Johns 66

[Johns 66]

As you could tell by the previous pictures I removed the entire interior.....that's when the day turned a lil bad.....

I have bought a 24 gallon gas tank to replace the one that was in it...it is supposed to fit exactly where the old one does...it will arrive Tuesday so we will check the fir once it arrives.

It took a little time to get the tar paper, for lack of a better term, out of the truck, I removed the firewall pad and all of the insulation under the dash....it was kinda ratty and smelled so I removed it all....My plan was to get all the new firewall grommets installed, heater box and all the wiring back in the engine back in hopes that the motor could be set back in when I get the few motor parts I need...wire looms, spark plus wire shields etc....

Well once I removed the tar paper stuff I noticed what seemed like a crack in the floor panel.....og how I wish it was just a crack...evidentially this had been repaired before with Bondo...yes sports fans there was over 5/8" worth of bondo and as we all know once you start seeing a crack...it never stops till all of the bondo is removed.....My only saving grace is that this seems to be the only real area that is going to need some work.

Unfortunately I have never done this before and I will have to teach myself how to weld this back....I know its a learning curve but gotta learn sometime and there is no time like the present......so this is what I found once the bondo was removed...I guess bondo and undercoatring hide a bunch of stuff

[Johns 66]

So after this great news of the day I decided to finish what I started. I got the new grommets installed, re-installed the heater box, cleaned up the wiring and got it re-installed, ran the new hoses for the windshield washer fluid and pretty much got the engine bay ready to set the motor into it.

I also installed the new spark plug wires...This was a universal set...I bought that because I wanted to run the wires where they would look neater than just all over the place. I have on order some new wire holders that will tidy up the look but it will be here Tuesday as well.....I had never cut spark plug wires and made them up...after I goofed up the first one I figured out exactly how to do it....luckily they gave me a couple of extra pieces so it was no big deal...It was time consuming but I think once the wire holders get here it will look really good....at least they wont be run all over the place.

Yesterday when I visited Steve we talked about wiring harnesses...specificallu American AutoWire...they make a plug and plag wiring harness from from to rear that hooks right up to the existing connector locations and allows for any additions .Since these trucks had a lot of options it will really help.....I think it prudent to change the wires since they are 51 yrs old......and since I am changing things like HEI distributor, Automatic, and the Deluxe Gauge cluster with gauges and factory tach....I would have installed the new cluster I got yesterday but I noticed today that someone had cut the main harness in half...not sure if I will fix this one or replace it with a new one....again..all fixable ...just time consuming.

[Johns 66]

I did find a couple of other areas that will need to be tended to...cab corners....not as bad as you would think but still a few little holes that I will have to address....Ive seen way worse than these

[Johns 66]

pictures of the wires

[Johns 66]

Well today was a pretty exciting day to say the least....after church went to a birthday party for Randy, my brother in law who has been helping me with the truck....and my niece and her husband came over.....of course my truck was a subject of conversation.,,,and the topic turned into that I needed a 700R4 core that I could build....well Jeremy called his friend and low and behold he has one so we went over to pick it up...once I was there I realized I was in junkyard heaven...ironically about 5 miles from my house....the man has several 60-66 trucks in his junk yard in several states of togetherness....well after I got the transmission we started talking bout the old truck , he asked what I was building etc....and the rusted floor board and firewall came up.

Last night I searched and only could find floor board patch panels,,,no firewalls patch panels...So as I was telling him that he said well there is a patch panel right there if you want it...all you gotta do is take it out and its yours. He said he would take 40.00...Needless to say I will be taking him up on his offer this week. Its hard to believe he is gonna let me cut the cab of this truck up and take what I need for 40.00. What is more amazing to me is that I will be able to cut out exactly what I need...of course I'm gonna cut it bigger than I need but I will be able to get firewall, floor panel and kick panel...all together in one fell swoop...I am so excited because the thought of me having to make this from scratch having never done this before was kinda daunting.....So today I got my rebuildable tranny and my patch panels for 100.00....Life is Good...Now just gotta charge my batteries and get some sawzalll blades and go to town on it...YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Johns 66]

Well today was a very interesting day to say the least. What I thought could be accomplished in a couple of hours took all day...and some very valuable lessons learned along the way.....and still some to learn.

