1966 C1434 SWB Custom Cab

[CustomCab66]

Hello Everyone,

So here's my 1966 SWB C-10 that I have owned for about 12 years now. The first few pictures were taken right after I bought it back in 2004. The side moldings were removed by the second owner and the factory steering column was swapped for a tilt column from an 90's S-10 truck. I did repair some old shoddy body work on the front end by replacing the drivers fender and the header panel (part behind the grille). When I was pulling the front end off to reseal the motor the driver side fender and the header panel had been welded together ground down and covered in lot's of bondo ( hey it was a 70's shade tree job ).

Well for the most part the truck is all stock except for the 400SBC and Turbo 350 transmission that the second owner replaced the old inline 6 and three speed column shift with . The truck was parked in an old barn around 1975-76 so it is rust free. The interior is real clean so I went back with a factory steering column from a 65 powerglide truck.

[CustomCab66]

The second owner told me he had reupholstered the seat because a box of old rusty nails were stuck to the seat. When he removed the nails they tore the seat cover. So now I'll have make a seat cover to look original . The truck has the protecto-plate and it has some nice factory options just not A/C. I converted the dash to gauges and have since installed the correct 66 temp gauge. Last post will be the Service Parts Identificaton (SPID) sticker. Ohh the original horn ring was in the bed off the truck covered with leaves when I bought it.

[CustomCab66]

And here are the options for my truck

G60BC AUXILIARY SPRING EQ

K48AA OILBATH AIR CLEANER

V37BA CHROME BUMPER FRT

P13EA SM WHEEL CARRIER

B98AA SIDE TRIM MOLD EQ

V01AA HEAVY DUTY RADIATOR

C42BW DELUXE AIR HEATER

A11CA TINTED GLASS

A10AA PANORAMIC CAB

Z61AF CUSTOM GROUP

U60AA MANUAL RADIO

Z62AA CUSTOM GROUP

[1963c-10]

Great looking truck. Its real clean inside the cab and bed and looks to be nicely optioned.

[pimpston65]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Great looking truck. Its real clean inside the cab and bed and looks to be nicely optioned.

is my drool showing, very nice and protecto plate!!! awesome.

[pimpston65]

i dont think the seat is correct. this is a 65, but the 66 is simular.

[1963c-10]

66 deluxe cover

[CustomCab66]

I am currently in the process of restoring the deluxe steering wheel. The cracks were completely v'd out with a die grinder and a carbide burr. The cracks were then filled with epoxy then sanded smooth. I takes many hours of hand sanding to make these steering wheels look right. Here's an in progress photo......

[CustomCab66]

Just Recently installed the correct 1966 temp gauge into the cluster. I cleaned out the cluster then repainted the gauge needles. I also installed a Flarestat 105 that I bought from this forum.

[TJ's Chevy]

Welcome aboard! Sweet ride! I like the flarestat switch!

[CustomCab66]

The steering wheel is complete for now I might scuff it with 400 grit then do a final coat of paint.

[boucher racing]

Originally Posted by CustomCab66

Just Recently installed the correct 1966 temp gauge into the cluster. I cleaned out the cluster then repainted the gauge needles. I also installed a Flarestat 105 that I bought from this forum.

Wow very nice!!!

Is that a factory Tach?

[duallyjams]

super nice
you can add a vacuum gauge to fill out the gauge panel

[Bomp]

like it.

[bj383ss]

Great looking truck man. Maybe we can meet up some day. I have yet to see you driving it around.

Bret

[CustomCab66]

Well it has been a while since my last post. All I can say is that I should have installed power steering years ago. The truck drives absolutely amazing , aside from almost running of the road the first time I drove it with the power steering (because i jerked the wheel to hard) it really handles nice. I am used to it now just need to change to a negative caster on the front end to tighten the steering a little. The pitman arm fit like it was made for a 66 and the install was real simple.

[CustomCab66]

So I believe i finally resolved a fuel leak in the cab of my 66 that has been going on for years. Every time I take it for a drive and then let it sit with the windows up you would gag because of the gas fumes. I've tried every gasket and the leak would just continue. The other day I pulled the Sender and found a crack at the solder joint where the fitting is attached to the sender. I pulled a vacuum on it and it was leaking. To resolve the problem I heated the fitting up on my stove at home and removed the fitting. While it was hot I hit it with a wire brush added flux and re-soldered it. Ta-daaa no more leak. Next I made a new rubber gasket and all is well.

[CustomCab66]

So what do you guys think about this........

I have the original two keys that were issued when my truck was new. the key codes were omitted for safety reasons but they match each other. Both keys will operate the door locks on both doors and the ignition. The leather holder used to have the dealers phone number faintly on the backside but it has finally rubbed off. I am thinking the mileage is original (now showing 26k and some change) or is it 126k? what do you guys think?

[DPowers]

Very Nice

[clemdaddy]

cool truck... and the preservation work you're doing is great. solve one problem at a time and fix it right. i vote for the lower mileage (26k) guess, after 30 years in a barn, the truck is in amazing condition. nice job on the cluster and steering wheel.

[notsolo]

Some nice upgrades making it better than ever.

[CustomCab66]

So I'm trying to sort out a fuel gauge issue. The gauge reads a half tank when it's full. So I removed the sender and checked it with my meter. With the float down it measures .05 ohms and when it is up it measures 31.8 ohms (call it 32) . With the key on if you remove the brown wire from the sender the gauge shows over full but when you touch the brown wire to ground it goes to empty. Sounds like everything is up to par. I am leaning towards a bad gauge so now I'm waiting on the NOS gauge that I bought. I will compare the two once the NOS one shows up and post the readings I get off of both gauges.

I heard that GM changed the sender from 30 ohms to 90 ohms around 1965 or 1966. There is a chance that the sender is hooked to a gauge that requires a 90 ohm sender which is most likely unavailable now. Time will tell

[bj383ss]

Look forward to hearing how your gauge works out.

[CustomCab66]

My new fuel gauge came in so here's the comparison:

On the old gauge:
Post to post it measured 41.8 ohms, and the current limiting resistor measured 24.8 ohms respectfully.

On the new gauge:
Post to post it measured 38.5 ohms, and the current limiting resistor measured 21.0 ohms respectfully.

Before removing the old gauge from the truck it displayed a fuel level just below 1/2 a tank (1/16-1/8" to the left of the 1/2 mark) are u tracking.

After I installed the new gauge it was right on 1/2 a tank. The problem i was having before changing the gauge was the always reading too low. Only time will tell once I run to town and top it off. For now it appears as if the new gauge just might be more accurate (I hope its right on).

[CustomCab66]

Gas gauge works perfect. I also replaced the antenna with one I found on eBay. The antenna looks just like factory. I replaced the heater duct hose under the dash so the defrost blows out of both holes now.