1966 C 10 - "Wild Thang"

[jimmythompson1964]

I have been on this site for quite a while. I have really enjoyed reading along with some of the builds and adventures you guys have shared here. I have been able to meet a few of you in person. I met 198Plus, as he lived in the same town as I did when I lived in GA, I enjoyed wondering around his shop looking at the cool builds he had going on. Drove to Ball Ground GA and met Alan and I dreuled over his build, Vitamin C 10 a beautiful truck. I met Dpowers and we had coffee and talked old trucks. I was fortunate enough to visit a job site in Fayetteville, Arkansas so I dropped by Clemdaddy,s and enjoyed his one of a kind shop/parts flea market. I enjoyed meeting each one of you as we all have the same love for these old trucks and it gives us common ground. Time for some of my story…I was raised in a junk yard so to speak, my parents were moving on a weekend when I was in 1st grade so my dad dropped me off at my granddad’s for the weekend. Well he ran a junk yard and I spent all day Friday and most of Saturday roaming through that place sitting the cars pretending I was driving them helping the 2 old black men remove parts…mostly getting in their way but they tolerated me trying to help. From that weekend forward I was hooked I wanted to spend every day with my granddad at that old junkyard. Over the years I got to know where the cars were as good as anyone that worked there. I also fell in love with the 57 Chevys, after I watched the movie Return to Macon County. So the summer I turned 13 I took on cutting grass in the near by neighborhoods and saved every dime to put towards a 57 Chevy. When had saved $75.00 (I thought I was rich), my Dad was a Deputy Sherriff and one of his friends had a 57 Chevy 2 door hard top 283 with a 3 speed, a Hurst floor shifter and chrome slot mags. He agreed to sell it to me on payments…$750.00 (Unbelievable to me to this day) My dad probably helped me along I am not sure but I payed for it over the next year or so. I lived right next to the school so I made sure I parked it near the fence so I could show it to all my friends when we when out for recess and as you can imagine my cool factor went up several notches.
Unfortunately I sold it when I was 23 to buy a 67 Baracuda. Anyway long story shortened I have been around cars and junk yards ( I even worked at one in my 20’s) most of my life and have had a hot rod / work in progress from the age of 13. I have owned at one time or another some version of most of the cool cars we lust over now, the most note worthy…57 chevy, 4 69 Camaros 5 78-81 Camaros, (still have a 79 Z28) 70 Nova 73 Mach 1, 75 V8 Vega, several Jeeps, 71 340 Duster (2 of them) 67 Barracuda fast back 340, 68, 70, 72 Chevy C 10’s 71 Monte Carlo, 4 78-86 Cutlasses and many beaters in between. It was always the same MO, buy them needing some work and it always starts wheels & tires, exhaust for the cool factor and then engine improvements and body work last or never unless it is necessary . I turn 54 in June and I still enjoy this method. I like to drive and enjoy the project and driving keeps me motivated to continue to improve my ride while developing a love for that ride as I pour my effort and money into putting my personality into my ride. My love for these old trucks came from one my dad owned when I was a kid. A 60 short wheel base stepper with the 64-66 grille & hood 327 4 speed, and he was not scared to drive it…it left a lasting impression on me and my driving style. So hopefully this helps you guys see why I do things a little different. I have spent several years thinking I would eventually do the ground up restoration / build thing, but I have to be honest with myself and admit I will probably never be that guy, I like to drive them and beat on them love on them and be the work in progress kind of guy. So this may explain why I am shifting gears and starting a new “Work in Progress Build Page” for my latest fun ride I have affectionately named “Wild Thang” which is come from the fact it has AFR Street eliminator aluminum heads with Crane gold series roller rockers, a comp roller hydraulic cam 12-1 Ross race pistons, Eagle H-Beam rods, Eagle 400 crank making a mean little small block 388 stroker stuffed under the hood with a 4 speed and 373 w/ a Detroit locker out back, and drum brakes all around and no power steering( yet). You may see where that name came from. When you really get into the gas on this old truck things can get a little wild. Soooo…I will over the next few weeks I will take the time to separate the Chop Top Build and the Wild Thang drive and build to be able to relate to you guys my path on both, if I ever get back to the Chop Top Build. One thing this web site has taught me over the last 6 years is that you will need to articulate your story well if you want people to be interested in it, I have not done that very well with my first build page. I will attempt to follow the examples that have been most interesting to me and hopefully it will be worth reading for some of you guys and maybe you will have some input for me as well. Pictures below are my 57 when I first bought it and right before I blew the motor street racing and that I ended up selling it to buy a 67 Barracuda

