68 C50 Looongbed pickup build

[rkn463]

OK, I've been threatening to post this for a while but I knew the truck would be on hold for long periods of time so I held off until I got to some real progress. I'll start with the story and it is a bit long so bear with me...

I always wanted a hotrod Chevy pickup and I fell in love with the 37 to 40 models. That vintage truck around here is really scarce so I just kept my eyes open for a project. Finally one day several years back I see an ad for a 40 model 1.5 ton. I went and looked at it and although it was a basket case I had the cash and a place to let it sit so I bought it. I can't seem to find anything with a date on it but I think that was probably around 2006. The truck is old and rusty and no bed on it, being a 1.5 ton it is dual rear wheels and big wheel wells. So... I was thinking hotrod pickup but fell in love with the original configuration and started speculating on what I really wanted to build. I did a few web searches and found the Stovebolt sight and a post there ultimately led me to this forum. Anyway time goes on and I decide I want a big "modern" 6 cylinder and the 292 was my choice. It just so happens that a friend has a 67 C50 grain truck witha 292 that has been sitting derelict on our land for several years and I talk him in to selling it to me for a fair price and then there were two. Here are pictures, I lost my hard drive and all of the original pictures of the 40 so the one I have is recent, please ignore the late model bed resting on it, that is just to keep the bed off the ground.

[rkn463]

OK, that worked (been a long time since I posted anything with pictures).
So I need to get the 67 running to make sure that the motor is rebuild-able and a carb kit, points & condenser and various wires later I have a running 67 C50 with no brakes. And I fall in love with that truck too! Shifting that split rear is just too cool. I drive it around on the farm wondering what I'm going to do with it. One night after a drink or two I think how cool it would be made into a big giant dually. This is literally before I'd seen anyone do it short of some Internationals with F**d dually beds on them. Anyway I deem it too rusty to be a valid candidate so I need a new donor truck (yes by now the 40 is on the far back burner). My neighbor has a pretty clean 68 C50 with a 327 4 speed in it so I go insult the hell out of him with a really low offer. Eventually he comes around and sells me the truck, and then there were 3. Here are some pictures of how bad the rust and hack job were on the 67 along with an early shot of the 68. By now it is 2011.

[rkn463]

Now the story really begins. The 68 has some minimal rust in the floorboards and a few dents but solid as I had ever seen. The interior was rough, the engine needed tuning up and the brakes were leaking fluid

At least the radio holes were unmolested, but some of the things people do to trucks instead of just fixing them makes me crazy. Heater controls broken because the tried to force them with a rats nest in the way of the blend door, heater switch wires cut and a rotary switch added under the dash, oil pressure gauge screwed in to a radio knob hole, dripping oil into the ash tray, tee shirt shoved in to catch the drips. "Before" pictures:

[rkn463]

So I start fixing stuff:
Tune up
carb rebuild
(now it runs great!)
new door and window weatherstrips
repaint instrument cluster bezel, buff instrument panel lens, repaint needles
remove and repair heater controls
remove rats nests from heater ducts
paint heater ducts (inside too to kill the smell)
repaint dash
new dash pad
new window crank handles
new window regulators
(no more door rattles and windows actually go up and down now!)
New shifter boot
remove hand brake, clean put missing washers in and now it works
new cardboard insert in glove box
repaint glove box door
new headlights
new alternator and re-replace headlights because the alternator fried the high dollar Sylvanias.
And I built some wood sides for the flatbed so that the dogs could ride. More photos:

[rkn463]

The seat was toast too so I got on craigslist and found some leather buckets out of a 2003ish Tahoe. Pics of painted dash, seats, and a "glamour shot" of the interior. Also the sideboards that I didn't show before. The dogs loved riding on it. Unfortunately Lucy, the chocolate lab, is no longer with us... bone cancer took her at 12 years.

[rkn463]

Gotta get some sleep, will continue tomorrow...

[Katrina/10]

Nice work on the axle. I know those rivets are really tough to get out, they expand inside the frame when they hammer them in.

[rkn463]

Neat project. I'm looking forward to seeing your future progress!

Thanks for checking it out eventor!

Nice work on the axle. I know those rivets are really tough to get out, they expand inside the frame when they hammer them in.

