1965 C10 LWB Project Build Thread

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by JohnIL

That makes sense. I'll bet your modification added about the same amount of travel as mine. And, your way didn't require and welding and grinding!

Just a little slicing with a razor blade

[JohnIL]

Cooling Fan Replacement
I started a separate thread about reducing the interior sound level in the cab.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=839201

One of the board members suggested that I replace the flex fan (installed by the previous owner) with a clutch fan. Flex fans are notoriously noisy, and this one was no exception.

I had a 7 blade fan on-hand from a long ago project, but the clutch was sized to fit an Oldsmobile water pump. So, I made a trip to my local O'Reilly for a Chevy clutch. I also had to replace the extended fan bolts that came with the flex fan back to factory studs. I happen to have a set of those on-hand from an old project too. Let's hear it for parts hoarding!

The installation was pretty simple. It didn't lower the actual decibel level inside the cab, but did change the "roar" of the engine in a positive way. On a test drive, the temperature stayed right where it was with the flex fan and it was less offensive to the ears. We'll call it a win.

Cooling Overflow Tank Replacement
The previous owner installed an off-the-shelf plastic Dorman overflow tank. It worked, but it was ugly. So, I replaced it with an aluminum tank I picked up for a few bucks on Amazon. The aluminum tank is no more "original" than the mid-'70's Dorman plastic tank, but it looks a whole lot better. Someday, I may clean up the engine bay by relocating the tank in front of the radiator, but this will do for now.

[JohnIL]

Yesterday was fun! Fall is coming on in Central Illinois and I thought we had run out of warm garage days. But, yesterday, we experienced a warm snap and I got the opportunity to spend the day on a project I thought would have to wait until spring.

A few weeks ago, on a lark, I ordered a chrome grille, front bumper, headlight bezels, and marker light bezels from LMC. The truck left the factory with white painted bumpers, grille, etc. The previous owner painted them black. He was was going for a blacked out hot rod look. That look is definitely better than five shades or rust, but it's not my style. I'm a sucker for chrome. That's the whole reason I love '50's and '60's vehicles in the first place. The C10 definitely needed some shiny bits up front.

I'm about 85% happy with the quality of the parts from LMC. The finish is good. Chrome is smooth and bright. But, like most aftermarket parts, the fit leaves a bit to be desired. The bumper, headlight bezels, and marker light bezels all fit well, but the grille was a pain in the neck.

I purposely used the factory headlight buckets. Since those are the mounting points for the grille, I reasoned that the grille would fit OK, as long as the headlight buckets fit. That assumption would have been correct, if the grille was the right shape.

The first problem was that the mounting holes in the grille did not line up with the headlight buckets. After enlarging the holes a few sizes, I got three out of the four holes on each bucket to line up. On both sides, the fourth hole was so far off, that it missed the edge of the bucket entirely. Three out of four ain't bad, right?

The second, and much larger problem, was that the grille didn't match the shape of the truck's front end. The front valance panel is more-or-less flat. But, the headlight buckets mount at an angle on both sides. The ends of the factory grille angle back to match the buckets. The aftermarket chrome grille doesn't appear to angle back at all. It's much flatter than the factory grille. So, when I bolted the passenger side bucket in place, the driver side bucket was about 3/4" out from the front valance panel. There was enough flex in the grille to pull it back into place, but it was a struggle to get the mounting bolts started. Once it was mounted, everything lined up well, but I really didn't like the idea of flexing/bending it to fit.

With all of the shiny chrome, the front of the truck looks MUCH better. I'll tackle the bumper next spring. That will be a bit more involved, because the towing bumper is welded to "custom" brackets that are welded to the rear of the frame. I plan to grind everything back down to the frame and mount either a factory chrome sport bumper or, maybe, a '67-'72 chrome bumper instead. I'm not quite sure which look I like better.

[joesscamaro]

Looks good and makes it a totally different looking truck!

[JohnIL]

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

Looks good and makes it a totally different looking truck!

Thanks Joe! I couldn't agree more. Chrome makes all the difference!

[Braunschweiger]

It looks great, the Chrome suits the truck, I love it on mine, I bought the OER Grille from Summit, it fitted well.

[JohnIL]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

It looks great, the Chrome suits the truck, I love it on mine, I bought the OE Grille from Summit, it fitted well.

Thanks Braunschweiger. I'm enjoying your build thread. It's good to know that the Summit grille fits better than the LMC grille. It's hard to know what aftermarket parts work well until you give them a try. Hopefully, our experiences will help other forum readers.

