Keepin' her stock - '63 C20 build

[Bears63]

I bought this truck in October of 2008. In that time I have had life throw a lot at me and really have not had a chance to do much with it. That is changing this year, and as I progress on it I will update this thread. Just thought many of you would like to see it come along.

This truck was a barn find. I bought it for $500 from the guy that drug it out of the barn where it sat for around 20 years. The guy who had it in the barn was the second owner and one of his relatives (his father I assume) bought the truck brand new from Loel Lust Chevrolet in Aberdeen, SD. That dealership is now Stephen Lust and is still in the same location. While the truck is in pretty fair shape, it is also filthy, very filthy. This C20 has a 292 and 4 speed. Out back it is sporting a dealer installed No-Spin differential. It also has the transmission brake as opposed to the normal light truck emergency brake. This truck is a longbed stepside.

The original plan was to clean up the truck and get it running. However, after getting my '71 C10 as a daily driver I decided to strip the C20 and go through everything. This will be a body off build. The plan now is to keep the truck as stock as possible. I want this truck as a short trip hauler, just like it started life. So far all I have done is gut the cab, removed the sideboards, and bought a tailgate. I will be starting on the back end first and moving my way to the front after that.

Here are some pics and over time many more will follow.

[DPowers]

Cool- looks like it is going to be fun.

[aerotruk63]

So far so great. Looks to be solid. Might have hit the barn a few times though! LOL Still has the original Black eyes on the headlight bezels.

[Bears63]

Here I was wondering how long it would take someone to notice the black eyes and AeroTruk gets it. Guess I should have known someone would spot it fast

Overall it is pretty solid, but yeah, it does look to have hit the barn a time or two. That and I'm sure some kids learned to drive in it so who knows how many of the dents and scrapes are from those adventures. Sometimes I wish the ol' gals could talk.

[aerotruk63]

63 is the only year I concentrate on. factorystock mentioned the black rings a while ago. You learn so much on this site.

[Bears63]

I finally got some tinkering time in on the truck. While waiting for the time to go out to the truck I did manage to get the fan painted and put away. I try and clean and paint small parts as I go along that way I am constantly doing a little something to progress the project.

The other thing I did was remove the left step and fender. What a pain that turned out to be. The step wasn't too bad even though I did have to drill out one the of carriage head bolts to finish getting it off. The fender was the hassle. I had to drill out every single bolt to get the fender off. That took forever. Once the fender was off I peeled off some of the loose original undercoating off the bed side and got a good look at what was underneath. Notice the blue overspray.

The final thing I did was remove the transmission cover. I wanted to take a peek at the transmission brake to sate my curiosity. Man was that cover on there good. It was tough to get it pried off, the sealant was still holding amazingly well.

[aerotruk63]

Mike you have two rims on the passenger side with clips for hubcaps. I've got two Hubcaps with an inner ring of 8 3/4". Measure and see if this is what they go on. Picked them off the counter of a yard outside of L.A. Got them cheap cause they didn't care what they came off of, but I can't use them. They do not go on my 16" rims nor my 17.5" rims.
Cap on the left is for a 16" 6 stud wheel, the thicker one on the right is the mystery cap.


Backside view 16" left, has 7 5/8" inner ring and the mystery cap right, has 8 3/4" inner ring.

[Bears63]

Next time I get out I will check those rims. I know one of them is a 16.5" and I am not sure what the other one is. This truck came with a variety of rim sizes on it.

[Bears63]

It's hard to believe it's been put near a month since I was able to tinker on the truck. The weather has been horrid and my girlfriend's youngest daughter had heart surgery, so no time to work on the ol' gal lately. Hoping to do some more wrenching soon, in the meantime I'm trying to clean and paint some small parts. Slow going though.

[Charles Hettich]

hey looks like a fun pickup. where exactly did you find that pickup? im close to aberdeen i thought maybe it wouldnt be too far from me

[Bears63]

Well, things haven't gone to plan this year. I haven't worked on my '63 since May, and I haven't been around the forums either. My girlfriend and her kids have been the priority, especially her 14 year old. Her health hasn't been good, and there have been other issues, but now things are turning around and time is starting to open up again. So, back to working on the ol' blue truck again. The 14 year old, who I have been teaching to drive lately, has given me orders to have the '63 running and drivable by her 16th birthday.... There is something to shoot for!

