Project Goldilocks, '66 C10 SWB BBW Build

[theastronaut]

The centers I have will work, its just that the drop center of the rims are so close to the edge that they have either too much or too little backspacing. Just gotta find a couple 18" rims with the drop center closer to the center of the rim. I've asked around and found a local guy that can respline my axles so I'll use the rims I have for the rear an narrow the axle to match. I'm kinda diggin the deep lip look for the rear.
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[redneck6]

right but that was one who came to mind i later found more while doing a search on google for pressed wheel centers .

[66redw/white]

i think that the wheels you have might work if you roll the inner lip. that sucker is huge! its at least an inch. maybe even inch and a quarter

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by padresag

several things. 1 it looks like you used h/maple and it is not that friendly to oil stains. you are better of using dye stain. a really good lack is a black aniline shoe dye if you can buy it by the quart. there are quite a few good places to get these dyes from.,not difficult to apply.
I think that you wood could have used a good sanding. that stuf looks like you dragged it down the pavement first behind your krauter.
you can adj the depth of colour on most of those dyes
ron

Thanks for the tips on staining the wood, and it is hard maple. I didn't spend much time sanding it, was mostly trying to see what the color would turn out like, and what I tried definitly didn't work. I don't know anything about working with wood (it shows!) but I'm willing to learn.
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[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 66redw/white

i think that the wheels you have might work if you roll the inner lip. that sucker is huge! its at least an inch. maybe even inch and a quarter

I'm going to look into that, will be taking some measurements of the rear axle, and the inside of the bed between the wheel openings tomorrow. Still not sure that I want to alter the sheetmetal though...
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[theastronaut]

Just compared one of the stock wheels with the one I flipped and there's 3.5 inches less backspacing. So going by 66redw/white's photo, they won't fit without narrowing the rear end. Add in some sidewall buldge, and I'll have to narrow it atleast two or two and a half inches per side.

[theastronaut]

Just laid the bed wood out and found that the outer boards aren't wide enough. Whoever made them grooved both sides just like an inner board. I'll have to get more cut to fit under the inner bedsides. Otherwise, they look good and measure out fine, other than being about an 1/8" too long (going by classicheartbeat.com's measurements). Better than being too short though!

I've decided to paint the wood low gloss black like I did with the '65. Even after taking more time to prep the wood better, and adding coat after coat of stain, I couldn't get it as dark as I wanted it. And once I got the wood laid out today, I'm not that crazy about the grain pattern anyways. Painting it black will look more original, and I've had to remind myself that I'm leaving the truck as stock/original as possible, other than lowering it.




Had an extra cross mount to check the fit of the wood strips with. Looks about right.




The outer planks with the both ends milled for wear strips.

[theastronaut]

Just got the first piece sanded and primed.

Pretty straight but has some grooves from when it was planed.




Guide coated and ready to block.




Used my air long board and 80 grit paper.




Blocked til the guide coat was gone and sanded smooth with 120 grit on a 6" DA. Turned out pretty straight.




Primed with one wet coat of Benjamin Moore's Fresh Start Latex primer, thinned with water to soak in and raise the grain better. I'll let this dry and lightly knock the top down with 120 grit and reprime it.

[72BlckButy]

Lookin' good!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

Lookin' good!

Thanks!!

Got the primed plank sanded yesterday, forgot to post pics. Even with thinning the primer out with water, the grain didn't raise any. So there probably won't be any grain showing through the paint like there was with the blue '65.








The wood for the '65 was oak and had alot rougher grain. I primed it and sanded it with 80 grit to get it fairly smooth, then sprayed more primer on it and lightly sanded it just enough to get it ready to spray. You can see the difference in texture pretty well between the two pics.

[theastronaut]

Came across this pic today, guess I'm not the first to have the idea of using moon disc over just the wheel centers to make a smoothie wheel. Mine will have more lip sticking out though, especially on the rear wheels.

(Edit, can't find the pic to add back here.)

[Vernski]

Very nice work Astro I'm subscribed....Vernski

[csa daddy]

what grit paper was you using to sand the wood before you stained it. if you get the wood to slick the stain will stand on to of the wood an wont penetrate. if thats the case you need the boards to be a little ruffer dont sand with anything over 120 before staining the wood.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Vernski

Very nice work Astro I'm subscribed....Vernski

Thanks Vernski!!

Originally Posted by csa daddy

what grit paper was you using to sand the wood before you stained it. if you get the wood to slick the stain will stand on to of the wood an wont penetrate. if thats the case you need the boards to be a little ruffer dont sand with anything over 120 before staining the wood.

I used 150 grit, after about 6 coats of stain the pores of the wood were full and adding more coats had no effect. Like I said, I don't know anything about working with wood. I'm going to go ahead and paint it black instead since thats more original anyways. Looking foward to meeting you!
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[theastronaut]

I got the rest of the boards primed. I'll mock up the strips to mark where to drill the perimeter bolts and the where to cut the fenderwell openings. I also figured out a way to use the four outer short boards I've got. Dad had some leftover wood from one of his projects that's the same thickness as the groove's depth so I used exterior wood glue to bond them in the unneeded groove. I'm hoping the seam will be hidden by the bed lip but if it isn't I can use some wood filler and sand it smooth before I prime and paint them.











I'll be buying the rear bags for it in the next couple weeks; pretty much decided to use Airlift D2600 bags on it. They're rated at 600 psi so I'll be able to add more air and actually use it as a truck if I want to haul or tow something. That was my biggest problem with 5" or jeep springs, everybody says they're soft and won't carry any extra load.

