Here We Go - 65 C10 LWB - For the Kid

[ctandc]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I agree that a TH350 and a 3.08 rear should do just fine. Good score on the PS pump and brackets.

I figured it made the most sense across the board initially.
Yeah, I couldn’t not pull those parts, as rare as they seem to be. Unfortunately the water pump pulley was already MIA, so I’ll add that to the list. I’ve done a little bit of digging, I just need to get the GM pt# and cross reference it. I’m hoping it will interchange with a small block pulley.

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Wow! It's really neat they still had all that documentation.

Yes, I was a bit shocked too.

[ctandc]

Next up I need to grab the control arms, calipers, rotors and steering linkage from a early 80's C10 they have at the same yard. Probably a good idea to grab the crank pulley from that Camaro as well.

[ctandc]

Notice I posted a thread here:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=1#post5284014

About the drop I have planned. I will be doing the frame and chassis first, so that's what I'm concentrating on now (planning and parts gathering).

Any comments from the peanut gallery?

Anyway project total is up to $331.00 (my fenders, steel grille and cowl panel)

Tonight I'm going to spend some quality garage time stripping and polishing the alum grille that came on the truck. Tomorrow morning I'm hitting up a local sale where a guy is clearing out his rental shop and I hope to score an engine stand and hoist if the price is right.

SATURDAY MORNING TEAR DOWN will begin!

I hope to get the bed apart and off (I'll be stopping by to pick up a new grinder on the way home from work tonight), and hopefully get the front clip out of the way.

By Sunday evening I want to have the engine and tranny out and have the frame in the garage so I can start stripping it down for blasting. (Still haven't heard back from my co-worker's husband, so I may just get to grinding).

[ctandc]

Sometimes…JUST SOMETIMES things line up. Of course, at least for me, that usually means that something else will blow up or give up the ghost (just to even things out) BUT…

Cruising Craigslist for parts just now, I Called a guy about something totally different and we got to talking.

So tomorrow morning I’m going to pick up the entire front suspension from an early 80’s C10, and he did verify 1.25” rotor width.

Rotors, calipers, upper and lower arms, spindles, complete steering setup with steering box, power brake booster and master cylinder and get this – I mention to the guy I’m looking for an engine hoists. Turns out he’s got a foldable 2 ton unit he doesn’t need now since he bought a chain hoist.

So all that for $200.

Score.

All I need now is an engine stand and I can really start spinning wrenches, or breaking bolts and knuckles as the case may be.

I’ll update, with pics since I know you guys live on pics, after the load is secure tomorrow morning.

[MARTYZ]

Looks like a real nice piece to start with. I have a 66 long box fleet painted falt black. The paint we used was Advamced Industrial Coatings #FLPC 135 FLB. Turned out very good, it is an acrylic enamel. When we sprayeded it we used too much hardener by accident but the result was a nice satin finish instead of flat which was good with me. My truck is on the message board under Barn Find.

[ctandc]

Originally Posted by MARTYZ

Looks like a real nice piece to start with. I have a 66 long box fleet painted falt black. The paint we used was Advamced Industrial Coatings #FLPC 135 FLB. Turned out very good, it is an acrylic enamel. When we sprayeded it we used too much hardener by accident but the result was a nice satin finish instead of flat which was good with me. My truck is on the message board under Barn Find.

Thanks. Actually I’m looking for a satin black. We’re looking at the Kirker Hot Rod Black.

[ctandc]

So today was a pretty good day.

Couple of days ago I was surfing Craigslist for parts. Came across an ad for a ’83 C10 frame for sell. I’d seen it several times, but never called. Finally called. Turns out the guy selling the frame had actually parted the entire truck out. He’s got a nice ’76 Chevy truck that needed the engine crossmember. He was swapping engines, so he figured that was a good time to do it. He bought a running and driving ’83 C10 and used the parts from it. He had kept the control arms, spindles, rotors, calipers, steering linkage and box all together. We talked for a bit and I let him know I was going to look at an engine hoist the next day too. He told me he had one of those too. Said he’d only used it a couple of times, until he got his movable hoist setup in his shop (mounts to a steel beam on his girders – wicked setup).

