Going to Get "New" Truck in a Week...

[decodan]

Hello,
I am new to this forum. I posted a couple of times already trying to find help IDing the engine on the truck I am buying. Thanks for all the help so far.

Well here is a little about me and the new truck. I have been a Street Rodder for 35 plus years. The avatar is my 1954 Chevy Sedan Delivery,http://www.decodan.com/1954sedandelivery150.htm. It is my daily driver and has been for about 50,000 miles now since the build. It is now costing too much (gas) and needs some attention so I plan to park it for a while and use the new truck for my daily driver.

I found a 1963 C-20 with 40,000 original miles. It has a 292 with 4 speed trans. Interior looks like new. My wife and I are flying out to the west coast to drive it back. I have already have some work done to it to insure its road worthyness. I had all the belts, hoses, fluids and filters changed and wheel bearings packed. 4 new tires and wheel cylinders replaced. The plan is to drive it back to Memphis. The weather will determine the route we take back.

I plan to drive this as my work vehicle instead of the '54. I will keep it pretty much original for now. Some future plans will of course be a 700r and rear gears. Since I just put 4 new wheel cylinders in I'll keep the drums for a while but will change the master to power.

That is probably enough for now and I'll post some pictures when we get back. Thanks to this site for all the great info and help. Dan

[papawswrench]

Welcome to the best board around ! Looks like you are going to have a great trip !
We need pics !!

[hobbz]

hurry up and get back to show us some pics.

have a safe trip.

[rollinlow]

hurry back

[smirch9]

Welcome Deco and have a safe trip!

[GMan69]

Welcome from Mississippi. Sounds like your truck was a real find. Have you driven it home yet?
My sister and her husband live in Bartlett. We usually make several trips up there to visit for weekends. I'll PM you next time we are headed up.
Have fun with the "new" truck.

[decodan]

Hey,
We leave next week and will return the following week. I am hoping the weather holds out so we can come back the northern route I-84 to I-70 to I-55. I prefer that way to going down I-5 and across I-40 but if the snows start we will have to. We have driven the northern route many times but not in winter. If it is not too bad we will use the camper that comes with truck. Should be fun. Sort of like stepping back in time to our good times in the 60s (minus some things) during high school. Long before many of you were born I'm sure. At least I was born 10 years before this truck was born. ;~)

We are figuring 4 days for the trip back, just in case.

[jescates]

Welcome to the board and have a safe trip!!!

[phantom dually]

Good luck with your truck. Welcome!!

[krue]

Welcome to the board from a little south of ya.

[Liz]

[decodan]

Hey, Just got back home after 2400 miles. Here is a quick picture. We had a couple of events but nothing really unexpected. I drove 2300 of those miles and need some rest so I'll give more info and more pictures in a day or so.
Later, Dan

[a28doc]

Welcome to the board hope you had a great turkey day
Doc

[bad_burb]

Welcome to the site and welcome back from your trip.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by decodan

...I found a 1963 C-20 with 40,000 original miles....

That's quit a find Dan. From the pic it looks like it was well preserved all this time. When you get some rest, give us full coverage of the truck and camper....

[BOSS]

Welcome!!Sounds like that would be a great trip.

[Yukon Jack]

That 54 is sweet!

[decodan]

OK, Here is the account of the purchase and the trip with pictures if you have the time. It is a long post. Thanks, Dan

1963 C-20
Chevrolet Pickup w/10' El Dorado

Located this truck on-line and made a phone call. I was sent a few pictures and made the decision to buy the truck. I was told that the original owners bought the truck in 1964 and only used it for camping. The husband had passed away and the wife no longer wanted to look at the truck. It had almost 41,000 miles on it and had never been wrecked. I was told it had the normal rusted hood and front fenders.

Click here for a view of many pictures of the truck and camper and the text of our return trip.

