'64 Step Side C-10 in the UK

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by disasterbus

Good to see you today guys, glad the cabinet has found a new home in your garage - I hate to throw anything useful away!
I think there is a typo in your last entry Grizz, the rear tyres on mine are 275's not 175's - no skinny-arse tyres on my truck!

Yup.

Typo it was.

Thick fingers.

Here is your glove box.

[disasterbus]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

...

What, No pix of the Mini???

Thanks for the kind words about my truck Don. It’s a work in progress with plenty still to do but I really like it and it’s definitely a ‘keeper’. Rian will vouch for the fact that that’s unusual for me – I love classic cars and have always got one of some description, but usually I rarely keep them long, preferring to change them every few months so I always have a new ‘toy’.
These were mine recently……….





The truck is different – I have long term plans for it. The only other car I class as a ‘keeper’ is my Mini. This is about the 10th Mini I’ve owned but I can’t see myself ever selling it.

Bought new by my wife’s uncle. He just walked into his local dealer to order a new Austin Metro but was told they had stopped making them. ‘OK’ he said ‘what other small cars do you have?’

This Mini was in the showroom, one of the very last ever made before BMW took over and the Mini changed completely. Out of 5,387,362 built between 1959 and 2000, this one is the 4,852nd from last proper Mini ever built.



He did less than 1000 miles per year, preferring to cycle everywhere (even though he was in his mid-70’s). He had the car for 8 years before failing health forced him to give up driving. One day, out of the blue, he rang and offered me the car.





Just to give you an idea of size, my son’s Mini parked next to the truck!


The Mini is a genuine Cooper, and has done less than 12,000 from new. Needless to say it’s tucked away for the winter at the moment!

[Ta2Don]

The White VW Truck is …
The Mini and background story...

I was lucky enough to spend a total of 5 years on Terceira in the Acores… Even more Lucky to have owned and driven a 54 Morris Minor daily...
One of our Portugese Nationals had a '64 Mini that I drove fairly often, wanted to bring it back to the states, but between my youth (read lack of focus) and a wife who thought I was crazy I didn't bring the Morris or the Mini home...
Searching for the only pic I know I have of the morris, will post it up once found… Have a Great day and Thanks for the Toy Pics...

[Grizz1963]

Came home, had a teleconference till 5pm, then on to the garage to fold the glovebox.

Had a guy come pick up the bike I had put on FreeCycle, that's fast.




Welded the corners, tidied up the welds, primed the metal edges and grinds.




Sprayed some satin black on the inside, now got to dry, then I will pack and post it later in the week, hopefully you won't need to cut the corner to fit it under the aircon pipes.

[disasterbus]

A few jobs done today.
I swapped my steering wheel from the wooden one that came with it over to a new white one which I preferred but the horn mechanism was completely knackered and the threads on 2 out of 3 of the bolt which hold the wheel on the boss were totally fubarred, so I ordered a new boss from Moon which came today.

Old one…………


Horn now fixed and steering wheel properly fitted.

New one………….


Also fitted a reversing light as where I park is right up against a fence which is low and hard to see.



The truck never had a windscreen washer system (guess it doesn’t rain much in Texas!), but they are an MOT requirement in the UK so fitted this as well………..



And a cut off switch which is easier than disconnecting and reconnecting the battery whenever I’m working on the truck…………



Reversing light and washer pump needed switches so added these under the dash and also a 12v USB socket for phones or Sat Nav……………



Wiring not yet connected up as I hate electrics!!

[pimpston65]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Came home, had a teleconference till 5pm, then on to the garage to fold the glovebox.

Had a guy come pick up the bike I had put on FreeCycle, that's fast.




Welded the corners, tidied up the welds, primed the metal edges and grinds.




Sprayed some satin black on the inside, now got to dry, then I will pack and post it later in the week, hopefully you won't need to cut the corner to fit it under the aircon pipes.

so when are you gonna start making them for the U.S. market? i'll take 1 w/ac ,1 w/o ac...

