65 farmtruck build

[65Robb]

Alright gents its overdrive time!!! first things first got to take out the old farm speed trans tunnel first then drive line trans to bell then bell to engine then the fun begins time to cut out the bellhousing crossmember. took me a while to cut all 8 rivets out but finally got it then it was time to get the NP440 ready to go in.

[65Robb]

Its in finally overdrive in my baby!! had to use a th350 crossmember fit like a glove only issues I ran into was the holes on the crossmember to the holes in the frame where 1/2" off of eachother. so to make sure I was square with the crossmember in the frame I got the four rear holes to line up two on the bottom an the two on the top. so I put the bolts in those holes and tightened them down now I drilled the crossmember for the bottom holes and drilled the frame for the top of the crossmember. the second issue I ran into was I had to remove the rivets and put the e brake crossmember 1 1/2" below the frame rails.

[65Robb]

alright next is to button up the floor then waiting on the drive line

[65Robb]

So as I wait for the driveline to come back from the shop I picked up some lowering springs from a buddy that bagged his 71

before pic was with the jeep springs and air shocks

after pic is with the 71 springs with air shocks dropped the truck an other 2.5"

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 65Robb

Hi everyone my name is Zach an this is my build thread I bought my grandparents ole 65 chevy ...

don't get any better than keeping it in the family! beautiful rig

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 65Robb

When I got the truck home I noticed it had three different tire sizes on it ...

ha ha, that is so common with these "farm" trucks, they would slap anything on them to keep em going, mine was a three legged dog as well

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 65Robb

...so I was on the hunt for a new engine was looking for a 327 to swap in but I found a 350 that ran great had 120lbs of compression on all 8 cly for cheap bought the engine ...

what year engine is that, just wondering if it's a flat tapid and two piece rear main seal or roller cam and a single piece rear main seal?

[65Robb]

Thanks gregski and yes not only did it have miss match tires on all four corners the soild aluminum wheels where 8" on the front an 10" on th e back

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 65Robb

Ok after the 300 mole trip for a car show in my truck I went on another road trip from southern Idaho to Winnemucca NV for a very special part I been looking for 10 months for this part but I am now a proud owner of this beauty this is a a833 np440 4speed overdrive out of a 81-86 c10 factory hurst shifter bellhousing everything I need for the swap this winter

awesome, another convert! next step for the both of us with this tranny would be the hydraulic clutch setup, we will need a different bell housing for it, but could be worth it

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 65Robb

Finally got my a833 all cleaned up painted up everything looks good inside new side cover gasket and reverse switch.

dang son, you do good clean work!

[65Robb]

It came.out of a 76 3/4ton 4x4 farm truck 4 bolt main flat tappet cam two peice rear main. I wish it was a roller cam block

[65Robb]

Originally Posted by Gregski

dang son, you do good clean work!

Hahaha thank you sir

[65Robb]

Haven't been on here in a while but truck update driveline is in clutch feels great shifts really really smooth. best part is I can cruise down the freeway at 80mph @ 2400rpm could not ask for anything better next thing I need for the np440 is a speedo gear @55mph my speedo reads 70 mph lol

[65Robb]

Ok so as im just tinkering on my truck for now I decided to add in door jamb switches very easy an quick install and I must say im very happy with it. the switches I used I got from napa they are a 5/16 not a 3/8 and just splice into the white wire going to the dome light.

[65Robb]

Been awhile since I posted haven't done much to the truck except drive it truck runs and drives great I am in the process of building a roller cam 383 vortec for it got the heads done with LS1 valve springs and light port and polish work just bought the block waiting on the rotating assembly. after the engine is in I can focus on buying a 5/7 drop with disc swap.

[kdad]

Love the story behind your truck Robb. Need some more pics of how it's sitting now..

[65Robb]

I'll post some up got a cruise coming up I'll post pics for sure.

[65Robb]

Alright Alright update we went road tripping dad and I decided to go back to my grandparents so we decided to take the 65 since my grandparents haven't seen it since I bought it so here we go 135miles one way. So 135 miles going 70-80mph the while way the truck got 14.5mpg loving this np440 overdrive

[65Robb]

So we spent a couple days getting a few trucks running and we picked up parts for dads 55 that us kids got him for his 50th birthday we loaded down and headed home. We had so many ppl looking back taking pics and throwing up the thumbs up on the freeway all the way home pretty damn cool trip also picked up a 67 instrument cluster with tach while I was up visiting

[okndn]

I love seeing a truck doing truck things.

[65Robb]

Originally Posted by okndn

I love seeing a truck doing truck things.

Its not completely retired haha

[350TacoZilla]

Cool story and beautiful end result man! I also am a big fan of a truck that is still used to haul or tow. Nothing personal against the show truck guys on air ride or the purists with 50+k mint condition restorations I understand not beating them up but I need a truck I can throw firewood in one week and haul car trailer the next.

Good job scoring a OD 4 spd, there was a truck local to me with a 6.2 and the od trans I kept trying to buy but then it disappeared so no clue what happened to it. I also briefly looked into the old set of reproduction gears for a muncie M21 that made 3rd OD and you had to flip the shift lever upside down so OD would be at 4th on the shifter...$$$$ is all I found out there.

[65Robb]

Oh man keep an eye out they are few and far in between

[65Robb]

Ok year update truck is still running strong haven't done anything to it lately except just driving it man this thing is great my wife an I took it on a roadtrip after our wedding about 200ish miles at 80mph it got 15mpg not bad at all lol more updated to come I still have a 383 vortec stroker with a 270hr cam in the shed for it so that's up next after I get my 78 short box running and driving. stay tuned..

[65Robb]

Alright three year update truck is still the same i have a 81 frontend that im currently putting together for it with poly bushings got a set of vortec heads to swap on aswell the 383 i sold ahead of my hernia surgery so ill just upgrade the engine i have. the 78 is on to its new owner and im now the proud owner of a 71 malibu.