So I wanted to set the motor in the truck and at least hear it light up....So I checked everything while it was still on the motor stand in hopes that installing the motor would be a little less painless since it easier to check things out of the truck than while its setting in it...Checked every bolt to ensure it was properly torqued down right, made sure I had clearance....pretty much tried to ensure everything was right before I ever took it off the motor stand.....to ensure that #1 piston was TDC and the rotor button was facing the #1 spark plug wire.

Lesson #1 learned....Always check motor mounts to ensure the threads are clean and not full of rubber.....Yes sports fans the bolts wouldn't go in...So had to take them off and clean out the threads, reinstall them and the bolts ran up tight just fine....

Lesson Number #2.....Local parts stores are not very knowledgable...If they cant punch it into a computer, then they have no clue...case and point HEI rotor button..."Sir a 1966 Chevy C10 didn't come with an HEI distributor" Welll no kidding...but I digress

So we finally got the motor set in and all bolted down...ready to hear it light up...Well 4 hrs later I'm still waiting.

I know this much..It has to have fire, has to have fuel and has to be in time for it to run...One of those I am missing and it aint fuel or fire....I pulled and reset the distributor, re ran plugs wires and pretty much did everything I know tonight so that I could hear it at least light of for a few seconds....Guess today wasn't the day for that.....Ill try again tomorrow after church and see if I can hear ole girls heartbeat.

any ways here is a few pics of what we got done today.

[Classic v6 GMC's]

Engine bay looks good and I know what you mean about stuff not going as planned.

[Johns 66]

Well today another day of lessons learned...some good...some not so good. I think the neat part of things like this is that you learn a lot from doing this stuff yourself...sure its not gonna be like Chip Foose does it but it just reminds you that part of the fun of working on old things like this is the learning process.

The first picture is of a water pump that I had to open the rattle can spray booth for....You may be asking Water Pump? Yepper...Water Pump....It seems that the 51 yr old water pump decided it was time to take a rest....So I am replacing the water pump cause you guessed it sports fans...it leaked when I added water.

So I'm gonna have to get it painted and put back on.

[Johns 66]

So that was the not so good part of the day...now for the good part....It seems that when you do things like this you always have to remember to ask questions...specifically when some builds a motor you really need to know how they timed it....Well Randy called the Machine Shop man who assembled the motor and found out that he timed it 10 degrees before TDC...and yes sports fans we were trying to crank it at TDC...So by the time I got there today I had a ton of suggestions for Randy...He just laughed and hit the switch...Fired right up...Music to my ears...We couldn't run it long since it didn't have any water or tranny behind it but she breathed life today...Unfortunately I cant seem to upload the video of it running so your just gonna have to trust me on that......and she sounded really good.

So after getting everything installed on the motor and adding water that was when I found the leak.....as you can see of the water pump I haven't found the water pump bypass fitting that I need so I just plugged the holes until I can get what I need. You will also see a place where the breather sticker goes....when I taped it off it seems that the tape stuck so well that when I pulled it off the decal came with it...no worries..I can get a new decal.

I fit the new gas tank, 24 gallon tank that I got for behind the seat and it fits perfectly...so I sprayed some Boom Mat on the back of the cab...it is kind of a sound deadening type stuff that seals and takes that tinning noise out of the metal.

I then ensured the floor was cleaned and painted POR 15 on the entire floor, sand blasted the tank straps and got then primed in the ole rattle can paint booth...Everything should be dry tomorrow and I can then install the tank and get it ready. The Tank fits pretty much wall to wall so the only bad thing I see about that is the tank will have to come out to install the side trim but the added gallons are worth it to me plus I think I am going to have the tank painted anyways.

But all in all it was a pretty good day, got to hear my baby run, saw her hips shake a lil bit from the slight lick it was hitting...so all is well.

[DPowers]

Looks great.

[Captainfab]

Looks good

Just a friendly warning. With a flat tappet cam engine, you really do not want to start the engine and just run it for a little bit. You really should perform the cam breakin the second the engine fires. Failure to do this greatly increases the chance of a cam and lifter failure. That would mean a complete tear down, a thorough cleaning and reassembly with new rings, bearings, cam and lifters.

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by DPowers

Looks great.