[jimmythompson1964]

I started out with a 1962 short wheel base step side with a 4speed, that had been wrecked in the driver’s door but it would run & drive. I ordered all the patch panels for the left side repair, inner & outer rockers rear cab corner and a few others and was looking for a donor for a door pillar post. I was passing through Charlotte one Sunday and saw the signs to the Charlotte NC Lowes Motor Speedway Auto Fair, I have been to this event before and know that it is a good source for new and used parts, so I stopped and paid my admission to look. With it being the last day and raining, pickings were slim, but I did run across a 1964 project truck the owner was parting it out. I talked with the guy for a while he lived nearby so I told him if he didn’t sell the cab to call me and maybe we could work out a number that would make me drive back to NC. About a week later he called me told me he sold the chassis and needed the cab sold & picked up the same day as the chassis because he had nowhere to store it. He told me $850.00 would take it home and that included a box of new parts he had that went with the cab. That was a no brainer, I couldn’t buy the parts to fix the 62 for the money he was asking so I made the deal and picked it up that Saturday. The cab had been copped 2" and some custom metal work done to the doors dash and rockers. The cab has a lot of potential for a full on custom ground up build. After several years passed with no real progress, I came to the realization that with me working construction out of town during the week. A honey-do lists and life in general getting in the way of me getting truck time, and the fact that I needed a new shop if I were to do a full ground up build (new shop come later this year). I started looking for a 64 – 66 short stepper truck or a 1951-52 F-100 with a Chevy running gear (not a ford fan but love that body style) that could be my driver/work in progress project. Money was tight so I offered up my 1990 Wrangler I had owned for 15 years for trade and after only a few days had a call on a 1966 C 10 SWB stepper with a 4speed (4 speed was a must). I told him I was interested but he would have to come to me (he was in Maggy Valley NC) he agreed and brought the truck on Friday afternoon pulling it on a trailer. It was a pretty decent drivable truck frame was clean not even any surface rust. Not very much rust on the cab, the right front fender was rusted at the bottom and the hood was junk. No problem I now owned 2 parts truck and a spare hood I bought that need the hinge brace replaced but no rust. Everything worked as advertised and he boasted it was a fresh built 327 (that always scares me). My Jeep was pretty nice and I had replace and upgraded most everything on it from front to back over the years so we started to dicker…I wanted some boot and he wanted to swap even I ended up keeping my Warn 9,000 lb winch and the trade was made. When he was loaded and gone I took everyone for rides and spun the tires done a few doughnuts and generally had a red-neck good time. The next day came a big snow and I could not even get the truck to move in the driveway, and of course as soon as you sell your Jeep here comes a big snow. My Z71 handled the snow just fine not quite as much fun as the Jeep but I now have a hot rod truck to play with. As you can imagine I was itching to drive the old truck but snow and these old trucks do not get along very well it had to wait nearly a week before I got to really put some miles on it. So that is how I acquired my 66 C10 SWB stepper. Here are some pictures of my Jeep I traded and the picture he sent me of the truck.

[Palf70Step]

Nice looking truck. Looking forward to seeing more of it.

[jimmythompson1964]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Nice looking truck. Looking forward to seeing more of it.

Thanks for the compliment, it's a solid old truck...the paint is not good poor prep...cheap paint... and not enough on it. I will be adding more pictures of my progress. paint can wait for a while

[jimmythompson1964]

The first thing I had to do was get rid of the old saw blade rims, I am old school when it comes to wheels and tires most of the wheels on the market today are better suited for the modern trucks, so I opted for the 70's rally wheels with the 90's center caps. I really like the look of these wheels with the short stubby center caps it makes them look moor like the Vette wheels.

