Johns 66

[Johns 66]

lil more done today...got the bolts for the torque convertor and got it button down, installed the dust shield for the bottom. Also got the TV cable installed and initially adjusted.

Installed the new brake switch and all the lights are back working...Guess I broke the old one when I changed the column out.

Got the new yoke installed on the drive shaft and will be taking it to the shop to be cut down and balance...they said it would be ready in 2 days. Also cleaned 51 years of crud, road grime etc...off it and will get it painted up once it has been cut down.

Last thing I hadn't check was the rearend....so today I pulled off the differential cover and drained all the old 90w out of it, got it pretty clean....teeth looked really good, not metal anywhere to be found on the inside. I took some pictures of the numbers on the caps that were holding the chunk in.

I did count the teeth on the ring gear and it had 41 teeth, the pinion had 12....but that really doesn't make sense to me at this point....maybe the numbers on the caps will tell me something. It had GM 128 3858703N on the caps...hard to tell in the pictures.

Still looking for the stamp on the rear end so I can be sure what it came out of, if it is original and what the gear ratio was supposed to be, if it had been changed etc....

[Captainfab]

The casting numbers on the caps won't tell anything about the differential. If you are certain of the tooth count then you have 3.42 gears. Those are not original. If the tooth count was 11 & 41, then that is a 3.73 gear ratio and could very likely be original. On the edge of the ring gear where it is bolted to the carrier are the part number, date and tooth count stamped into the ring gear.

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

The casting numbers on the caps won't tell anything about the differential. If you are certain of the tooth count then you have 3.42 gears. Those are not original. If the tooth count was 11 & 41, then that is a 3.73 gear ratio and could very likely be original. On the edge of the ring gear where it is bolted to the carrier are the part number, date and tooth count stamped into the ring gear.

Thanks John for the info...I will check tomorrow...I am taking the driveshaft to Birmingham after work tonight to get it cut down and balanced. It is supposed to be done on Wednesday so hopefully she will move on her own power this weekend.

Still have to bleed the brakes, fill the rear end and install the driveshaft once I get it back. Once I can drive the truck I am gonna take the bed off and get it all sanded up, get the new bed wood cut and milled.....I will then take it some place and get the metal work done on it...have to replace the cab corners and fix the 2 door spots that I attempted to fix....plus the drivers side rocker needs some attention.....I figure they can do it a lot better and cheaper than me trying to learn to weld in patch panels

[aggie91]

I would love to find a 12 bolt with 3.42 gears...

[Johns 66]

Well got some things done today..only one picture but its a good picture.

Got the driveshaft installed, brakes bled, new shocks installed, gas tank and seat back in, steering wheel put back in......ran it through some checks on jack stands....checked for leaks while she was running and THEN............went for a drive!!!!!!!!

Tranny TV cable has to be adjusted but Randy will get that taken care of....it shifts fine just doesn't seem to have any power....real sluggish and shifting way too quick but we will get that adjusted and I'm sure it will be just fine.

I did manage to break one of the lugnuts off the front wheel when I was checking the wheels....never thought an 18 volt impact would break a wheel stud....so Ill have to get that fixed as well.

Once I get her running like she should then Ill take the bed off and continue to get it sanded down and whie I'm doing that Ill take her somewhere and get the metal work done...but it was soo good to hear her run and drive her down the road for a little bit.

Before I put the differential cover back on I re-checked the gears and recounted the teeth.....it was 41 and 11...guess I was just tired the other day...so it looks like I have a 3.73 rear end....once I get the bed off I will be able to get a better look at the axle tube.

I will tell you that the filler bolt was some kind of pain to get out..a real pain for sure but I got it out and filled it full of 90w.

They also installed new u-joints on the drive shaft when they cut it down...these now have grease fittings...the other ones did not...Man said that when he spun it up the rear u-joint wabbled and he replaced them...guess all the beating around on it I did may have had something to do with that...anyways new u-joints cant be a bad thing...

Still got some things to button up and adjust before she is mechanically sound and I feel confident to take her for a longer trip...slowly but surely shes coming along...at least she moves on her own power.

