1966 C10 Project Truck

[scoot_mcgrute]

Tinkered on it again tonight and got the idle under control by capping all the vacuum leaks. It runs good, can't wait to get it back from the exhaust shop and finish a few things so I can drive it! Hoping for a Saturday drive down to Cars and Coffee and general farting around in it.

[scoot_mcgrute]

Well, it left the garage under its own power today! Drove it around all afternoon and I gotta say that this little truck moves right along now, it's insane! I have a bunch of little things to do of course but I was having way too much fun driving it to even think of what's left.

[LostMy65]

Too cool!

[aggie91]

Awesome!

[scoot_mcgrute]

I drove it all weekend and to work this morning. The thing runs great and doesn't have any major issues. Temps are good, has great power, etc. It does have a couple of codes, one for an automatic tranny component, I have a manual, and the other is a high idle code, not sure what's going on there.

Took it to our other building to give a friend a ride and got about 3 blocks and the pushrod for my pull style slave cylinder broke on me. Got a new slave coming by Wednesday so hopefully I can build a better bracket and make a C10 cruise in this weekend!

[scoot_mcgrute]

Dad came to the rescue last night with his 69 K20 and the trailer, it's sure a good looking combination!



I stopped by my buddy's shop on Sunday to help him out, had to grab a picture of the old pickups


I should have the pickup back on the road this weekend, got a lot going on after work this week so I don't think I'll get much truck time until the weekend.

[scoot_mcgrute]

Here's what caused me needing a tow home last week, the geometry for the pull style slave cylinder was off and it ended up bending and breaking the rod on the clutch fork side.



Saturday a friend came over and got my pinion angle shims installed while I built a new bracket for the slave cylinder. Got it all built, painted and installed and had my buddy press the clutch in while I adjusted the slave cylinder. After pushing the clutch in 3 times, the rod was bent again. Bummer.




After some brainstorming, I will be adding a heim joint on either end of the slave cylinder so it can move around a bit while the clutch fork operates. Crossing my fingers!

[Bomp]

Heim joint may very well be the answer.

[Captainfab]

I agree. Some sort of pivot on the fork is needed.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Heim joint may very well be the answer.

[aggie91]

After looking at the pictures, the actuator works in a linear motion, but the clutch fork moves in an arc. The current mounting has no movement for the linear motion to work with the arc. You need a pivot on the frame mount end at a minimum, both ends would be better. You to rod ends like you mentioned to create some freedom of movement in the actuator.

Looking forward to see what you come up with.


This just hit me...since it is a pull style actuator, if you used an old school rocker ball on the front side of the clutch fork and the end of the fork had an oval slot that would allow the rod to move in a linear motion and not hang up on the fork arm, that would work too.
Think of how a rocker arm works on a stud, the ball on the slot allow the rocker arm to work in an arc with the stud works in a linear motion (I know the stud does not actually move, but the forces of the stud are linear into the head. Hope you get the idea that I am trying to convey...)

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by aggie91

This just hit me...since it is a pull style actuator, if you used an old school rocker ball on the front side of the clutch fork and the end of the fork had an oval slot that would allow the rod to move in a linear motion and not hang up on the fork arm, that would work too.
Think of how a rocker arm works on a stud, the ball on the slot allow the rocker arm to work in an arc with the stud works in a linear motion (I know the stud does not actually move, but the forces of the stud are linear into the head. Hope you get the idea that I am trying to convey...)

You're exactly right and that did come across the table. I'm apprehensive to do that because if it doesn't work out then I will need to swap the fork out and I don't want to pull the tranny. Me playing on the safe side of that is the only reason why I haven't gone that route.

I have a heim on each end right now and it seems to work well in operation, just need to tweak it a little bit to shorten the slave cylinder as it's not disengaging right now. Easy fix, just ran out of time last night is all. Hoping to romp it to work in the morning and take my brother for a ride tomorrow evening!

[scoot_mcgrute]

Seems like I haven't touched this thing in forever! I had a couple 4wd events the first 2 weekends in June so Memorial Day was the last day I touched the truck until last night. I made a new slave cylinder bracket on the transmission side and also found an adjuster for the clutch fork side. Seems to be working great now!