Aerotruk: I apologize to you for not getting measurements done on those clips for the hubcaps. I will do that as soon as possible if you still need the measurements.

Charles: I am not certain where the truck was found since the guy I got it from had it in Watertown already. I do know it sat in a barn, and that it was owned by the Maynards.... I can't recall the first names offhand, I will have to look at the papers again.

[aerotruk63]

Anytime Bud, there just sitting there.

[Bears63]

Life took an all too dramatic turn and the old truck has been patiently waiting for me. I have started working on it again and will soon have some new pictures of what I have been up to. Hopefully I can keep wrenching on it for a while. Right now I have been doing piece work, getting the small parts already removed cleaned, painted and stored.

[Bears63]

Here's a couple pics that prove I am making progress of sorts. The first is my pile of ready to install parts for my '63. There is a few in there for my '71, but the vast majority is for the '63. The other pic is my freshly painted washer reservoir bracket and upper radiator hold down. They look a lot better than before:

[Bears63]

Still wrenching on the ol' gal as I have time. The bed is unbolted and currently I am working on removing the bed wood. It's a long process trying to remove the rusty old hardware. Unfortunately, after looking at the right rear fender closer, it's a loss. I will have to find a replacement for that. Pics to follow soon.

[Bears63]

Pictures of the recent work:






Here is one showing remnants of the original frame paint as well as some paint remnants on the underside of the bed wood:

[Bears63]

Still continuing the tear down of the old truck. Getting closer and I am aiming to have the rest tore down before snow flies. I am trying to work a deal to get some shop space so I can continue work on the chassis over the winter. Hopefully it will work out. This weekend I also had a hand, my step-sister helped me tear down the front sheet metal. Got a shot of her spotting the grille bolts. The second pic shows a crack on the right frame horn. That is why you don't hook a chain to the edge of the bumper. Judging from the damage to the bumper in that area that is more than likely what happened there. Last shot is how she sits at the moment. Next up I will pull the engine and tranny and get those into storage.

[Bears63]

Two more shots. First one here is the original undercoating on the backside of the front bumper. The underside of this truck was heavily slathered with the stuff. Second is the horn ready to go once more.

[Bears63]

Got back to wrenching last weekend and pulled the transmission and got the engine stripped, unbolted, and ready to pull. I did have some fun yanking the driveshaft, it didn't want to come off and the carrier bearing bolts took a lot of persuasion. I forgot how heavy those transmissions are too. Ooofta, glad to have helping hands and a hoist!

[Bears63]

Other than getting small bits stripped off not much has happened lately on the ol' truck. Dealing with the transmission laid me up. Made a wrong move and bulged two discs in my back, that took some recovery time and now it's getting cold. Slow going until spring I fear.

[E911manager]

Looks good Bear, Reminds me of my grandpas 63 GMC that he bought new and had till the day he died. Well except your has all the pistons in a row.. Keepin a clean truck like this "stock" is the exact way to go..

P.S. I cant place the brand name of those empty cans laying on the ground in the picture that has the headless bolt hunter in it.

[Bears63]

Ah, someone noticed those We were enjoying a few Red Dog's that day while busting our knuckles.

[E911manager]

WTH is a Red Dog. That is a strip joint in Oklahoma. Not that I have ever been there. I will have to put that on my "Drink" bucket list.... LOL..

[Bears63]

I had never heard of it either until my older sister picked me up a case of it. All I know is she gets it in Minnesota and it is a very mild tasting beer. Really has very little taste to it at all. And it's cheap. About $10 a case is what she gets it for but she has to order 10 cases at a crack to get it for that.

[E911manager]

Minnesota and their cheap beer. I used to get a cheap 10 dollar case of beer locally called "Minnesota's brew". It is a good lake beer. Drink a few good ones then "the brew" tastes pretty good..... LOL..

Well I had to ask....