I will tell you this much.....with no insulation on the floors or firewall it tends to heat up quick...lol

[TJ's Chevy]

Driving them is always the best....weather restored or not. Love being able to drive my 64 GMC as a substitute to my 66 restoration. haha

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Driving them is always the best....weather restored or not. Love being able to drive my 64 GMC as a substitute to my 66 restoration. haha

Oh I know the feeling I LOVE to drive my truck!!!!!

[Johns 66]

Today ....well was in a word...FRUSTRATING.

Seems like 2 steps forward 15 back....but I do understand I am working on something that is 51 yrs old.

It seems like today is all bad.....so we will try again tomorrow.

Randy had a friend who does transmission work come over last night in an attempt the diagnose why the truck wouldn't run and simply falls flat on her face....they determined that it appears that the transmission supply place sent the wrong stall convertor....they timed it several different times, raise the timing, retarded the timing and she still wouldn't run like she should.....so they are going to call the supply house and see what they sent or supposed to have sent and go from there.....either way the tranny has got to come back out....ugh

So since I couldn't drive around I decided to go ahead and take the bed off, get all the wood out and start preparing to get the wood cut and fit in the bed...I am going to use Ash since it is a light color and the truck is white....I may go with a slight gray stain...more of a weathered look since I will have polished stainless strips. My Mar K order came in for new side molding, new bed strips and bolt kit.

So we got the bed off and of course the wood bolts were an extreme pain to get out....we ended up cutting more than would unbolt....just time consuming......this is where things started to go down hill. I understand that this is an old bed and thus will not look brand new but I found several places that are going to need some attention that I cannot give it....The supports on the drivers side seems to have broken away so that will have to be fixed. I got the majority f the bed sanded down....The L piece on the passenger side that bolts the wood to the floor is not in good condition...the holes are pretty much trash and so that will have to be fixed as well.

THEN I looked at the frame....Disgusted was and is what I am.....You will see in the pics where the frame is rusted through....luckily it is at the end where the bumper braces bolt through...The frame is pitted really bad near the rear end...of course all this is on the top of the frame and couldn't be seen until the bed came off.....The frame section near the rear will have to be fixed...You will also see in the pictures that the rear cross member is jacked up as well....not sure how this happened..but again it was on the top side and really hard to see from the bottom.

[Johns 66]

We eventually go all the bolts and wood out so I started sanding on the bed...What I found odd was that on the passenger side when I sanded down I found blue paint and on the drivers side I found red paint.......So I don't know if the bed side had been replaced or what...At this point it really doesn't matter just thought it was odd.

Since I have to have the cab corners replaced I decided to get them sanded down as will so it would be easier for the metal man to do their thing...Two hours later after grinding out bondo I finally got down to bare metal.....It looks like the cab had been hit at some point and instead of pulling the metal out or replacing it someone just filled it full of bondo....I'm thinking that the metal man will be able to pull it out some instead of having 5/8" worth of bondo...I could be wrong......the drivers side was the worst...which leads me to believe it was hit at some point and the replaced the bed side as well...since it had red paint under everything instead of blue like I have found everywhere else.

[Johns 66]

Here is a couple of the back of the cab where I grinded out the bondo.

This should be the last bondo I find since I have pretty much sanded everything else...I still have the rest of the back of the cab but when I was grinding the bondo out I went back to where I was getting metal...or a 1/16" of bondo or less......

I'm gonna check with some folks who do metal work and see if they will be able to make some pieces to fix the places I need fixed....Gonna do some checking on the net and see if they make some patch panels.....Think it might be best to just cut out the bad and replace.....at this point I have no clue.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much...I did get to drive her for a little bit....I guess she just needs to recover from her heart transplant.....once she gets well I feel she will run faster than I want to take her......

[Johns 66]

Oh...One last thing...I do have a surprise coming...Bought it from Mr. Paul at Pauls Truck Parts........gonna be trick...It wont be original but 6 bolts and I can quickly swap back to stock....should be here this week!!!!!!

[Johns 66]

Well we think we have the not running right part fixed....After a talk with the converter company it appears they sent a 1400/1600 converter...they are sending me a 2000/2500 converter now....hopefully this will fix the issue of her falling on her face when you try to go.

