Junkyard C30 stepside work truck "build"

[66Submarine]

Thanks, everyone!

Originally Posted by hotrod66

well i did and you had better bring back my truck

Too late--it's mine now.

Originally Posted by LVPhotos

Like it! That rust primer was terrible! May I through a redneck idea out there? Rear pipe bumper, capped off and used as a air tank. Looks as if you could use a compressor. If you're dragging truck out the weeds don't mount a winch, use removable winch with plugs front, rear and trailer.
By the way I say "my cab lights says mines bigger than yours".

I normally throw an air tank (at least) or portable electric compressor in there now; I'd like to make up (or buy) a gasoline-powered compressor eventually (among other things).

Some type of winch setup is certainly in the future; an electric one with multiple mounting points is what I'm kind of figuring on, but I'm tempted to also throw an old PTO-driven winch on the front.

[66Submarine]

Small update, I guess.

I removed the front springs the other day and replaced them with two '83 C20 springs I had with one coil cut off them. The right side was one of the '83 springs with half a coil removed (that was a little too tall), and the left was the OE spring.

Pretty happy with how it turned out.

[TJ's Chevy]

Looks good.

[66Submarine]

Thanks, TJ.

I've also started getting the '76 front end ready to swap. Still not sure about the 14 bolt rear yet; both mine are the 67" (or so) wide variants, as compared to the OE Eaton @ 65.5". Not sure what I'm going to do at this point; might just use the 14 bolt drums/backing plates I have and fix the seal surfaces on the Eaton...

[66Submarine]

Pulled the front end out from under the '76 the other day to get ready for the swap. I think I'm going to just reuse the power steering box that came with it and use the hydroboost setup off the '74 I have.

Also replaced the leaking heater core and cleaned the heater up. I found a nice collection of rat turds in the process! There was a nice 3/16" thick deposit of corrosion and urine underneath them, too. The outlets on the new one didn't fit real well, but otherwise I'm happy with it so far. Heat seems to work great now!

I also checked and figured out the truck actually has 4.57 gears, not 4.10! I guess I'll put the 4.10 third member I have in it soon. I expect I'll probably gain a little extra fuel economy with the reduced engine speed (I've been able to get something like 14-15MPG out of it like it is).

[66Submarine]

Time for another "update"...

I bought a 1982 Winnebago today for $700 to salvage a 454 BBC from; it has 77,000 on it and runs like new. Should be a nice engine for the truck.

[66Submarine]

I don't think anyone reads this, but at least it kind of serves as a record of maintenance...

Anyway, I swapped in the HEI I had the other day; went right in like it should. I also cleaned up the absolutely horrific mess of a connector going to the alternator at the same time, which obviously needed to happen.

I hit the key and it lit right up, so I went over the adjust the timing; I set it to 12º as a starting point. All good so far!

Then I grabbed the throttle and wound it up a little...uh oh...no mechanical advance!

Popped the cap off and it soon became clear that the mechanical advance was hopelessly seized up.

Most people probably would have just stuck the old points distributor back in there and called it a day, but I saw it as an opportunity; what's this thing run like with the timing locked out? Perfect time to find out!

I got out a scale and marked roughly were 36º BTDC would be on the balancer, then set the timing to something like 32º (need to check again).

Runs very well with the timing locked out; if you lug it with the throttle wide open around 1,500RPM or below it'll start spark knocking, but when driving normally it has no problems (obviously). Even at something like 1,000RPM you have to really have it opened up before it does it, so it's easy to avoid. This is all on 87 octane, of course.

Neat test overall. I'll have to eventually take the distributor apart to fix the advance (and fix the very lazy advance curve), but for now it works fine.

454 swap coming soon...

[Jeff La]

Hey now, some of us read. I try to stay along with most all threads, just don't comment a whole bunch. Your doing a great job,keep the lessons coming. Thanks

[firethorn]

thats a nice looking rig

[TJ's Chevy]

I read it!

[rusty76]

I'm keeping up.

[66Submarine]

Well then, I guess a few people actually do read this!

I also forgot to mention I took the rear cab mounts off a '64 C10 parts truck I have the other day, so those will go on soon to eliminate the broke-back look.

