Rust Therapy - 62 C-10

[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.

[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.

[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?

[par4tom]

I love the pics! Keep it up!

[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?

[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by par4tom

I love the pics! Keep it up!

Thanks! I will!

Originally Posted by 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.

That's why I love these forums! Thanks for the info, Captainfab!

PM sent.

[53Sparky]

Today I went to a junkyard in Longmont.

I picked up 2 better doors, a deluxe 60-63 gauge cluster, a 3:73 12 bolt, a high hump, reverse lights, driver and passenger round mirrors, a long fleet bedside, and a really good chrome GMC grill.

[Bills65C10]

My condolences to you for the loss of your father. Your story kinda hit home with me. I'm currently working on a 65C10 with my father. I still have a lot to learn from my father and hope to be at least half the builder he is. I also had just read a story on here about a junk yard going out of business in Colorado. Then I see you were the one that actually went, took the pictures and reported back here. That's awesome! I live in Florida and only dream about "old iron junk yards", with trucks all in one place, and in that good of shape. I would like to travel out west one day with a trailer and a pocket full of money! I subscribed to your thread and really dig your truck selection.

[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by Bills65C10

My condolences to you for the loss of your father. Your story kinda hit home with me. I'm currently working on a 65C10 with my father. I still have a lot to learn from my father and hope to be at least half the builder he is. I also had just read a story on here about a junk yard going out of business in Colorado. Then I see you were the one that actually went, took the pictures and reported back here. That's awesome! I live in Florida and only dream about "old iron junk yards", with trucks all in one place, and in that good of shape. I would like to travel out west one day with a trailer and a pocket full of money! I subscribed to your thread and really dig your truck selection.

Thanks!

Treasure your time with your dad - the days are limited. Make sure to look me up when you get to Colorado.
I've stalled a little on my project because work keeps getting in the way. Gotta feed those kids every day.

[53Sparky]

Today I went to the salvage yard in Longmont and met up with fellow member Lee64. He helped me and the owner of the lot, Dave, cut the 12 bolt rear end free that I purchased last week. I'll need to double check the gear ratio, but the stamp on the outside indicates that it is the correct gear ratio. Lee 64 also helped me pull a driver side door for my '62, and then we found and pulled an underseat jack kit for another member on this forum, _mg. Dave really understands the importance of keeping these parts out of the crusher and opened up more once he knew I was legitimately interested in using the parts to preserve their history.

After we left the salvage yard, I went over to Lee 64's house to see his project. He has a sweet 64 short step with a 383 stroker that is well on its way to completion. It was good to meet another guy who appreciates these trucks. He showed me a really trick fuel filler door and a secret security HEI shutoff setup to deter theft. He also left me with a parting gift: he had the glass lens that I needed to complete my reverse light parts search. A great day!

[lee64]

Thanks SPARKY, had a great time too. It's always cool to meet someone in person that is a member on this board. I had the opportunity to meet YELMER as well several months ago. Made me a GREAT deal on a windshield, door glass and back glass. Thanks again for that YELMER.

So far as an additional theft deterrent goes, I'm going to use a simple push/pull - on/off switch to run my switched HEI lead through. Used my old heater control bezel and knob and mounting it where the manual choke used to be. Hopefully I hear them cranking the hell out of it if they try the traditional hotwiring.

[lee64]

Here is what it looks like.

[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
Posted via Mobile Device

[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
Posted via Mobile Device

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..
Posted via Mobile Device

[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.

[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by _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.

Because you sit so low in that car, the view out of the windshield wasn't as bad as it looked from outside of the car. That wasn't so bad. And although I was concerned about the straps, the canoe didn't move at all the entire drive.

[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.
Posted via Mobile Device