A '66 Stepside SWB Transformation, Maybe?

[Powered]

I'm new here and posted an intro but I'd like to say again, hello everyone from South Mississippi. I managed to purchase a truck about 12 years ago that was in pretty decent shape. I drove up to work one day and it was sitting in the parking lot. I went in and asked who's truck it was and the guy who owned it told me he found it under a carport in Alabama and purchased it to make into a hotrod. When he got it home, he discovered it was in too good of shape to take it apart so he changed the rear end to a more friendly highway ratio and started driving it around. I opened the door and it smelled just like my grandpa's truck, a '66 fleetside that he drove throughout my childhood. I loved the smell of that truck.

I told him that if he ever wanted to sell it, blah, blah, blah... Six months later, he was working somewhere else and my phone rang. He said that he'd blown up the motor in his dragster and needed to sell the truck to afford a new one. $3,500.00 later, it was mine. Straight six, three speed on the column, manual everything but everything worked except the gas gauge. A used cluster with an operable gauge off Ebay took care of that.

Then 12 years of every-now-and-then driving, ethanol gas and dirt daubers took its toll. First, the brakes failed. Wheel cylinders leaked, master cylinder quit on me, brake hoses collapsed, etc. I quit fixing it thinking I'd convert it to vacuum assist power brakes, front disc, dual master cylinder, you know, all the safer stuff. Then the carb started acting funny and upon disassembly and inspection, found the fuel tank, fuel line, pump and carb had deteriorated from ethanol fuel usage/storage. It SUCKED! and it has sat now for about three years.

So, I did what any sensible, yet concerned truck owner would do, I joined this forum. I started reading about repairs, upgrades, modifications, thoughts, ideas and transplants. I got to thinking maybe I would do some upgrades, modifications and transplants and get the old jewel back on the road. I figured, what the heck, may as well.

A while back, I was perusing craigslist and found a possible donor. I picked up an '87 LWB, 305, TH350C, square body that had caught fire at the fuel tank. It toasted the bed and cab but everything else looked okay. I got it for $250.00 so probably wasn't going to lose too much if it didn't work out. The engine had a burnt piston but I figured I'd find a good 350 so wasn't too worried about that. Everything else looked okay.

That's where I'm at now. The plan is... well... wide open. The truck still sits with all the original equipment installed. I could just repair everything and put it back on the road as it came from the factory. It would keep the original, manual drum brakes, manual steering, six cyl. engine, three speed manual trans, etc. Or, I could transplant the crossmember with suspension and disc brakes, transplant the power brakes, power steering, V8 engine (either the 305 or find a 350) and the TH350 auto. I could even use the five lug rear end so the rims would be the same. I could even LS swap it but that would a later project. I'd get it back on the road with a carbureted engine for now.

I cranked and ran the engine last about six months ago. It idled fine but the accelerator pump is shot in the carb so it did not want to take the gas at all. I idled down the driveway like I was a big shot, then idled back up and parked it. Had any neighbors been out, I could have waved at them.

So now, its decision time. I'll figure it out and get moving. I guess I can start doing something, even if it turns out not to be used. I can get the old 305 up and going, rebuild the th350, stuff like that. The engine and trans is out of the donor square body but the front suspension is still in it. That allows me to move it around in the yard and kill my grass in multiple places.

[Powered]

The Square Body.

[cwcarpenter98]

Welcome!

There's definitely a variety of ways to go about getting the 66 back on the road. I did my 63 with squarebody ball joints and spindles in the factory control arms. If you don't want to swap out the entire cross member, you could do the same, and then use the entire steering components from the square to have power steering and tie rod ends without an adapter sleeve. Again, several different ways to get the truck back on the road, but my preference is to go disc brakes.
I'm looking forward to see what you decide and see your truck back on the road!

[joesscamaro]

Nice looking step-side. My recommendation, just fix it up as it sits now and enjoy it for a little while and then if you realize you want more out of it, you have a decent collection of parts waiting for it. Look forward to the progress!