Right now I think that I'm going to try to mount the 454 in the OE location and make up a hydraulic clutch setup, but I'm not positive.

The destroyed cardboard glove box also finally fell apart, so I may make one up out of some thin aluminum for fun.

FWIW, I did move a little firewood a couple days ago.

[bj383ss]

Can't wait to see the 454 go in. My favorite engine off all time.

The picture of your HEI dist brought back nightmares for me when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my Caprice. I thought it was ignition and then the wiring. So I bought a new MSD Dist and rewired the whole underhood. It turned out it had the 6 flat cam lobes. Glad you figured yours out.

Bret

[rusty76]

The truck looks good working!

[66Submarine]

Thanks, guys.

[pdxhall]

I'm enjoying your build. It's not everyday that a C30 step comes along.
I get that feeling once in a while about if anybody is watching my build but I'm also doing it more for a record of progress. It's just that all some guys need to do is change their oil and everyone gets all crazy about it.

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

I'm enjoying your build. It's not everyday that a C30 step comes along.
I get that feeling once in a while about if anybody is watching my build but I'm also doing it more for a record of progress. It's just that all some guys need to do is change their oil and everyone gets all crazy about it.

Thanks.

And damn it, I changed the oil just a few months ago! I knew I should have made a post about it...

[TJ's Chevy]

Looks good loaded down with wood!

[66Submarine]

Someone asked about how the heater core I used fit, so here are a couple pictures. It's a Spectra 94788 that I got at autozone for $34 (for some reason that was the best price IIRC?). The inlet/outlet tubes aren't in quite the right place and I needed to add some clearance. I'm not sure if this would vary from core to core, since it appeared it was put on slightly crooked, but I saw no real reason to look into that. They are also not as tall and the OE support bracket doesn't work with them. Works fine for me.

[66Submarine]

I guess I'm not that great at the whole build thread thing, am I?

Anyway, I picked up a NV4500 to go behind the BBC yesterday. Someone apparently killed the synchros and ground on the engagement teeth a good bit as a result, but the gears and bearings themselves seem good. The PTO-driven hydraulic pump should also be neat (I'll probably just take it off for now).

In hindsight it was pretty stupid of me to not pull the top off and check the magic synchros out, but $500 still probably isn't too bad of a price with all the PTO stuff included.

[TJ's Chevy]

I'm jealous. lol My tranny is gonna cost 2k more. lol That 454 outta get a little more decent mileage with the 5 speed.

[cooperhw]

Awesome truck and thread.

I dig it. The thing I like most about it is "you are building and driving a truck". Started life as a truck, spent it's whole life as a truck, brought back from the dead by an enthusiast to once again BE A TRUCK".
That dosent mean it can't be dependable, or look a fairly good, but (I speak from experience here) a lot of folks take these trucks and get em all shiny, and BANG they are no longer to be used as a truck.
Don't mean to rag or berate anybody who is making their truck perfect. To each his own. Your truck and you can do any d*mm thing you want to it. But for me, I like em to stay a truck. looking like a truck, smelling like a truck, and living/acting like a truck.
Hurray for you and your truck.
I am currently building a little 1/2 ton 63 GMC and you can bet your boots when it's done it will still be a truck that can work.

[66Submarine]

Thanks again, guys. Yeah, there's no wondering whether or not this is still a working truck...lol. I can also appreciate the "nice" ones (especially the one that theastronaut redid!), but I really like having one I'm not afraid to use (the fact I don't drive/use something else probably also plays a part in that...).

I've been out of town with poor internut access, but I'll be back in a few days and ready to get after some projects.

[66Submarine]

Pretend update!

Got an extremely rare () Performer intake to replace the OE iron "pancake" EGR intake manifold on the 454.

Moved the NV4500...still need to clean it up and take it apart.

Moved the disassembled 292, the 350 shortblock and vortec heads for my car, and my 6.0. The truck works pretty well for this type of stuff.

Should make some actual progress soon...might go ahead and stick the 4.10:1 third member I have in it.

[Grizz1963]

This is a brilliant build and use record.

I do feel much envy for all your access to parts, trucks etc in the USA.

Maybe my next truck should be a patina stepper to build from little into something cool.

I have made a few metal glovebox inners for friends now and actually have a template drawn out and photographed for reference.