Trying to make Junky perhaps just a little bit Funky...

[DD1]

As some of you may know from reading my earlier threads, I am a bit new at the truck rebuilding thing. I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have a really hard time finding a decent cab in the NY area, and am going to try and fix mine. A lot of the stuff that I need to take care of is repairable, although some of it is not going to be easy.

I am learning how to weld, and going to start taking a stab at body work on this 71 C10 pickup that I paid WAY too much for. I came across a new issue which I really don't know how I missed it before.

Any suggestions on how I should repair the inside panel of the roof of the truck? It has some rust near the front window, especially around the mirror.

I took off the mirror and the visor and grinded it down a bit to get an idea of how bad it really is.

I will post some more info about the build in this thread.


See attached pics.

Thanks!

[DD1]

So this is what the 71 truck looked like when I first got it home. It had a 305 engine that I was told was pulled out of an 85 Camaro. I think the kids I got it from wanted to try and hot rod it or something. I don't think they were interested in restoring it for certain. The 2nd pic is after I took off the hood and grill.

Later on a picked up a 350 engine from an 83 3/4 ton truck off of Craigslist. I took it apart and had it rebuilt. Ordered a towing camshaft and new lifters from Summit. Also replaced the pistons, oil pump, and oil pan. Pics 3 and 4 are the before and after shots of the engine. I was going to get an aluminum intake manifold, but to save a few $$$ right now I decided to stick with the stock one. I can always upgrade it later.

I do have a question for anyone who might know the answer. The fan that can with the 350 engine has a clutch on it. My friend likes the fan that came with the 305 better, not sure why but he thinks it is a better designed fan. I cannot add the clutch to the 305's fan. Any thoughts on whether the engine is better off with a fan/clutch compared to just the fan by itself?

Thanks!

[1RSTRESTO]

Looks pretty nice DD1 good luck. looking forward to the build.

[Jimbabwe]

I'm in NYC too. I've got a '71 cab for ya, if you want. I PM'd you.

[Street Smart]

Brooklyn in the house...
Clutch fans usually have more blades and should cool better.

[67c10rustbuket]

LMC has a repair panel for the inner roof rust. its pretty common in these trucks, the panel is $99 ill try to link it or add the pic of the catalog. looks like you might have found a friend in jimbabwe ! glad to see your working on it and learning to weld,

[DD1]

Thanks for the info. I figured there was a panel for it, but I had not noticed it before in all the times I had looked at that page. Probably b/c I did not need it. If Jimbabwe's cab is as clean as he says, it might just save me a lot of trouble and work.

[Jimbabwe]

Ah, I never noticed that panel either. Good to know. I would think welding that section in would be way easier than swapping everything.
I just shot some pics. I'll resize and send 'em out to you.
Jim

[DD1]

Thanks, Jim. If that section was my only problem, I would agree with you, but I now need to replace the inner headliner section, the right and left outer floor w/inner rocker panel, the door pillar, cab supports, and on top of all of that, the inner cowl panel is in really crappy condition. It's a lot of work and a lot of parts to buy.

Check out a previous thread I had started. You'll see some of what I am talking about.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=498408

Looking forward to your email and checking out your cab.

[DD1]

Street Smart, thanks for the tip. Nice to see some people from this area on the board. I will have to ask my friend why he likes the other fan better, but I was thinking that the clutch is better. I will have to see if it has more blades. I will take some photos of them and post later.

[Street Smart]

I have a shop in brooklyn, if there`s something i can help you with let me know.
http://streetsmartny.com/ We don`t do interior or body work, but just about everything else.

[DD1]

Good to know. I bookmarked your site. Thanks.

[DD1]

General question: I am really interested in getting Jimbabwe's cab. Going to go look at it this weekend. It's an a/c cab. Anything else different besides the heater box? When I am looking at cab's in general, is there a major difference in the cabs between the different types of trucks (C10, K10, C20, etc), or do I only need to pay attention to the year (67-72)?

[Jimbabwe]

DD1, the '71-'72 cabs have the throttle pedal mounted from above, while the earlier ones mount to the floor. '71 and '72 have a vent in the door pillar for the fuel tank, above the VIN tag, which is single, as opposed to the two tags on earlier models. '67 and '68 have a lever attached to the bottom of the dash for emergency brake as opposed to the foot pedal. The '71 and earlier rear view mirror attaches to the windshield header (roof) while the '72 attaches to the windshield.
What else...?

[DD1]

Thanks, Jim. I don't have any other specific questions, mostly because I don't know what to ask. I just sent you an email about stopping by this weekend.

[67c10rustbuket]

HIgh hump/low hump, and 67 early small rear window. Some had a headliner so there may be screw holes in the inner roof skin. otherwise jimbabwe has it all covered. anybody got anything else different? Do you NYers have to title the cab alone or can you swap cabs up there and keep the old vin? we (OK) are supposed to go by the cab vin but alot of people have rivet guns so you know what happens.

