"Darla" - 1965 Chevy C30 Dually

[focusedontheprize]

It looks like my original Flickr had an error and I lost all my old photos so I am starting a new thread here.

[focusedontheprize]

After I finished "Lucille" I started to look around for a good donor to start building a real work truck. The plans included sourcing a 1963-1966 C30 and start swapping in a modern drivetrain and suspension. The end goal is a 12v Cummins swaps with a new style flatbed. So the search began.

I bought "Darla" back in January 2015. Purchased it from the original owner in Sacramento who had used it for his company business. The truck at the time had around 65,000 miles on it and was in great shape. I drove the truck around the block and called the tow truck to take it home.




Even the stake bed rails were in great condition.



With the stake bed removed, she started looking like a great work truck.

[focusedontheprize]

I started to remove the interior and found this little gem. I thought it was a cool piece - it was the correct one for the truck.


Tried to piece it together one night and see what I was working with.


I also decided to start freshen up a few parts on the truck. The intentions was to source a 1986 - 1987 Chevy/GMC dually for a parts truck so I didn't want to go crazy. The grill and turns signals were the first updates. Swapped in LED turn signals and stripped/painted the grill.




Painted.



New LED turn signals.

[focusedontheprize]

Re-wired everything and re-assembled it all. Not bad for a quick fix.


At this time I was able to source a 1986 GMC 3500 for a stellar price. Unfortunately it was a 10 hour round trip ride to get it, so I began going through the truck and checking/replacing brakes, master cylinder, and lines. Bahr watching over the garage.


Turn signal cam was broken so that needed to be replaced.

[focusedontheprize]

Like I mentioned, I had sourced a 1986 GMC C&C in Nevada. The trip was about 10 hours round trip, so we packed Darla up early, grabbed a coffee, and were on the road before 7am. When I picked up the car trailer the day before from U-Haul everyone needed to come out to check it out. Pretty cool feeling. Few photos of the trip.





This was the guy's "driveway". 2.5 miles off the main road to the back of his ranch.


After we loaded the truck up, the guy asked if I would be interested in taking a motor off his hands for no charge. End up being a 350 4-bolt main that came out of a '69. Sure why not.


Home sweet home

[focusedontheprize]

Backed the truck in and started ripping apart the front end to remove the drivetrain.




Easy removal. It worked out well, I had a buyer lined up the next day to come get it.

[focusedontheprize]

Next project to tackle was the rear, so I wanted to remove the flatbed and start working on the rear suspension while I sourced a Cummins. My neighbor has a gantry crane so this was a breeze. Budman from the forum came out and picked it up. Great guy.

[Palf70Step]

Got a good start with it. I would love to have an old dually truck.

[focusedontheprize]

While that was going on, I began to disassemble the parts truck. The truck was a 1986 GMC Cab and Chassis dually that this gentleman had sitting on his property. He was debating on cutting it up to make a trailer, but end up just wanting to get rid of it. The truck was absolutely solid, so overall it was a great pickup.




Couple days I had a guy interested in the front clip for the price I was asking. A few days later I had someone call me who really wanted the flatbed. This was easier than I was planning on.



My neighbor put together a home made lift on the back of his '49 1 Ton. Once I was ready to pull the motor he goes "Come on lets give it a try". Well she held with no problem - I was pretty impressed.


Breaking down the front and rear suspension. I originally was just going to use the 14 bolt FF, however after some thought I decided I wanted to swap in the rear leaf springs and hangers also.

[focusedontheprize]

Rolled out the rear end. Man this thing is stout.


Massive drums on these rear ends.



Rolled out the front suspension. This truck had the F42 Heavy Duty suspension option which was good. Big ole disc brakes out front.


Good ole Nevada dirt.

[focusedontheprize]

Finally getting caught up on where I am now.

I turned the truck around to start taking apart the rear. As you can see to the left, I had all the donor pieces to the left ready for mockup.


The frame is in great condition, it just has been caked with mud and oil for 60+ years.


Rear end removed.


Just mocking up the 14 bolt in the rear. This is where I decided to go with the 1986 springs. I figured the effort would be worth it down the road and everything would line up.


