The Brown Truck

[SFTorange]

Hi All,

After spending a TON of time reading and learning on the forum, I'm finally ready to start a build thread. In October of this year I began disassembly of my 1966 C20 LWB Fleetside. The truck was a 3/4 ton with a factory 283/SM420 and Eaton HO52 rear with 4.56:1 gears. The truck was purchased new in Bozeman, MT by the parents of my dad's stepfather. My parents bought the truck from them in the mid 80's, and I have a ton of childhood memories from this truck. My mom drove it as her daily driver for a number of years until a bad clutch put it into the field at my parent's house.

Fast forward to 2002 when I was a senior in high school. I decided that I'd have a new clutch put in the brown truck and drive it to school. After that I was hooked. I spent most of a year chasing down small mechanical problems. Every time I'd fix what was broken, the next weakest link would fail.

Finally, after my Dad installed a new HEI distributor, Edelbrock intake, and Holley carb for me as a surprise, we got the truck running strong. I was in heaven as I drove the truck to work on the morning of my high school graduation. On the way home from my job as a greens keeper at the local golf course, the next weakest link failed: the 283. Needless to say, this truck has broken my heart several times.

I spent the summer mowing at the golf course to save up enough money to have a mild 350 rebuilt. I installed the engine outside in January of the following winter and drove the truck for the next year.

After that, I installed a Turbo 350 into the truck but got only a little further. The truck sat for about 5 years waiting until I finally had the time and resources to move forward. That time finally came in March of this year when we pulled the truck from Missoula, MT to Billings, MT where I now live.

I was able to get the truck running, and drove it for most of the summer. This fall, I finally decided to take the plunge and tear the truck down.

Here are some pics of what I started with (sorry, but I'm a terrible photographer):

[SFTorange]

I've spent the last 10 years thinking about how I wanted to build this truck. I wish I could say that I haven't changed my mind more than a few times, but I've finally settled on the following plan:

My goal is to maintain a semi-original stock height look, but with many drivetrain modifications hidden underneath. Notice the recurring theme of ideas that I've gotten from this forum. This truck will be made to drive and work.

1)Repaint the truck in its' original color scheme: Paint code 555 Saddle/Off White
2)Complete Big Back Window Conversion (thanks to jonzcustomshop for the BBW panel and glass!)
3) 12 bolt rear from a 1968 C-10 with upgraded 11 5/32" x 2 ¾" brakes from a 1977 K-10 (thanks to Captainfab for the idea!)
4) 1 1/4" sway bar from a 1977 3/4 ton Suburban (thanks to TX Firefighter's FAQ sticky!)
5) Rebuilt 1987 700r4 with Lokar shifter.
6) Original gauge cluster to replace my idiot lights (thanks again Jon!)
7) I'll retain my mildly built 350.
8) Early Classic C20 to C10 conversion spindles with 6 lug disc brakes. (this is a very quality kit)
9) Converting to C-10 rear cab mounts thanks to Tony Smith's beautifully reproduced rear cab mount brackets)
10)New Classic Update wiring harness from American Autowire.
11) Steel wheels from a 73-87 K-10 with original-style chrome hubcaps.
12) 19 gallon aluminum underbed gas tank.
13) Bucket seats with integrated seatbelts from a 2006 GMC Sierra. These fit with almost no modifications except for drilling new holes.
14) Not to mention countless other upgrades along the way!

[66farmer]

Good for you there's nothing better than saving the old family truck. I will be watching your build. There's alot of things about your build and mine that are the same. My father inlaw bought my truck near new and my wife and her siblings all drove it to high school and it's the same color as yours. So keep your finger nails dirty and your nose to the grind stone. And I'm a old Golf Course Superintendent so I did my time on the links.
GET HER DONE...

[SFTorange]

Thanks 66farmer, that is the plan! I'm not going to set any deadlines yet, but I'm hoping to keep up good progress through the cold winter months.

[SFTorange]

As you can see, I had my frame, front suspension x-member, and rear control arms sandblasted. Everything was given the full Por-15 treatment including degreasing with Marine Clean and prep with Metal-Ready. Por-15 is a very picky material, so I wasn't about to take any chances.

Here are a couple of pictures of what I started out with.



Next are a couple of shots after a trip to Industrial Coating Solutions here in Billings.






Merry Christmas Everyone!

[pope]

Merry Christmas from Bozeman (via Iraq)! It's good to see some more 60-66trucks from Montana showing up here. looks like you're off to a good start! Hope to see it running around when I get back!

[66farmer]

How did the paint job turn out? I sand blasted my frame and used POR15 semi gloss back and the gray on some of the parts. I called POR to ask if I needed the cleaner and metal ready he said blow it off and paint it. The gray looks great the black is ok but inconsistent in color. I used a paint brush and did one coat. I would post a picture but having problems doing so.

