Starting my first build - 1966 C10

[56taskforce]

Moving on it’s own, BIG mile stone. Nice work this should be one comfy driving corner carving old truck!!!

[Vic45]

do you have any more pictures of the following from different angles?

[Scot_Douglas]

Originally Posted by Vic45

do you have any more pictures of the following from different angles?

I can take some, but I can explain what I did fairly easy.

The "base" (that bolts to the cab) is a leftover 2.5" exhaust flange that fits over the original mounting holes. I welded 1/2" nuts on the backside of the flange to act as spacers / transfer the load to the firewall. There are two bolt heads on the firewall the flange would sit on and not be fully supported w/o doing this.

From there, I used the flange as a template to cut the same sized hole in a piece of 1/4" plate (the one the master cylinder mounts to). I figured out how much room I'd need to set the M/C away from the firewall to access all the bolts - then cut a piece of 16GA 2.5" O.D. exhaust pipe to fit.

The pipe extends through the flange, to the firewall (to seal the gap). I welded the pipe to the flange and then to the M/C mounting plate.

I'll grab a photo to try to illustrate this better. Also, the M/C is from a 97-2002 Jeep Cherokee. Not sure how well it will work, I just try to save $ where I can - and the M/C and Stainless headers cost me $75 altogether.

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by Scot_Douglas

And - one thing I'm excited about - trading my GMC grille for a 61 Chevrolet grille:
from this:


to this:


I'm going to paint the bezels and inner grille flat white.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Leadfoot Lambert for the swap!

Man your build style kicks @$$. Love it! FYI, that's a 60 grille. The 61 grille has no stamped chevrolet in the lower/outer and no slats in the center. It has a floating chevrolet in the center instead of the slats.
Like so:

[66redw/white]

very cool truck man! lovin the irs. the wheels look really good too.

[ratty 46]

"Well I would say for your fist build you have taken quite an endeavor making surprisingly few mistakes for even a seasoned veteran much less a beginner. Every thing is looking great to me I would have to put it together and blow it apart a hundred times to get this far. I guess I build on hind sight"

I was not refering to a mistake ... I as actually just wondering. It looked, to me, that it was just a bit harder to do it that way.

IMO a great job so far ... I was just asking.

Ratty 46

[Scot_Douglas]

Ratty -
No offense was taken - I'm sure there are always better ways to do things - and I *ALWAYS* appreciate feedback.

As for mistakes, I've made many, but I don't post those.

[ratty 46]

Dig it ... my scrap metal pile is growing too!!

Ratty 46

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Truck looks good cant wait to see it complete..

[Scot_Douglas]

No pictures yet, but I roughed in the rust repair on the passenger side, threw a couple of doors on and WENT FOR A DRIVE!!!

Anything over 1/2 throttle in 1st gear lights the tires.

[66redw/white]

woo woo! you probably got the pudding smile dont you

[awbrown]

Pictures??

[66redw/white]

no way man the thing is driving. we need VIDEOS

[awbrown]

I agree, better yet drive it down here!! You said end of june !!!

[Dinos63]

JUST WENT THOUGH THE WHOLE THREAD KILLER JOB AND GREAT SKILLS !!!

[Scot_Douglas]

Okay, words would on;y get in the way, so I leave you with this - the bed is sitting about 1" too high in the rear, but will be addressed when I put the bed on for good.

[Scot_Douglas]

Originally Posted by Dinos63

JUST WENT THOUGH THE WHOLE THREAD KILLER JOB AND GREAT SKILLS !!!

Thank you Dino - I can honestly say that I find my inspiration here on this forum.

[awbrown]

looks like it is close to a road trip !!! Great job Scot!

[66redw/white]

looks awesome. like it wants to get squirelly out of the hole. do you think the front will come down at all once the hood gets on it?

[Scot_Douglas]

Originally Posted by 66redw/white

looks awesome. like it wants to get squirelly out of the hole. do you think the front will come down at all once the hood gets on it?

Brand new springs, so I'm counting on some settling in after a while.

[Scot_Douglas]

2002 Deville seats...

[awbrown]

Nice seats .............................. floorboards and rocker panels are so over rated ..who needs em ......lol

[Scot_Douglas]

That side is next on the list.

[laid_out_70]

just went thru you thread, some great original ideas are in this truck. i like it a lot. wondering if you have any more pics and details on how you mounted the rack and pinion to the sectioned crossmember. id appreciate it a ton. im trying to decide if i want to section my crossmember or build one from scratch. also curious as to why you went with the R&P you did instead of the more popular alternative, mustang ll rack, maybe they are the same i dont know. thanks ahead of time and keep trucking!

[Scot_Douglas]

Well, I can try to explain...

This is the front of the sectioned crossmember BEFORE test-fitting the rack:


Notice the squared off section that runs across the front - this is a 2x2" 0.120 wall tube I fit in to increase stiffness (and fill a big spot that was left open.

Problem came when I test fit the rack and realized the R&P wanted to sit in about the same spot as the tubing. Doh! I don't have any detailed photos of the hacking I did to cut out the top and front face of that 2x2" piece - the remains of the 2x2 tube literally ended up looking like a 2x2" piece of angle iron.

Mounting the rack was a pita - only because I didn't have a helper that could tack brackets in place while I held the R&P where I wanted it. Other than that, the brackets are vertical tabs that sit on both sides of the rack mount bushings. The rear tabs have a nut welded to the back of them and I run a 7/16" grade 8 bolt through each bushing.

The stock rack bushings came with steel inserts / sleeves that have serrations on each end: that allows the rack about 1/4" adjustment up/down/left/right before you tighten the bolts down. Once you tighten the bolts, the serrations on the steel sleeve bite into the tabs and keep the rack from moving around.

Here's the best / closest shot I have of what I ended up with:


If you look hard enough, you can see the bolts sticking out of the tabs - as they were just being used as locating pins here.

Also, I don't know if you picked up the fact I had to go with a smaller damper and underdrive pulley, along with moving the engine 1.5" rearward to get everything to fit:


Like I told Rob in his R&P thread in the suspension forum - I would've gladly purchased his setup if I knew it was going to be offered. Also - many people ask why I went with the T-bird rack instead of the MII - here are the reasons:

1. 87 T-bird rack was much cheaper rebuilt than any MII rack I could find ;
2. Same overall dimensions as MII rack;
3. (Supposedly) better internal seal design / upgrade over MII;
4. Valving is different and much more compatible with GM saginaw submersed pump (no change in flow restrictor needed).

Hope this answers some of your questions!

Scot