[jimmythompson1964]

I put insurance on the truck and drove to work a few times, drove it to a few local car shows and in general got to know my new ride for most of 2015 and into 2016, did not do much to it

[jimmythompson1964]

The truck came with a "rebuilt" 327 and a 4 speed. When someone tells me its a freshly rebuilt engine that always worries me unless I know the builder, this time my worries were justified. On my first out of state trip from East TN to my home town in Sumter, SC I was showing off to my cousin and ran it through the gears when I shifted to 3rd it died like it lost ignition. it just shut down. when I tried to restart the engine sounded like it lost compression on a few cylinders and would not start. We towed it back to my cousin's shop & tore it apart to discover the timing chain broke. I found this strange as I never had this happen to me before. So went ahead and replaced the timing chain and still had no compression on the #1 cylinder so I decided the motor had to come out, but that would need to happen back in TN. My wife came to get me for the long silent ride home. The following weekend I drove my Z71 back and put her on the trailer for the long haul back to my house in TN. When I pull the motor down I found a lifter came apart and forced the exhaust valve into the piston and broke the timing chain & bent the valve, as I inspected the internals it looks as if someone did a cheap rebuilt kit on the 327, and the heads were junk as well, they weren't even a matched set. I debated on doing a total rebuild on the 327 but as it happens I had a low fairly new 383 stroker wrapped in plastic on the bench that came out of my 79 Z28 that was already planned on putting in the 62 Chop top project, so Game ON! I spent the next month ordering parts and planting some new power under the hood, and I ran directly into my next hurdle. This motor was a 99 truck block 4 bolt main with a 1 piece seal, so it has a after market 400 crank in it and was a turbo 350 in the Camaro so it needed a flywheel for the 4 speed. I ordered a billet flywheel and new clutch and installed it. Well...as soon as I drove it I felt a pretty good vibration that got worse the higher the RPM\. Yep you guessed it...I had my hot rod motor balanced so now I needed to balance my flywheel and that presented the next problem, if I didn’t want to tear down my engine I would need to find a machine shop that would match balance my new flywheel with the auto flywheel that was balanced with the motor. So I found a machine shop that could take my auto flywheel and match balance the manual flywheel. The problem was he needed a after market 400 crank like the one in my truck, he said I would have to wait on him to either have a customer bring one in for work or find one to use. Well that took almost a year....talk about a time stick in the spokes, all together it took my truck out of commission for a little over a year. so now I am just enjoying driving it to some shows and weekend duties when I come home on the weekends. I am fixing the small things that I can work on for a day or two and then drive it some more. I am in the process of planning out a new 30x60 shop this coming spring I hope, and then with a good place to work I will get busy with my truck body work and upgrading the suspension and so on. But for now I am planning on driving to the Pigeon Forge Rod Run in the spring, I hope to make the Hot Rod Power Tour in June and as many other shows as possible. Just enjoying my truck on the road any chance I get.

[jimmythompson1964]

Drove Wild Thang to Shades of the Past @ Dollywood in Pigeon Forge TN, I picked up some stainless steel chains for my tail gate, some cool stainless steel tail lights they are not made for the truck so I had to fab some brackets, they are used mostly on hot rods like the 32 ford and got to love the blue dot. I also picked up some door weather striping to put in the door to stop all of the rattling. I put them on in the parking lot, they were driving me nuts. That 1 bag of parts set me back $250.00 I guess you mus pay to play.

[jimmythompson1964]

One thing that really looked bad on the truck was the inside panels of the bed, someone stripped them and left them in primer to rust, and it just look ugly. I was planning to drive the truck back home to SC for Christmas so I stripped it to bare metal rust treated and put a few coats of satin black out back and replaced the rusty bolts with stainless steel button head bolts

[jimmythompson1964]

My Christmas trip home to SC about 4 1/2 hr. drive was eventful Made into town for the family Christmas get together with no issues. Friday night I was playing around and threw the fan belt off...no big deal...stuck a new one on it...everything seemed OK. On the drive down I had been feeling a slight vibration but couldn’t pin point where it was coming from, Well Saturday afternoon I found out what the vibration was. I took a my uncle for a ride in “Wild Thang” I ran her through the gears feeling that 383 4 speed pull...when I grabbed 3rd gear she shot way sideways and we were looking at the trees for a minute but I got straightened out and slowed down, I immediately smelled antifreeze so I pulled over and opened the hood to see what hose burst. What I saw was the fan through the radiator with part of the water pump still attached, the water pump was broke off of the engine...never seen this kind of carnage on a water pump before. I was only about 2 miles from the Christmas party so I put the parts in the rear started it up took off got it up to speed then shut it down and coasted back to the party. I spent all the next day finding parts to put it back together so I could get home. My friend came and picked me up and drove me around to gather all my parts including giving me pulleys and brackets off of a 81 Camaro he bought to build a dirt track car. Its always good to have friends with extra parts.