Thanks for the props Katrina/10! The rivets are kicking my butt. The first weekend I managed to remove 8, the second weekend I got out 29 and this last weekend 15 more.

I was inaccurate when I said that the cab had to come off to remove any more rivets, I had forgotten about the 15 that were already center drilled, those are the ones that came out last weekend. Unfortunately the "had to do's" took precedence over the "want to do's." I spent Saturday mowing, replacing the water pump on my daily driver (04 Silverado extended cab) and dealing with a neighbor regarding a new fence we need to build between us. Sunday: More recreational mowing followed by my 15 rivet removal and then head back to town and my regular job.

I hope very much to get the cab pulled next weekend. I'm a little unsure on a couple of aspects of shortening the frame and would appreciate some feedback. I drew up a diagram of the frame, see below. The horizontal black lines are cross members, the one in front and back of the differential also support the spring hangers. The red lines represent the frame reinforcing plates which are basically an inverted L (second diagram). The plan is remove the reinforcing plates, shorten the frame 18 inches either at A or B the cut 18 inches off of the front end of the reinforcing plates and bolt them back on with grade 8 bolts. I had initially planned on removing at point B but my brother said it would be stronger at A. What do you think?

Thanks for looking

-Richard

[jaybatta]

Cool man, I've always wanted to build one

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by jaybatta

Cool man, I've always wanted to build one

Go for it! The looks you get when people see it are classic.

[Obsolete]

Cool project!

Unless there is something about the frame that does not show in the diagram, and assuming that you put the frame back together in a way that does not weaken it, I don't see why one place is better that the other.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by Obsolete

Cool project!

Unless there is something about the frame that does not show in the diagram, and assuming that you put the frame back together in a way that does not weaken it, I don't see why one place is better that the other.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. The logic was that if the frame were weakened in any way it would put that spot closer to the axle where any stress would have less torque against it. I think I may be over thinking it again.

-Richard

[hugger6933]

You are doing great work and yes you are overthinking some things. That truck won't ever haul a fraction of what they designed it for. They do over engineer them more so now than back then but I think it is due to lawsuits and them being scared of them more so now than back then. People back then weren't looking for as quick for a unearned dollar then. That is just my opinion. once again great work

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

You are doing great work and yes you are overthinking some things. That truck won't ever haul a fraction of what they designed it for. They do over engineer them more so now than back then but I think it is due to lawsuits and them being scared of them more so now than back then. People back then weren't looking for as quick for a unearned dollar then. That is just my opinion. once again great work

Thanks for checking in hugger, I was amazed at how much heavier duty the frame and suspension components are on the 89.

When are you going to start your build?

-Richard

[rkn463]

Took time out last night see Blackberry Smoke in concert at House of Blues in Dallas. Awesome show, if any of you are in to classic southern rock I encourage you to check them out!

Now back to the truck, I hope to get the front sheet metal pulled today.

-Richard

[63 gmc]

luv the long bed cant wait to do mine

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by 63 gmc

luv the long bed cant wait to do mine

Looking forward to a build thread from you!

-Richard

[rkn463]

OK, it's been a while since I updated; some progress has been made just not nearly as much as I would like. As I stated in a previous post my progress to frustration ratio has been very out of whack! I guess the first problem is that I was working with wiring and that always takes way longer than I expect. I had a few things to accomplish with the under hood wiring:
- Get rid of the resister wire that went to the coil and replace it with a wire capable of running HEI
- Add a tach wire into the harness
- Extend the alternator wires since the 366 has the alternator on the passenger side instead of the driver’s side
- Get rid of the extra wires that were for the externally regulated alternator and make it like it came with the internal
- Unwrap everything and look for any problems that need to be addressed
The under hood wiring is in two blocks - first up was the “motor” side of things: ignition, starter, temp gauge and backup light switch.
I grabbed the under hood harness that was on the 89, from it I stripped the plug and wires that went to the distributor.




Next I used colored zip ties to mark various things on the original harness: red is where the harness branches, green is where there were tie downs, white marked where the harness was connected to the “gutter” that runs across the firewall. (Note the blue masking tape where I marked the connections when I disconnected the harness from the old truck)



Then I unwrapped the old wires and separated out the ignition wires. I pulled the resistor wire from the connection that screws to the fuse block, cut the old wire loose and then soldered the big HEI supply wire and then rewrapped the harness. The other wires were all in good condition. I also had to extend the tach wire. Then I plugged it back in to the connector





To be continued...