[88Stanger]

Welcome! My fair sir, you are in a very good position. You have a great starting point on the "66 and now you have some possible swap parts in the square body. The place you are at is a very fun but can be very difficult also. What to do with the truck, how far to take it, how much work you want to do, how much you want to pay to have done, yada yada..
My suggestion is to first and foremost figure out what you want, what type of truck do you want, stock, mild build, crazy build, hot rod, drag, road race, I mean the list can get real long here, so figure out what you want. Note that whatever choice you make, there are consequences, how much time and effort do you want to put into it and then the big question, how much $$$$ do you want to spend?!?! The last one is typically the killer. I have completed a 1969 C10 LS Swap, it was done from the ground up with only very moderate upgrades and DAMN I spent some $$ on it. Then I go get a small back window factory short bed, no motor, tranny or bed. YA, it is nothing even near stock, not even close (to me) and I am only at the Frame completed part, and talk about $$$$!! It is DBL what the 1969 totaled out to! BUT the 1966 is going to be MY truck, in and out, all me, everything I want!
I only tell you this because on the 1969 I thought I knew what I what I wanted, but more importantly I went with what I could afford then, and well now I can afford a bit more.
So Figure out what you want in the end, but also understand what it will take, time and $$ wise and go for it!!!
This site is the best damn place for help!!!! Great Great help here!!!

[Powered]

Wow, thanks for the replies and encouragement. I will ask a couple of questions. Mr. Carpenter, if I understand correctly, you used stock ball joints for a square body in stock '60 to '66 control arms? Both upper and lower '73 to '87 ball joints will fit into my original '66 control arms? Then a '73 to 87 spindle can be used which will give me 5 lug disc rotors? I did not know the ball joints would go into my earlier control arms. I could use the spindles/rotors/calipers/steering/etc. from my donor '87 model. That may be the way to go here because I could replace the ball joints and have new ones and save some time. I want the disc brake and power steering upgrades for sure. That is the main objective at this time.

The carburetor on the original straight six is a minor problem right now. I could find a good used one for parts and fix mine or buy a rebuilt unit. I prefer to do my own carb work and do not like rebuilt ones from the parts house. They sometimes do stupid things to carbs that are difficult to "undo" if you need to. They make you buy another one from them if your rebuilt one needs future repairs. I think I am rambling now.

Mr. Joesscamaro and Mr. Stanger, I appreciate your comments. You both hint to options that I need to consider. I want to get away from the single circuit brake system as that has been a lot of folk's problems in the past. I want the newer, modern and arguably the safer, two circuit brake system with front disc and power assist. If my wife wants to drive it, I feel better knowing it has better brakes. The donor has everything I need to convert the brakes, including vacuum booster, master cylinder, proportioning valve, etc. I just thought I had to change the entire crossmember to achieve this but it now it appears I may not have to.

Mr. Stanger, you have really hit on some very good points. I currently have too many toys that I really don't have time to use. But.... I hope to retire in a few years and then.... well, you get the idea. I kinda know what I want from the truck, a street cruiser with a lopey cam that'll smoke a tire at a stop light. That's pretty much it. I won't drag race it, I have a nova for that. It's strictly drag race only, not street legal. I also have a '96 firebird formula convertible that's all cammed out and wicked sounding that the wife likes to take out on the weekends with the kids and burn up all the gas in it and bring me the keys and ask me to fill it back up... I'm rambling again. It's still got the fuel injection, A/C, all the amenities that she likes including a power convertible top. That's the fun, weekend car to cruise down the beach and intimidate the young guys in their street cars.

The truck is mine. It'll be for me to take to the parts house on Saturday morning, with the window down, my elbow sticking out, cruising down the road with my left turn signal perpetually on. Yep, I'm gonna be "THAT GUY". Just the old dude with his turn signal on. I would like to put a V8 in it that has enough power to do a decent burn out. The 305 will do it and any cam I buy now could be used in a future 350. I pretty much have everything to freshen up the 305 except new, standard piston rings and two head gaskets. Those are cheap enough and will get me some burn out power for now. To be honest though, if that 305 ends up in that truck, it'll probably stay there and no 350 will ever replace it. If anything, I will most probably, eventually LS swap it. I'm a fan of LS stuff and its getting more affordable. It's easy to get some serious horsepower from them and are very reliable.