[SFTorange]

Since I've been burned by POR-15 in the past (painted a trailer without proper cleaning and prep, and no UV protective topcoat--the coating failed miserably after about 6 months) I decided to go the whole nine yards with the frame. After sandblasting, I degreased with Marine Clean and prepped the metal with Metal Ready. I think this was overkill, but I wanted to be safe. I put one solid coat of black on the frame, and two coats on some of the smaller parts. After one coat, the black doesn't look great, but two coats look nice and shiny. The folks at POR recommend two coats. I then topcoated everything with a coat of thier Chassis Black. Since it is cold here in Montana, I was only able to heat my garage to about 55 degrees, so the paint dried very slowly, and there are some definite brush marks in the paint. I think the cold limited the paint's ability to flow.

Overall, it looks OK, but not great. I think it would have been better if I had put two very thin coats of each product on, but I did it all by myself and spent 16+ hours getting done what I did. If I could do it again, I think I would get set up to spray it. Overall, after a week of drying, I have a decent looking, very strong finish on my frame and that is the most important part.

Originally Posted by 66farmer

How did the paint job turn out? I sand blasted my frame and used POR15 semi gloss back and the gray on some of the parts. I called POR to ask if I needed the cleaner and metal ready he said blow it off and paint it. The gray looks great the black is ok but inconsistent in color. I used a paint brush and did one coat. I would post a picture but having problems doing so.

[SFTorange]

I'm heading over to meet Jon (jonzcusstomshop) to pick up a factory gauge cluster tomorrow! I'll hopefully have more updates later this week. Ordered a bunch of new parts too!

[AZ66GMC]

Sounds like you have a great plan for the truck. It's good to see that you are moving forward and making good progress.

Keep up the good work and keep the pics coming.



Tony
Posted via Mobile Device

[SFTorange]

Thanks Pope, I'm glad to see that we have a strong MT contingent as well. Merry Christmas and stay safe.

Originally Posted by pope

Merry Christmas from Bozeman (via Iraq)! It's good to see some more 60-66trucks from Montana showing up here. looks like you're off to a good start! Hope to see it running around when I get back!

[oldblue1968chevy]

looking real good! Your doing it right!!

[SFTorange]

I realize that my previous engine picture was pretty bad, so here is a nice one of it cleaned up and looking nice.

[lownslw64]

your project looks good. i also por-15 everything. That stuff is worth the effort.

[structures]

Nice build! From the pictures it looks like the rust was minimal.

[SFTorange]

Originally Posted by structures

Nice build! From the pictures it looks like the rust was minimal.

Yep, the rust was pretty much limited to the places where these trucks were practically engineered to rust. It's nice that my limited body work buget can go towards fun stuff like the bbw conversion instead of endless patch panels.

[SFTorange]

Here's my progress from today. It's starting to look like a truck again!

[Captainfab]

Lookin good

[SFTorange]

If you saw my last post, I'd finished up the front control arms, but hadn't gotten the springs in and spindles attached. I tried to use three different coil spring compressors, but none of them would compress the spring and give me the clearance I needed to get the spring in place. Since I had no weight on the frame, it was impossible to just put a floor jack under the control arm and compress the spring to put the spindle on. I thought a lot about how I might go about getting the spring compressed, and thought maybe if I put the motor in place it would give me enough weight to offset the spring. No luck. So I finally realized that if I put a heavy duty tie down under the jack and over the frame, I'd be able to keep the frame from lifting up. Just to be safe, I used two 1500 lb capacity ratcheting tie downs, and it worked like a charm.

Now my spindles are on and I'm ready for brakes, engine, and transmission this weekend. Luckily, I rebuilt my 3/4 ton control arms with new top and bottom cross shafts and ball joints this spring. Now THAT was a job!

Interesting fact. Has anyone else noticed that 1966 C-20's use the same design lower control arm cross shaft as the '60-62 pickups? They bolt directly to the crossmember instead of using u-bolts.
The accelerator pedal is the same way. It doesn't use studs and just bolts directly into the floor like the earlier years. Does anyone know why?

[structures]

Nice, so what was the cost? I bought the early classic kit and I paid a lot. Way too much.

[SFTorange]

Well, with some shopping around (picked up a set of Wagner Thermo Quiet brake shoes on Amazon for $12 (yes $12) and new Wagner Drums for $36 each, paid $70 for the backing plates, $25 for maxi-pack and new wheel cylinders at Napa, and $27 for new e-brake cables) the total came to $206. I think most people could get the backing plates cheaper too.

[protrash64]

Lookin' good SFT!! I just re-did my rear brakes and came out at roughly 150 getting my parts at Autozone. Re-used the adjusters and the emergency brake stuff.

Never tried to install coils without the whole truck on top!! Usually just jack up the a-arm and put on the nut!!

[SFTorange]

More progress today. Disc brakes and 1 1/4" front sway bar with polyurethane bushings.

[tommys66]

Im glad to see your building the truck that was passed down to you, you'll be proud when your finished. A frame off build takes alot of patience! Don't get discouraged if something doesn't go right. Keep at it

[Orangetonicclicc]

Originally Posted by SFTorange

More progress today. Disc brakes and 1 1/4" front sway bar with polyurethane bushings.

Can you point me in the right direction to installing my brake kit. never did it before. little overwhelmed, Very bad directions!!