[Ta2Don]

Posting this for Rian and his mates... Rian's wife called them 4 of the 7 dwarfs...
This was taken just at the Swap Meet in Essex before the gates owned and the spending ensued...
Rian will post more of the results later…

Not sure of the order, but the pic includes Rian, Kerry, Jim and Martin...

[disasterbus]

Just back from a good day out with Martin and Rian and my mate Jim at the NHRA Swapmeet. I thinks we all picked up a few bargains for our trucks so worth braving the cold, bleak Essex weather for a few hours.
I’m sure Grizz will be along later with a more eloquent update with far more photos but in the meantime here’s a couple of pics I took of stuff that caught my eye.







A Hearse with a blower for those in a hurry to meet their maker……….




A couple of nice trucks at £11,000 each ($17,000 USD)




I really liked the moveable spotlight on this – just not sure I could bring myself to drill the necessary hole in my truck!!

[Grizz1963]

As requested Kerry, todays NSRA Swapmeet pics. Sorry for the few duplications.


Mate Martin, Disasterbus and Jim and I met up early today to go seek bargains for our vehcles.

Spured on by all the bargains he got last year, including a door for his truck at £100.00, new front screen rubber for a tenner and a full new cab mount rubber kit for £35.00 we all had our skates on.

And it was Martin who drew first blood with a lovely pair of old skool bullet shaped chrome lights, with interchangeable clear or red lenses.

Through the day we all found real bargains and items we wanted or needed.

Kerry, Disasterbus got a brand new full rear rollpan for his truck at £40.00, that he will probably bring over soon, to weld up and probably paint at my place. He also picked up a lovely old sideplate sized V8 hubcap for garage art.

My bargain of the day was a pair of 2.5" used stainless tailpiece tips that took me an hour or more to clean up with metal polish. Not perfect, as I really wanted a set of square/rectangular Range Rover type tips. But at £10.00 for the pair, I had to have them.

Here then are the pics, as they came off my mobile phone camera.













I have also wanted a pair of bumper over riders as long as I have had the truck, this vendor was prepared to let me have these for £25.00 although they are Pre-60 items, and if I could make them fit, I would then have to get them chromed, so the voice of reasoning suggested I wait till I find a pair of chromed ones, so I walked away.



Dead cool hearse, sounded rather nice and quietly menacing when it drove by later.



I think I would like one of these.......



At that price I ask myself, what did the seller pay for it and to land it here?



TECHNOLOGY !! LOVE IT !!

Martin Googling some pics to show Disasterbus what his Stepside would look like with a rear rollpan fitted.

Of course that made the decision easy.













60-66 Chevy C10's seem to be suddenly picking up in presence and value. Good news for all owners I guess.





Another C10. Read description.



OHHHHH HOW I WANT ONE OF THESE.

Never seen one of them before, no idea what they are called.



















Chevy Power in a Ford.





Quite like these.







This was just perfectly understated and clean.





There were many more, and a few nice cars that I missed for various reasons.

Again a great Swapmeet, meeting old mates and finding bits needed for builds.

Just needed to be warmer.

[flashed]

Dont know how I missed this thread before but Im in for the rest of it ,you guys have some nice toys over there .

[mjh1965]

Well I scored this yesterday . At a dealers it's amazing what goes in the metal skip . Rian was proud of me . Last time it was a tow bar for his truck this time it might be a rear bumper for Kerry

[disasterbus]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

.............. this time it might be a rear bumper for Kerry

Wow, that could be awesome - I already have a vision of how it will look

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by disasterbus

Wow, that could be awesome - I already have a vision of how it will look

Martin and I were chuckling at just how to torture you with it.

One way would be to use the off cut tips as overriders somehow.

Keep an eye out for some 45-55mm X 8-10mm flat bar in the next week or two till you come over to my place, that would work well to make chassis mount brackets to bolt the bumper onto once you have cut the tips to fit around the body and behind the fenders.

