Alex's 64 C10 Stepside

[Hydra]

Well long time no update. I havent been able to get much done on the truck although a month or 2 ago one of my friends talked to her dad and he's letting me intern on Saturdays at a shop called A&B Automotive.I go one Saturdays when everyone works on personal cars but I've been learning alot.Its old school,the owner ,Mr.Ed, and everyone there is there because cars are what they do,its not just a job,which is what i want to be around. The stories alone are awesome.
I have gotten some little things done though. Its just small stuff but Im focusing on fixing things before I upgrade other parts.
Fist of all I had a short in the system somewhere that would intermittently because the starter solenoid to just click and then everything would shut down. It turned out to be a butt connector PO had left open which caused the wire to corrode and short so I cut out that section of wire and redid it with some heat shrink.I know its just the ground but having such thin gauge wire for it just seems like a weak point?
(Before)


(After)

Also put in a new ground cable because it was just bare wire with no sign of insulation ever being on it and that seemed like an electrical issue waiting to happen.

I picked up a lighter so that Id have a 12v power source in the truck but it had 2 separate wires for the bulb and heating element and it made the wiring messy so i just went ahead and redid that so they both just ran of one source. I know i could've ran the bulb to the dimmer switch but i always leave the dash lights on anyways because of how dim they are so I wont miss it.

And then painted up the sail panels,i dont know if you can see in the picture but up close there's some orange peels and unevenness and i kind of just want to redo it. Its a driver but still...

Also redid the joke because it just wasn't as smooth as I wanted it to be,no pictures of that but its now smooth. Although only after some cursing and near wrench throwing.

[Hydra]

Then here are just some random pictures i took while working on it

[TJ's Chevy]

Good work Alex. You can get new sail panels in the future if ya don't like those...plenty of places sell them. Good work on the electrical.

[Hydra]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Good work Alex. You can get new sail panels in the future if ya don't like those...plenty of places sell them. Good work on the electrical.

Nah its just the orange peel that's bothering me,although its always going to have some to a degree because I'm just using a spray can.

[Hydra]

double post

[CRGRS 66]

Nice to see you working on your truck. I hope that the family situation has calmed down and that everything is okay at home.

[Hydra]

Havent posted anything recently but work has been slow and steady. The Dad situation has gotten much better,we realized that no matter what has happened its always been out of trying to do what we thought was best, on both sides. but now 2 of my female friends have been victims of some crimes terrible from stupid teenagers which i wont say publicly because that's their business but the police wont do anything about it so I'm trying my best to help them out without losing my temper and being considered a vigilante. Working on the truck and staying in the garage has helped alot with that. Looking back on this as im writing it makes it sound like I'm a criminal or in a gang... dang. Sorry if this is too much I just thought you guys would have some input on what I could/should do regarding that because I could use the advice.
Anyways here's what I've been up to on the truck. Both rear brakes were inoperable so i rebuilt both sides with new wheel cylinders,shoes,and hardware. I also stripped,undercoated, and then painted the axle tubes while I was down there. I also put in new stainless rear lines because they were only about $10 more and they should last longer while looking nicer.

50 years of dirt,mud,and road grime really adds up.Its not the best picture but the paint looks alot better in person.

Christmas was sweet and I got a tool cart,it makes me feel like legit My parents being tired of the mess may or may not have been a part of it

[Hydra]

Also can someone do me a huge favor and post some pictures of their parking brake set up? The tension on mine seems too loos because the lines will sag and when i pull to engage it takes up the slack but it doesn't seem to pull enough to engage the brakes,am I missing anything?

[CRGRS 66]

Well Alex, glad to hear things have calmed down at home. The best thing you can do is be a friend to your friends, two wrongs will never make a right.

Mine is a 66 and I don't know if 64 cables are the same as 66, but I suspect that they are. Hope this helps.

[aggie91]

The '64 parking brake is set up differently than the '66. I think th '65 is the same as the '64.

Glad to hear things are better at home. Also, Craig is right, be a friend to the girls and support them. Don't do something stupid too.

There are a few threads on here dealing with the parking brake. If I find them, I will post you up a link. but from my memory, there should be a crossmember under the tail of the trans that has a bracket and a lever set up for the cables. There should be some part of a threaded end that you can tighten up to take out the slack in the cables.

[aggie91]

Alex

Look at the pictures in post #7 of this thread:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=562185

The first few pics on that post show an aftermarket crossmember, but the last pic is the stock crossmember.

If the first pic of that post, look in the upper right corner of the pic, that gold colored threaded rod is where I was talking about to make the adjustment.

Try that and see if that helps...

[CRGRS 66]

Here is a link to a thread listed in the FAQ's, there are at least a couple other threads in the FAQ's on parking brakes, have a look there if this doesn't help you out.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=379268

[Hydra]

Thanks so much guys, I'll make sure to stay out of trouble. If you guys ever need anything just pm me.
The parking brake lines have so much slack that the tensioner doesn't have enough travel but the lines are just taught enough to not be able to get into the 2nd hole in the lever.I'll make sure to read those threads and figure this out,thanks again guys

[Hydra]

Been a while since I updated this thread. Mostly Ive been doing some odds and ends,fixing things as i go along. I don't have pictures of everything so I may forget some things.
Painted up one of the door panels and then ran out of paint for the passenger side

With some red (It looks better in person)

Also put in a new valve cover gasket,replaced some wheel studs that had been ground down

Then I brought it to the shop where I intern at on Saturdays for the first time. We tried to fix the parking brake but after trying every adjustment just concluded that after 50 years, they finally wouldnt hold tension. After that Alex, one of the guys that works there, welded in the glass pack that I had in with muffler clamps before. They actually noticed that the exhaust manifold was cracked while it was there, so Im debating on whether to go with headers or track down another manifold.Right now a manifold looks like is whats going to go in as I don't have enough for headers and the dual exhaust Id need to run them. For now the cracks aren't too bad so the old manifold is still on the truck.