Thinking hard about staying home from one of the bigger VW shows in the southeast this weekend to work on getting the C notches and frame braces in place... the VW club guys are gunna think I've lost my mind but I'm getting tired of the extremely low quality of most VW parts and the general cheapskate mentality of the VW enthusiast that's killed the hobby for guys that are willing to pay for good quality parts. Even at the bigger shows, there's usually only about 10 cars that are really done well. The rest are thrown together as cheap as possible, and aren't worth spending my time to go look at them. The biggest reason I've been going is for the swaps to find good original VW parts. I might go and wait til I have the bags to do the whole rear end at once though...

[csa daddy]

i got a set of firestone bags if ya interested. an yes i cant wait to meet up. i know my oldest daughter is going to flip over your bug she really likes them.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by csa daddy

i got a set of firestone bags if ya interested. an yes i cant wait to meet up. i know my oldest daughter is going to flip over your bug she really likes them.

I've found a kit I'm going to use, four Airlift D2600 bags and mounting plates/cups. Appreciate the offer though.

'Nuther update on the project. I sold the crate engine that came with the truck, turned out to be a 260 horse instead of the 290hp I thought it was, so I didn't get as much out of it as I thought I would. Still though, selling it freed up some cash to buy a bag kit and a possibly long term-temporary engine to get it going. Dad told me about a guy that came across an original 1966 250 inline 6 and three speed and was wanting to get rid of it. Supposedly ran great when pulled, only had about 60k miles on it. Called him today and made a deal; he's going to deliver it tomorrow for a grand total of -wait for it- $125 bucks!! I'll leave it stock for now just to get the truck going, and swap in a Vortec 4200 out of a Trailblazer later on. I tried to track down the original matching numbers engine out of the truck, but it's been sold a couple times since the guy I got it from had it. Also picked up the original rear axle for the truck yesterday so I'll have an extra one to narrow to fit the wheels I'm making.

I wish I had some work done to show, but atleast I'm getting the parts in place to get it back together.

[slammed427]

I'm gonna tag along on this one. I want to do one of these after I'm done with my squares, or maybe start on it before I'm done with my squares.

Oh and I dunno if I missed it or not, but the Dodge 20x8 steelies are 1: A serious PITA to find, and 2: are 5x5.5. I've talked to Stockton Wheel, and they said it was best to run adaptors on them, they didn't have any interest in swapping out the bolt circle.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by slammed427

I'm gonna tag along on this one. I want to do one of these after I'm done with my squares, or maybe start on it before I'm done with my squares.

Oh and I dunno if I missed it or not, but the Dodge 20x8 steelies are 1: A serious PITA to find, and 2: are 5x5.5. I've talked to Stockton Wheel, and they said it was best to run adaptors on them, they didn't have any interest in swapping out the bolt circle.

You'll definitly love a 60-66 truck! Start a build thread if you get one!

If the Dodge 20's offset is anything like the Titan steelies I have, there's going to be way too much backspacing, so adapters wouldn't be a bad idea to get the wheels spaced out some.

Nissan Murano's have an 18x4" steel spare wheel, not sure of the bolt spacing (it's 5 lug) though. I'm thinking about getting a couple, using my Titan 6 lug centers, and getting the 4" Murano rims banded out a couple inches wider front and rear to 8" wide, which would let me get about 4" backspacing. Wouldn't have to narrow my axle that way, and I got a local guy that can band the rims.

[66redw/white]

the 250 is where its at man. i love the one in mine. sucker runs like a champ! i plan on heatin it up alittle bit one day.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 66redw/white

the 250 is where its at man. i love the one in mine. sucker runs like a champ! i plan on heatin it up alittle bit one day.

I've thought about keeping the 250, boring it, stroking it with a 292 crank, do some head work, add a 5 speed, and putting a turbo on it. I really want to do a Vortec 4200 swap though!

I got what was left of the old bed wood and wear strips out last night.







And found some chalk markings from the assembly line on the front of the bed header panel.

[theastronaut]

Here's a few shots of the engine. I'm not sure which three speed it has; weren't there two different three speeds? I pulled the valve cover and one of the pushrod covers off and it looks pretty clean so the 60k mile story might be right. I'll tune it up, reseal it, and detail it for now without doing a complete teardown and rebuild.









Found some original paint on one of the valve cover hold-downs. I'll get some enamel mixed up to match to repaint everything.

[theastronaut]

Just got home and checked the original engine's block number (I've got the protect-o-plate) vs the engine I bought and they're only 92 engines apart, probably built on the same day!! How cool is that!! Also found out more on the whereabouts of the original engine; the truck it was installed in is now being parted out, and supposedly ads were put on craigslist so it could have been sold again. We talked to a previous owner today, he's trying to find out more and is supposed to let us know what he finds out. I put a "wanted" ad on craigslist tonight explaining what I knew about the history of the engine since it was sold the first time, maybe someone who knows the engine will see it and call. Its a long shot but it can't hurt.
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[66redw/white]

mines actually gettin a 5 spd right now

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 66redw/white

mines actually gettin a 5 spd right now

Sweet! Guess mine will have to wait til I do the Vortec 4200 swap. One day...



I towed the frame to our shop this morning and got the C Notches and adjustable track bar installed. Hopefully the airbags will be in by next saturday and I can get rear bags installed.


Bump stops cut off and marked for trimming.




Rough cut, still have to round out the corners.




Corners rounded and notch bolted in place. Going to pull the off later to paint them, and I'll be welding a 1/4" plate on the inside of the frame to strengthen the area.




Back on the ground.






What are yall guys doing for upper shock brackets and shocks? I know I'll need shorter shocks; what are a good brand/length to use for the rear?


Also got the engine set in place temporarily to get it off of the shop floor. Had to make some 1x6 engine mounts and a 2x2 trans crossmember until I can get the right parts for it.