'64 C-10 Stalled Project Rescue

[The Rocknrod]

Well it looks great.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

Well it looks great.

Thanks. It was more work than installing proper year covers, but in the end I'm pleased with the results. And the seat feels great to sit on as well. With the seat now completely refurbished, the carpet and door panels in place, the interior is suddenly not a bad place to be.

So now I'm waiting on the electric steering pump to arrive, and laying plans on what to dig into next. I'll probably start pulling the factory heater out of the truck later today or tomorrow so that I can clean up and (probably) paint the firewall underneath in preparation for the future A/C. And maybe finally deal with the bed wood. Or a new radiator and electric fan. Or a brake booster. Or...

[jkeating1]

But would you say putting any 67-72 design seat cover on a '72 seat frame would be pretty easy?

[Arne]

Originally Posted by jkeating1

But would you say putting any 67-72 design seat cover on a '72 seat frame would be pretty easy?

Probably. But since I haven't really seen a seat frame from one of those years for something like 30 years, I can't say for certain.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by Arne

I'll probably start pulling the factory heater out of the truck later today or tomorrow so that I can clean up and (probably) paint the firewall underneath in preparation for the future A/C.

The heater came out fairly easily. The fan motor is seized, and the heater core looks to have a lot of scale clogging it up, but the rest of it is actually pretty nice. I may post it for sale soon, along with the power steering pump and such. Maybe a couple of other surplus parts too.

As I expected, the PO (or his painter) didn't bother to pull the heater when the cab and firewall was painted. So I'm going to clean it up and use a little of the leftover green paint that came with the truck to spray that part of the firewall.

Bonus! Now that the heater is off and not going back, I can use a stock-type air filter instead of the cheesy looking one now on it. I need to start watching for a factory 4-BBL air cleaner...

[bigmoe]

I'm not a fan of the look of the deluxe heater so I managed to find a recirculating heater that mounts in the cab for mine and I got some factory block offs. Actually I've never bothered to run the heater hoses to it and the inlet outlet just have rubber caps on them. My truck is just a fair weather runner.

[Arne]

Here's the new-to-me electric steering pump. With the original mounting bracket it's a little bigger than I'd figured. But I'll need to mod the bracket some anyway, so I still think it will fit inside the left fender well. If not, I'll mount it under the bed behind the cab. But I'd rather not have to run hydraulic hoses that far if I don't have to.

[caseyjones]

Very interested to see your solution!

[Arne]

The steering pump project will begin in earnest later this week. Initial rough mock-up (a.k.a. holding the pump in place by hand) looks like it'll be OK up front. I'm optimistic.

Spent some time today painting the firewall where the heater used to be.

[Arne]

Here's where the pump will sit. Since this picture, I've got the brackets pretty well settled. I'm using the original Volvo mounting cradle with its rubber mounts as is. I've sliced and diced the original cradle-to-body brackets to build a 3-point mount inside the fender. I'll only need to drill one single 5/16" hole in the frame, none anywhere else. Will post a picture after the bracket fab is complete.

[Arne]

The pump bracketry is complete, and the pump is mounted. Plenty of room, no clearance issues at all. The pump sits on its original 3 rubber mounts, and the brackets and the mount cradle are solid.

I will start figuring out the plumbing tomorrow. I'd like to use the hoses I got from POL if I can. The return line should be no problem, but the pressure line may be a little too long. I need to get a M16x1.5 banjo fitting to adapt to the female -6 AN end of the pressure hose, will be looking to get one of those locally if possible.

Once the hoses have been figured out, I will fill the reservoir, and then wire it. Three wires, very simple.

Last, after spinning it lock-to-lock many times during the test fitting, I've come to the conclusion that I probably need a third u-joint and a support bearing for the steering shaft. I'll be looking into this soon.

[Arne]

The hoses are routed and connected, and the initial fill is done. Wiring is started, might finish tomorrow, or maybe Wednesday. So it should be back on the ground and ready for road test by the end of the week.

[The Rocknrod]

Looks like it was made for that spot.

[JohnIL]

Arne,
Are you at all worried about road debris, water, mud, etc. on the pump? It seems like it will be very exposed inside the wheel well. Do you plan to put some sort of shield/cover around it?

John

[Arne]

Originally Posted by JohnIL

Arne,
Are you at all worried about road debris, water, mud, etc. on the pump? It seems like it will be very exposed inside the wheel well. Do you plan to put some sort of shield/cover around it?

John

I've given some thought to building a simple shield of either sheet metal or possibly ABS or similar plastic.

On the other hand, I don't expect this truck to ever be a daily driver, and quite likely will only rarely even see rain. And considering the amount of road grunge I cleaned off of it from the original Volvo fitment, they must consider it fairly immune to that stuff. So I'm not sure that it's a big deal either way.

[Arne]

I took the truck on a short shakedown drive today, and I'm pleased. Yes, I've confirmed that I need to add a 3rd u-joint to the shaft, and also confirmed that the stock 17" steering wheel is too large for boosted steering. But I expected both of those items, and the rest of the performance has met my goals.

The electric pump has an audible whine, but you can't hear it from the cab when the engine is running, even at idle with the window open. The fixed 70% boost that the pump provides when not computer controlled is just about right. Easy to turn those big 275/60 tires when going slow, but not over-boosted at normal road speeds.

About the only downside is that—as others here have noted about some rack & pinion conversions—the turning radius may be a bit larger than before. But not much larger, certainly not as large as the '73 C30 crew cab I learned to drive on, so not enough to concern me.

I'm planning to write up a more comprehensive review with DIY notes soon. Watch for it in the main discussion area.

[Braunschweiger]

That's great your conversion works so fantastic.
maybe a cover over the power steering pump
keeps the dirt out and the noise in.

[caseyjones]

Maybe it’s obvious but I assume that pump placement wouldn’t work with the square body power steering box? Or maybe it could move outboard a little bit and still clear the tire?

[Arne]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

That's great your conversion works so fantastic.
maybe a cover over the power steering pump
keeps the dirt out and the noise in.

I'm not too worried about the noise since you can't hear it from inside the cab. But keeping it clean, and hiding it from view could be nice. So I'll give some thought to a cover.

Originally Posted by caseyjones

Maybe it’s obvious but I assume that pump placement wouldn’t work with the square body power steering box? Or maybe it could move outboard a little bit and still clear the tire?

True, if I understand where the square body steering box mounts, I think this spot would be problematic. One may be able to move it outboard some, depending on what tires and wheels were being used. (Mine, being 275/60 on 15x8 up front are about as large as most people will ever have.) Also, building my mount brackets leveraging the original Volvo bracket as I did makes the package a bit larger than it would absolutely have to be.

But you could mount it inside the right fender just as easily, if you didn't mind running the hoses across under the radiator. Or behind the cab, or wherever.

[Arne]

The steering shaft support bearing and additional u-joint are on their way, along with some initial parts for the next update for the old truck—an aluminum radiator and electric cooling fan. Looks like ETA early next week.

[Arne]

I finished the steering project today. The third u-joint did the trick, the steering is now nice and smooth, no binding at all. I'm still thinking about adding a splash shield of some sort to the pump, but other than that the steering is complete.

[Arne]

Did a little cleanup, a short test drive and some new photos today, since the sun was out.

My wife heard the truck coming home, and shot a really short video of me pulling into the driveway. I guess that proves it is a driver now.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Eq7XbKMEVbw

Here's a new pic...

[FamilyTruckster65]

She looks good!

[Braunschweiger]

Turned out very pretty.

[rbruno68]

The steelies and hub caps are really starting to grow on me. Might have to change my plans.