Our Trip

Darrell (the guy we were dealing with) was from the old school just like we are. We had given our word we would buy the truck as long as it was not misrepresented and he agreed to hold it until we got there. Of course he knew we already had a few hundred dollars invested in plane tickets. We bought one way tickets so we were committed. This was about the end of October when we saw the pictures and made the decision and it would be about a month until we could get to Portland to pick it up.
We had discussed the known problems with the truck and he agreed to take it to Sears for a few items that were needed. The truck had the original split-rims and a set of old 7.50x16 nylon tires on it. I bought a set of used steel 16" rims on eBay and had them shipped to him so new 235/85r16- 10 ply tires could be put on the truck. I knew no one was going to work on the old split rims. While in Sears I had all the fluids changed and the trans and rear end checked. I was told the wheel cylinders were leaking since the truck had been sitting for quite some time so those were also replaced. It had been about 5 or 6 years since they had been camping in the truck but Darrell (the guy selling it for her) had been starting it every month and letting it warm up.

Thursday, November 17th - We left Memphis for our trip to Portland. Even the start was an adventure. We bought tickets on Southwest Airlines out of Little Rock, AR since we would save about $200 a ticket. We rented a car in Memphis at 7am and drove to Little Rock airport for our flight out at about 1:30pm. We arrived in Portland at about 7pm with a short lay-over in Las Vegas.

Friday, November 18th - We showed up bright and early to pick up the Pickup and take care of the paper work. All that was finished in about an hour. The truck started right up and purred like a kitten. The first stop was at a gas station where I put a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil in each gas tank and then filled up. Well 120 dollars later all three tanks were topped off. Yes the truck had the factory saddle tanks. The next order of business was to stock up for the trip back to Memphis. We needed to get food and supplies. I had sent a tool box and other items that would have been hard to get on the plane like my pocket knife and other protection for the trip back. While at Home Depot we bought a new propane tank but were unable to get it filled. I figured I could get that done along the way.

Saturday, November 19th - We had been watching the weather for a few days and had made the decision to take the northern route back home. This would take us through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and finally Tennessee. The weather report was looking good since there were no fronts coming and the roads were clear. It was going to be clear and cold at night and mild during the day. Sounded GREAT>>>

We left Portland and headed up the Columbia River Gorge and about 10 miles into the trip we hit a brick wall. The winds coming down the gorge were about 60 mph and with the camper on the truck it felt like I was going to get blown over. I was able to make about 45 to 50 mph but believe me my neck was so tight and of course I had white knuckles from gripping the steering wheel so hard. Remember this was the first time I had really driven this truck let alone with a 10' El Dorado Slide-in camper on the back. Well after about 3 or 4 hours we made it out of the gorge only to be greeted by a flashing warning sign - Danger Freezing Fog. When they say fog they mean FOG. We were only able to go about 15mph up and down the mountain passes until about 2 hours later we were over the mountain and the sky was clear and the day beautiful. We drove until we made it to Ontario, OR and found a Wal-Mart. It was a 24 hour store so we parked in the parking lot and proceeded to make a night of it. OH, hell I forgot to fill the propane tank. So we went into Wal-Mart and bought a little Coleman heater for a tent and thought that would keep us OK for the night. Well let me tell you, when it is 20 something out side those little heaters will keep it above freezing but not much, we could still see our breath inside the camper. The first day was not too good, we only covered about 300 miles and our plan to get home in four days looked bleak.

