argh 63 c10 is gonna be a hefty price tag - info from my mechanic

[neverwinter]

son of a b. just got a call from my mechanic and he said - you need to come down here. i trust this guy 1000% and so i gathered up what was left of my optimism and my 3 year old daughter for good luck and headed down. ugh not good.

- all 4 drums need replacing
- all 4 need new shoes etc
- need 1 lower control arm since when i lost my wheel the arm got a bit flattened
- rear axle has at least 1 leaking seal
- he cant tell whats going but it looks like there is everything for power steering BUT the power steering pump itself. and what IS there he said is junk. so do i figure out how to go to manual steering? did these ever have power steering?
- there were other items to address but i got overwhelmed at that point and my daughter was passed out.

so do i keep this? try and sell it with full disclosure? on top of these fixes it needs a windshield and new tires to pass inspection. we are very easily talking about doubling the cost of my "investment" of $2500.

i didnt expect the truck to be perfect, but i was led to believe it was a solid daily driver. and it did in fact stop and turn and go - albeit only "sort" of in all 3!

but i know that if the mechanics are solid underneath and if i ever decide to drop in a newer engine ill have a pretty sweet truck for still under 7-8k.

just trying to sort a plan and make some decisions. arghhhhhhhhhhhhh..

any thoughts/opinions/ideas/game plans are truly appreciated. do i say to heck with it and sell it? or look into disk swaps and sourcing a different rear axle and driveshaft? stuff like that would be tremendously helpful to understand. im not shy of a project but i need to keep my head and finances in order considering our 2nd child is due in oct.

sincere thanks for any input.

- jason

[bama63]

i had exactly the same issues with my truck...after a short debate and a few phone calls i found a 78 chevy truck complete with everything i needed to convert to 5 lug disc brakes, rear end, power steering and power brakes for $75.00. this gave me all up to date and easy to acquire, economical parts and way better stopping and handling. i swapped everything myself in one weekend and the only welding required was the rear trailing arm saddles onto the 78 rear axle, everything else was a bolt in.

[gimmy 64]

most of the parts you are talking about are not that much money. all parts are at your local parts store. if you have some mechanical ability they are not hard to change. control arm some one on here may have one --i do. that is close to you. shipping would be expensive. and it's only money!

[lil hoodlum]

Originally Posted by gimmy 64

most of the parts you are talking about are not that much money. all parts are at your local parts store. if you have some mechanical ability they are not hard to change. control arm some one on here may have one --i do. that is close to you. shipping would be expensive. and it's only money!

I agree!! Do it yourself and save yourself alot of money. Plus, you will gain the knowledge and experience for future projects down the road. It's really not that hard.

Oh ok, well the first wheel is usually the hardest and takes the longest to do but after that first wheel you will get the others done a whole lot quicker. By the time you are one the last wheel, you can consider yourself an expert on the matter!

You can do it! Good luck!

Keith

[TopFuel1966]

The only source I found for new lower control arms was LMC. You'll have to get one from a bone yard unless LMC just happens to have one left in stock, otherwise you'll be on the backorder list until such time as they receive sufficient orders enough to have their Chinese supplier make another run of them.

[jonzcustomshop]

for less than $2500 you should be able to buy a donor 73-87 2wd 1/2 ton and switch all the suspension stuff over to your truck, you can buy an axle relocating kit from speedway for switching the leaf rear to coil
captian fab has a adapter plate for the 73-87 steering box to your frame.
I just did the front suspension swap and brake booster and steering, it was pretty easy,
the sub we used for a doner was $200 and we got about that back when we crushed what was left.

any old truck you buy is going to need all this stuff, both my 65, and 63 need some wheel cylinders and and brake shoes..the drums were worn , but still useable

you should be able to remove the slave cylinders from your steering linkage and use it as a manual... probably could sell all the original power steering stuff if you change over to a modern setup.

[neverwinter]

wow those are encouraging posts! i did a complete driveline swap of a 76 dart into my 67 so maybe i can do the same for the chevy? so literally any 73-87 fwd 1/2 parts will work? id assume id need to replace rotors and pads and possibly even calipers but if i can get all the wheels over to drums and possibly a new rear axle out of the deal that would be great. im sure its been posted on here billions of times but is there a good detailed thread on doing this sort of thing?

thank you for the responses - i feel a bit better now.

[bama63]

here ya go http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=443871 http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=367260

go on.....go for it! you will be glad you did.

[Brandonc20]

I say keep her. Get some sort of enjoyment of watching her progress through the rebuilding stages. Im lucky I got a nice truck for the price. Right now the interior is gutted and im not driving it but its fun to know that its being rebuild right. good luck

brandon

[neverwinter]

thanks all. in a way i am actually getting sort of excited to have another project. course just in time for 6 months of freezing weather lol! i guess ill be on the lookout for a 73-87 truck. heck maybe even get a better engine out of it? who knows.

[aerotruk63]

Keep the truck. Parts are cheap. Family comes first though. The power assist steering was faulty from day one, unless someone put a newer style box on it. More or less your required to replace the parts not repair them. Take your time and go through it with help from the board members. Nothing fancy just keep it going till finances are better.