Well turns out Rob is his name and he’s a great guy. I probably talked his ear off. Considering he’s got the following in his shop behind his house:


- '76 Chevy pick up – NICE silver / red two-tone, hopped up small block, lowered, short bed- stepside. Nice truck

- ’66 Chevelle that he’s had for a LONG time. His next project

- ’37 Chevrolet Pick up – His grandfather bought it YEARS ago. Rob and his Dad fixed it up back in the 80’s, and then later Rob himself added ’87 Vette suspension front and rear, small block, etc. He said it’s going to be a family project to update it as he’s gathering parts. Of course this thing is already nice. Driver right now.

And of course I didn't have my camera.

So Rob hooked me up. I got:
- Spindles
- Rotors
- Calipers
- Steering linkage
- Booster and master cylinder
- Steering box
- Upper and lower control arms
- NICE 2 ton engine hoist

All for $200.

Here’s the haul:






Got it to the house and started tearing the assembly apart. He even threw in the shocks! LOL



After a bit here’s the pile of parts in the garage:
(NO this isn't my living room. That's the old rug my wife wanted to throw out. I used it to park my motorcycles on and work on them. Carpet is much better than cement.........





I had planned on starting to tear the old girl apart today. Mother Nature started having other ideas. JUST got the parts and tools in the garage before the bottom dropped out tomorrow. Tomorrow is supposed to clear. Here’s the old girl waiting for her last voyage under her own power for a while. I plan to yank the bed, front clip and drivetrain tomorrow. Will make a dolly for the cab and get it off next weekend. Start on the frame as soon as that’s done:

[pdxhall]

It looks like you got a great deal. I also use a couple of old area rugs under my truck while working on it. At my age it's hard enough to get up and down off the floor, I can use all the help I can get. Good luck with your truck.

[Captainfab]

I agree, you got a good deal on all that.

[ctandc]

So I started teardown today. Had to run around this morning and ended up picking up an engine stand locally and run some errands. FINALLY was able to pull the old girl in front of the garage and get started.

The victim at the operating table:



First up was getting the bed off. The original owner had replaced the old rotted wood with some kind of plywood that may be treated with some kind space age protectant. This stuff was TOUGH. Whoever had replaced the wood also used some new bolts at least. And of course they added nuts on the bottom, and basically it was a huge pain to try and get these off.
After fighting the bed a bit, and ripping some of it out with brute force, I decided to try a different plan of attack. Got out the circular saw and simply cut out the wood surrounding the bolts.

Before deciding to get out the circular saw and the sawzall:



Success.

Me 1
Truck 0



Truck looks pretty good underneath



The previous owner, who put some money into the truck to get it on the road, obviously had the brakes worked on.

See the “custom bent” brake lines that a “mechanic” installed for him? At a premium price I’m sure.



This is what I did with the saw:



Unplugged the wiring harness, ran it towards the cab, and got ready to pull the bed. Ended up fighting the tailgate a bit, but my son and I got the bed moved to its new home while the frame gets worked on:



A little lighter in the back:





Looks like the frame will clean up nicely.







This part of the cab looks pretty nice. I’m sure there’s something hiding I won’t like:



Started taking off the RH fender, and looks like a small hole in the front frame horn, where the ground bolt is attached. Anyone seen anything like this? I’ll check this out once I get the frame alone and in the garage:



Somewhere along the line a previous owner used something that might have been advertised as undercoating. I think it’s the stuff that they put on the space shuttle to protect it during reentry. All the bolts came out but one. Ended up having to use the sawzall to get the fender off. Nice try old girl, but I ain’t giving up that easy

Me 2
Truck 0



Some rust on the cab where the fender bolts, but I expected that. It is 47 years old:





So my grille support panel has a good bit of rot. And of course all the bolts but ONE came out without too much drama. The bolts that hold the small metal brace from the grille panel to the bottom of the core support decided to put up a fight. One broke off after some persuasion. The other simply rounded off. Ended up using my dremel tool and a cut off wheel (couldn’t find my grinder – can’t remember who I loaned it too) to cut up the grille support panel around that bolt. I’ll need a new grille support panel anyway.

Me 3
Truck 0

The remnants of the grille support panel and the LH fender:



A little lighter once again:



Looks like I’ll need a LH inner fender as well, and I’ll have to get a core support or possibly patch this one:





Cab doesn’t look horrible.



Didn’t get the engine out like I wanted. But I made decent progress for a few hours work.

Drove the truck back up to its parking spot and I’ll crank it back up next weekend.

It has begun.

[C@rnut001]

Great progress! Keep it up and your engine hoist and suspension parts were a great deal. Your truck looks to be in pretty good shape overall.

