64 "Large Marge" LWB-SWB / Build thread.

[4mulaSvaliant]

Whats up guys and gals.

So I figured Id start a thread to document the changes I have made to the 64 C10 I picked up a while ago.

Ill condense the story here, but this is one of my all time favorite trucks and this on in particular means a fair amount to me.
The story starts when I was about 13 and my dad owned a 64 LWB step side 4x4 that is one of the vehicles I really learned how to wrench on. I also learned how to drive in that old beast.
We had swapped out all the original stuff for 1978 3/4 ton running gear and then unfortunately life threw him a curve ball and the truck sat (nearly complete) for many years. I always wanted it, even in its condition. When I graduated HS my dad signed the title over to me... I joined the Navy, and we left it on a friends property in Wa. state where the truck sits to this day as far as I know. That was roughly 18 years ago. I now reside in Va.

Needless to say the hours spent late into the night trying to get that truck in shape with my dad had a lot of sentimental value.

Fast forward to about a year ago. A very dear friend of mine (practically a father figure to me) happened across a 64 LWB Fleet side 2 wheel drive that he wanted to build for his daughter on a 76 4x4 frame. He is an older gentleman and his health made him prioritize a few things.

Knowing I wanted the truck he sold it to me for what he had in it at $2k.

Between my involvement with my dad and these trucks, then from my good friend Joker.... I had to have this truck and even Joker knows already... that I will not be getting rid of this thing any time soon! Joker calls it the Heirloom already. Haaha

A few pictures of what I bought.

I just had to have Joker sign the inside of the glovebox! This will always stay here!


Here is the truck as I bought it. He sold the Long Fleetside bed in the first week he owned it because he had a SWB Stepside bed for it.


The owner prior to him was at one point getting the truck back into shape for his sign shop, but it appears that it was on a fairly tight budget based on some corners that were cut. Not much prep went into the paint portion. there are multiple places it is bubbling, runs on the dash etc.. but over all it doesn't look too terrible.


The sign shop owner had a 350 put in the truck by a shop I am familiar with. It appears to be an 80's 350. Its nothing special, but it runs very strong.


This is what I bought, and Ill post again with the plans for truck, then on to the work I have done so far.

[4mulaSvaliant]

So I bought the truck knowing that I planned to make a "hotrod" kinda truck with maybe the occasional touch of "kustom" here and there. This will be my daily driver, and around here you catch a lot of looks when you roll something like this on the daily. Virginia Beach is a relatively young city and fairly wealthy, so the cars on the streets are typically newer. I live where the elevation is flat and there are nothing but half way decent streets, so lowering it was not only a preference, but not going to be an issue. (aside from maybe the occasional flood) Hahah

So here are the plans and then Ill detail the parts I am using as well.

*Static drop and keep it realistic.
*Has to have a little bit of "rake" to keep the hotrod look and feel.
*Disc brakes
*5 speed
*shorten to be a Short Wheelbase

So with those basics I started shopping around and as all of us... I am on a budget. I didn't wanna skimp too terribly because I plan to keep the truck indefinitely, and again, its my daily driver.

So parts I went with.

*2-1/2" Drop spindles
*12.5" drilled and slotted rotors and calipers
*bearings, seals, hoses
Kit cost- - $500.00
ebay seller: Tomsclassic


*Proportioning valve - $40.00
ebay seller: dmcperformance2011


*Upper and lower ball joints - $50.00
ebay seller: logicautoparts




*T5 5 speed from an 86 S10 - came with truck


*Adapter plate for T5 - $160.00 (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT!)
Seller: Hotrod works
Link: http://www.hotrodworks.com/catalog/i...1983-cars.html


*S10 shift handle and boot - $10.00 (polished cast aluminum rocket shifter from "_craftyb_" on instagram!)
Pick N Pull


*Speedometer extension cable - $ 20.00
ebay seller: belair2door


*New fuel tank - $170.00
Seller: Summit via Ebay (for free shipping)
summitracing_sales


*Bad ass finned air cleaner housing - $88.00
Seller: warehouseninteynine


*2" drop springs (front)
Seller: Brothers

*5" drop coils in the rear
Seller: Brothers

*New drop shocks front and rear - $120.00
Seller: CPP

*Late model power brake set up (may not use)

*New brake lines - $60.00
Advance Auto supply (Bought the good stuff)

*Clutch set from 86 Astro van - $80.00 w/ major discounts
Advance Auto parts ONLINE

*S10 Short WB drive shaft shortened 1.25" with a conversion u-joint at the rear dif. - $160.00
local shop: Spring Mendors (Norfolk Va.)