So I sanded some more while waiting on the converter to arrive....got the majority of the back cab done and a coat of rattle can on it just to keep it from rusting....didn't find any rust or bondo which was a good thing.

Once she gets ready to get painted I will take the glass out and get that area prepped...hopefully this is gonna save me a little money at the body shop..but who knows...lol I have already gotten new rubber for the glass and doors so when she goes to the shop Ill pull all the glass out and the doors apart so it is easier to paint.

Once I get her running right I will then have all the metal work I need done fixed.....plus my surprise will need just a little fabrication done to it...but I think it will look trick once I'm done with it.

[TJ's Chevy]

Sanding....more I do it....more I hate it....but the paint results keep me going. haha

[Johns 66]

Surprise showed up today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Sanding....more I do it....more I hate it....but the paint results keep me going. haha

Unfortunately all I'm doing is sanding it down and getting down past the little rust spots, paint chips and bondo.......not a lot left to sand down....at least I will know what is underneath the paint once the metal work gets done....Yours is looking great TJ!!!!

[Johns 66]

Well worked on the ole truck this past weekend......We changed the torque converter and while it made it a little better it still will not run like it should.....So we are going to change the governor in the tranny and if that doesn't work we are going to pull it out and go through it...Randy seem to think that the one of the valves in valve body may be sticking.

I'm not sure if the carb is large enough to supply the needed fuel since it is a stock carb......we will get it figured out...just gonna take a little bit to get it all figured out...but I guess that's part of the fun of working on stuff like this......

So while I couldn't really get out and stroke the roads I decided to break out the surprise and work on it...and while I know it will not be original it is easily changeable by 6 bolts....

I saw this in another build thread and thought it looked really cool, really different but looks like it could have came from the factory that way.......

Yes sports fans I am changing the grille...I found a C60 grill from Pauls Truck Parts and got it from Mr.Paul......The grille is in great shape......So I changed out the headlamp buckets....had to drill the rivets out of the C60 grill, and drill the rivets out of the Chevrolet.

I am going to have some tabs welded in so that I can mount the Chevrolet in the middle of the grill.....But I got it centered and marked where it need to go, where the tabs need to be placed and will take that to get done after I get it running right. Then I will take it and get it chromed once she goes to the beauty shop........I think it will look really good...I used a small C clamp to hold it in place to see how it was gonna look...but she bolted right up no problems...I blast the headlight buckets and paint tehm flat black once I take it to the chrome shop.......I'm thinking I will buy new hardware/adjusted etc....when I do it...the spring looks a little rusted and weak but will check all that out later.

[DPowers]

I like it!

[northern 85]

Nice!! I did the same thing when i saw the grill on (Maggies custom),had to have one!!!

[rvrfoot]

Cool different

[Johns 66]

Well it has been awhile since I have posted anything...as they say Life Happens. Got the motor installed along with the 700R4 tranny....but doesn't seem to want to run right. Motor was built to 375hp specs.....bigger valves in the heads etc......just seems like a dog...doesn't seem to be shifting right,,,,,Trying to get all the mechanical stuff done before she goes to the beauty shop. More to come later

[rsd66C20]

I have a similar build to you....original 327, new edelbrock heads, Bowtie 700R4, 2200 rpm TC, 4.57 ratio. Last 9 months, I've been fighting what I thought was an engine problem. Ran alright in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, but shifted to 4th (about 50 mph), and engine acted like timing was off.

Tried everything, carb adjustments, every timing combo under the sun, new intake, new heads, new HEI distrib, oil separator on the PCV, etc. Pulling my hair out.

Finally, took it to a shop, told me he thought something wrong with the tranny (governor or pressure valve body), not the engine. Called Bowtie, as a troubleshooting test, they had me disconnect the torque convertor lockout circuit........and ran like a dream!!!!

Evidently, my best guess is that my whole cam/tranny/rear end setup just doesn't have enough power to push 4th up past the normal lockout....and the tranny is acting like a brake to the engine.

By not running the lockout through the brake pedal, it's essentially slipping enough for the engine to rev up past the torque convertor rpm.

I know this is a workaround, and not ideal, but the truck now runs great. Just going to keep an eye on the tranny temperature, make sure i'm not putting too much of a load on the cooling system.