Thanks Duane...Slowly but surely its coming along.

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Looks good

Just a friendly warning. With a flat tappet cam engine, you really do not want to start the engine and just run it for a little bit. You really should perform the cam breakin the second the engine fires. Failure to do this greatly increases the chance of a cam and lifter failure. That would mean a complete tear down, a thorough cleaning and reassembly with new rings, bearings, cam and lifters.

Thanks for the advice John....It ran for about 30 seconds or so just to make sure it was in time and would crank.....When I get the new water pump painted and installed back on it Im gonna fill it back with water and anti freeze and then get it running correctly, set the timing by a light and ensure the carb is set up and dialed in.....Luckily for me the man who built the motor is gonna come over and help me get it broke in correctly....but he wanted to ensure it would crank before he came over. I asked him the same thing about starting it up the first time and he told me that as long as it didn't run for more than a minute initially that I should be good to go...so keeping fingers crossed on that point

[Johns 66]

Well another day in the ole shop...Motor got broke in with the heat exchanges recommended by the builder so it should be good to go now. After the last heat cycle we had to let it completely cook down so I started working on a couple of other things....and lets just say the more I went the further I got behind.

I think I once heard that bondo covers a multitude of sins. In the grand scheme of things it really is not that bad...just looks bad. I was able to get a couple of the smaller pieces cut and will try my hand at getting them welded in tomorrow after church.

As usual I found some rust in the normal places...bottom of the door, cab corners and just a little on the front fenders...What I did find that was kind of irritating was the lower bolt that holds the fender on had been broken off...and instead of fixing it correctly they simply welded the bottom of the fender to the support. So I had to cut off the weld, remove the fender and take the broken bolt out....it was stubborn so I had to drill the bolt out but eventually I got the bolt out...will have a little welding to do on the support piece but it shouldn't be a big deal.

On the front fenders they had very small pin holes so I put POR15 on the and will weld the pin holes up, grind them down and recoat with some more POR 15. It seems to me the reason these fenders etc rust is that they retain moisture so I am going to drill some small holes in the bottom of the supports for water to drain...I hope thiss will alleviate future rusting.....I am also going to drill some small holes in the door bottom for the water to get out. Once I get the outside of the door welded up I will them spray some POR 15 on the inside of the doors and spray them with some boom mat...My hopes are that the issue of rust will not rear its ugly head for a very long time...if ever.

[Johns 66]

Here are a few more of the cab corners, and the bottom of the drivers side rocker panel

[Johns 66]

Today I decided to do a little bit more piddling on ole girl... basically I experimented and dabbled in body work...lol by that I mean I started sanding and trying to get some of the surface rust I saw gone....Funny thing about sanding and doing this type thing is that it never seems to stop.....but at least I know the little rust spot I have been seeing are gone now....plus when the truck goes to the paint shop all they will have to do is start doing the body work....hopefully sanding this stuff down will help in the long run.
So here is a few pics from today.

[Johns 66]

So after all that I did spray some rattle can primer on it to keep it from rusting up....then I sanded on the bed side with 80 grit to know down some of the edges, get some of the chips sanded out plus know down the strip since it was raised above the white......

Got the outside of the passenger door knocked down a little bit...Will be picking up my friends welder tomorrow so I can start welding in the patch panels on the doors and rockers....I'm gonna have to order the cab corners since I want it fixed right...

[Johns 66]

So the last thing of today I decided to do was kind of get the tailgate ready to put some primer on it....It seems the little creases want to rust for some reason..I guess it just holds water so the only way I knew of how to get that out was a wire wheel.....I also used the wire wheel on the bed side to get the surface rust out of the crease...seemed to work well.

Funny thing about the tailgate is it has letters and bot oh bot C H E V R O L E T is ALOT of letters to get cleaned....and then you flip it over and have the same thing...lol but at least I know it will be clean when its time to paint it...I did find a little bondo on the top rail of the tailgate...guess someone actually used it for a truck at one point....It does have a little bow to it but again it was used...its not really bad and I'm not replacing it for sure......I didn't get to finish the outside...just kinda ran out of time for today..but tomorrow is another day.

Also got some rattle can primer on the front fender.....these are just very light coats to keep it from rusting .

