Rust Therapy - 62 C-10

[53Sparky]

Here's the only pic I took last summer when I was finishing the engine rebuild:

[Monte's62]

Sparky, sorry to hear about your Dad. Keep plugging in his honor. You have a nice truck and I look forward to the build. BTW, I like you cab removal system...very nice.

[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Sorry to hear about your Dad. It's been a little over 11 years since mine passed.

You have a very nice truck to work with and a great plan followed by some excellent work. I would definitely recommend going with a 5 speed of some sort. IMO it will make the truck more enjoyable to drive since the rear gears are more than likely 3.90's.

Thanks. It's been more than a year now for me. I know I won't ever forget him. I'm noticing that as time passes, I'm starting to be able to remember the good times again, instead of the year of hospital crap we went through.

I'm actually shopping CL and the local yards for a T-56.

Originally Posted by Mathew21

Sorry to hear about your Dad. It looks like you found a great truck to start with. Keep up the great work and keep posting updates.

Thanks! I've seen other builds where the whole truck is rotted out and they still are able to pull off a restoration. Mine's not that far gone, so I should be able to end up with a decent result even with my limited skill set. I promise I'll post updates as I go.

Originally Posted by Joe Pass

Looks good....
I also lost my father this year to cancer and a very close friend also passed away un-expectantly. I also found myself in the shop finishing my 62 build clearing my head.
Sometimes life puts things in perspective and reminds us to be better people...I'm glad to see this thread and will follow along with admiration...Take care

Thanks, Joe. I'm sorry for your loss. The shop time is where I get to be alone with my thoughts and emotions, and work through it. I'm not much for talking about it.

Originally Posted by Monte's62

Sparky, sorry to hear about your Dad. Keep plugging in his honor. You have a nice truck and I look forward to the build. BTW, I like you cab removal system...very nice.

Thanks for your thoughts. You use whatcha got, huh? I'm just glad I'm not working out of a single car garage or in my back yard. We're not an automotive shop at all; we do staging and production for concerts and festivals. As the owner of the company, I claimed a spot in the shop. Gives me something to do on the slow days. At least there's heat in here, and I can store it without tripping over it.

[53Sparky]

Question for you suspension types:

The drivers side LCA I got from a '78 C10 parts truck has a ding in it near the sway bar mount. Is this OK or do I need to repair/replace it? I don't think that it has affected any of the geometry anywhere relevant in the LCA. The donor truck drove OK but I didn't get the alignment checked before I stripped it.

[53Sparky]

Got the frame and a lot of the inner fender parts off to the sand blaster today.

The UPS guy brought me some goodies today - new trailing arms, tie rod ends, and ball joints. I also began looking at rear ends. Well, actually, I've been looking at rear ends for a while, but the ones I'm talking about right now are somewhat less pleasing to look at. .

From what I've seen on the web, most 1962 Chevy trucks didn't have a dana 44, although I understand that most 1962 GMC's did. Mine appears to be the Eaton, and i've heard that parts to rebuild it are difficult to find. It is leaking at every one of the seals. Any suggestions for a donor?

[Captainfab]

That is correct. The '60-'62 Chevy's came with the Eaton HO32/33 differential. Personally I would go with a '63-'82 truck 12 bolt. No matter which differential you go with, you will have to either add, or relocate the trailing arm mounts. The mounts on the '60-'62's are farther apart than on the '63-'72's. The '63 & '64 12 bolt will have the same panhard bar mount, but the trailing arm mounts will need to be moved and likely an adjustable panhard bar. A '65-'70 12 bolt will need your original panhard bar mount transferred and the TA mounts moved. These will all be 6 lug unless you purchase aftermarket conversion axles. The '71-'82 12 bolts will be 1.5" wider and have the 5 x 5" wheel stud pattern. These will need both the panhard bar mount and TA mounts added. If you need a set of trailing arm mounts, I do make those.

Originally Posted by 53Sparky

From what I've seen on the web, most 1962 Chevy trucks didn't have a dana 44, although I understand that most 1962 GMC's did. Mine appears to be the Eaton, and i've heard that parts to rebuild it are difficult to find. It is leaking at every one of the seals. Any suggestions for a donor?