[SCOTI]

And these forum build threads are the best for sharing that info. I like the updated grille.

[Arne]

I'm with you all on the chrome as well, for some trucks—mine included.

My truck had an uninstalled chrome grill amongst all the various included parts. I don't know for certain where the PO bought it, but based on where other parts came from I'm guessing it was from Classic Parts (not Classic Industries). I also used the original headlight buckets and center support. I didn't have quite the fitting issues you did, I don't recall any problems mounting the headlight buckets, for example.

I got my bumper from Classic Industries. It's one of the new OER Premier line, which seems to be a much heavier gauge steel (weighs over 30 lbs.) with very nice chrome.

[duramax55]

arne do you know if a chevy grill would fit on a gmc

[bigmoe]

I put a chev grill on my 65 Gmc. I didn’t want to pay to chrome my gmc grill and chev chrome reproduction and pretty reasonable to buy. I may have had to drill a hole or two but it wasn’t difficult to do.
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[JohnIL]

A couple of weeks ago, we had an unseasonably warm weekend. I took advantage of the warn weather to install a new set of door seals. I used a push-on style seal kit from Brothers. It appears to be a good quality product and it was easy to install. I am, however, struggling with door alignment with the new seal.

Removing the Original Seals
The original seals were glued in at the factory. The condition of the rubber varied quite a bit, depending on location. Along the bottom of the door openings, the seals were brittle, splitting, and crumbling. Along the tops and sides, the rubber was still pliable, but it was split in several spots. The seals came out in a million pieces and I had the scrape the glue off of the flanges. That was, by far, the hardest part of the process.

Installing the New Stuff
The new seals were easy to install. Generally speaking, you just press the seals over the flange. Here are a few tips for anyone who takes on this project.

• Start at the bottom of the door frame. If, someday, your seals shrink, it's much better to have a small gap at the threshold than somewhere along the sides or top of the door.
• Make sure the seal is fully seated on the flange. I used a dead-blow mallet to tap the seal down onto the flange.
• Take your time. Press a few inches of the seal onto the flange. Then, tap it down with the dead-blow to fully seat it on the flange. You want to make sure it's fully seated all the way around the door opening. It's much easier to seat the seal as you go. If you wait until the end to seat the whole seal, you'll never get it to seat fully.
• Cut the seal a little bit longer than you think it needs to be. When you get all the way around to your starting point, Add a 1/4"-3/8" BEFORE you cut the end of the seal to length. It's better for the seal to be a little bit too long than a little bit too short
• Align the ends of the seal. The Brothers seals come with a short "connector" piece that slips inside the outer portion of the seal. This helps align the two ends of the seal and adds a little bit of insurance against a gap in the seal.
  

Troubles with Door Alignment - Hard Closing door
Now that I have fresh new door seals, the doors won't close! Actually, the passenger door is just about perfect. It seals up nice and tight and the door closes with just a little bit of effort. The driver door, on the other hand, is WAY too tight. It closed beautifully, with the old worn out seal. With the new seal, it takes a tremendous amount of force to compress the seal enough to latch the door. I loosened the door strike and adjusted it as far out as it will go. The rear edge of the door now sits about 1/8" proud of the cab and I still have to slam the door for it to latch. I don't think it is a vertical alignment issue. There hinges are tight and the door doesn't sag. The gap at the rear of the door is too tight, but I can't move the door forward without getting into the fender. When I get around to the body work, I can/will loosen the fender and adjust it forward. That should give some extra clearance to adjust the door forward too. In the meantime, I'm open to suggestions on correcting the hard closing door.

As always, I appreciate any advice you all can pass along.

Thanks.
John

[JohnIL]

There's really nothing new to report. I tucked the C10 into its winter cocoon a couple of weeks ago and I miss it already. The Expanded-Use Antique license plates I have on the truck go dormant for the winter. The C10 can come back out and play in March.

Really, it's for the best. I have no intention of driving the C10 in the winter months anyway. They salt the living wee out of the roads here in central Illinois and I don't want to encourage the rust any more than necessary.

If we have any unseasonably warm days this winter, we'll spend our garage time chipping away at the bodywork on my son's '83 El Camino. Plenty of work to be done there.

So, until Spring, the C10 will wait patiently under its cover, storing up its potential energy to be converted into kinetic energy when the weather turns warm again.

Winter sinks!

John

[JohnIL]

New parts have started to arrive for the projects I hope to work on when Spring arrives here in Central Illinois.