[Grizz1963]

Kerry.... !!!

Martin here.......

Remember our discussion about putting the mini in the rear of your truck??

You need a Fleetside mate.

[pimpston65]

ive seen those 59' impala's for 100,000US

[disasterbus]

I’ve got a 1964 C-10 with factory standard inline 6 engine and 3 speed column change gear box – the stock ‘three on the tree’.
It has now developed a problem where it gets stuck in reverse gear. The only way to get it out of gear is to open the hood and manually pull or push the selector rods to de-select reverse and get it back into neutral. It has only just started doing this and it only seems to be reverse that this happens with.
I recently replaced the steering wheel and boss with a Mooneyes one, that’s the only work I’ve done on the steering column (or anywhere near it).
Any suggestions what the problem could be or how to fix it?
I’ve taken some photos of the selector mechanism and how it lines up in each gear. Does it look ok to you guys or is there something obviously wrong?

First 2 pics are with the shifter in neutral



The next 2 are the shifter is first gear



The shifter in second


These are the shifter in third gear



And these 2 pics are with the shifter in reverse



Really keen to get this sorted as I had planned a road trip next weekend to Grizz and Martin so us Limeys could work on our trucks together - yes Rian, I know you’re not a real Limey, just an adopted one!

[pimpston65]

you may need to tight'n the linkage levers a bit. theres an adjustment screw on the bottom bearing that makes the levers tight or loose. yours look as loose as it gets, so you may need to snug it up a bit...

[Grizz1963]

Another one of those posts that will be on three different threads as we all worked together and various wheelings and dealings went on behind the scenes.


Remember the kart frame I bought last year?

Meet my crashed 2005 Honda CG125 with only 14k miles, and a bent, buckled front end. Think marriage or Frankenstein.

Bought off Martin's step son who crashed it at recovery/scrap value, it will be stashed in the garage till the right time.



Today was booked at my place for Kerry, Disasterbus and Martin to come over so we could do some jobs to Kerry's Patina 64 Short Stepper.

Kerry had picked up our spares earlier this week including my pair of expensive but on inspection really good vent or quarter windows. Today he swung by Martin's place to pick up the little buckled Honda for me on their way over here.



So when they got here, I had Kerry reverse his truck and the bike down the drive, then we all had a cuppa tea and a chat, followed by unloading the bike and all the parts n bits Kerry and Martin had brought along.

One of the planned jobs was to weld in the rear roll pan bought at the NHRA Swapmeet recently.
But before that happened Kerry needed to try out the Ford side step that Martin had managed to rescue from a skip a few weeks ago as a potential rear bumper.

As it was before.



A lot to be said for car ramps.



Something useful from Ford.



Some cutting, twice......



Got the bumper to size and gave Martin some toys.

Modifying Kerry's straight six, which is soooooo sweet !!






Later on we were joined by MercDan and his petrol head son George, Ian our former housemate, and Mickey next door were all here.
Ian's main job was to do all the cooking, he is an accomplished "Tong Master" and managed the BBQ brilliantly.
Through the day, we were joined by Ta2Don traveling across America, so everyone did a Hallo to Don here.



Don and JoJo doing backseat driving duties.

Somewhere along Interstate 81 in Salem, Virginia.



Later, passing a Tennessee flag, about an hour West of Knoxville.

Just love technology......



In the mean time, Ian carried on with the cooking duties.

At some point we all poured into the house and scoffed ourselves stupid on three types of sausages, spicy chicken wings, pork belly, chilli chicken breast strips and rolls..... A proper mans BBQ.




After lunch we carried on with various jobs, electrical mainly, Martin sorting a load of bad connections, and fitting new switches in the cab etc.





Kerry fixed and fitted the rear bumper.





And finally the highlight of the day........ New lights under the bumper as well.

