FREE 1974 Chevy C30 3+3 Dually

[Nick_R_23]

I recent scored and saved this 1974 Chevy C30 Crew Cab Dually from a lot that was being cleared. The owner wanted all the vehicles removed, so I took this one! This is how it was found, obviously been sitting for quite a few years. I also posted this in the Abandoned and Neglected thread, but it’s been saved now!



How it arrived. It had a seized rear drum on the driver side, tires were flat, it wasn’t very enthusiastic about moving yet.





SPID shows this is a factory 454/TH400 truck! Engine is long gone, but the TH400 is still there.





I was able to give it a quick scrub down before it really dumped snow. It’ll get cleaned much better once it’s summer again.





I scored a complete 1974 front end (headlight bezels, grille, brackets, headlight hardware, valance, and bumper) locally for $160!







One of the bezels was mismatched so I traded it for another silver one.



I managed to unseize the rear drum, which looks to have new shoes. I removed all of the wheels because it has the factory split rings in the rear, and mismatched ones up front.

[Nick_R_23]

I also sold my ‘72 Chevelle project last weekend, and the buyer wanted it as a roller, so I kept the 365hp 454 and 4L80E. Both will be reused in this truck!

[Shark_13]

Awesome!!

[Nick_R_23]

Backstory on the engine and transmission. I picked the engine up for $100 as a low hour takeout marine engine. The transmission came from an Express van I parted out and sold everything on, so that was free. I think it had 150k miles.





Found a set of headers for $100! These were for the Chevelle, but supposedly fit the C-chassis trucks also.



4L80E as it came from the van.



First order of business was to strip the marine parts off, clean and degrease the engine, and apply some Chevrolet Orange!





Second coat!





Converting the oil filter back to stock with a new bypass adapter.





Removed the old marine style pan.



Picked up a stock style pan for $50 and painted it.



New water pump



Picked up some power steering brackets



Other miscellaneous new parts for the engine

[Nick_R_23]

Rolling in the new race coated rod and main bearings.





New Cloyes true roller timing chain



Timing cover with new main seal



High volume oil pump with hardened steel driveshaft



Balancer and power steering brackets reinstalled.



Rear main seals and oil pan installed.





Water pump installed



Top end looks just as clean!



Intake and valve covers removed



049 oval port heads. One of the better flowing factory setups!



Scored a low profile Torker intake. Originally due to Chevelle hood clearance, but it’ll work just fine on the truck too. It’s single plane because I’ll be using a Terminator X Stealth EFI with this.



New gaskets, and intake installed!









Alternator brackets installed.



Picked up a new HD flexplate.





New spark plugs



New power steering pump and pulley.





Painted some engine brackets



Bought some studs for the valve covers.



New air cleaner and decals! (These were correct for a 1971 LS5 454 which is what it was originally being loosely cloned as)

[Nick_R_23]

More new parts! Chrome reproduction valve covers with the correct drip rails.



New Vortec style starter and upgraded alternator





PCV doodads



Starter installed



Alternator installed



Test fit the valve covers!





Water pump pulley





Reproduction thermostat housing







New valve cover gaskets











Power steering hoses.



I completely gave up on finding an OEM crank pulley, so I ordered a billet aluminum one.





Oil pressure sensor



Restored 7 blade fan

[Nick_R_23]

Picked up some tight fit -6AN adapters for the 4L80E.



Transmission cleaned



Internals looked great, no material buildup in the pan.



Removed old shift shaft to convert to Sonnax short shaft (deletes PRNDL switch)





New filter and gasket.



Pan cleaned



New seals





Fittings installed



Transmission finished!





Picked up an ATI close fit dipstick





Header bolts and Holley TBI distributor harness



HD ceramic plug wires

[Rickysnickers]

Great job and you are a lucky guy! One question, looking at the balancer, it appears the rubber ring is looking a bit haggard. Would it be wise to invest in a new balancer?

[Getter-Done]

Glad you are saving this one.

[Nick_R_23]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Great job and you are a lucky guy! One question, looking at the balancer, it appears the rubber ring is looking a bit haggard. Would it be wise to invest in a new balancer?

Not really a worry unless it starts deteriorating inside the rings. There’s so much surface area with the rubber on these.

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by Nick_R_23

Not really a worry unless it starts deteriorating inside the rings. There’s so much surface area with the rubber on these.

[SCOTI]

In to watch.... One mans trash is another's treasure!

[jayoldschool]

This is my new favourite thread.

[Nick_R_23]

Purchased a set of 7 matching wheels from a 1982 Chevy motorhome with lug rings and lug nuts for $300, and found a good set of Dually tires for $200! Going to paint these and then mount them once I get the brakes squared away.

[Nick_R_23]

I had a curious magpie watching me work outside today



I sold the TH400 transmission today. I think the factory fill coolant protection may need to be looked at though, haha.



Off to its new home!



Cleaned out the interior. Someone stripped the dash pretty bare, including the harness. The only part I’m really upset about is that they cut the dash. I’ll have to figure out a patch for this.





Replaced the missing wing window, door handle, and door card from a spare door I had. Also replaced the door locks.



Replaced the headlight switch, key switch, turn signal switch, and brake light switch since they were all missing.







Ordered all replacement lights - tail lights, all side marker lights, and bulbs. Also a high beam switch and new rear brake hose.



New front calipers



New ignition switch, headlight knob, and window crank handles for the rear doors.



Painted the wheels!

[Getter-Done]

Hopefully you can find a doner truck for the dash patch.

Those are defiantly 1974 door panels.

Is the front passenger side door panel missing or just removed?

[Nick_R_23]

One of my friends has a scrap cab that I think I can cut the patch out of. I’m also considering having the windshield removed and just replacing the entire dash assembly.

The passenger side parts are missing just like the drivers side were, but luckily I also have the passenger side parts as well from a pair of spare doors I got with the truck.

[Nick_R_23]

Pretty good load of marketplace finds today!

Blue dash pad for $100!



Brand new BBC fan shroud for $20!



LED 7” headlights for $50!



Picked up a new master cylinder and brake pads while I was in town today



Painted the other side of the wheels also

[r8rs4lf]

Great job! Things are moving pretty quick.

[kwmech]

Did they make reverse rotation 454s for boats???? or was that just for the small blocks

[Nick_R_23]

Yes, they did. This one had a tag indicating the rotation, but inspecting the timing set is the easiest way to tell, as reverse rotation use a gear to gear set instead of a timing chain to reverse the cam direction.

[dagnabbitt]

Really cool truck, my favourite year of square. Those woodgrain rear door panels have to be pretty much priceless, nice to see them still on the truck.

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you. I found out on the RPO list that this truck is a Cheyenne Super 30, so that explains the wood grain. Are the door panels not reproduced? I’m a little surprised this doesn’t have things like A/C, sliding rear window, etc with that high of a trim package.

Cleaned up the brake rotors on both sides, they actually seem to not have much wear. Must have been replaced like the rear shoes were. Installed the new calipers as well

[Shark_13]

Free always ends up costing $$

[jayoldschool]

Originally Posted by Shark_13

Free always ends up costing $$

An amazing motivator, though. "I have only spent 5k on parts!"