The crack just looks like a hairline but as it heats up,the crack expands and allows more exhaust through,you can hear it whistle sometimes as it opens up.

Also did a CPP transmission crossmember because the old one was split in two and then welded together with a strip of angle iron by the old owner.There wasn't even a transmission mount on it so the only thing holding the transmission on was the bell-housing cross member and bell-housing bolts. As soon as the new crossmember and mount was in you could immediately feel the shifter vibrate much less and itd shift smoother. The new crossmember doesnt have provisions for the parking brake so im going to convert to a 1966 set up



Then painted up the valve cover because it was 50 shades of rusty,and not the cool looking kind either.
partially stripped and whirewheeled

fully stripped

Painted

[TJ's Chevy]

Looks good! Good to see an update.

[Hydra]

Ive been working on the truck alot but i really need to get in the habit of taking pictures and updating the thread
The old weatherstrip that was on the cab was so old it had gone flat and was cracked everywhere, so I decided it was time to replace that. As i was pulling it off it was so hard and old that I had to scrape it off with some adhesive remover,silicone spray, and a razor. Once the new strip was on the doors didn't sound like they were going to fall off whenever you closed them and now that its broken in it doesn't take anymore pressure to close than the old.
After that was done I moved on to the tail lights/ turn signals. The old wiring was basically a trailer harness all the way up and was more like a rats nest than wiring. Not only was it ugly but none of the rear turn signals would work and the passenger running light wouldn't come on so it was time for some new harnesses.
Here's what I pulled out from the firewall back

And then here it is with the new wiring.Now everything works as it should including the brake lights,turn signals, and running lights. Plus it looks pretty nice too


Later on I saved up and got a tach and dwell meter to tune it as the idle was running a bit high. When I hooked it up it was showing that it was idling at 1500 rpm! So i backed that down to 800 and then adjusted the mixture and it was running much better. The carb was alot better but the valves were supper noisy so I readjusted those and now with the carb and valves the engine is no longer gutless Here's the link to the video https://youtu.be/pIzg1n6CpEA

[TJ's Chevy]

Dang dude! Nice burnout! Sounds good to. I did one with my 66. Left the ol 292 at about 4200 and let her go. Fun stuff.

[Monte's62]

Nice job young man. Looks like she's coming along nicely. Thanks for the updates!!

[Hydra]

Thanks guys , yeah the 230 didn't seem to care those tires were 10.5 inches wide

[Hydra]

I decided to fix the hear box because it sounded like there were some flakes in there and it was making some of the worst sounds.
Here's the heater all apart ready to be gone through and rust removal.Luckily everything was fine, the blower motor just need some lube.

Here's a fraction of what was making it sound like death

Then prepped

primed

And all together

It works perfectly now and i actually have heat and a fan.
Also decided it was time for new shocks because the bushings were so trashed that they were squeaking and the shocks had no rebound left in them.
The rears went in first,i couldn't find any of the red paint I needed so I just installed them and then Ill pull them later for paint. It was definitely overdue

Then of course once I got the rears in I found the paint


The fronts were the biggest pain in the ass because i didnt have the correct sized socket for the bolt that goes on the inside of the frame so I had use an adjustable.
This is a little off topic but I thought it was cool. This was #8 from 302 out of a bronco. It was running so hot that the exhaust valve was white from the heat This motor was free so Mr.Terry ( he works at the shop I apprentice at) didn't really care. Its going to get a full rebuild anyways so none of these parts will be used.

[TJ's Chevy]

New suspension will give that thing a bit better ride for sure. lol I went with the whole deal for mine...probably got more new parts than I really needed to!

[Hydra]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

New suspension will give that thing a bit better ride for sure. lol I went with the whole deal for mine...probably got more new parts than I really needed to!

For sure! Next up I'm going to cuts coil off the fronts and my dad said he would go half and half on some tires once he saw how badly mine were weather cracked. Does anyone have any pictures of theirs 235/75/r15 all around,the picture thread didn't have much as far as that size around stock rode height. I'd love to go 255 or 265 in the rears but that's just not in the cards right now considering how hard it is to find a matching set without breaking the bank.

[Hydra]

I have a quick question,how are you supposed to set the valve lash on these inlines if there isnt a crank bolt to turn the engine over? Ive heard of doing it with the engine running but I dont really feel like getting oil all over the engine bay.

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by Hydra

I have a quick question,how are you supposed to set the valve lash on these inlines if there isnt a crank bolt to turn the engine over? Ive heard of doing it with the engine running but I dont really feel like getting oil all over the engine bay.

You have a hydraulic cam so most will set it to zero lash. Though the manuals did spec some clearance. I set mine at .004 intake and .006 exhaust with the engine running. You won't get oil all over your engine bay as long as you don't rev it to 5k with the valve cover off. Though you could cut some carb board and lay them on the sides of the engine to help catch any oil that does fly off the rocker arms. But if you take the plugs out(you'll have to ta verify TDC anyway....then engine will turn over by hand pretty easy.