope it doesn't take much! You mentioned the brakes and i agree with getting those working properly as soon as possible! I want to get it running first. Do they make any brake line or fuel line kits for this truck or am i better off bending my own lines?

Rich- Thanks for mentioning the auxiliary tank idea. That never even crossed my mind!

I was told there isn't a GM master parts and repair book for the 66. Anyone know what year would be closest? I wanna say there is a 63 book out there. Is this correct or am i imagining things?

I just found some books online. Looks like that is my first purchase!!!

That looks like a really good project truck and a lot better than many here have started with.

I had a 66' GMC equivelent model, think it was a 4000 but memory isn't as good as it once was. Anyway it was a 305V6 with a 4speed and 2 speed rear. I really loved that truuck it had more grunt than a lot of larger trucks and was in excellent condition back in the 70's.

Looks like a nice truck.

However I see a set of Firestone RH5* wheels... be careful and be on the lookout for some replacement wheels.
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/wheels/


Grigg

Getting a SBC runnibg shouldn't be to hard as long as everything is free and moving.

I'd pull all of the plugs and put a few ounces of Marvel Mystry Oil in each cylinder and let it soak for a day or so. If the plugs aren't all gummed up I'd reuse them for the initial start.

Remove the valve covers and see how gummed up the top of the head is...hopefully it's fairly clean.

After the cylinders have soaked for a day or two try to turn the motor over by hand with the plugs out and watch the valves go up and down to confirm none are sticking.

Drain the old oil and install fresh oil and filter.

If the valves are all moving hook a battery up and crank it with the starter and see if you get oil pressure, leave the plugs out so there's no pressure on the bearings while you get the oil flowing.

You can also check for spark with one of the plug wires while your checking the oil pressure. If you have spark and oil pressure install the plugs and pour a few ounces of gas in the carb and see if the engine tries to start. If it does, then hook up a trmporary gas tank and see if it will run.

As stated above don't try to run the engine with the old gas hooked up...disconnect the fuel line at the fuel pump before you try to start it and drain all of the gas out of the tank. This step can be done while you're waiting for the MMO to work in the cylinders.

Don't cut corners on the brakes...replace ALL of the lines, steel and rubber. You only have a single pot master cylinder and if you spring a leak due to a rusty line (they rust from the inside out) you endanger you and those around you.

Hope this helps and welcome to the Stovebolt

Mike B

Wheel cylinders are usually cheap and a lot easier than fooling around w/ the old ones that are probably rusted internally in your climate-brake fluid is hydroscopic.

The master too, for that matter.

Grigg, I have noticed those split rims. And i was bummed about it, but that wasn't going to stop me from restoring this truck. Any suggestions on where to find replacement wheels that look similar to those. I like the old heavy duty look.

Mike, I appreciate your advice. I will definitely take it. I have been crazy busy with my house (bought it in april) working on miscellaneous things so working on the Monte Carlo and the Truck have been kinda pushed aside. But as soon as the house is finished i will be back out in the garage. You basically gave me a checklist. I like that! thanks a lot!

I'm really excited about this truck. Hopefully i can get it up and running without putting a lot of money into it. That money stuff is hard to come by now a days...

guess i should have read the whole article... whoops

I have a 66 L-60 and Im going to give you a heads up to maybe save you some money. When I got my truck it had the widow makers so I looked around and finally found some wheels and it cost me about $2000 for a set of 7. Then when I started to rebuild the rear axle I found that the differential gears were in pieces and damaged a lot of the internals so I had to buy a rebuilt carrier assembly that was $1250, when I tried to find a good used unit they also had the same damage so I had to go with the new one. Next the brakes were a headache because the wheel cylinders are not being made anymore but I did find some that worked I just had to drill an extra hole.

So what I'm getting at is make sure your axles are in good working order before you start investing in wheels and tires. If I would of known these problems were there I would have upgraded to more modern axles and be able to use a more readily available wheel and tire package and maybe even disk brakes.

thanks for the heads up jake! I will definitely take that into consideration. This project is (hopefully) being done very cheaply. I dont want to spend much money on it but i want to do it right also. i agree with upgrading to modern brakes if i have to replace alot of it anyway. I like the look of the old stuff but i want to be able to jump in it and trust it to get me where i need to be while carrying a load. Should be interesting. I have already realized finding parts for this things is going to be my biggest challenge. Especially the fenders. I need a drivers side fender and im not having any luck. O'well. Part of it!