Bucket Seats

My original plan was TMI Pro Classic Low Back bucket seats. But, because of the high cost, that wasn't happening anytime soon. My plan changed when I stumbled across Procar's Pro-90 Low Back seat (see picture below). Not only are the Procar's MUCH less expensive than the TMI's, I actually like the looks of the Procar's better. The TMI's have a more modern look, whereas the Procar's have move of a vintage musclecar sort of look. I think they will look perfect in a classic truck.

I would love to hear from anyone who has theses seats in their 60-66 pickup. Pictures of your install would be very helpful!

Power Brake & Front Disc Brake Upgrades

The truck came with the usual four wheel manual drum brakes and the original single-reservoir master cylinder. I definitely wanted to upgrade the master cylinder to a dual-reservoir. While I'm touching the master cylinder, I might as well add power brakes as well. If I'm going that far, I might as well upgrade to front disc brakes. If I'm digging into the front brakes, I might as well replace the worn out ball joints and front end bushings, etc. You can see how one thing leads to another.

So, I ordered up all of the following from Speedway Motors:

• CPP Front Disc Brake Conversion Kit
• Brake Booster Kit
• Booster Mounting Plate
• Front End Rebuild Kit

I plan to take the opportunity to run new brake lines while I have it all apart.

I would like to hear from anyone who has experience with these any of these brake parts, especially the CPP front disc brake conversion kit. Any hurdles I need to watch out for?

That should be enough to keep me busy for a while. Now, I just need winter to give way to warmer weather so I can get back out into the garage.

John

[SCOTI]

Lots of those kits out there so they're doing something right. I know more than one story of issues related to parts (missing; compatibility/fit; appearance; etc) but that's prob an industry wide as a whole issue & not solely a CPP issue.

In summary.... There might be an issue or two but they should be easy enough to overcome.

[joesscamaro]

Good to see some update on your truck. When you get those seats in there, please post pics. I've been on the hunt for the "perfect" seat myself.

[JohnIL]

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

Good to see some update on your truck. When you get those seats in there, please post pics. I've been on the hunt for the "perfect" seat myself.

Thanks Joe. The new seats are first on my list when the weather turns warm and the rain washes away all of the salt on the local roads. I'm hoping to get the truck back on the road on/near March 1.

John

[JohnIL]

Last weekend, the weather warmed up enough to get the C10 out of winter hibernation and into the shop for some work/play.

Springtime Joy Ride
Since the truck hadn't been run in almost five months, I started by checking the fluids and reconnecting the battery. I parked it last fall with a full tank of fuel, treated with STA-BIL. After sitting for so long, I expected a dry carb and lots of engine cranking. To my surprise, the engine coughed once, then jumped to life. Oil pressure came up immediately and it idled well.

After a few minutes of warm up, I took the truck for a drive in the country to blow the cobwebs out. It really was nice to get the truck back out on the road. Old trucks are good for the soul.

New Fender-mounted Antenna
If you've been following along, you know that I installed a stereo last fall along with a hidden antenna. The hidden antenna worked great, as long as I was holding in free space in the middle of the cab. However, as soon as I set it down or tried to mount it, the reception fell apart completely. I was hoping The hidden antenna was intended to make it easier to cover and uncover the truck without fighting the after market fender-mounted antenna the previous owner had mounted. But, I just can't live with the lousy reception.

Over the winter, I found a better quality fender-mounted antenna on Amazon. This one is intended as a replacement for 1980's GM J-body's like the Chevy Celebrity and the Buick Century. There were two features that stood out. First, the antenna came with five different angled bases, allowing me to choose the right angle for the fender without any crazy pivot screws. Two, because the angled bases are fixed, the antenna mast unscrews from the base, just like a factory antenna would. When I want to throw the cover on the truck, I can easily unscrew the antenna mast to get it out of the way.

Metra 44-GM935:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The new antenna has MUCH better reception than the hidden antenna or the old antenna that was previously on the fender. Mission accomplished.

New Upper Radiator Hose
This seems like a simple maintenance item, but because the engine isn't original to the truck, finding a radiator that fit correctly was like solving a murder mystery. The previous owner installed a universal flexi-hose, which looked like garbage. I thought about trying a reproduction of the original steel tube-style hoses, but they're pretty pricey and I'm not sure I have the correct water neck angle. So, I went in search of a rubber replacement that might fit. Over the winter, I read a suggestion here on the forum. This hose was cheap (only $12) and it was almost a perfect fit.

Dayco 70344:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you have a later model small block in your truck with an original-style radiator, give this hose a try. I had to trim a couple of inches off of one end of the hose, and the radiator end was a tight fit, but the angle was perfect and it looks a whole lot better than the silly flexi-hose.

