Look what my wife let me bring home

[oldstuffrunsbetter]

Hello from the Midwest.

I've been lurking and looking on this forum for quite some time by now. Some on the other newer truck forums, but mostly in the 60-66 forums as of recently.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to convince the wife I needed this old pickup truck:

It is a 1964 short bed step side. The 230 - 6 cylinder was "rebuilt" a mere 3000 miles ago (although I still am not sure what the PO means by "rebuilt").

As time has allowed, I've been going through the standard checkouts and diagnostics. I've checked timing, changed oil, greased the front end, performed compression checks, and corrected many bad grounds on the tail light / headlight / parking light harnesses. Evidently, the PO thought proper grounding meant looping a bare wire around a sheet metal screw.

Engine runs pretty well. Other than running a bit rich, it fires right up and purrs at anything above an idle. While idling, though, I get some hiccups and black droplets of liquid out the exhaust. Furthermore, when I changed oil, the used oil wreaked of gas. I have rebuilt the carburetor, and have been very meticulous about setting the height and drop of the floats. Draining out the old gas yielded in filling up my fuel filter with sand. Fresh gas has solved 75% of my sputter at idle, and I am now thinking the remainder of the problem lies in ignition rather than carburetion. I am anxiously awaiting on the Fedex truck to deliver my Pertronix kit today.

Future plans: I plan to continue to troubleshoot and correct the small mechanical problems and get this truck into a good running, reliable runner. Thereafter, I think I'll simply drive it and enjoy it before giving it a coat of paint (maybe flat black?). This may be a good project for my son and I to play with as he grows older, and I'm in no rush.

One more note - I am on many forums by now (antique John Deere tractor forums, lawn mower forums, and car forums). I must say this is the most well-behaved and respectable group of gents (and ladies) I have encountered out of the many forums I attend. Thanks to all for making a nice cyber-playground!

-Dan

[Mr Pops]

Originally Posted by oldstuffrunsbetter

Hello from the Midwest.
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to convince the wife I needed this old pickup truck:-Dan

Congrats on your newly acquired truck!

[Indian113]

Welcome from Iowa! You have a nice looking truck should be a blast to drive.

[aerotruk63]

After all of that, what do you need us for? LOL. You've done more work to yours than I've done in awhile. You'll enjoy yourself here, though it might become an obsession.

[irish1966]

Welcome, and it looks like you have yourself a pretty little truck there. I'd recommend going the whole hog and putting in a HEI. It is a great improvement on the old setup. Good luck and happy motoring.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Looks like a nice truck.
Always good to have another 60-66 guy here.

[markeb01]

Welcome from Washington State. Having a supportive wife can certainly make a hobby enjoyable. I’m also registered on a variety of sites, and spend most of my time here because of the friendly and supportive participants. If you decide to go with flat black shoot me a PM and I’ll send you a bunch of information on how I did mine. It was really inexpensive and has received more compliments than in all the years the truck wore gloss black lacquer. You'll be glad you went with the Pertronix kit. I put that in my wife's truck, and it works perfectly. I have HEI in mine because I built it so long ago. I'll never have anything with points again.

[lolife99]

COOL truck!
Plus it has the Big Back Window.
Keep us posted on your project.
Plus,... we need more pics.

[protrash64]

from AZ. Hope you post up more of your troubleshooting as its always welcome info. Cool truck.

[msgross]

welcome back to the board...

GO PURDUE!

[onequickchevy]

Welcome from Florida, great looking truck you have there!!!

[LeatherMan69]

Sweet i'll be looking forward to seeing that truck around town!!!! best get it out soon! Where did ya pick the truck up from?? round here?

[1/2Dozen]

Another welcome from IOWA. This forum is addicting! Very helpful people here

[fryer1979]

Welcome! That's a nice looking pickup you've got there.

[robt_virginia]

Good looking truck you've got there. Yeah, I've also thought my son (11) would be interested in an old project truck too... but unfortunately he likes the computer games more... Good luck with your "new" old truck!

[fryer1979]

Originally Posted by robt_virginia

Good looking truck you've got there. Yeah, I've also thought my son (11) would be interested in an old project truck too... but unfortunately he likes the computer games more... Good luck with your "new" old truck!

Man, that's just sad to hear. I would have given anything to have my father be at least interested in cars and trucks. He always has hated that I was a gearhead, and still refuses to talk about or even ride in one of my classics. Keep trying, he may come around.

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new truck.

[lakeroadster]

Welcome aboard Dan! Another short stepper in the crowd is good news.

Keep us posted as you move forward and post up more photos,,, we all love photos!

Is your truck a 4-speed or 3 on the tree?

I used to live in Ohio and I know finding a truck that isn't a rust-aholic is rare. Good score!

[Demmit_Hemmit's 65]

Welcome to the forum from a fellow hoosier...............................Very nice score on your stepper............................Hemmit

[Laz]

Welcome aboard, love seein' new short stepside owners!

[oldstuffrunsbetter]

Wow - thanks for the hearty welcome. What an awesome board!

A few more pictures as promised. What you see here is the grille and bumper repainted. I didn't take the time to drag out all my HVLP gear, so I just rattle-canned it. Surprisingly, it turned out quite well. I also added the vinyl CHEVROLET decals in the indentations on the grille. It really pops out.

Second picture - the boy is ready for a drive.

The Pertronix ignition kit I installed a few weeks ago works quite well. I was impressed with the ease of installation. I've also installed new plugs in an attempt to get rid of my "rich running" condition. These improvements yielded slight improvement, but still running a big rich. Currently, I'm working on repairing the heater controls - standard broken sliders and frozen push/pull cables.

One question - - -

Can someone tell me what the capacity of the standard 3-speed, column shift transmission is? I would like to drain and refill in an attempt to quiet down transmission noise. Thanks all!

[jchav62]

Cool! Painting that grille made a huge difference! Nice work...nice truck...Welcome from Santa Fe, NM...


I did a little google search and it seems the capacity for your trans is 3 1/2 pints.

[TagMan]

Great truck!! You'll have a great time with it.

[oldstuffrunsbetter]

Thanks Jchav62. Your google skills are evidently far more superior than mine. I appreciate the help!

[Cops053]

nice truck, welcome from Georgia