[Joe Pass]

Looks good....
I also lost my father this year to cancer and a very close friend also passed away un-expectantly. I also found myself in the shop finishing my 62 build clearing my head.
Sometimes life puts things in perspective and reminds us to be better people...I'm glad to see this thread and will follow along with admiration...Take care

[Mathew21]

Sorry to hear about your Dad. It looks like you found a great truck to start with. Keep up the great work and keep posting updates.

[Captainfab]

Sorry to hear about your Dad. It's been a little over 11 years since mine passed.

You have a very nice truck to work with and a great plan followed by some excellent work. I would definitely recommend going with a 5 speed of some sort. IMO it will make the truck more enjoyable to drive since the rear gears are more than likely 3.90's.

[canadian_diesel1964]

Sorry about the loss of your dad also, your truck is awesome and will be great when done...I'm doing up this truck with my 15 year old boy...its gonna smoke and rip and tear and its rusty...lol
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[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by canadian_diesel1964

Sorry about the loss of your dad also, your truck is awesome and will be great when done...I'm doing up this truck with my 15 year old boy...its gonna smoke and rip and tear and its rusty...lol
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Thanks. Canadian diesel. I'm glad you're able to share this experience with your son. He won't forget it. And it's a great legacy of time spent together.

Belmont! I grew up in Dorchester, just on the other side of the Thames from you. Richmond road & Marion street. My mom & sis still live in London near Adelaide & Fanshawe. Next time I'm in town, I'll PM you so I can see your truck!

[canadian_diesel1964]

That's very cool...I work at the firehall at Adelaide and Fansahwe when not the captain at another hall...your welcome to see the rusty bucket anytime..
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[53Sparky]

Progress is progress, even when it's slow.

Got some frame work done this weekend in preparation for reassembly. I'm prepping for a small notch in the frame for clearance using a piece of 5" pipe I picked up from the commercial plumbing supply shop down the street.

My sandblasted frame has been calling my name every time I walk by it at work.


Got the bump stop brackets off


Ground down the old welds


Finished with a wire brush wheel


And removed the rear shock supports too.

[53Sparky]

Then I also got some time in prepping the new vacuum gauge and tachometer to work into the deluxe instrument panel I picked up in Longmont with Lee64 last month.

Nothing earth shaking here, I'm just following suggestions from the Astronaut and Chevyrestoguy.

Autometer tachometer from Carquest


Cut the chrome bezel off at the band saw





Disassembled except for the housing which I will leave in place until I have the instrument cluster ready for it.



I'm going to paint the needle with testers model paint (fluorescent red)

[53Sparky]

Spent the last few days driving back from Detroit to Denver with a canoe strapped to the top of a Jetta with pretty wicked side winds in western Iowa and all of Nebraska. That was AWESOME!

A highlight of the trip was our stop to visit _mg at his home and to deliver the jack and underseat brackets that I picked up in Longmont last time I was there with Lee64. It was great to meet another member of the forum. _mg has a clean and mostly original 64 4x4. He said it was great to be able to pull people who had gotten stuck in his driveway (it's close to 3/4 mile long, maybe?) last winter. He's also been using it to haul wood on his property. Not sure I'm ever going to retire, but if I do, I'm seriously going to consider moving out where he lives. That was pretty much perfection in my book.

BTW, Here's the pic I promised of how it went together, _mg.

[_mg]

Thanks 53Sparky!

Glad to hear you and your mom got back okay. I was a little concerned to see the boat on the top of your car for that long drive back, covering up part of the windshield.

Sorry to hear about your dad, really cool that you are restoring the canoe.

Thank you for the compliments, the truck and the woods are two of my favorite things (next to my wife of course). Next time you are in town, we can get a few of the forum guys together to spend a little more time talking trucks.

[Bills65C10]

Originally Posted by 53Sparky

Progress is progress, even when it's slow.

Got some frame work done this weekend in preparation for reassembly. I'm prepping for a small notch in the frame for clearance using a piece of 5" pipe I picked up from the commercial plumbing supply shop down the street.

My sandblasted frame has been calling my name every time I walk by it at work.


Got the bump stop brackets off


Ground down the old welds


Finished with a wire brush wheel


And removed the rear shock supports too.

did you decide how low you were going to drop it? What size c-notch are you using? You are a head of me On yours. I just got my rear end and gearing worked out. I do have my front suspension powder coated and rebiult. I like that you are doing your truck on a working man's budget, but the attention to detail is good. I think they have more character. Very good thread.
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[Bills65C10]

Originally Posted by 53Sparky

Progress is progress, even when it's slow.