[mjh1965]

Kerry finding it a little tighter reversing onto Rian's drive than mine



I am so pleased that I got that Crome side step ,out of the metal skip at a ford main dealers, because with a little work it turned out great . As for the rear light looking that good on the back I am glad you twisted my arm for them as they look a lot better on your truck than mine

[disasterbus]

A cracking day yesterday at Rian’s place yesterday for the ‘Bodgit & Scarper’ garage monkeys working on my truck – actually that’s not fair – Martin and Grizz do the jobs properly, carefully selecting the right tools and materials, the same can’t always be said for me!

The plan for the day was basically for Martin to weld on the new rear panel I picked up at a swap meet a few weeks ago, and to wire up the reverse fight I’d fitted.


When we got there, Martin showed me the chrome side step he’d rescued from a skip at work



It’s from a Ford Ranger………..



………which just goes to show that Fords do have some uses, even if it’s just cutting bits off them!


A few ideas were thrown around between us and the original plan to fit the rear panel quickly went out of the window.

The truck has always looked like something was missing at the back (as far as I was concerned), and I always like having something that looks factory stock (ish) but that no one else has so that big bit of chrome pipe seemed just the thing.

So we went from this.............




To this..........







I don’t like to waste stuff but Rian wasn’t keen on the exhaust modifications on his truck we mocked up from the off cuts while he was making tea – can’t imagine why??!!





So the original plan was to weld on a rear panel and wire up a reverse light. Neither of those things happened but lots of other things did, which just goes to show you can rely on planning too much.

Some stuff you have to plan a bit though – what Grizz was kind enough not to mention in his write up above in this thread is that I actually fabricated 2 sets of brackets for the rear bumper as I made the first set after ‘guess-timating’ how long they needed to be and finding they were an inch too short!



Anyway, a great day and as always my thanks to Rian and Martin for their hospitality, assistance and know how.

[disasterbus]

Went to pick up a grill I got from eBay today in my truck.

The seller was a great guy called Johnny who owns this beauty.........





We got chatting over a cup of tea (very English and civilised ) and he took me out for a spin in it. I've sent him a link to this site so hopefully he'll make an appearance and tell you more about his truck, which he's done a ton of work on.

He also plays double bass in a Rock n Roll band, and I'm going to see them play in a local pub in a couple of weeks.

Anyway - I got a great grill from him and he kindly threw in a couple of head light bezels. They have been hand painted (which has probably stopped them going rusty!) so will be blasted and powder-coated to give my truck's front end a new look.

[Grizz1963]

Cool purchase Kerry.

Are you still going to bid on those wheels I like?

Anyone who plays in a band is a winner, having a lovely truck adds to his street cred in my book.

I wonder how many of these there are in the country, as more seem to be appearing.

[Ta2Don]

Nice score on the grill and bits...
Diggin' the blue truck as well...

[disasterbus]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Cool purchase Kerry.

Are you still going to bid on those wheels I like?

Anyone who plays in a band is a winner, having a lovely truck adds to his street cred in my book.

I wonder how many of these there are in the country, as more seem to be appearing.

No Grizz, I'm not planning to bid of those wheels but if you do and want me to pick them up to pass on to you later I'm happy to do so for you.

[disasterbus]

Today my Mini Cooper went into the garage for it's annual MOT test. As usual the gargae owner offered me a loan car for the day - usually it's something dull like a BMW Mini or a Ford Focus but today he said the usual courtesy cars were all out on loan so would I like to use his own car - a fabulous 1978 ex-Police Leyland Mini van, fully restored and with all the original lights, sirens, radio etc re-fitted and working.

These little vans only had an 850cc engine so not exactly built for pursuit work





Couldn't resist parking it along side the current fleet when I got to work today





The stickers over the Police markings and cover on the blue light on the roof are because it's illegal to use a car with Police markings or equipment on the road in the UK unless it's actually a Police vehicle - can't imagine anyone would really think this was still a current vehicle - it's been retired out of service for 25 years but hey-ho!