1965 C10 Stepside working on her **England**

[[JP]]

Another update...
seeing as the coil I had had a dodgy connection, I ordered a new one.. a MSD Blaster 2... what a nice fancy name!

anyway...fitted the damn thing, ballast resistor and all, as I have points ignition, and no luck. the truck didnt want to start.



well.. put the old coil back on and it started.



then, with help from someone else the investigation started.
To cut a long story short, with the new coil I was only getting 4.8V at the coil, after the resistor ballast. not enough to start the truck when cold.

So I did a test.
Left the new coil in, with the ballast resistor, ran a wire from the coil to the battery, cranked it, it started, quickly took the jumper wire out and the truck kept running. showing now 8.2V at the coil

This is because in the original wiring diagram, there is a wire from starter solenoid to the coil to temporarily give the 12V, however mine doesnt have this wire and its a right pain to get to the starter motor.
what was the solution? wire in a magic switch.

basically wire from battery, to a switch and from there to the coil.
so I used a previously made hole on the dash and a pull switch. pull it out, gives the 12V to the coil, crank it to start, push it in to kill the 12V.

I'm calling it the "Cold morning magic switch




Now, the old coil said 12V, resistor needed. but there wasnt one in there! Obviously because it needed the full 12V wack to make it start so the previous owner left it like this.
I wonder if by not having that resistor is the reason for when I previously tried to accelerate a bit more the truck started to cough and died? Bear in mind I have only driven it once! Saturday I'll be driving again and see what else happens

[Grizz1963]

Good to see you have your axle issues sorted JP.

It kills my head when stuff goes wrong and you keep having to dig deeper to find the problem.

[[JP]]

Not updated this in a while… all kind of things have happened since.

The engine running was getting better, think still have some gremlins, but I believe it to be fuel starvation now.
Need to move the electric fuel pump closer to the tank and not at the end of a long fuel line.

Anyway… while trying to sort fuelling/timing issues, flooring it up and down the road I got a really bad shake on the truck!
Felt like a flat tyre… but when at home I checked the wheels and had a massive play on the left rear axle shaft.
Took the diff cover off and it wasn’t the best to see…
The bolt holding the lock pin had broke at some point and the lock pin had been spinning around
The shims behind the spider gears disappeared
The side gears gauged the diff carrier….




So… was time to get that mother out of the truck.
Not fun on your own and on axle stands. Luckily I have an ATV jack that was handy to raise and lower the axle.
Wasn’t a bad job in terms of rusted nuts etc, everything came off fairly easy.






So as the diff carrier was gauges I neede a new one.
Luckily found a spare 12 bolt axle, which was in good condition inside and had a LSD unit in there! Result!

Took it all to the axle builder and he rebuilt the whole thing, swapping bits from both axles to create a good one.
While he was there he put some new brake lines on it as well.

On the way there also stopped to get a second hand set of wheels and tyres to replace the ridiculously big chrome rims the truck has.




Only after 2 days everything was done and done a trip back to get both axles back… love my estate, poor thing transports everything, proper work horse.


The axle back from the builder and with new brake lines, ready to be fitted back in


And finally yesterday!!
Got the polly bushes from the US, for the trailing arm and the control arms, got the old ones out, new ones in and time to fit the axle back.
Not photos of it back on as it was dark by the time I finished, but managed to put it all back together, connect and bleed brake lines. Also fitted the new wheels on the rear.. looks miles better!!

[Paul Y]

Looking good JP.

Did the trims arrive OK?

P.

[[JP]]

oh yeh mate, forgot to tell you, yeh they got here fine.
not tried them on yet, not sure if they will fit, those triangular bits to clip in look rather agressive.. like shark teeth! I was scared to touch it! lol

[Paul Y]

I had them on the same wheels. Just make sure you don't want to take them off again!

P.

[[JP]]

yeh that's what I thought!!! hahaha
I might cut some of those 'teeth' off, so it's easier to take them off if I want to

[Grizz1963]

Once again, good news JP.

Looking forward to seeing the wheels, tyres and hubcaps on your truck.

Once you are on the road, you are going to sit and grin no stop.

Paul Y is over here tomorrow to crack the whip at me too, hopefully we will hav pe some flame cooked meat at some point...... Real cave men.

[Paul Y]

The down side of cutting teeth off is that they come off easily when you don't want them too...

Run two layers of 2" masking tape around the wheel where the teeth meet the rim. Enables you to get them off easier and stops damage to the wheel whilst, at the same time, keeping them firmly in place.

P.

[ibrown50]

Great progress JP and a great result finding a posi axle, I'm just putting my back axle and suspension in too at the moment. Glad you got sorted with some wheels you are happy with I know you didn't like the chrome ones.

[[JP]]

well.. the axle is on.
the new wheels are on... still not sure if to leave the caps on or off. I think no hub caps suits the truck better.
dont think the chrome rings look any good because they got lost as the rims are white, would probably suit it better if I had other rims colour or/and chrome bumpers.

on another news, ****ty news, I found one engine mount is broken and the other one is cracked. great!! who knows, maybe this was what caused all the shaking on the truck and not the axle, but anyway the axle was on its way, so glad I caught that in time.
Need to get under the truck and check the engine mounts, see if there's any markings or serial numbers on it as this is an 69 Buick GS 350 engine in a 65 C10 Chevy truck... great, its one thing after the other hahaha

anyway..some photos!