[ctandc]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

It looks like you got a great deal. I also use a couple of old area rugs under my truck while working on it. At my age it's hard enough to get up and down off the floor, I can use all the help I can get. Good luck with your truck.

Yeah that rug has turned out to be very handy. It’s funny you mention you use rugs as well. Awhile back I was working on a motorcycle, swapping engines, and a friend saw my rug. He made fun of it, then later on I was at his house, and he’d put two rugs down in his garage.

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I agree, you got a good deal on all that.

Yeah I’m definitely happy with what I ended up getting. I want to go back to his house and get pictures of all the cool stuff he had in his shop and shed.

Originally Posted by C@rnut001

Great progress! Keep it up and your engine hoist and suspension parts were a great deal. Your truck looks to be in pretty good shape overall.

I did get a good bit done, but I really wanted to the engine out, because I might not be able to work on it this weekend. I just have to be patient.
Yeah I’ve definitely seen trucks a lot worse off than ours on here, and many of them end up looking great.

[ctandc]

Since I don't get home from work early enough to get any real wrenching done (I plan on working on the frame inside the garage during the evenings when my wife is at work) I finally decided to test out a little “science project” I’ve been thinking about for a bit.

I’m sure most of you have heard of “Electrolysis Rust Removal” if not, google it, I even think there is a thread or two here about it. Well the idea to be able to stripping parts while I’m at work or doing other stuff is just way too appealing now. I heard of this process long ago, and never did anything with it.

On the way home, grabbed some 2ft rebar sections, and some washing soda (NOT baking soda – laundry aisle at Kroger, Arm and Hammer “Washing Soda” a staggering $3.50 for a good size box.

I used an old plastic tub that was originally a housewarming gift for us when we bought this place, from my realtor, of course it was filled with ice and beer as delivered.

So I drilled a few holes, used rebar wire to secure 5 pieces of rebar inside the bucket through these holes. I then ran some wire from the first wire connection off the rebar to the last (don’t complete the circle) and used wire ties to hold it together.

Took a 4x4 I use for a wheel chock, an anvil, mixing drinks and to keep the kid and dog in line (yeah you can tell I’m high buck, high tech around here), and used rebar wire to hang the rusty, nasty upper control arm from my donor truck. Hooked my battery tender up, but it’s too “smart” and had to borrow an old normal battery charger from my neighbor.

Here’s what the control arm looked like:



Here’s my high tech rust removal rig:



You can see the wire connected to the rebar.

Connect the NEGATIVE lead to the part you want cleaned, and positive to one of the rebar pieces. Throw the water and washing powder in, and wait for the bubbles. That’s how I know my charger wouldn’t work, no bubbles…again..you have to keep up, it’s high speed, low drag around here.

Got it hooked up the borrowed charger and magic bubbles started immediately:



Calgon take me (err I mean the rust) away:



I’ll let you know what it looks like when I get home tomorrow around lunch time.

[VA72C10]

Nice progress and some great scores!!! I've seen those rust removal setups work wonders...

[ctandc]

I’ve searched and searched, and I have a ton of threads saved, and have seen how many members here have built their own contraptions for removing the cab and also for storing / moving the cab around.

Since the first phase of my build involves the chassis / frame, once the engine is out I’ll be removing the cab. Because of space constraints, the cab will be stored outside.

What I planned on doing was using a homebuilt 4x4 and bracket setup, bolted to my engine hoist, to remove the cab. Since I’ll be storing the cab until the frame / chassis is done, and I’ll be storing outside, I planned on keeping the doors on. For simplicity sake of moving the cab, I figured that I could mark the hinge alignment, then remove both doors, then remove the cab. I had planned on leaving the rest of the interior intact.

Once the cab is on the dolly and in its resting place, I can put the doors back on. Keeping the cab weather tight.

Anyone see any issues with trying this?

Next up I’m planning on building a movable cart to hold the cab. This cart will need the big casters so that I can move it into my backyard for storage. I’ve seen many homebuilt carts here, and I figured on building mine to not only store and move the cab now, but be able to have the cab on this dolly when I start body work (welding / cutting etc).

Here’s a diagram of what I plan on building



I’ll put the big casters from Harbor freight on the bottom of each leg.

The dolly will be built out of pressure treated 4x4’s.