[jimmythompson1964]

OK that gets me to this year 2018, I missed the Pigeon Forge Rod Run when my younger brother had a sudden heart attack and passed in April just before the Rod Run...that one still hurts...but it got me thinking life is short and we never know how long we have left so I am trying to spend more times doing things that make me happy. So I have planned a busy year for my truck, it started with the second most ugly thing about my truck, the front bumper the bed being the 1st and with the bed looking good now I went in the back field and pulled the front bumper off of my old 62. it had heavy surface rust on the backside and several coats of paint on the front so off to the sand blaster & got it blasted. I brought it home and and started doing some prep for paint after I got it primed I did a test fit, I had been toying with the idea of doing a Chip Foose special and narrowing it a little. Well to my surprise a 62 has a different bolt pattern than my 66. That really aggravated me after spending most of the day getting it ready to paint, so I called it quits for the day and got me a cold one. Saturday morning I came back with determination I welded up the bumper mounting holes & license plate mounting holes and then cut out 3/4 of an inch of from the width and then welded it back together. I line it up for best fit and drilled new mounting holes, finished my paint prep and painted it. That took me all day and into the night. but Sunday afternoon the new bumper was mounted and looking good.

[jimmythompson1964]

Well I think everything on my truck is ready for the hot rod power tour, at least I hope it's ready. Sooo a road trip must take place...I am working at the VA in Nashville, TN about a 250 mile trip one way...sounds like a good road trip-test to me, with a stop at the Good Guys Giant car show on Friday of course. Well I left my house with tools and extra parts (just in case) and hit the road, it is 99% interstate from home to my hotel and with the 373 gears and a 4 speed, I keep it between 60-65 mph. Rolling on I-40 it was a late afternoon trip, the weather was nice with the windows down. I had a few horn blows, thumbs up, and waves from other travelers, it was a really enjoyable trip. I am staying at an extended stay and have been there nearly 3 months and no one has even said hello to me...well upon pulling into the parking lot with the old truck's roller cam sounding off through the flow master mufflers, I became instantly the most popular guy at the hotel. There were guys wanting to know what I had under the hood and those telling me about the truck they used to have or there dad used to own. Everyone was cool and I enjoyed showing my old rough truck off to people who were interested. It is really amazing how much attention these old trucks attract when you drive them. I am glad I decided to drive my truck while I do some upgrades, driving it keeps me motivated. I have been waiting on this elusive time in my life when I will have the time and money to do a ground up redo with the chopped cab and upgrades that I see some of you guys here doing to your trucks. Just wanted to share and encourage you to take a road trip even if you're not quite finished with your truck enjoy the moment. Hope to see some of you guys at one of my stops with the Hot Rod Power Tour.

[jimmythompson1964]

The truck made the trip with no mechanical issues over all a good trip and I think the truck is road ready for the HOD Rod Power Tour marathon. HOWEVER...I stopped at the Goodguys Giant car show in Nashville before driving home, and ran into a little trouble literally! Right there at the entrance I had a dispute for real estate with a Hyundai SUV. The damage was not severe and was able to drive it home.

[jimmythompson1964]

With only 3 weeks before the Power Tour I now would be up against the wall on time, only being able to work on it weekends. I removed the hood and fender to see what was damaged causing the tire to lean in at the top, and yes it would need the frame pulled. So I drove it to my fiends shop Friday morning he let me use his frame machine for a few hours and I was able to stand the tire back up straight. Front end shop was next then the tire store it bent the lip of the front rim. I got the tire removed and headed back home to get busy. Everyone on this web site will know what mean when I say when you start working on one thing on these old trucks you usually find 3 or 4 other things that need to be dealt with while it's tore down. My inner fender had a rust hole up front, the steering column bearing was wore out and wiring needed some help, and of course everything need cleaning and a new coat of satin black paint. The last thing I decided to do was get rid of the 3rd most ugly thing about my truck...the hood....