[LostMy65]

I kinda like it better with just the plain white wheels.
.
As for the motor mounts, read up on using the 73-87 mounts. They're more reliable.

[mjh1965]

The truck is looking sweet . If I was going to run with the caps and rings I would paint the wheels red . That's the thing with these trucks . We all different styles, but they still look great .

[ibrown50]

I can't decide If I like it better with or without the caps, it looks great with both I've found USAutomotive good and cheap for things like engine mounts.

[Grizz1963]

Morning JP,

Yes, one thing after another, look at my truck and you will find there are loads of hodges too. Remember, mine must have been a straight six, manual at some point, converted with a grinder and some non matching hardware to where it is now.
These trucks are 50+ years old and we often get them at the stage where you got yours, many owners would drive em like that and then sell them fast....... In our case, it seems the buck stops here.


Regarding the wheels, the naked wheels overall look best suited to the street brawler style the truck currently emulates.

However, if Salty had inherited the truck and Speed shop from his father who bought the truck new..... The caps and rings suit that "been in the family a long time" look.

Hope it makes sense.

Still, hang in there, you will win.

[[JP]]

cheers for the comments.

It doesnt bother me too much having to do jobs on it, I really enjoy it, I think it annoys me more when I can't just order something off the internet.
Like the engine mounts. I couldnt just go and order some because my engine is off a Buick and not a clue if the engine mounts are off the Buick engine or off a Chevy engine.
or a bit of both and adapted? who knows... I'll have to get under it today and check out

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by [JP]

cheers for the comments.

It doesnt bother me too much having to do jobs on it, I really enjoy it, I think it annoys me more when I can't just order something off the internet.
Like the engine mounts. I couldnt just go and order some because my engine is off a Buick and not a clue if the engine mounts are off the Buick engine or off a Chevy engine.
or a bit of both and adapted? who knows... I'll have to get under it today and check out

Thankfully we have the forum and loads of clever guys who may have seen the same thing done.

You have a PM inbound.

[Paul Y]

JP,

Agree, it all looks a bit 'fussy' with the trim rings and caps with the white.

A quick blast with a tin of black would make them stand out if you wanted to change away from the original white otherwise have you looked at the trims without the centre caps?

Or you could make your narrow white walls into wide whites...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/t...-walls.124144/

If that is a genuine GS engine would it not be worth money to somebody with a GS? Just a though....

Either way looking good, just need to arrange to get all of the C10 chaps together at some time.

P.

[[JP]]

hi,
nah.. not going to paint the rims at all. they really suit the truck being all battered and old with flaky paint. the white works well with the sign writting on the truck as well.

I also like the narrow whites, not a fan of wide whites.

yes, genuine GS engine. all numbers match, 350-4 V8. the cast numbers also make it the one with more horses.
Dont think I'd change the engine, just thinking about it is making me sick. lol

[Waynesworld]

If you don't fancy the caps and trims....I'm looking for some.....to go on the wheels I bought of Paul!

I love the signwriting on yours, I kind of fancy that idea on my doors...when it arrives!


Just out of interest, how many guys have C10s over here? Paul is just a few miles away in Chelmsford, I see Grizz,Martin and yourself. Looking forward to having a C10 meet up!

Danny

[Hansome]

JP,

great update, glad its back together. Wheels with caps - no trim!!

Dan

[/QUOTE]
Just out of interest, how many guys have C10s over here? Paul is just a few miles away in Chelmsford, I see Grizz,Martin and yourself. Looking forward to having a C10 meet up!

Danny[/QUOTE]

...and im in London - incidentally which is about the half way point between all you guys for a meet.... ? well maybe not Mr Brown...

D

[[JP]]

What you lot should do is do the Hotrod Hayride.

I do it every year on my Shovelhead. this year probably doing it on the truck.

[[JP]]

Well, I'm sure most of you have following my work since I imported my truck end of last year and I thank to all that had input.
I re-wired the engine bay, added original switched that work as they should have been, got the rear axle rebuilt, sorted the carb, sorted the timing, new plugs, moved the fuel pump and new fuel lines... and the truck been absolutely great.
been driving it everywhere I can, even brought it to work...although have to get in early before other cars so it's easy to turn around and reverse, and have a space at the ground floor as it wont go to the upper floors as too tight to turn.

Anyway... some photos.....

Been cruising at night....



Took to a local meeting...



brought it to work...



and even taken it to do the food shopping, because you never know how much you end up buying and might need the whole bed space.. hahaha



I think the only thing I'd change now is the suspension.
The rear springs are proper dropped ones, but the front ones have been cut a lot, and there's even a chain that holds both arms together so the spring doesnt pop out.

I think it needs new shocks, as it sometimes bottoms out on the front....not sure what to do.
I dont want to lift it, but would like it not to feel so harsh on the truck everytime I dont see a pot hole or a slight depression the road and the bang on the front left is unbelivably loud...
maybe air ride? dont know what to do

[MacQuigley]

Just found your project JP. Nice truck. I'll keep watching now.

BTW How many of us are there in the UK now? If we ever havethem all on the road at the same time whe should have our own show somewhere!

[Grizz1963]

Great to see you enjoying the truck JP.




[/I]

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

Just found your project JP. Nice truck. I'll keep watching now.

BTW How many of us are there in the UK now? If we ever havethem all on the road at the same time whe should have our own show somewhere!

There you go mate......

A few of them.

http://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/cha...ight=Chevy+C10

There are more out there though.