I’ll get the width dimensions before hand, so I can simply take some lag bolts and washers and actually bolt the cab to the dolly, using the cab to frame mounts, when we put it on. That way no worries about pushing it around the yard, storing it etc.

Any glaring holes in this plan?

[Chad215]

how did the electrolysis work? I've been planning on setting up a tub for my control arms since they have so many funny angled surfaces. Everyone I've heard talk about it seemed very impressed. The people that weren't were people that didn't understand that this also works on a "line of sight" principle, and only used one rod on one side of the tub. Looks like you've got that figured out though.

[ctandc]

Originally Posted by Chad215

how did the electrolysis work? I've been planning on setting up a tub for my control arms since they have so many funny angled surfaces. Everyone I've heard talk about it seemed very impressed. The people that weren't were people that didn't understand that this also works on a "line of sight" principle, and only used one rod on one side of the tub. Looks like you've got that figured out though.

Worked great!! Actually better than I thought it would. The first upper control arm in the tub, I didn’t even hose the mud / dirt off. Left it in for about 12 hours or so. It’s done to bare metal in a few spots, and GM black paint in other. Not perfect but a HUGE difference compared to the other one. I’ll get pics tonight and post them.

I loaded all the donor parts into my Dakota and hosed them off at the local car wash. I threw one of the rotors in my mix last night. I’ll take pics and see how it worked tonight. I’m sure I need to clean off the rebar by now.

[ctandc]

I'll post some pics of the parts I cleaned in the electrolysis rig tomorrow.
Here’s the thing, using rebar for this, the rust is drawn to the rebar. So after enough time, the rust coats the rebar, and the rebar pretty much becomes useless for the process. So you’d have to replace it fairly often. I’ve also seen people use graphite in this process, as it doesn’t draw the rust to it, but it still completes the process.

In the meantime, I ran across this stuff:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...&storeId=10051

Klean-Strip Phosphoric Prep and Etch. $15 a gallon at the local Home Depot.

Check the pictures out one of the guys posted over on the Camaro forum:
BEFORE:



AFTER:



While this stuff does the same thing as muriatic acid, this stuff isn’t quite as potent. It also etches the metal as well.
I’m cutting it about 3:1 with water and it’s in a covered plastic tub with one of the donor coil springs and the other upper control arm.

[ctandc]

UPDATE: Pulled the old coil spring and the lower control arm out of the Etch and Prep solution last night, just to get a peek. Much of the spring’s rust is gone. The control arm looks 100% better. I’m going to leave it another night or two and see what it looks like. Even if it takes three or four days to clean ‘em, it’s well worth it to me.

The solution is reusable. It’s not eating up my time while it’s sitting in the container, and I can work on something else. Not to mention I don’t have to wire wheel, grind or sand. I’ll be doing plenty of that before too long anyway.

Also got a line on a set of used 2.5” drop spindles (for a 73-87 so they fit right in with my planned swap) for a good price. That definitely helps the cause.

[VA72C10]

good deal!

[ctandc]

Well had a quiet night tonight so time to cut myself on 47 year old sheet metal and cuss engineers likely retired and playing golf somewhere.

Decided to get it ready to yank the drivetrain in the morning.
Tried to take the entire inner fender / radiator support together, she fought me again.
So I yanked the inner fenders one by one and “persuaded” the radiator core support mounts to loosen up.
That’s “me” again for those keeping score:




All that’s left is one tranny mount bolt, drain tranny, drop driveshaft, drain engine oil, speedometer cable, engine mount bolts.
Well I tried Electrolysis. It worked nicely.
Bought some Kleen-Strip Prep and Etch.
Coil on the right looked like the coil on the left less than 48 hours ago.



UCA on the left soaked in my electrolysis rig for about the same time I soaked the right in the Prep and Etch:




That’s what I’m talking about.

[ctandc]

Got up this morning and got to work. Had to get the engine / tranny out, the engine on the engine stand, the truck moved back to its spot of the backyard. After that was cutting grass, then going to the dump, then fixing a flat for a friend. I'm now kicked back with a beer.


Drain some fluids - of course enough stays in just to spill out later on. Law of relativity.

You know... Like the ratchet relativity : The looser the bolt, the harder it will be turn once you taker the ratchet off and try to loosen it buy hand. Of course it will practically fall out once you put the ratchet back on.

She fought. I guess you get to feel at home after 47+ years.