[4mulaSvaliant]

So first things first.... I had to do a tear down and fortunately the bed (which can be a *****) was pretty well already off since I couldnt help but drive it for a few days before tear down! Hahah


My helper Chowder!


Pre-surgery.


Cab off and hanging precariously!


Frame marked out to make her a SWB


No turning back now!!!!!


Shortened 12"


A few details for those that are going to do this:
The forward most bed mount that gets removed shares a rivet with the cross member that the trailing arms connect to. I cut the head off the rivet to remove the bed mount because after you have shortened the frame 12" the forward bed mount is no longer needed, and it would also land under the cab now. So OFF it goes!
There are multiple ways to deal with it after that, but I chose to basically "plug weld" a head back onto the rivet.
See pics
You can of course knock the rivet out and bolt it, or if you are swapping the cross member for an after market piece, you will just be removing them anyhow.




Carrying on with the frame modifications I found I had to deal with the cross member that houses all the e-brake stuff.
Once I put the 5 spd in, I found that it rested on the e-brake stuff. I remedied this by notching the cross member and dropping it roughly 5/8".
I also decided to make this cross member a "bolt in" pc because it will make dropping the transmission far easier in the future.
Because this cross member is not a huge player in the structure of the frame, only providing a bit of support to the frame rails, and then just a mounting point for the e-brake stuff, removing the area I did, and bolting it in, shouldn't cause any serious issues structurally.


I had 50 years of grease and Princess Anne Co. dirt to clean off. I wasnt even sure what I was looking at here other than e brake parts.




Other frame modifications I made are a "C-notch" for the cross member to accept the single pc drive shaft I am using.

The drive shaft is from an 86 SWB S10 and was nearly a drop in situation. I was a little bummed to find I only had to shorten the drive shaft 1-1/4".

But because the drive shaft is a 4" dia, and I have lowered the truck, the drive shaft would possibly hit the top of the oval cut out that the original carrier bearing mounts to.

I dont have pictures of this as I just finished it after dark last night.

I think that sums up the frame mods for now.

Removed 12"
modified e-brake cross member to drop it 5/8" to clear trans
modified Trailing arm cross member to allow large dia, single pc drive shaft.

[4mulaSvaliant]

So, when I bought the truck Joker told me "you can have one of them 5 speeds as well"
He had two, one of which I actually gave him a few years ago. I had done my research and found that there was a "better" overdrive ratio for the taller gears I had in the rear.
Fortunately the one I had given him, was the one with the OD gears I wanted.

Looking at all the swaps out there, I had come across many ways to do it. Some WAY better than others, and ultimately I landed on Hot Rod Works site.
Link:http://www.hotrodworks.com/catalog/i...1983-cars.html

This is something I will advertise for them for a long damn time! It was an excellent product!
The instructions come with the applications you can find the clutch sets from as well.
This was literally a bolt together swap. The one modification you have to make is to cut the tube that fits over the input shaft. The dimensions are in the instructions as well.



You can see the cut retainer "tube" in this picture (near the splines)


All bolted in with the 1986 Astro van clutch set.


Important info regarding the clutch sets.

The Astro van has the largest diameter of the 3 applications you can get a clutch set from.
the three being:
Camaro
S10
Astrovan

All will work, but because the flywheel has so much surface are, I figured why not try to get the largest clutch as well. It is a truck I plan to USE after all!

The Camaro and S10 have clutches in the 9" range and the Astro is like 11-3/4" I think. Which is much better considering the original clutch is like 12" or 13".

The Astro Van throw out bearing went right in place and the clutch fork fit as it should with the bearing as well.

[made2drag]

Originally Posted by 4mulaSvaliant

So, when I bought the truck Joker told me "you can have one of them 5 speeds as well"
He had two, one of which I actually gave him a few years ago. I had done my research and found that there was a "better" overdrive ratio for the taller gears I had in the rear.
Fortunately the one I had given him, was the one with the OD gears I wanted.