Sunday, November 20th - We left Ontario, OR and crossed the Snake River into Idaho and hoped to make it to Colorado by night. Well we made it through Idaho and Utah with no problems and we were able to drive about 60 to 65mph. Then while in Rock Springs, WY I remembered we needed to get propane before the night. I had already tried to get it at a couple of stops but no one was able to fill the tank for one reason or another. We stopped at an Ace Hardware store in Rock Springs and while getting the propane tank filled I noticed a drip coming from under the engine compartment. I thought OH Hell I got a radiator leak. I put my finger in the puddle and then smelled it and then really said OH HELL it is gas. I opened the hood and looked and noticed gas dripping from the fuel pump. I asked if there was a parts store open and was told there was an Auto Zone back a mile or so. It was now about 5:30pm and I had no idea how long it would be open if it was at all. Got to the Auto Zone and they said if the fuel pump had 6 bolts I was in luck but if it had 10 I would have to have it ordered. LUCKY ME. Well they were open until 8pm so I bought the fuel pump and changed it on the parking lot. I sort of expected a few problems like this since the truck had been sitting for some time. This cut into our driving time and we only made it to almost Cheyenne, WY. We stopped at a Pilot Truck Stop and parked for the night. We splurged and ate dinner and breakfast in the truck stop, figured that was payment for parking in their lot. Good thing we finally got the propane for the camper's heater. It was way COLD that night but we were able to keep it in the low 60s inside the camper. Another day of not getting where we wanted to and the trip looking longer and longer. We had planned to be home on Tuesday.

Monday, November 21st - Left bright and early after a big breakfast. Made pretty good time this day. Had plenty of pretty country and a few high mountain passes to negotiate. The highest pass was about 8500 feet. On the way up the old 292 six cylinder chugged along fine passing a Dodge dually towing a small trailer and a Ford F250 with a camper. Of course they passed me back up when we were on the flats again. We made pretty good time this day and started looking for a KOA camp Ground so we could take a shower this night, this was by the way our 3rd day without bathing.;>) We pulled into a KOA in Hays, Kansas at about 8pm and could not find anyone there. There was a signup sheet and a way to pay BUT the showers were LOCKED. I was not paying to camp and not be able to shower. So we decided to get a motel room where they leave the light on for you. Pulled out all the cards to see what discounts we could get, AAA, AARP, AmEX and so on and we ended up with a room for $37.50. Shower and a bed, Good Night!

Tuesday, November 22nd - I knew we would not make it home this night but hoped we would get close. We still had to decide whether we were going to stop and see the grandkids in Jackson, MO or if we were going to go south to Wichita. We made a call or two and decided to go south since the kids were coming to our house the next week. All of a sudden the amp gauge started going haywire. So I decided to stop at a parts store and have the alternator checked. Yes they said I had a problem but to make matters worse they did not have a replacement. They pointed me to an electrical shop and they checked it too and said it was not putting out a good voltage. He asked if I had any tools to pull it off and he would be able to repair it or replace it. I said yes and started to pull it. After a few minutes into the process I noticed a wire had come out of the terminal. He gave me a new connector and I crimped it on and he checked it again. It was putting out a little better, about 13.5 volts so we decided to go on. No other problems that day and we made it to Fort Smith, AR to a 24 hour Wal-Mart. This night I could not get the camper heater working right so we reverted back to the Coleman heater and spent another cold night but not quite as bad as it was the first night out.

Wednesday, November 23 - Got up and went to start the truck and noticed a puddle under the engine compartment and realized it was coolant. Opened the hood and saw it was dripping from the water pump. I had water and antifreeze in the camper so I filled the radiator and decided to head home but would check at a parts store just in case. The water pump for a 292 is different from the 194, 230 and 250 because of the block height and it was of course a special order item. Well we only had 300 miles to go and we headed out. Everything was going fine, the temp gauge was reading good, amp meter was reading good and we made it. Pulled into our driveway at 12:30pm on Wednesday, just a little later than we had anticipated.
We had a great adventure and both enjoyed the trip even with the minor problems. We are very happy with the truck and have decided to keep the camper and use it. I had thought about selling it (camper) when we got home but had such a good time we plan to have a few more adventures. The old truck runs great and after I make a few changes it should be even more fun to drive. Maybe next time my wife will be able to spell me a little more. She only put 100 of the 2400 miles we traveled on this return trip.

Drive an OLD TRUCK and see America !!
It's a LOT of FUN !!!