So good brakes, power steering and some decent horsepower would do for now. Auto trans and A/C would be nice but not necessary. I really don't need a paint job either but I'll probably fix the rust and paint it. That'll be later too, after I get it back on the road. I think I can do these initial upgrades on a pretty reasonable budget too, thanks to the donor square body and 30+ years of collecting chevy parts. I'll try to keep this updated but please offer any comments. They really do help folks like me so I welcome them.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Powered

Mr. Carpenter, if I understand correctly, you used stock ball joints for a square body in stock '60 to '66 control arms? Both upper and lower '73 to '87 ball joints will fit into my original '66 control arms? Then a '73 to 87 spindle can be used which will give me 5 lug disc rotors? I did not know the ball joints would go into my earlier control arms. I could use the spindles/rotors/calipers/steering/etc. from my donor '87 model. That may be the way to go here because I could replace the ball joints and have new ones and save some time. I want the disc brake and power steering upgrades for sure. That is the main objective at this time.

.......

So good brakes, power steering and some decent horsepower would do for now. Auto trans and A/C would be nice but not necessary. I really don't need a paint job either but I'll probably fix the rust and paint it. That'll be later too, after I get it back on the road. I think I can do these initial upgrades on a pretty reasonable budget too, thanks to the donor square body and 30+ years of collecting chevy parts. I'll try to keep this updated but please offer any comments. They really do help folks like me so I welcome them.

Yes, you understand correctly. Replace the ball joints in your stock arms with the correct squarebody ball joints to fit your spindles. The early squares all had 1.25" thick brake rotors. Later squares got the 1" thick rotors unless the 1.25" was ordered. I know the spindles are different between the two rotor sizes, but I don't remember if the ball joints are different.

Now the tie rod end on the squarebody spindle is a different size than the stock tie rod end for your 66. Since you already have the parts, the easiest way for you to get around this issue is to use all the squarebody steering parts, including the power steering gear, center link, pitman and idler arm, and tie rod assemblies. Forum member Captainfab makes a great power steering adapter plate to easily bolt up the squarebody power gear to your 66 frame. https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=332923
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=347484


Additionally, another great upgrade would be to add a sway bar to the front. Hopefully your square has one already. Yup, that'll bolt up as well. Your 66 control arms should have the holes for the stock sway bar. If you don't have the holes in the frame for the frame side, you can attach the bar at the control arms (with the truck sitting on its full weight) and drill the holes in the frame for the frame stands where they land. https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=797321

One other thing you might consider to get better suspension geometry is to do the caster mod. It moves the LCA 3/4" forward on the frame to provide much better positive caster. It would definitely be beneficial with the switch to power steering. https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=501241

You got a smoking good deal on that square that provides a lot of the steering upgrades you want. You're definitely on the way to have a nice, budget minded truck to cruise around in for a couple years with the opportunity to take it to the next level after several years of enjoyment. I've been doing that with my 63 for the past 7 years. I'm just now getting ready to tear the truck down for rust repair and paint. My recommendation is to always enjoy driving the truck for awhile and then dig in to the cosmetics so that you can remember what it felt like to drive it and have motivation to finish the cosmetics so you can drive it again.

[88Stanger]

Well Sir it appears you know what you want and that sometimes is half the battle. lol

Anyways, to add to what I was saying and to join in on what you were talking about in response to the brakes.. Whatever you do, make it SAFE! Add the dual circuit brakes and power booster with Discs. Having a great truck or car, with HP BUT no real good way to stop... not good as I am sure you know.

