1961 Chevy Sparten 409

[Peanutbutter]

Went to a yard sale awhile back, clear on the other side of town, wife and I got there first. I was in hog heaven, all kinds of semi truck parts, cheap, but the first thing I got was this 1961 Sparten 70 3 axle, W motor with 5 and 3. Could'nt waite to git it home.

[j.kirn]

nice

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Interesting truck.

Probably about as heavy as you could get for a C-Series in '61.

[Peanutbutter]

36000 on the data plate

[buggy5872]

looks to be in pretty good shape. Nice score

[5Tractorguy]

I hope your going to be putting it back on the road. That is one cool truck!

[Peanutbutter]

it had a dump box on it but its going to be a tractor. I want to be able to pull my little 25 ton hyster manul folding gooseneck lowboy. That means I'll have to mount a winch behind the cab, but I already have a 6041 browne with a power tower on it so I have all the pieces I need.

[flashed]

Cool old truck , Im in to see more .

[factorystock]

Wow, rare find. Not your typical early 60's Chevy truck. This one has some good bones! Glad you saved it!

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Right, '62 was the first year in the '60-'66 style truck that got the Straight Front Axle and only on the GMC 6500. Never did find out if the '62 Chevy C-80 got one as well, but all trucks did '63 and up. If I had a Torsion Bar Suspension, I would keep it too.

What is wrong with the '61 Cab? It looks OK in the pictures.

[5Tractorguy]

Originally Posted by C10 - C90 Bill

If I had a Torsion Bar Suspension, I would keep it too.

I will say with a load on it they do ride nice for a big truck.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Originally Posted by 5Tractorguy

I will say with a load on it they do ride nice for a big truck.

I used to carry 14,000 on my '62 4000 and I agree, it rode just fine.

[Peanutbutter]

the cab looks descent from a distance but rough close up, I'm more of a 456 guy and I have much nicer 456 cabs to pick from. That will greatly reduce the time it takes to get the truck operational. That may give me more time to cherry out a big back window cab that I have and swap them out later. As far as the IFS is concerned I have never even driven or rode in one of the old torsion trucks, that would be great if it rode softer than what I'm used to.

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

Awesome truck, very cool engine/transmission combo! My Grandpa used to have a 1960 Fleetside pickup, would like to find a '60 or '61 C50 or C60 to set up with the winch and gin poles that I have. Found a 1965 Chevy with tandems about 30 miles away several months ago but the scrapper beat me to it, shame as it ran only a few years ago until the owner passed.

[factorystock]

'62 was the first year for the straight axle option on Chevy's, but only on the 80 series. IMO, I would leave the front suspension alone if its OK, more historical and gossip value, just 3 years of this type of suspension in such large of a truck. Same goes for the cab, IMO, I would stick with correct styled cab, I'm sure theres a few super clean ex grain hauling C 50's that would make great donors for a rare factory dual drive 10 wheeler.

[Peanutbutter]

was 1961 the last year for the sparten 70 designation and then in 1962 it evolved into the C 80?, or how did that work?

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by Peanutbutter

was 1961 the last year for the sparten 70 designation and then in 1962 it evolved into the C 80?, or how did that work?

The 70 series was replaced by the 80 series in '62 and the head honcho.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

I believe that would be correct.

Also, just to throw in another 2 Cents, I would also recommend keeping the original style cab.

[Peanutbutter]

I'm still trying to convince myself it would look great as one of these, instead of a 456.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

I like both, but only when they correspond to the front clip they sport.

Myself, I can spot the difference a mile away.

[5Tractorguy]

Searching through trucks around the US, came across this in Arizona, figured it could be good for reference photos.

If ya can stick with that original '60-'63 cab, the front grill and the cab make the look of that truck.

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/c...456057973.html

[Peanutbutter]

thanks 5T for the info, If I had the yellow cab and clip on the upper photo in my post 22 it would be a done deal.

[Peanutbutter]

spent the last 3 days at the annual farm consignment sale, all kinds of neat stuff, got rid of stuff and picked up more stuff. Since I want to make the Sparten 70 compatible with my 1967 Hyster folding gooseneck lowboy I need a winch behind the cab, I have one but found one I like a lot better at the auction. Its a nice old old school rigup truck winch with the cap head drums and clutch and brake levers intact. Very period for this truck and I've got the 6041 browne with a power tower to run the winch.

[special-K]

Glad to hear it!

[jumpsoffrock]

Man that is such a cool truck. I would love to have a truck like that for a car hauler, but I don't think I'm a skillful enough driver to use air brakes.