I made the mistake of not removing the leaf spring hangers before selling off the frame so I needed to source some new ones. Found a gentleman off Craigslist who was parting out a K30 Dually. I called him, worked out a deal, and he said he would even remove all 4 of them for me for no charge. I believe he mentioned "Yeah they will be a breeze". Well long story short, it seems he thought it would take him an hour or so to remove them all - he was wrong and found that out quickly. We end up cutting the frame and just taking the whole rear section.


More than an hour later haha, I had the pieces I needed and even more than that.

[focusedontheprize]

Man, I do not rivets. After a while you get a process down with them, but hell they are a pain in the butt. Here was the first one.


Little debris behind the mount


Clean rails.



Mockup of the leaf spring hangers from the donor.

[focusedontheprize]

Installing the Sulastic Shackles, I am looking forward to testing these out. They had great reviews by guys who said they trucks ride like a 1/2 ton unloaded. Time will tell.



Final test fitting. Everything bolted in and checked.


I removed everything from the rear and welded in a support beam to remove the rear support. I am planning on removing the fuel tank from the cab and relocating it out back. My plans are to run a '73 - '87 31 gallon Suburban/Blazer tank.

[62stepside longbox]

Any more updates on this? I have been patiently waiting

[focusedontheprize]

Originally Posted by 62stepside longbox

Any more updates on this? I have been patiently waiting

Sorry 62step. I have been working on it and have done a terrible job with the updates so let me get back to it..

[focusedontheprize]

With the rear suspension mocked up, I decided to take that cab off and start cleaning up the frame with a wire wheel.

Happy to say the neighbors love me, so I don' think they minded too much. I also installed the front end from the donor truck as well (however will be going a different direction now as I had some time to think).

Everything was in excellent condition. West Coast metal vs. East Coast metal is worlds apart.

And the result..

[focusedontheprize]

Off to the sand blaster

Patiently waiting her turn. I would be out of town for about 3 weeks so he was happy he had some time before having to get right to it.

[focusedontheprize]

So here is where progress slowed down due to my work schedule. My work travel picked up a lot during July, August, and early September. While I was in NYC for work a couple of us went out to the bar and started chasing whiskey for most of the night. Somehow I thought it would be the best time to buy myself a birthday present and ordered a new Miller Millermatic 211. The call from the fiancé regarding the package she was signing for was entertaining.

It is a goal of mine to become a much better welder. I am excited to really put this machine through a couple spools of wire.

Started to fill the holes in the frame.

[focusedontheprize]

I am moving the fuel tank out of the cab and out back. This is the diesel 31 gallon Suburban that I picked up from LMC.

Tacked the tabs up to make sure everything is centered and level before I burn them in.

[focusedontheprize]

Since then, things have changed a little in life. We recently relocated to Texas from California so any down time I had was spent on packing and getting situated. I put a light coat of primer on the frame to prevent flash rusting, bolted the cab and front clip down, and away she went.

It was an absolutely gorgeous drive, you really forget how much of the country side many of us never will see unless we have to take a trip like this. We only had one hiccup and that was one of the threads on the trailer tires blew when we were in New Mexico. We were using walkie talkies as the fiancé was driving in a car behind me and there were a lot of areas that cell phones would not get service. I never felt the thread blow and she came across the wire telling me I needed to pull over. The walkie talkies paid for themselves right there. It could have been a lot worse.

Our boy taking in the beautiful views while we waited..

[SCOTI]

Cool thread. Where in TX did you land?

[focusedontheprize]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Cool thread. Where in TX did you land?

Austin. It is a very cool town. I have a few of my clients in Dallas so I have been spending some time in your neighborhood.

[clemdaddy]

The truck looks just as cool in the second thread as it did in the first. Love me some 1-ton duallys.

You will get hooked on Austin. I travel there every year for the round-up in the spring… maybe we can meet up. Till then, welcome to the southwest.

[focusedontheprize]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

The truck looks just as cool in the second thread as it did in the first. Love me some 1-ton duallys.

You will get hooked on Austin. I travel there every year for the round-up in the spring… maybe we can meet up. Till then, welcome to the southwest.

Thanks Clem and I would look forward to that. Your C30 was the inspiration for me buying this truck. I have kept reading about the Lonestar Roundup for some time now, I am looking forward to heading out there this spring with the '49.

[Low Elco]

Neat thread. Good luck in TX!