As a note, on my 5.3 LS in the "69 and the 383ci Stroker I built for the "66 both have a large enough cam that I cannot get more than say 11 - 13 inches of vacuum, not enough for brakes... I tried on the "69... ya no good. I tried Vacuum can and so on... So on both I have went with a Hydro-boost setup. Not cheap the route I went, BUT the brakes work!! and well. I always imagine having a family member in the truck... my goal is that they are safe first and foremost. I may not be as worried about me, but for family and friends.... its all the way.

Just another thought as you work through this journey.
(added - I just had a response to my build - it was in regards taking a while to read through due to its length and well my addiction to pics. LOL)

[Powered]

So I took a peek under the square body and there is no sway bar. That may be something I can add later. I'll keep an eye out for one on line.

I think that for now I'm going to start working on a list of items that I need to "harvest" off the donor square body. A detailed list. Some of the larger components I will get are the rear end, maybe the leaf springs and spring hangers, etc. but right now I'm going to focus on the brakes and power steering along with the engine and transmission as secondary items. For sure, the brakes will need the following. By the way, I'd appreciate any input or suggestions from anybody who can offer input. Even if it should be debated or discussed. I find that I get a lot of really good information when folks discuss pros and cons of various subjects. Y'all may want to encourage other members who may have beneficial info that may not be looking at this section of the forum.

Anyway, as for the brakes:
Brake booster and master cylinder assy.
Proportioning valve.
Brake lines between master cylinder and proportioning valve.
Brake lines from valve to front calipers.
Hardware, like bolts and clamps for the brake lines.
Brake hoses to the front calipers.
Front calipers.

So what am I missing? Of course, if any of these things are damaged or obviously bad, they'll need replacing but I intend to install all of these and try them out. I'll know real quick if any are not going to work. The brake pads will probably be replaced unless they are really new looking.

One question that I thought about was connecting the steering column to the new power steering box. Will a rag joint work? if so, the one from the square body? If anyone knows what will work, I'd appreciate the info.

I'll do steering next perhaps.

[cwcarpenter98]

When swapping to the squarebody power steering gear, you will need to shorten the one piece steering shaft in your stock 66 column. There's a couple ways to go about doing that.
One way is to just shorten the column, use the Captainfab piece that you can order along with the power steering gear frame bracket, and use the squarebody rag joint.
Another option is to shorten the column and use a steering shaft u joint to make the adaptation.
A third option is to use the steering column shaft from a 69-72 truck column that also has a collapsible shaft. It will fit in your 66 column and allow the use of the stock steering wheel and squarebody rag joint. The benefit of this route is you get a collapsible intermediate shaft that reduces the chance of taking a steering column to the chest if someone pulls out in front of you.

[Powered]

Finally getting a break from work to respond/supplement the thread. As for the steering, if I understand Mr. Carpenter's explanation, bottom line is the square body steering shaft components within the column won't transplant into my '66 column. So if I want a collapsible intermediate shaft, I'll have to locate a column from a later, 69-72 truck which may prove to be difficult and/or expensive. Well, what about this and its only a question because I don't know if its feasible but, can I cut the '66 steering shaft short, like real close to the bottom of the column and adapt (by welding or bolting) a way to connect a collapsible intermediate shaft to my '66 steering shaft at the bottom of the column and then, to the steering box at the other end with the existing rag joint? I could harvest the column out of the square body and use the intermediate shaft and the connector at the bottom of that column which I could attach to my shortened '66 steering column shaft. Has anyone looked into this or done it on their truck? While I wait for feedback, I'm gonna add the steering column to my list of things to harvest off the square body. Therefore, here's a list of steering components to harvest:

Steering box with pitman arm
Steering column
Intermediate steering shaft
Rag joint
Idler arm
Center link
Tie rod end and sleeve assemblies for both sides
All bolts and hardware particularly bolts for the steering box and idler arm

I can remove the front springs when I take the spindles off so are the square body springs usable or desirable for the '66? Should I retain them? I'm thinking that if I ever decide to lower it and purchase drop spindles, which springs would be a better fit? Do the square body springs even fit in the '66 front suspension? I guess that's the first question to be answered.