My '66 - I might need y'alls expertise

[bobcostas]

This here be my "new to me" '66 shortie stepper.
got her in December and have been tooling around in it when its warm out (which hasn't been nearly often enough)

It also seems its not what i thought it was. The VIN says she's a LWB. Also has a 5 lug rear end with 6 leaves that doesn't look like it belongs. The PO didnt know what power plant it had either! [how does that happen, its so sad]

Im going to guess its a 350, for no other reason than i'm hopeful, and its got a granny 4-speed too.

here's some shots:





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It Drives just fine, so I'm not too worried about the rear end, but stock is nice, too. It seems whoever did these conversions was into the early '90s trends with the shortie steering wheels and crummy bucket seats. I yanked those as soon as I could (got a bench for free on CL)

Anyway, tell me I didnt blow a crap ton of money on a lemon, haha.
thanks guys, y'all have been invaluable to my knowledge of the land of C-10s.

[steverino66]

Congrats - I don't think you'll find anyone here who would say there's any such thing as a 66 C10 "lemon" - just creatively rearranged!
My 66 short step also thinks it's a long bed according to the VIN; I've decided based on all evidence - someone put a 66 short step cab on a 64 frame on mine.
You can find your engine casting # behind the driver's side head on the block, get back there with a light and mirror, look it up on www.mortec.com.
Rear end code is probably stamped on the axle housing somewhere. - Don't remember the site where I decoded mine, but the info's out there.
Anyway, COOL TRUCK!

[markeb01]

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the new to you truck. It's not uncommon for a lot of swapping to have taken place over the life of trucks this old. Judging by the torched off coil spring and retaining bracket, it does appear it originally came with a coil rear suspension. It also appears to have a 2 piece driveshaft, which to my knowledge only came on long beds, although I don't see any obvious splice marks where the frame was shortened. It could just be a combination of parts that happened to be available to whoever put it together.

Upon further study the center crossmember still has the coil suspension trailing arm brackets, and the plate on the frame with the rivets may be covering the area where the splice was made. I had been looking at the sides of the rails further ahead and they don't look disturbed.

If you can get numbers off the engine there are lot of sites that can identify the engine.

[REDNOSE65]

Looks good ...hope to see it in Austin in a couple of weeks.

[Rogue]

Originally Posted by REDNOSE65

Looks good ...hope to see it in Austin in a couple of weeks.

Yep! Its closing in fast!

[DPowers]

That's one of the neat things about these trucks is their history. Some of it you know... but most of it remains a mystery.

[aerotruk63]

The snubber is set back from the rear axel. It's a longbox frame cut at the back for a short box. This must be an old Gasser!

[bobcostas]

Thanks Dudes.
You guys are very encouraging.
I'm gonna slap some Wide Whites on there and see some of y'all in two weeks.

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

Your truck looks good, but whoever built it took a few shortcuts. Aerotruck63 is correct, they just cut the whole 20" off the back of the frame. Then it appears they put a '73-'82 12 bolt under it, springs and all. I would guess the rear might be a bit bouncy with the shocks at that awefully flat angle. I'm not saying you have a bad truck, just pointing out what I see. As long as you're happy with it, that's what counts.