Looking at all the swaps out there, I had come across many ways to do it. Some WAY better than others, and ultimately I landed on Hot Rod Works site.
Link:http://www.hotrodworks.com/catalog/i...1983-cars.html

This is something I will advertise for them for a long damn time! It was an excellent product!
The instructions come with the applications you can find the clutch sets from as well.
This was literally a bolt together swap. The one modification you have to make is to cut the tube that fits over the input shaft. The dimensions are in the instructions as well.



You can see the cut retainer "tube" in this picture (near the splines)


All bolted in with the 1986 Astro van clutch set.


Important info regarding the clutch sets.

The Astro van has the largest diameter of the 3 applications you can get a clutch set from.
the three being:
Camaro
S10
Astrovan

All will work, but because the flywheel has so much surface are, I figured why not try to get the largest clutch as well. It is a truck I plan to USE after all!

The Camaro and S10 have clutches in the 9" range and the Astro is like 11-3/4" I think. Which is much better considering the original clutch is like 12" or 13".

The Astro Van throw out bearing went right in place and the clutch fork fit as it should with the bearing as well.

question: if that's a 86 s10 4 cyl t5 how did the splines work on the 350? I thought the nose was too long and the spines wont work? I see the adaptor plate, I'm wondering if that fixes the input shaft issues?

[4mulaSvaliant]

So to date I have done this:

-Shortened the wheel base
-Installed 5 speed
-dropped e-brake cross member
-installed rear drop springs
-installed rear drop shocks
-installed new brake lines across axle and to the front of the truck
-modified trailing arm cross member to accept a 1 pc drive shaft
-cut floor and installed boot over new 5 speed shifter
-removed all the old 3 on da' tree linkage
-cleaned and "painted" the frame
-dropped cab back on the frame
-welded worn spot on clutch rod (resurfaced it)
-installed new gas tank
-installed new float on sending unit
-adjusted seat belts to fit accordingly
-tapped and installed rocket shift knob
-cleaned all unnecessary brackets and mounts from the frame rails

At this point I couldnt stand it any longer and had to mock up the bed.
(No front end work has been done yet) (no drop in front, but rear springs are in)

[4mulaSvaliant]

Stance I "think" will turn out about like this. If so....Great! If lower.... BETTER!! Hahaha






Paint will likely be a Mint green and White, or a light or baby blue and white.
A friend took this photo I snatched from Instagram and did a little magic in Photoshop.


I like the looks of this blue one as well!

[4mulaSvaliant]

Figured Id throw out a picture of my other money pit. LOL
Also the meaning behind my screen name.
my 69 Plymouth Valiant. I have had it since HS. Finally got it painted about 3 months ago.

[duallyjams]

guess you have set the standard for your thread so the next up date will have to be at least 4 post

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

Looks like someone got a little excited and cut too much off of the back of the frame

[curvedglass]

Originally Posted by 4mulaSvaliant

Figured Id throw out a picture of my other money pit. LOL
Also the meaning behind my screen name.
my 69 Plymouth Valiant. I have had it since HS. Finally got it painted about 3 months ago.

*****in' MOPAR. looks bad ass just sittin there.

[4mulaSvaliant]

Thanks for the welcome! Hahaha


Unfortunately, YES.. the previous owner had cut the rear of the frame. Fortunately, by day I design regularly with sheet metal and have a lot of great equipment at my disposal. I drew up some new rails and had them laser cut and bent.

[aggie91]

Nice truck to start with. Your plans and progress look good.

I'm in for the rest!

[jhama78]

Sub'd for updates.

[Captainfab]

That turned out nice

Yes it is nice having access to CAD and fab equipment

[rusty76]

Cool build man! I like it. The Mopar is sweet. I had a '71 Dart Swinger that I absolutely loved to beat on. It was lowered and stock looking but had a 340 in it. She'd fly. Killer truck!

[TJ's Chevy]

Welcome aboard! Nice truck to start with to!

[4mulaSvaliant]

So Last I left off with finishing up the major work in the rear of the truck. The frame rails. Since then I have designed the new cross member to tie the rails together as well. I have yet to make it, but its no real big deal to make and weld in.

