Johns 66

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Picking up momentum now!

Yes Sir....and so very glad

Originally Posted by DPowers

Dont need them but good original parts are hard to find and maybe one of my social media followers .....lol...may need them one day

So that was you that had posted them on FB.[/QUOTE]

I posted that I got them yesterday, one hood and the doors were in Columbus, Ms so a lil bit of a drive.

The other hood was local.

[roll_the_dice]

Looks great John....nothing like the journey...and the memories that they make!

[SCOTI]

Picking up momentum now!

[Johns 66]

More progress today. Got the frame off the cab, got the outside of the frame cleaned up and sprayed with flat black rattle can (all I had and didnt wanna go to the store) the took the front steering linlage apart and got the new linkage together and roughly set to length.
Ill get so.e semi gloss rattle can and get the frame painted up.

Cab, doors and rest of the stuff will go to the body shop on Tuesday. While its there Ill get the remaining things done on the frame, cleane the inside, clean the rear end housing, cross member etc all clean and get them painted up, and install the new rear springs while Im at it along with new trailing arm bushing.

One mo step in the process!!!!

[Riverstory]

Bravo John. Nice score on the hoods!

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by Riverstory

Bravo John. Nice score on the hoods!

Thanks Mark...glad they got you situated so you can join in.

[Johns 66]

Well got the rest of ole girl to the beauty shop today, and they had already started on the other parts. Because I did not want the hood blasted they sanded it back down to metal. Rest of it was blasted. Apparently I dont know how to mix primer because the body shop said it gummed up the sand paper...based on their experience I didnt put enough hardner in it. At least I know now what went wrong. So all the gummy and cracked primer is off.
Hate that I wasted all that time and effort but at least I learned something.

Anyway got the frame back in shop and I couldnt stand it...I just had to see how the wheels looked....lol
Plan is now to get the remainder of the frame, rear end etc....cleaned up and painted, new rear springs, new truck arm bushings, rear end cleaned and painted and new shocks.....

After that....mechanical stuff...lol

[aggie91]

Looking good!

[roll_the_dice]

New shoes! Very nice.

[pdxhall]

Your frame and wheels and tires are looking excellent.

[Johns 66]

A few more things done. I think in my inexperience I figured the back half of the frame would go pretty quick.....yeah right. I didnt take into account that 54 yrs of road grime, rust, krud and pretty much eveything you could think of would make it difficult to remove the u-bolts, and spring bolts. I used penetrating oil, wd 40 spit..lol and they were really tough.
Im not sure if its just the usage but the threads were pretty messed up on the u-bolts. Had to heat the upper spring bolts and ended up breaking them. Also the brake line connections were froze so I just cut them and will replace them.

I did get the trailing arm and panhard bar bushings out...not to bad after I read a thread from the board....just used a drill bilt and drilled around the rubber and they came out pretty easy.

I do have a little bit of welding to do. I cut 3in holes on the center cross member. My thoughts are I can run the exhaust through them i stead of under them. Im going to get a 1/4 plate for both sides and weld them in for strength...not sure I need them but better safe than sorry. I also got all the old brackets, old exhaust hangers and anything else that wasnt needed off the frame.....those 40 grit flapper disc on a 4i grinder work wonders on the rivets.

Last I got the frame, rear end, trailing arms, panhard bar painted....as well as the shocks....they were blue but as you can see I painted them red.....I think its a law in Alabama not to have any blue....lol

[cwcarpenter98]

"not a show truck"

Looks great! On the U bolts, make sure you get some new ones. I had a local driveshaft shop bend some up for me when I noticed mine had loosened. The 63 shop manual said to torque them to 230 ft lbs

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

"not a show truck"

Looks great! On the U bolts, make sure you get some new ones. I had a local driveshaft shop bend some up for me when I noticed mine had loosened. The 63 shop manual said to torque them to 230 ft lbs

It's such a show truck it's not funny!

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

"not a show truck"

Looks great! On the U bolts, make sure you get some new ones. I had a local driveshaft shop bend some up for me when I noticed mine had loosened. The 63 shop manual said to torque them to 230 ft lbs

I gotta get all the torque specs..right now everything is wrench tight.

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

It's such a show truck it's not funny!

You two are funny....if it was a show truck I would have had the frame powder coated instead of rattle canning it...better yet a custom frame...lol Thats why I painted the shocks....lol
Just remember pics look good from across the room...lol

15.00 in rattle can paint, 3 wire wheels and alot of time cleaning.

I had to buy new brake lines and bolts so lil more than I wanted to spend...also bought a rear brake spring kit to redo the brakes...7.00 wasnt bad.
I am going to change the rear wheel cylinders while everything is apart...just make good sense to do that...Ill keep the old ones just in case.

[Johns 66]

My thoughts exactly!!!!

[pdxhall]

Nice work on the frame. It's a tough job cleaning them up. How are you going to run the exhaust if you block off the holes in the crossmember?

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

Nice work on the frame. It's a tough job cleaning them up. How are you going to run the exhaust if you block off the holes in the crossmember?

Thanks....Im not going to block them off...I cut the 3in holes in to run the exhaust through the cross member instead of below it.
I was going to add a plate for strength with the same 3 in hole...basically just making it thicker where I cut it out.

[Johns 66]

Lil update for today.....got the new trailing arm bushings in and arms mounted, also got the new rear springs in as well....with all new grade 8 bolts.
Put the front shocks on just to see how the red looks...not too bad

[SCOTI]

Red shocks for the Bling!