[joedoh]

over the years I have become accustomed to driving pieces of **** that normal people wouldnt even sit in without a good disinfecting foaming and a tetanus shot. I have a pretty high tolerance for things needing work and believe me there is a difference between need to fix and HAVE to fix.

why dont you fix what you NEED to fix instead of making it brand new. worn steering components may wander and require a little more attention to drive, good thing they gave you a big old steering wheel. leaking rear axle seals have a tendency to collect dust and become just mild little weeps. drum brakes cant cost 45 dollars per corner for EVERYTHING new, drums, wheel cylinders and shoes. take some time with your daughter and fix them yourself.

sometimes a mechanics high bid is his way of saying "stop wasting my time with this old stuff, I dont want to do it, but I will if you pay me enough". I know you trust this guy but he knows the real outcome of a $2500 estimate. roll up your sleeves, fix what you can by yourself, have him fix the stuff you cant and will make you crash if you dont fix it, and then drive the wheels off with a grin.

[Slowtruk]

I say fix it yourself. I could have all those problems fixed in 2 weekends.

Dont sweat the small stuff. One project at a time anda learning experience everytime

[jonzcustomshop]

I agree with both, you might be able to limp around on the used parts...how bad are the drums? do they have some meat left, or are they worn through and cracked? (I had one like that)
my 63 k10 4wd... cant find rear drums for it... shop said they can't be turned, they are past their limit, but they can still be used... they just arent up to factory specs, they work fine, and at the <10 miles a year I drive it, they will probably last a while

my 65 c 10, it found a ditch at some point in its life... both the front edges of the control arms are folded back, it wears the inside of the front tires slightly, but is still working fine...

to do the 73-87 swap, you unbolt the entire cross member from the 73-87, it is 14 bolts, you drill 2 holes, and oval 2 holes on your 63 frame, and bolt it back on. get the steering adapter plate for the box, and drill 2 holes for the pass side drag link mount. grind the rivets off the 73-87 sway bar mounts, drill some holes and mount that to your 63. captian fab makes a piece to adapt your colum to the 73-87, or you could (or have) the steering shaft cut/welded. drill a few holes for the 73-87 power brake booster, 2 of them should line up. I had to cut and lengthen the brake push rod, again easy/or cheap to have done. your factory engine side mounts should bolt right in to the cross member. Fab up a brake line, and that should about do it!

[jocko]

hey didn't you say that last week Woogeroo!?

But they are.

Agree with the above - but a lot depends on whether or not this is planned to be a daily driver. If you have other means of transpo - then take your time and do it right. Maybe even save for disk conversion - or the donor truck to take it all from, etc. If it IS a driver, as in "I gotta get to work in it" driver, then prioritize safety and legal issues first (i.e. windshield and brakes, etc) then work the rest from there.

Never say never!

[neverwinter]

maybe making some progress - have 2 solid options now.

found a decent donor frame with wheels etc for 900 which is high but the rims are new american torque thrust rims with brand new tires. he will sell the frame itself without the rims for 300. id need to buy a master cyl but all the suspension and such is there and the spindles are new - but are dropped 4 inches. this one also has disks in the back. just dont want a clown truck.

local pick and pull i can get all front stuff soup to nuts inc master cyl etc for 300. i assume the tires would be junk so those run what say 400ish for a full set mounted and balanced? my old ones are bunk too. i could then rebuild my rear drums for about 100, get a set of 4 dog dish type caps and no one would know the rims are 5 and 6 lug. prob is at that point i still have to solve my rear seal issue and i have drums in the back. if i swap to a 73-87 axle i will need to get the speedway adapter set (as would i for the donor vehicle option too). so at this point we are talking literally less than a 100$ difference between the donor and the junkyard.

i am thinking the donor with the fancy wheels is the best option. soup to nuts id be around 1400 but thats new wheels and tires (and ones i like at that!), new master cyl and prop valve, disks all around, power steering, and a drop in the front. total investment in the truck at that point is a little over 4k with some more to go but that shores up the braking and turning issues and adds some style.

the biggest X factor is the wheels. i could live with JY ones but i will need to pass inspection next year and dont want to accumulate a ton of wheels and tires lol!

i am sure i am overanalyzing all of this. just really trying to invest wisely. oh and this is purely a fun toy with the intent of becoming a mostly year round driver. esp in good weather months obviously.

[aerotruk63]

I think we'll need a spread sheet on this one. I can't follow the bouncing ball. LOL

[rideblue00]

joedoh quote: "there is a difference between need to fix and HAVE to fix" lol

[Clyde65]

One thing my Grand dad used to tell me was never skimp on brakes, cuz you can go fast but if you cant stop nothing else matters.

I had a friend in HS that thought his brakes could last another month or so, they didnt, he was killed and 2 kids in the other car was too. his 100.00 fix was too expensive to do right then.

Get the good stuff under that truck. I would do the first donor you said, sell the wheels and put some tires on that dude.

[Chevy Fleetside]

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/223597/ check out this thread. It is a 3/4 ton swap but basically the same as the 1/2 ton swap. I helped him with this one. Here is the thread on this forum.. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=357610

[pdxhall]

If you want to go with the pic and pull option you can pull the rear axles and put new bearing and seals in. Are those the seals you are talking about that are leaking? If the axles are still good you can have them redrilled to 5 lug to match the front. If they turn out to be junk you can buy a pair of new 5 lug axles for around $250.