I did find that I will need some tailgate trunnons since the tailgate sits about 3/16 lower that the bed side...not to mention they were pretty rusted and pitted.

One thing I did notice while sanding is the bedside holes and the cab holes that hold the trim do not seem to line up....not sure if someone put bed shims or new pads that last time it was painted and didn't replace the cab mounting pads or what the deal is...I'm hoping that if I replace the cab mounts that it will raise it up just enough so that it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

[rvrfoot]

Your motor is very clean.

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by rvrfoot

Your motor is very clean.

Thanks so much.....Its a little tedious and Im still looking for the water pump bypass fitting but its slowly coming together.

[Johns 66]

Well a little update....So while I have been waiting on the tranny to get built I decided to sand and try yo fix some of the rusted spots myself.....The phrase discretion is the better part of valor comes to mind when it comes to my welding skills...I guess you just have to know when its time to let someone who knows that they are doing do it....to say the least my welding has a lot to be desired so I'm gonna have what I attempted cut out and fixed correctly.

So heres a few pictures of my finds...I guess its just easier to spread bondo on things instead of fixing them correctly

[Johns 66]

I guess on the drivers side they just drilled holes for the trim instead of moving the clips...not really sure the method to their madness so Ill just measure the other side and duplicate it on the drivers side...Not really sure what to do about the bedside at this point....really don't want to go aftermarket......Ill see if I can find someone to cut out the bad parts and put it back correctly and weld up the unneeded holes....But I did get the door back on and the front fender on it and lined up pretty good...and oh..The tranny showed up today...so Ill be putting it in this week and getting the driveshaft cut

As you can see by my welds...better to know your limitations..lol

[Johns 66]

A little update for the week.....Got some parts ordered and they came in.....mostly odds and ends things that I know I will need in the future.

Today I got the transmission installed....YAY!!!!!! I had bought a Lokar linkage kit and it installed perfectly, shifts into every gear except 1st gear...no big deal I have never ever used Low 1.....also got the transmission cooler installed. I ran hard lines from the tranny up to the cooler and then used the supplied rubber lines to finish the connection....wasn't too bad to install especially since Randy does this for a living....sure helps a lot when you have the right tools for the job...and the knowledge...LOL...Slowly but surely I'm learning more and more. Got the distance measured for the drive shaft and will take it to town on Monday and get it cut down and new input shaft spline installed. Installed the kickdown/TV cable but have not adjusted it as of yet but that wont be too hard.

Of course I sanded more on the ole truck....got the roof sanded and cleaned out the drip rail....I am curious as to why they chose to fill it halfway with bondo...but I got it all cleaned out.....if they wanted the drip rail smooth I wonder why they just didn't use self leveling seam sealer....I have no clue but the drip rail is now back down to the metal....good part is I found no rusted out areas on the entire drip rail.

I will have to get some torque convertor bolts as the ones I got were the wrong size...no big deal...just get some new bolts and bolts it down, install the dust shield and the tranny will be good to go.

Once I get that all buttoned up I am gonna pull the cover off the read end to see how it looks...I'm hoping all is well but will know more once I get it pulled of.

So here are a few pics of what I got done...also the one odd looking one is the lower front fender brace...had to get a new one since the old one was badly rusted through.

[Grumpy63]

Love the color you did the motor. Super classy. As for teaching yourself to weld, don't worry, if I can do it you can too.

[66Gilbert]

After seeing the pictures of your radiator and all the time and money you spent on the engine I think I would replace it. It looks like the air flow is going to be restricted with the way a lot of the radiator fins are bent over and could cause an overheat issue which you don't want with a fresh engine.

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by Grumpy63

Love the color you did the motor. Super classy. As for teaching yourself to weld, don't worry, if I can do it you can too.

Thanks for the encouragement...Think I'm gonna practice a lot more before I decide to weld anymore on the truck

Originally Posted by 66Gilbert

After seeing the pictures of your radiator and all the time and money you spent on the engine I think I would replace it. It looks like the air flow is going to be restricted with the way a lot of the radiator fins are bent over and could cause an overheat issue which you don't want with a fresh engine.

It must be the pictures because the radiator was rebuilt with a new 3 row high efficiency aluminum core set...I maintained the top and bottom but it was rebuilt...I think what you are seeing is some dust build up.