1965 C20 Rebuild

[1964c20_jlm]

This is a '65 C20 that I picked up about 3-1/2 years ago. It had been sitting in a barn since 1976, so there wasn't a lot of rust on it, but it makes up for that by being dented and beat up all over.

As is customary while bringing a new project home, I have to pay off the kids with some Whataburger. They earned it this time since it took about two and a half hours to come-along this thing onto the trailer.

[1964c20_jlm]

After spending 40 years in a barn, it picked up a lot of trash and debris. I cleaned what felt like 200 pounds of seeds, chicken feathers, and mouse and rat poop out of the thing.

[1964c20_jlm]

Here are some more pictures of the condition of the body.

[1964c20_jlm]

Here's a pic of the engine compartment and interior.

The radiator was missing from it. The guy I bought it from was the grandson of the original owner. He said that his granddad had pulled the radiator and taken it to the shop to get repaired. His graddad died before picking up the part and getting it running again, then it sat for several decades.

[1964c20_jlm]

I found a cheap parts truck that had a radiator and decent looking bed on it. The truck ended up having a radiator out of a C60 in it, which is probably an overkill for a 230 engine, but it had tags on it and the heater core showing that they had both been rebuilt in the recent past, so both went into the C20.

After cleaning all of the trash out of the engine compartment, changing the oil, doing a tune-up, installing the radiator, and rebuilding the carb, I turned the engine over a few times and it fired right up.

[66x3]

Wow ! Looks like there's not one panel that's not creashed, bashed or crashed on it ! Too bad cause it looks really solid. What are your plans for it? Hopefully leave it a C 20?

[1964c20_jlm]

Originally Posted by 66x3

Wow ! Looks like there's not one panel that's not creashed, bashed or crashed on it ! Too bad cause it looks really solid. What are your plans for it? Hopefully leave it a C 20?

It stays a C20 and eventually gets better. I'll continue to post over the next couple of evenings to get caught up to its current state.

[Katrina/10]

Good luck with your project! I'll be following along.

[1964c20_jlm]

Here's a few pic of the rear frame cleanup and the front end being taken off for some work.

[1964c20_jlm]

And finally, some pictures of it improving a little. I bought a set of newer wheels with decent tires on them. The front grill support and grill from the parts truck got installed since it wasn't mangled like the original.

The brakes were also done by now, including adding a dual master cylinder. I like to keep them as original as possible, but always upgrade the master cylinder after having a wheel cylinder fail on one when I was driving in traffic years ago.

It's drivable at this point, so I took it for a couple of laps around the yard before taking the last two pictures.

[1964c20_jlm]

Started the bodywork at this point. I used a dent puller on the doors since I couldn't reach the crease from the inside and also plan on replacing the skins on the next pass of working on the truck a few years down the road.

[1964c20_jlm]

Finishing up the doors.