Sooo, I finally got me an old truck - AKC's 1968 C30

[Skip44]

I just finished reading your thread, I love old work trucks and yours is a beauty. I like the way your attacking it, one problem at a time. Do you keep a list of things to do as you see them or just work on it as you remember?

Skip

[AKC]

Thanks! A list would make sense, but I don't have one. (List, that is...)

[AKC]

Lordy! It's been a bit.

Sidetracked, and busy with work.

But 'Anela waits patiently for me. I do go check on her and fire her up about once a month.

Waiting for a block of time to catch up on a few projects.

You know how it is...

[AKC]

A couple more pieces of the dream.

Photo place holder

I'm thinking of letting them sit outside and weather a bit.

Nah, they'll get plenty of that at the rate I'm going.

Incrementalism...

[AKC]

Well, been a while again, hasn't it? Usual excuses...

Let me ask you folks; If I wanted to get a crate motor to replace the one I presently have, what am I looking for?

I just want something basic, 350, not looking for gobs of power. GM.

The choices seem endless, and I'm going googly from looking.

Any advice?

[AKC]

"We are currently experiencing technical difficulties..."

I have had enough of Photobucket's shenanigans. I had to delete my account and switch to a different photo hosting service. I'm going to try Imgur for a while.

Should've made the change a long time ago.

My apologies. Most, if not all of the links have been broken. If I can, I'll try to go back to posts and re-insert images.

Meanwhile, Anela waits for me. Patiently.

At least she starts when I go to see her...

[Skip44]

Originally Posted by AKC

Well, been a while again, hasn't it? Usual excuses...

Let me ask you folks; If I wanted to get a crate motor to replace the one I presently have, what am I looking for?

I just want something basic, 350, not looking for gobs of power. GM.

The choices seem endless, and I'm going googly from looking.

Any advice?

Sorry I just saw this, My advice is to set a budget, and stick to it. It will be easy to just add this or that so figure out what you can afford and don't go over it.

Skip

I forgot to add, if money is no object call me.

[AKC]

Thanks. Doesn't help me pick out a motor. But thanks...

Anela waits patiently for me. Took her out for a little exercise last Saturday, had to bring some material that's been following me around at work home. Finally. It's still cool driving around in a 50 year old truck.

Spotted this little cutie at work on the way in this morning;




Didn't get to talk to the owner, it was kinda early. Looks like it has a gooseneck hitch in the bed. (Stands to reason, it's at the base RV park)

I'm still gonna work on getting the img files re-inserted. Gonna take a while...

[AKC]

And here it's been a while again, hasn't it? Sorry. Life, the universe, and everything...

And I haven't even begun to reinsert all the pics. A rather daunting task.

But, I do have news to report. I'll let the pics do the talking;

First, a few shots of what I'm starting with - The Old...






And now - Out with The Old...








The old radiator goin' away too...



And the SM465 getting dropped off for a rebuild -



Can't even find words to say how thrilled I am to be getting this done.

To be continued...

[68bowtie]

Cool truck. Did you figure out what you're using for the engine?

[AKC]

Gonna keep it simple. A GM crate 350 with some add-ons...

[AKC]

One much cleaner, and rebuilt SM465;



And a quick shot of what it's getting attached to;




I lost the mount bosses for the alternator on the left exhaust manifold with the installation of the header, gonna take a little figgerin' to get the alternator mounted. And it needs to be mounted to figger out which of the other pulleys gets a small spacer to correct a minor misalignment.

It's all coming along...

[AKC]

Progress.

[AKC]

She is alive!!! Got to take 'Anela out today, like I said, it's cool tooling around in a 50 year old truck. And it's nice knowing the motor and trans are good to go. Brakes too.

I'll get some pics up later...

[AKC]

Motor pics;




I did finally install that front sway bar I yard-picked a while back. Don't know what took me so long...

[AKC]

OK, I've looked. I know there are rear axle swap options. And there may exist the possibility of finding an off-roader with whom I could arrange a trade of my third member.

But does anybody here have any suggestions for trying to track down a 4.10 ring/pinion to replace the 5.14 set in my HO72 rear axle?

I'd really like to try to keep it...

[CRees]

See If you could find a 3/4 ton axle which is the HO52, there seems to be more of them with 4.11. I’m pretty sure the third members are the same between the HO52 and the HO72.

[AKC]

I HATE collet-style battery clamps! That is all...

[AKC]

I went to NAPA to pick up some instrument bulb holders I had ordered. The ones in the truck were falling apart when I moved them. While I was there, I thought I'd replace the battery hold-down rope. Should've left it alone.

Not really, it was a problem that needed to be found. After determining that the j-bolts and cross piece I got weren't going to work, I returned them and decided to replace the battery cables while I was there. Waiting for the motor to cool down, I went ahead and replaced the negative cable. Easy enough.

Measured for the positive cable, got the new one and realized I didn't have what I needed to terminate the power line coming off the lug. No problem, I'll take it home and do it later.

Mind you, the truck has been starting fine, including all morning with a few stops. I hop inside, turn the key. Click. Great.

Long story shortened, the collet-style lug on the old positive cable had lost it's grip on the cable. I got good enough contact to get the truck started and went home.

Replaced the positive cable, all is good now.




And yes, I picked up an Optima 34R and at least it's strapped down with some reasonably heavy zip-ties...

[AKC]

Got to replacing the rear lights.

Here's the old right side, it'll get done tomorrow.


Moved the mount back a bit, went with a work light for the reverse lamp.


Comparison shot with old and new.


The old Grotes were pretty well weathered, and even in their prime, I'm sure the reverse lights didn't do much. Everything will be much easier to see with these and I get an extra running light on the sides. And I'll actually be able to see when I'm backing up...