Bucket Seats (Part 1)
And now, the part you've all been waiting for. I started working on installing the new ProCar low back bucket seats. First off, I love the way these seats look. They have the perfect look for a classic truck. The only thing that would make them better is two-tone blue/white covers, like the factory bench seats. Maybe someday...

I started by removing the clapped out square body bench seat that the previous owner installed. It served the purpose, but they vinyl was torn, the springs were bent, and the foam padding was shot. Once I had the old seat out of the way, I found something I hadn't noticed when I had the seat out last fall. I found extra holes in the cab floor. Apparently, at some point in the past, somebody else had bucket seats in this truck. I wonder what happened to them?

With the cab emptied out, I set the new driver side bucket in place. As I expected, the slider mounts set the seat about 5" too low. So, I set about fabricating a set of seat risers. This turned out to be tougher than I expected.

Initially, I thought I could get away with four individual "uprights", one on each corner of the seat. But, this turned out to be too flimsy. There is enough flex in the sliders that the seat wiggled all over the place. Next, I tied the front and rear uprights together with a strip of bar stock. This gave me two risers, one for the left side of the seat, one for the right side of the seat. This eliminated the front-to-back flex, but there was still too much side-to-side flex. So, I added a two more strips of bar stock to tie the two sides together. This formed one solid riser for all four corners. The flex was all but eliminated. But, there was another problem.

With the uprights positioned directly below the four slider mounting points, the seat was too far to the left. The two right corners of the riser were sitting against the transmission tunnel. So, out came the cutting wheel. I moved the two right-side uprights toward the center of the seat by 1 1/2" and added 1 1/2 "ears to mount the seat to. Then, I tied the four uprights back together with bar stock. This allowed me to move the whole rig (seat, slider, and riser) closer to the center of the cab.

You can see the finished (but still unpainted) driver-side riser in the picture below. I'm pretty happy with the way the riser turned out. The seat sits high enough to be comfortable and there should be plenty of space under the seats for jumper cables, gloves, etc. I have all of the steel cut for the passenger-side riser, but I ran out of warm weather. We've been back down near freezing all week. As soon as we get some warm weather again, I will weld up the second riser and get the seats mounted in the cab. More to come...

[JohnIL]

The weather took pity on me over the weekend and I spent a day finishing the installation of the ProCar lowback bucket seats.

Since my last installment, we've only had a few workable evenings. I spent that time welding up the seat riser for the passenger side, painting the seat risers, and installing the driver side riser. The first one took a few hours to get located and mounted.

This weekend, I mounted the passenger seat. This one only took a few minutes because I learned how to avoid the mistakes on the first one.

Once the seats were installed, I reinstalled the buckle end of the seatbelts. The mounting brackets I fabbed to mount the belts for the old bench seat were a bit too tall and they needed to be turned 90 degrees. Now, the belts are positioned perfectly (or pretty darned close) for the new buckets.

With the new buckets in place, I fabbed up a mounting bracket for my rear speakers. The bracket bolts to the floor and raises the speakers up above the seat belts. This is only a temporary solution until I make the leap to a frame mounted gas tank. Once the gas tank is out of the cab, I'll have gobs of space for the speakers behind the seats.

Now that it's all installed, I'm thrilled with the seats. They're comfortable and they have the right look for a classic truck. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

[joesscamaro]

The seats look right at home...thank you for the update.

[88Stanger]

Damn fine job sir!!! looks awesome

[Braunschweiger]

Yes, looks really great, congratulations

[SCOTI]

Seats & mounting

I'm not feeling the speaker arrangement in all honesty though. Different strokes for diff folks & all that rainbow glitter aside..... They're too 'visually prominent' for me so it draws you to them vs them being a discreet addition.

[JohnIL]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

Yes, looks really great, congratulations

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

Damn fine job sir!!! looks awesome

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

The seats look right at home...thank you for the update.

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I need all I can get!

[JohnIL]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Seats & mounting

I'm not feeling the speaker arrangement in all honesty though. Different strokes for diff folks & all that rainbow glitter aside..... They're too 'visually prominent' for me so it draws you to them vs them being a discreet addition.

Scoti,
I know exactly what you're saying. The speaker location doesn't fit the look of the truck and it's definitely not ideal for sound quality. Once I get the fuel tank out of the cab, I plan to move the speakers back behind the seats. Before the buckets, I had the speakers under the bench seat. They were too muffled to be of any real use. I would like them to be more-or-less hidden from view without being muffled by the seats. The current arrangement is a temporary measure to get me by until the fuel tank relocation.

John