I couldn't resist taking it for a drive last night with my pup. This is one of my happy places and I enjoyed every minute of it. This is what it's all about.


She also made the drive in to work this morning! I figure the drive home will be a great test to see how the clutch is working as I'll be in a bit of traffic.


I'm also converting it over to 5 lug starting tonight, it's going to look killer very soon!

[scoot_mcgrute]

I'm working on something I didn't expect to work on for a while yet, converting the truck over to 5 lug so I can run some good performance tires for autocross and such. At the Portland Swap Meet in April, I saw some 18X9 aluminum rally wheels with 5x5 and 5x4.75 bolt patterns and really liked them so I kinda splurged a bit and picked them up. I wrapped them in a 275/40r18 Hankook Ventus R-S4 tire. The tires have a 200 treadwear rating and have really good reviews on an autocross course so even though they were a bit more than I wanted to spend, I couldn't go with anything else. They look awesome to boot!

Some knuckhead forgot to order lug nuts so this is as far as I could get last night.




Quite a bit of difference in height and width, my 235/75s on the right.


I'll be swapping the rear out tonight shooting to have it back on the ground tomorrow evening. It's going to look badass!

[outfield]

"Some knuckhead forgot to order lug nuts so this is as far as I could get last night."


Are you a knuckle head? Or a lug nut?

The tires and wheels look great, but they are sure tiny compared to the 235's, and I bet really tiny compared to the 37's on your Jeep.

[forestb]

Let us know how those 275's fit in the rear. I have a 5 inch drop and 275's and they are awfully tight in the rear.

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by outfield

"Some knuckhead forgot to order lug nuts so this is as far as I could get last night."


Are you a knuckle head? Or a lug nut?

The tires and wheels look great, but they are sure tiny compared to the 235's, and I bet really tiny compared to the 37's on your Jeep.

Between you and Sean today, I definitely won't be forgetting to buy lug nuts on lunch

Originally Posted by forestb

Let us know how those 275's fit in the rear. I have a 5 inch drop and 275's and they are awfully tight in the rear.

It's going to be tight but should clear with not much room to spare. Clearance at the fender will be the same, I had to roll them after the 7" drop to fit my 235s, and I should have just enough room on the inside to make it work. Going to look awesome for sure!

[jcramsey]

New tires and wheels look great!

[aggie91]

I am liking the new look. Are you going to use the same caps?

[TJ's Chevy]

Looks good! Know what it's like to loose a clutch. haha Luckily mine is mechanical, the bell crank broke on mine shortly after I put a new clutch in. Cruising through town at night and stopped at a light....wouldn't go back in gear! Limped home and found the bell crank broken. Needless to say about an hour later I had it welded up and been fine since. Love these old trucks!

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by jcramsey

New tires and wheels look great!

Thanks! I'll have the rear done tonight so I'll definitely grab a picture

Originally Posted by aggie91

I am liking the new look. Are you going to use the same caps?

I am. The wheels use the same caps so it'll look pretty close to what it was just way more aggressive

[scoot_mcgrute]

Got the 5 lug swap done last night and I wasn't sure if I could fall in love with this thing anymore but it happened. Wheels are 18X9 Rev 107s that I had powdercoated black and tires are 275/40r18 Hankook Ventus R-S4s. The fit on the rear fenders couldn't be more perfect, it has about 1/2" clearance between the inside of the tire and the bed. I need to get it in for an alignment soon but holy cow is this thing fun now!

[outfield]

Looks like it made it to work. How does it ride and drive with the new shoes? Looks great by the way!!

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by outfield

Looks like it made it to work. How does it ride and drive with the new shoes? Looks great by the way!!

Thanks dad! The ride itself is harsher because there is less sidewall but it drives pretty nice! The wider tires have accented the fact that the alignment is out so I'll have to get that taken care of soon. The rear tires fit very well, couldn't have asked for a better fit!

[outfield]

I need to get some firewood next weekend. You up to hauling a load now that the truck is back on the road??

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by outfield

I need to get some firewood next weekend. You up to hauling a load now that the truck is back on the road??

Use your own dang truck!