[jimmythompson1964]

Everyone has been here and done this

[jimmythompson1964]

I bought a hood about 6 or 7 years ago originally for the 62 but now it will go on the 66, it looks good no rust or major dents The PO said it flew up and bent the rear brace where it mounts to the hinges. With my truck apart I finally decided to take on this challenge of change out that brace. It's interesting that I own 3 trucks and 4 hoods, and out of them all including the one I'm driving only 1 had a brace that was not bent at the hinges must be a common thing, oh well, so it was Game On. I took my time with the hood I wanted to reuse and was able to remove it without damaging the hood. The donor hood not so much it was a rust bucket in front, the donor brace had some rust where it mounted to the hood so I cut it out and welded in patch pieces and made it ready for install. It was even a challenge to get the hood turned over and supported with towels to keep from bending it from its own weight while working on it. I set it up on my trailer so it was out side and the rain kept me from finishing it completely but did get it put back together and clamped ready to weld. So much to do and so little time, I have only this coming weekend to complete everything and be ready for nearly 2,000 miles of Hot Rod Power Tour fun. This will be a busy week end for sure. I need 2 of me. I will put it on next weekend before I leave for the Power Tour.

[jimmythompson1964]

I forgot to mention I bought some for under the hood new electric fan set-up, valve covers air cleaner and serpentine pulley set-up. When I started to pull the pulleys off I found the outer ring on my harmonic balance had come loose...Bummer, but it was outstanding luck to find that problem before I left on my long haul trip. The second bummer is that the water pump pulley would not fit, still happy I dodge a big bullet on that one. If you look close and the balancer you will see it is all the way back rubbing on the timing cover. Also thought I would give you a example of when its better to order a new part, When I took the battery out of the truck the bottom of the battery box was almost rusted through so I figured no big deal I have a new Miller welder I'll just fix it..... 4 hours later it was fixed but when you can order on for $40.00 maybe I should have just ordered it and put my efforts to more pressing issues. Well at least my fixed box will out last the after market ones I used some heave gauge metal.

[Johns66]

Nice job.

[jimmythompson1964]

HOT ROD POWER TOUR weekend is here its time to get packed up and on the road...oh wait I'm not quite finished with the truck I got home about 7:30 PM Thursday night and called my neighbor to help me set the hood back on I did a quick adjustment and started working on some gremlins in my blinkers and brake lights, well I able to get 2 tail lights 1 brake light and a left blinker...that will have to do for now. The rest of the night was spend packing clothes tools ( including my entire wiring kit ) and spare parts. I had to take sleeping pills to get me wound down and to sleep that night. I woke up early to load the truck and do my final check list. It was still near 11:00 am before I hit the road. It would be over 300 miles to Bowling Green KY... so lets roll...As I started down the interstate my mind was going a mile a minute going over all the work I had done over the last 3 weeks with little time for a road test and hoping I didn't forget something that would bite me down the road somewhere...did I tighten all of the bolts...what am I forgetting...and so it went for the first hour or so. I eventually settled down and started to enjoy the trip and made it to Power Tour registration that afternoon and then the hotel with no issues.

[jimmythompson1964]

Originally Posted by Johns66

Nice job.

Thank you sir

[jimmythompson1964]

Hotel parking lots were a car show at night

[jimmythompson1964]

Day 5 was Darlington SC Raceway near my hometown saw some friends and my dad is riding the last 3 stops with me. My daughter brought my grandson, trying to get him started early...seems to be working This Power Tour is cool

[jimmythompson1964]

I topped off my Darlington stop with winning the drawing for a new Eaton posi differential

[66K20]

Nice work!

I really like your approach to the truck and how nothing seems to slow you down. Seeing the truck used and loved is great too.

Congrats on the locker

[lumpy63]

Did you ever get the balance issue truly fixed ? Between the balancer walking off and the broken water pump, My guess is something is out of balance.In all my years of working on small block chevy's never have I seen a water pump break like that.