My time has been monopolized by family life lately and it was beginning to wear on me...not having my "garage therapy". Lack of daylight is also now posing an issue, but despite all of these things I managed to sneak in a few hours here and there.

First... I rebuilt the Quadrajet that was the unfortunate victim of horrible rust contaminated fuel. See pics!









So there is a bit more to this story as of two nights ago. I started the truck off of a bit of fuel poured into the carb, and then thought to stick the "pick up" side of the fuel line into a gas can in order to flush the fuel pump of the rust debris. Its at this point that it dawned on me that I am an idiot to replace the Fuel tank, steel line, filter, and rebuild the carb only to leave the obviously potential failure of a fuel pump that was essentially pumping a fuel /rust slushy. Needless to say I didn't screw with the fuel pump any further and decided to replace it. At this point the entire fuel system is new aside from a freshly rebuilt carb. Again.... this will be my daily driver and I drive the interstate every day the majority of my commute. I would rather save myself the trouble of an $18.00 part while I am doing all of this already.

[4mulaSvaliant]

SO I was able to steal a few hours mid day and get the front end torn down. I knew I was going to need a ball joint press and wasnt wanting to have it kicking around my garage for several days. (I wasnt sure how the rental thing went)

So anyway I decided if I could at least get the front end torn apart in the few hours I had, that I would be getting somewhere. Fortunately to my amazement it all came apart very easily. I had expected 50 years worth of fight in trying to get these parts loose.






One area that I did have trouble with, but head read it may be an issue, was the top shock bolt. Sure enough it wasnt going to come off easily. I fixed that with the welder! Hahaha Problem solved!



I lack a few in between pics, but here I have everything installed, greased, and awaiting the caliper. The drilled and slotted rotor will unfortunately not be seen behind the wheels I have, but ehhhhhhh who cares!

[4mulaSvaliant]

Well, I have at this point installed everything in the front end aside from the new Tie rod ends. (This saturdays project)

Here is where the 2-1/2" Drop spindles, 2" drop springs, and 5" rear drop springs let her finally sit. I am hoping the front will settle just a bit more after driving it a bit.





So far I have accomplished:

Shortened chassis to SWB
Added new frame rail section to rear (P.O. cut off too much)
Rear shocks
rear springs
rear brake lines
Shortened 1 pc S10 drive shaft, balanced and conversion U-joint
Modified cross member to accommodate the 1 pc drive shaft
T5 5 spd swap
Modified e-brake cross member for clearance of T5 trans
Clutch set
Drop spindles
Ball joints (upper and lower)
Front springs
front shocks
Disc brakes
New bearings, seals, etc.
New fuel tank
rebuilt carburetor
Installed Power brake booster (with Captain fab booster mount)

To do:
Install new E-brake cables (SWB brand new from In-lint tube) (Screw them by the way!) Ill tell that story in a bit.
New fuel line from tank to pump, and pump to carb.
New fuel filters
New fuel pump
Tie rod ends
Proportioning valve
Brake lines (front)
Bleed brakes
Install tail lights in fenders


Random other "to-do's"
Gauges
Heater motor
Radio
Check headlight wiring (one dim headlight)
install a bed floor
Tune up
Trans tail shaft seal (should have already done it but....)
Find a place to connect the crank case breather tube on my new air cleaner
Electric choke (make it work)

[cooperhw]

Awesome build. I am just starting a 63 GMC build myself. Hope to make some good progress soon. Mine is gonna be a daily driver too. Want to let my 06 diesel take a break from the 90 mile commute each day.
Oh yeah, I also have a money pit on the side (67 black pro-street Chevelle and an altered wheelbase 67 Nova drag car that is not quite finished). I take that to shows and cruises so nothing pretty going on this truck. All business.

[TJ's Chevy]

Progress Looking good.

[rusty76]

Making forward momentum.

[CRGRS 66]

Subscribed, looking forward following along!

[4mulaSvaliant]

Thanks guys! Its been fun, I just wish I could have made progress even faster. The season is changing and Ill have to give the car I am borrowing..back soon. My brother in law is a sub mariner and is out to sea currently. The use of his car made all this progress possible.