-Richard

[Obsolete]

That's quite the hydraulic jack you've got there, I'm a little jealous.

Looks like you've got a nice clean truck to work with though. I was doing some maintenance on an 87 1 ton that I plow snow with today. Started poking around underneath, I think there are places where I could stick a screwdriver right through the frame. The great white north, they call it. Not because of the snow, but because of the salt.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by Obsolete

That's quite the hydraulic jack you've got there, I'm a little jealous.

LOL, when I tell the guys at work I had to jump-start the jack I just get blank stares

Looks like you've got a nice clean truck to work with though. I was doing some maintenance on an 87 1 ton that I plow snow with today. Started poking around underneath, I think there are places where I could stick a screwdriver right through the frame. The great white north, they call it. Not because of the snow, but because of the salt.

Man I hate salt! We get our fair share of body rust given time and neglect but frame rust and rusted out brake lines just don't happen here, at least not that I have seen.

[Advanced Design]

This is a cool build and I will be tagging along.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

This is a cool build and I will be tagging along.

Thanks Doug. I saw the links in your signature and started reading your 48 Burb build, I'm on page 4, can't wait to see how it turns (turned) out!

-Richard

[rkn463]

OK, quick update:

Last week at work was incredibly stressful and it left me lacking motivation so I did not get started very early Saturday. I continued working on removing the front clip from the 89. I had a hell of a time getting the radiator out, it has an oil cooler and the lines did not want to come out of the radiator. I literally spent over an hour on one line and ultimately ended up cutting it so now I have to replace the cooler lines. Once the rad was out I could see that it has been leaking. I hate to think how much it will cost to re-core it, it's huge! Anyway with the radiator out I got my brother to help set the front end off the truck. By this time Saturday was done.

Sunday AM and back to my weekly recreational mowing - 2 hours worth. Once that was done it was back to the truck. I ripped off a bit of the tubes going to the smog pumps (that's right, two of them!) and then started on the cab. I got the 4 cab mount bolts removed, cab to frame ground strap removed and the speedometer cable disconnected. I pulled out the factory service manual and made a list of their cab removal procedure and marked off 5 of the 20 items they had listed. Here is a pic with the front clip off and my list of things to do next week.

[rkn463]

A few more random notes:

No one has mentioned it but the 89 is a really solid truck and it seems a shame to kill it, however the entire truck will be used. The 16 foot box is now storage and may become an enclosed trailer at some point. The frame and complete drive-train is going to the 68 and the cab and sheet metal will end up replacing the trashed cab and sheet metal on my brother's 73 c65 dump truck. So while its present incarnation has drawn to an end I will not be wasting anything.

Back to my earlier post (# 21) about shortening the frame my original desire to cut in area "B" was to preserve the driveline angle in the "A" area which already has a considerable angle compared to "B". Still mulling that over...

Last weekend I had mentioned the wiring junction that I think is a really cool idea, included a picture below.

Finally a reference back to post # 14, when I was drilling the steering linkage to move the steering stops I broke off a drill bit while drilling the pilot hole in the second part. The remains were stuck tight and I spent a few minutes freaking out followed by a lot of foul language. I went back to something I'd had some success with in the past: drill a hole in a washer, place over the bit and hit it with a spot weld. On the second try I managed to get it to stick and was able to pull the piece of the broken bit out, pictures below.

[rkn463]

"Weekend" update. Actually I took a day off Friday and did this. The rest of the weekend was mowing, fencing, etc.

Got a late start on Friday, about 11:00 AM. A couple of hours later I was a bit farther with my list (heavy lines are new). After lunch I got the rest of the list taken care of and was ready to pull the cab by about 6:00 PM. Unfortunately I found that the hydroboost unit is leaking so I have to find parts. Attached are photos of the engine with the smog pumps and hoses removed, master cylinder removed and secured and the trans tunnel removed so that the cab can lift off over the shifter. The only thing I left connected was the steering column so that I could steer it when I moved it outside to pull the cab.