[DD1]

We pretty much have to make sure the title matches the VIN on the cab. If we swap the VIN plate, it not going to make much of a difference. Jim actually checked with some cops, and he was told the vehicle is so old, no one will care.

I don't have a rivet gun, but Jim has a title, so it does not really matter. Although, my 71 will become a 69 if I don't swap VIN's, since the prior owners of his swapped the VIN plate on his 71 cab with a 69 plate. I'll worry about that later.

Looking forward to getting a new cab, although actually lifting the cab's on and off the frame will be a challenge due to limited space. I have a large garage, but it is long, rather than wide and there is other crap in there as well. I could move some of it outside, but it is cold out there, and I don't want anything exposed to the elements.

Any thoughts on sodablasting yourself compared to having it done for you? I found a place that will sodablast on site.

[67c10rustbuket]

Originally Posted by DD1

Any thoughts on sodablasting yourself compared to having it done for you? I found a place that will sodablast on site.

I did some media blasting on mine with black diamond media from tractor supply, I tried to contain it with a big tent i made out of pvc pipe and plastic drop cloths, i made a huge mess and got rather frustrated with my blaster. If i had the $$ I would definately have someone else blast everything for me but im on a pretty tight budget. my 2cents

[DD1]

So, I would like to get some opinions on the fan I should use with the 350 engine. I have the fan that came with it which has a clutch. It is a 3 blade fan.

I also have the fan which came with the 305 engine that was in a Camaro prior to being put on the truck, which is the way I bought it.

A friend of mine thinks the fan from the 305 is better.

I took a photo of both of them, both sides of the one from the 305. Which fan do you think is better?

[DD1]

I also have a question regarding the a/c cab compared to non-a/c cab. I am probably getting an A/C cab in the next couple of weeks to replace my non-A/C cab. The heater box on the A/C cab has a crack in it.

I don't plan on installing air conditioning on the cab, at least not for a long time, if ever.

My questions is, can i install my non-a/c heater box on an a/c cab, or do I need to get a heater box for the a/c cab?

[67c10rustbuket]

Wow I think that 4 blade is an antique 6cyl fan. check the pick that is on an all original 1950 216cui 6 that i got for my brothers car.

Definately use the clutch fan 3 blade, although most V8 fans ive seen were 5 blades, I'm sure you could probably locate one pretty easy and cheap. think i have one laying around i'd give you if you were closer.

I believe the firewall is specific to ac or non ac so you will need to use the appropriate one for the cab, the heater/ac boxes can be easily repaired with a little fiberglass work and spray paint. they're pretty hard to find in pristene condition. later

[DD1]

Thanks for the info, 67. The four blade fan does look very similar to the one in your photo. I wonder if they took the fan off the 6 cylinder engine the truck probably came with and put it on the 305 engine. It would not surprise me. I have some other parts that came with the truck (in a box) that indicate the prior engine was definitely a 6 cylinder.

Yeah, it is sounding like outsourcing the blasting is the way to go IF I can afford it. I would probably get a soda blaster, but it would still be messy. I'll have to price out the cost of having it done VS doing it myself.

[DD1]

Looking for any suggestions anyone may have as to the easiest way to do a cab swap. Unfortunately my garage is long, but not wide. Have plenty of outdoor space, but it's cold out there.

Thanks!

[67c10rustbuket]

Originally Posted by DD1

Looking for any suggestions anyone may have as to the easiest way to do a cab swap. Unfortunately my garage is long, but not wide. Have plenty of outdoor space, but it's cold out there.

Thanks!

The two most common methods ive seen

1- invite 3 friends over and supply the beer

2- Use an engine hoist from the side.
I did it with yellow tow straps wrapped around the roof (only works if the truck is low enough).

Ive seen others roll down the windows and stick the hoist inside the cab to lift, I guess they chained or strapped to something inside the cab, possibly to the seat belt anchor holes in the floor and cab support holes maybe.

Ive also seen one guy put the hoist in the window and put 2x4s on top of the hoist arm as spreader bars against the roof.

you may be able to lift from the front with an engine hoist if it extends far enough and has a decent weight capacity at full extension. (in your narrow garage)

[DD1]

Originally Posted by 67c10rustbuket

The two most common methods ive seen

1- invite 3 friends over and supply the beer

2- Use an engine hoist from the side.
I did it with yellow tow straps wrapped around the roof (only works if the truck is low enough).

Ive seen others roll down the windows and stick the hoist inside the cab to lift, I guess they chained or strapped to something inside the cab, possibly to the seat belt anchor holes in the floor and cab support holes maybe.

Ive also seen one guy put the hoist in the window and put 2x4s on top of the hoist arm as spreader bars against the roof.

you may be able to lift from the front with an engine hoist if it extends far enough and has a decent weight capacity at full extension. (in your narrow garage)

Thanks for the tips and the link. I had seen someone mention the hoist through the window trick before, but could not find it. I wonder if that would work going through the windshield and the back window (after removing the glass of course )? I may have to give it a try on the old cab first.