Not saying this is your exact problem, just giving you some ideas to try. Hope it helps!

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by rsd66C20

I have a similar build to you....original 327, new edelbrock heads, Bowtie 700R4, 2200 rpm TC, 4.57 ratio. Last 9 months, I've been fighting what I thought was an engine problem. Ran alright in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, but shifted to 4th (about 50 mph), and engine acted like timing was off.

Tried everything, carb adjustments, every timing combo under the sun, new intake, new heads, new HEI distrib, oil separator on the PCV, etc. Pulling my hair out.

Finally, took it to a shop, told me he thought something wrong with the tranny (governor or pressure valve body), not the engine. Called Bowtie, as a troubleshooting test, they had me disconnect the torque convertor lockout circuit........and ran like a dream!!!!

Evidently, my best guess is that my whole cam/tranny/rear end setup just doesn't have enough power to push 4th up past the normal lockout....and the tranny is acting like a brake to the engine.

By not running the lockout through the brake pedal, it's essentially slipping enough for the engine to rev up past the torque convertor rpm.

I know this is a workaround, and not ideal, but the truck now runs great. Just going to keep an eye on the tranny temperature, make sure i'm not putting too much of a load on the cooling system.

Not saying this is your exact problem, just giving you some ideas to try. Hope it helps!

RSD6620....Thanks so much for your help...I will look at that as well. Ive changed torque converters, adjusted the TV cable, pulled the tranny out....like you I am stumped. My brother in law Randy builds trannys for a living and he is clueless as well. I honestly believe the engine has the power...375hp build should be enough to at least spin the tires in wet grass...lol

Im sure hoping this works for me....if it does then I can figure out what the main issue is.

[68Gold/white]

Sorry I can't help you with the trans ordeal....I'm not a fan of overdrive transmissions, your situation is one of the reasons....hang in there!!!

Awesome build, and great work!!!

Even though I have a 67 and a 68, I really like the 60-66's

Your pickup should be a blast to drive with it's drive train!!!

[Johns 66]

I have a question that I posted in the suspension section but figured I would post it here as well to those who follow my build and may have knowledge of what I am trying to accomplish...so here goes

At this point my truck is bone stock in the suspension department. I am interested in doing a 2/4 drop and such have opened up a whole different world that I have no idea about.

I "May" in the future put disc brakes on the front but as with anything I have to do this in sections...simply cannot go out and buy a whole new system at once...I do have a brake booster and used Captain Fabs bracket and it worked Great! Truck stop fine, but I did increase the HP when I had to rebuild the motor to around 375 and I added a 700R4 tranny.

So here are my questions.....I have seen simply changing the springs. ECE has a kit that offers single rate springs, shocks and new pan hard adjustable bar...it runs around 440.00

They also sell just the 2/4 drop springs for about 230.00

I contacted a vendor here and he suggested Ride Tech Springs that are dual rate springs, I can also add adjustable shocks...Springs 435.00 Shocks 329.00

I also looked at QA1 coilovers….Of course the complete system is roughly 3500.00 plus I have to add new spindles and discs brakes which will add to the cost.

I will not race the truck or really haul anything except I would still like to be able to pull my boat...No autocross etc...just normal driving

Do any of you guys have an experience doing a 2/4 drop...Pros and cons of each.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated....John

[SkinnyG]

All my daily drivers have been lowered, and my current daily is a '77 C10 with 3" spindles, cut 1-ton springs, a flip kit out back, and a notched frame. It might be a 5/6 drop, I never really measured. I still haul lots of stuff, and certainly have opinions....

If you're not going to track the thing at all, don't waste your money on adjustable shocks and coilovers. Just get a quality name-brand set of lowering springs for a 2/4 drop and call it done. If you need to spend money, buy sway bars - they are worth it.

The only thing I would recommend is some helper air bags to assist carrying heavy stuff or hauling your trailer. You can air them up only when you need to.

One of my biggest things is: "I'm 300 miles north of nowhere, and I need X part." If the parts are all basically stock parts, you can get replacements anywhere.

But that's just my opinion.

My '61 will run a mostly stock-part suspension, but I will be doing a lot of cutting to get it sitting where I want.