That's another one for me. (Yeah I'm still keeping score. Yes I'm competitive.) LMAO



The aftermath:




The load leveler is worth every penny. Of course being from Harbor Freight, the tool worked fine, after I reversed the handle after it was put on backwards.

See the wood prop up front? The engine stand is great (AC Delco brand from O'Reilly's) The big box store bolts, not so much. Don't trust 'em. I'll hit Fastenal for some Grade 8 stuff Monday after work.




After convincing my wife she needed to be INSIDE the cab to steer - yeah after 17 years I should know better, just nod and then end up doing it my way anyway. Pushed it up the majority of the hill then yanked it in place with my truck.

Back in its spot:




Next up engine cleaning and paint. I've got a gallon of Omni clear I've had, I'll order some epoxy primer and a quart of black gloss base and silver base for the engine. Plan is oil pan black, valve cover black, engine block / head silver, then figure out what color for intake / exhaust manifold and all the accessories.

And we're definitely going to experiment with the matte silver look, like here:



And we're looking at painting the bumper, grille, and possibly the custom cab trim in satin black, with black Coys.i

It has BEGUN. It will NOT be a simple or cheap as I planned it, but what project every is?

Right now project total is a tad under $600 including materials and tools purchased.

Looks like I've got a about $300 worth of crap I'm getting rid of from the garage, so that will knock it down, but that money goes for parts of course!!!

[ctandc]

Spent last night after work cleaning up all my tools, bagging bolts, and generally trying to free up enough room so I can move around the garage.

Parts are starting to pile up.

Started to clean on the old 230 a bit last night. Wow...scraping 40+ year old gunk, I forgot how fun that could be.

I'm going to save this job for the kid I think.

Also looks my exhaust manifold is cracked. Three small cracks right where it bolts up. Nice.

I'm going to look for a manifold and fight the inner demons telling me now "Well since the exhaust manifold is cracked, you MINE AS WELL look for a small block and 700R4 to drop in. Or maybe even a LSx drivetrain."

NO...I won't do it... Well unless a great deal "falls" in my lap.

I'm already trying to move the pieces into place so I can build up a SWB frame and chop this long fleet into a shorty. I don't need anymore work.

I may tell the kid this will be a vehicle he can drive when he graduates college... LMAO.

I'll get a better look at the cracks in the manifold after a good soaking in my prep and etch bath. From the looks, and the fact it wasn't leaking when it ran, I might be able to weld 'em up.

This Prep and Etch is the ticket for cleaning nasty scale rust off of metal parts. I've got the air cleaner and another control arm soaking, I'll probably pull them out tomorrow and toss in the exhaust manifold plus some other parts.

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by ctandc

I'll post some pics of the parts I cleaned in the electrolysis rig tomorrow.
Here’s the thing, using rebar for this, the rust is drawn to the rebar. So after enough time, the rust coats the rebar, and the rebar pretty much becomes useless for the process. So you’d have to replace it fairly often. I’ve also seen people use graphite in this process, as it doesn’t draw the rust to it, but it still completes the process.

In the meantime, I ran across this stuff:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...&storeId=10051

Klean-Strip Phosphoric Prep and Etch. $15 a gallon at the local Home Depot.

Check the pictures out one of the guys posted over on the Camaro forum:
BEFORE:



AFTER:



While this stuff does the same thing as muriatic acid, this stuff isn’t quite as potent. It also etches the metal as well.
I’m cutting it about 3:1 with water and it’s in a covered plastic tub with one of the donor coil springs and the other upper control arm.

Thanks for the heads up on this stuff. I've used Eastwood's brand of Fast Etch which appears to be the same stuff but way more expensive + shipping and waiting. I'll definitely pick up some of this. I've stripped light rust and also prepped the frame before painting with Eastwood's. Looks like the same results with this.

[ctandc]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

Thanks for the heads up on this stuff. I've used Eastwood's brand of Fast Etch which appears to be the same stuff but way more expensive + shipping and waiting. I'll definitely pick up some of this. I've stripped light rust and also prepped the frame before painting with Eastwood's. Looks like the same results with this.

This stuff is great. I'll post pics tonight of what it did to the latest batch nasty parts I soaked in it. And I'm diluting it probably more than 3:1. And it's not like pool acid or over cleaner. The fumes aren't bad. And last night a splash of it hit my bare foot. It 'tingled' more than burned. Wiped it right off with a damp cloth, no red mark, nothing.