Got some frame work done this weekend in preparation for reassembly. I'm prepping for a small notch in the frame for clearance using a piece of 5" pipe I picked up from the commercial plumbing supply shop down the street.

My sandblasted frame has been calling my name every time I walk by it at work.


Got the bump stop brackets off


Ground down the old welds


Finished with a wire brush wheel


And removed the rear shock supports too.

did you decide how low you were going to drop it? What size c-notch are you using? You are a head of me On yours. I just got my rear end and gearing worked out. I do have my front suspension powder coated and rebiult. Just haven't put it in yet. I like that you are doing your truck on a working man's budget, but the attention to detail is still very good. I think they have more character That way. I can't wait to get as far as you are on yours. Day jobs suck. Very good thread.
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[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by Bills65C10

Did you decide how low you were going to drop it? What size c-notch are you using? You are ahead of me on yours. I just got my rear end and gearing worked out. I do have my front suspension powder coated and rebuilt. Just haven't put it in yet. I like that you are doing your truck on a working man's budget, but the attention to detail is still very good. I think they have more character that way. I can't wait to get as far as you are on yours. Day jobs suck. Very good thread.

Thanks for your comments!

I'm aiming for somewhere around a 4/5 or a 5/6 static drop. I'm using 3" drop spindles on the front and I plan to cut coils away from stock 1/2 ton springs to get the rest of the drop in the front. I'll start conservative and watch my scrub lines because our neighbourhood has some wicked speed bumps.

In the back, I'm going to use 2" lowering blocks and mess around with drop springs to get it where i like the look. I'm going to guess first and then play around with it once the weight is back on the suspension. The C notch is just going to be 2", which equals 1/2 of the frame cut away and half of a 5" schedule 40 pipe.

Yup, day jobs suck, but they pay the bills (sometimes).

[53Sparky]

I got a couple hours to do some more work on the mini-C notch last night.

[Modges'66]

Looking great!
This should work awesome.

[53Sparky]

Got the other notch in this afternoon and finished welding all the way around both notches except for the last 3 inches - my spool of welding wire ran out, so off to AirGas on Monday.





The angle that this picture was taken makes it look like the notch is deeper than it really is. It's exactly a 2" notch.

[Bills65C10]

Originally Posted by 53Sparky

Got the other notch in this afternoon and finished welding all the way around both notches except for the last 3 inches - my spool of welding wire ran out, so off to AirGas on Monday.





The angle that this picture was taken makes it look like the notch is deeper than it really is. It's exactly a 2" notch.

Nice! You could drop the rear 7" or maybe even 8" with the c-notch. I've dropped mine 5" and that's max without a c-notch. Gonna have a nice stance.
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[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by Bills65C10

Nice! You could drop the rear 7" or maybe even 8" with the c-notch. I've dropped mine 5" and that's max without a c-notch. Gonna have a nice stance.

Thanks, Bill - I'm hoping that the stance will be as level as possible and as close to 5-6" as I can get. But the notch is there so I can still have some suspension travel

Today I responded to a Craigslist ad parting out a 1962 C60. I though there might be more to it, but when I got there it was pretty disappointing. There wasn't a single body panel that hadn't been mangled. The roof was peeled up, the cab was trashed, the grill was taco'd. Even the cowls and the window vents were wrecked. All I got was the c60 emblems. I figured someone might want them for their 1960 Chevy or something, and he was going to cut the truck up next week to recycle it for scrap value.



He did have some other heavy hauler stuff there, though, which wasn't for sale.

1965 Fire engine


1965 C80 grill


1956 Heavy


55-59 1 ton


And family inside the 55-59.

[53Sparky]

Scored this air compressor on Craigslist yesterday - $100 for a 2012 60 gallon Ingersoll Rand Air Compressor.

PO says that everything works, but the motor trips the breaker when he uses it at his shop. Monday I will get this thing plugged in at my shop to test for myself, but it got me to thinking...

In your experience, IF the motor is indeed the culprit, is a direct replacement of the motor a more cost effective solution vs rebuilding or repairing the old one? Especially when considering down time, longevity of repairs, etc?