[Johns 66]

Got the rear brakes rebuilt with new hardware, pads, and drums. Also got the rear end set back in place.
Engine got cleaned up and painted after the rebuild.
Gotta pick up some gaskets today and get the accessories installed on the motor and ready to set it.....gonna wait till the brake lines get hete before we set it in.
One mo step in da process!!!

[roll_the_dice]

Looks great John! Love the engine!

So glad you have time to work on her again!

[cwcarpenter98]

Dangit John, you're making me regret not taking the time to completely paint my engine
You'll be back on the road in no time!

[Johns 66]

Well one small progress thing......Got the rear end all buttoned up...all bolts tightened down, new bushings in panhard bar and it installed, rear shocks installed...kinda like the bright red shocks. Just waiting on the brake line stuff to get that area finished up. I am going to paint the rear drums and front calipers a cast color,,,think it will look a lil better than black.

Now for the opinion part of this...I talked with Andy several times over the last couple of days about this. Randy suggested that since my truck is completely apart that if I EVER wanted to do AC that now was the time to do it. It will save me much aggravation doing it now verses next spring/summer when I will actually need AC...I do live in Alabama...the land of humidity.

Here is my choices...I can buy a Vintage Air system and figure out how to put it in.....I like the vents that Corvette Jim sells and will be using them....Or I can buy an original system for the truck and use the dash vents....Best I can tell from the quotes I got is that the Vintage Air is roughly 800.00 cheaper than an original system.

I think an original system will have a better value than a VA System in the event it were to sell....as my uncle says...its not for sale but it can be bought. Based on what I am seeing, from research that I have done about 9% of these trucks came with factory air, but the deception is that AC was an accessory that the dealer could add....so unless you have the original SPID sheet or the original paperwork when the truck was bought there is no way to tell. Even if the dealer added it on later unless you have the original sales order you simply do not know. I am in no way trying to be deceptive about my truck...one quick look at the engine block will tell you its a 3 on the tree truck. Kinda like adding sway bars which I am doing.

My truck will not be completely original...I changed the brakes for safety reasons, added a 700R4 for drivability reasons, am changing the grille to a C60 grille cause I think its just cool and while the outside will be the original white the interior will be a charcoal gray looking color. All these things are easily changeable back to stock if someone so chose to do it. But I prefer to keep it as stock looking as possible given these few changes...of course her new shoes will be a dead giveaway.

So what do yall think....Open the hood and see 1966 everywhere or open it and see vintage air........

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by Johns 66

...I can buy a Vintage Air system and figure out how to put it in.....I like the vents that Corvette Jim sells and will be using them....Or I can buy an original system for the truck and use the dash vents....Best I can tell from the quotes I got is that the Vintage Air is roughly 800.00 cheaper than an original system...

John, the VA system would also function MUCH better than the original style, especially with the modern R134a refrigerant. While the OE system would be cool to have and keep the truck period correct, the VA system will be a better value in the long run. ONLY a pure 100% correct stock restoration make the OE system valuable in my opinion...

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Hmmm that red and black sure does bring to mind a certain school

The frame is lookin' great!
Personally, I would probably go with the Vintage Air kit because I'm frugal that way

Haha ...I will be changing to Crimson...LOL

Originally Posted by aggie91

John, the VA system would also function MUCH better than the original style, especially with the modern R134a refrigerant. While the OE system would be cool to have and keep the truck period correct, the VA system will be a better value in the long run. ONLY a pure 100% correct stock restoration make the OE system valuable in my opinion...

I have kicked it around back and forth OE vs VA....so follow my thoughts...I know it may be hard...lol

I have been looking on FB marketplace, Craigslist, Ebay and pretty much every other place that I can find that sells old chevy trucks for 1 truck...a 66 C10 SWB, Fleet,BBW,Custom Cab,327 truck and lets just say I havent found one....I do know where one is at but he wont sell it because it has factory AC, PS, PB, Auto, 327........

I also talked with several folks who supposedly know and unless you have the build sheet or original service paperwork there is hardly anyway to tell if the truck came with PB, PS, AC etc....motors are different because of the numbers on them. Again Im not trying to deceive anyone about my truck....but AC was added by many dealers as an accessory...I know one person who has a NOS AC set up, again he wont let it go( Dont blame him)

I talked with a couple folks about original OE setups and found that all run R12 and have asked if the compressor and associated parts can be converted to R134a....IF they can be converted to R134a I am leaning that way.

I have purchased the center and outer vents from CorvetteJim here on the forum from his website coolc10, which btw are on sale because I like the stock look of it and while I understand the outside vents were never there I think it just helps cool and they look good as well.....and along with the original deluxe heater and AC controls I lean that way.

My "Plan" for my truck originally was to change the leaking rear main seals and drive it....Boy I missed that mark..lol especially when I saw the broke main cap bolts, and upside down pistons........

I can buy all original parts for what I want to do...Power Brakes, Power Steering ( they all leak from what Im told) AC etc....but the cost associated with "Original" outweighs function in my opinion....except the AC because of the look....and many things I am doing is based solely on looks...ie C60 grille, chromed sail panels, grille, park lamp bezels, horn ring, button etc....

I am changing the brakes to power because I was given a free booster and dual master cylinder, 5 lug discs because they were on sale as well as the rear axles.

I guess in hind sight the bolt fiasco was a blessing because it gave me time to really think about which way to go on the build and allow me to accumulate parts over a period of time without a big chunk leaving at one time.

All that said...lol If I can get the OE Ac in R134a I "think" that is the way I am going to go for no other reason than I think it will look better and hopefully cool....no doubt itll be better than no AC at all...lol

the journey continues.......................