1970 C30 resto-mod-oration

[RatRod68]

So 2 weeks ago I was looking through my weekly scans of Ebay to see if there were any cool rigs. I have been looking for a tow rig for my crawler for a long time now, but nothing in my price range. I am closing on a house this week, and I have 3 other projects in different stages, so I was more window shopping than anything else.

While searching, I came across a pretty sweet looking C30 Wedge-back truck that was about 220 miles away from me. The body in the pictures looked in really good shape, and the wedge was useable, but beat up. The listing said the truck ran and drove great, no rust, working winch, and new tires.









It was not rust free, but it ran great and everything worked. Since it wasn't rust free, I picked the truck up for a pretty darn good price

[71swb4x4]

For $1,700 that is a lot of truck, rust issues or not. I think you did good.

[RatRod68]

I have talked with member Jeremiah King and will be buying an ignition switch, door locks, ciggerette lighter (iphone/GPS charger) and instrument cluster from them.

[67chevy1series]

i would pur the front end form this truck on to the 68 and put the 69 72 frontend on this truck! you would have the correct syle frontends for both trucks

[Tinkermc]

well I feel so sorry for you getting stuck like that, so to help out my fellow man I'll give you your money back and take that load off your hands. I'll even come pick it up. Just trying to help you out, I'm sure you understand!!!!!!!!!

[RatRod68]

Originally Posted by 67chevy1series

i would pur the front end form this truck on to the 68 and put the 69 72 frontend on this truck! you would have the correct syle frontends for both trucks

That's the plan.

Originally Posted by Tinkermc

well I feel so sorry for you getting stuck like that, so to help out my fellow man I'll give you your money back and take that load off your hands. I'll even come pick it up. Just trying to help you out, I'm sure you understand!!!!!!!!!

HAHA! I think i will have to pass (don't tell my ol lady, as she would tell you to bring cash!) I don't want anyone to think i got the raw end of a deal with this truck, as the PO brought the price of the truck down to match the condition and to make up for the oversight on a couple issues. I'd do business with him again any day of the week.

[MrBeast]

Gonna be a sweet truck. I will be watching to see what you do with it.

[MrBeast]

As far as what you should do with the cab, that cab does not look too far gone to me. Finding good "clean" cabs for these trucks is very very hard to do. I'd fix that one as either way finding one with the roof markers is going to be hard, even if you find a cab with out them you would still want to move them over as all C-30's had them.

The bones of the truck look good and If you are eventually going to turn it into a crew cab anyways, I'd just use that cab since it is going to get cut up to make the crew cab anyways.

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by RatRod68

Thanks buddy. The more i think into it, the more i agree with you. It will need a floor pan, but those are pretty easy to come by now days. Southern KY Classics has one for 380 before the discount, so I'll likely get it through them.

I haven't had any time to work on the projects yet. I bought my first house 2 weeks ago and have been remodeling it since day 1. Likely got about 2 more weeks, so until then, I will just look at it and sigh

So you are saying we will see some work on it in about 8 weeks?

[RatRod68]

I'm hoping so. lol. Biggest thing right now is get it running and driving reliably. The steering and transmission are the biggest of my worries, so those will be some of the 1st items i fix. I did get a few parts from Jenn and Jeremiah King to help make things easier in the cab. ignition switch, door locks and guage cluster are all needed, so i got them from those members.

I'm definitely not a fan of the bench seat. The one in the little truck folds, and this one doesn't. Its comfy, but it doesn't fold forward. That's a deal breaker for me, so i will be on the hunt for one that does. I may upgrade to a modern set of seats from a 88-98 as i can get those from pull a part for around 40 bucks and it gives me a console.

[hgs_notes]

Could you post more pics of the wedge bed? My next truck project is an extended wheelbase flatbed and I was thinking of making it a tilt flatbed, but maybe a wedge bed like this would be better. I'm also wondering if it would handle the weight of my Jimmy once it's done. It says its a C-30, but I think it was rebuilt heavier for the lumber company that used it for years.

[RatRod68]

Not a problem. I will get some pictures of the bed for you. I will also post up the measurements of the wheelbase.

[ThreeQtr]

For inspiration: http://wheelerdealer.co/1491-ramp-truck/details.html

Not mine.

[RatRod68]

Loaded up and moving to Lex! Except it only made it about a mile. Alternator is shot



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[litew8]

Alternator shot on Wedgie? I was going to ask - in the picture up thread you show the power-steering pump and ask if it has the right bracket. What I'm wondering, where was your alternator in that shot? If it were mine, I'd keep the wedge, I think that's one bad a$$ service truck.

[RatRod68]

Originally Posted by litew8

Alternator shot on Wedgie? I was going to ask - in the picture up thread you show the power-steering pump and ask if it has the right bracket. What I'm wondering, where was your alternator in that shot? If it were mine, I'd keep the wedge, I think that's one bad a$$ service truck.

Alternator is on the passenger side of the motor. Why, is it not supposed to be over there?? It's been a while since I have worked with a SBC, so please forgive me for my ignorance.

Thanks man! It will remain a wedge for a while. The cummins swap will come 1st. Something on this ol pig is POURING oil from it. Looks to be the rear main, but there is a lot of build up on the front suspension, so this has me thinking something up front is leaking too. I really need to get it up in the air to see what is going on under it, I've just been super busy with remodelling my new house.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by RatRod68

Alternator is on the passenger side of the motor. Why, is it not supposed to be over there?? It's been a while since I have worked with a SBC, so please forgive me for my ignorance.

Thanks man! It will remain a wedge for a while. The cummins swap will come 1st. Something on this ol pig is POURING oil from it. Looks to be the rear main, but there is a lot of build up on the front suspension, so this has me thinking something up front is leaking too. I really need to get it up in the air to see what is going on under it, I've just been super busy with remodelling my new house.

The alternator on these trucks originally were on the driver side. They end up getting moved to the passenger side with motor swaps because most cars after 72 came with them on the other side. If you have oil on the suspension it is probably the oil pan to timing chain cover and the vibration damper seals. The vibration damper can usually be fixed with a new seal and a speedy sleeve or just replace the damper with a new one. They usually get a groove cut into the seal surface and just replacing the seal won't fix it. Usually you have to lift the engine a few inches to drop the oil pan to get the timing chain cover off too. Fixing this leak is a PITA.

[RatRod68]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

The alternator on these trucks originally were on the driver side. They end up getting moved to the passenger side with motor swaps because most cars after 72 came with them on the other side. If you have oil on the suspension it is probably the oil pan to timing chain cover and the vibration damper seals. The vibration damper can usually be fixed with a new seal and a speedy sleeve or just replace the damper with a new one. They usually get a groove cut into the seal surface and just replacing the seal won't fix it. Usually you have to lift the engine a few inches to drop the oil pan to get the timing chain cover off too. Fixing this leak is a PITA.

Wow, I never knew that about the Alternator. Every truck this body style we have had in here with a SBC has had the alternator on the passenger side.

Thanks for the info on the leak. I have a REALLY good mechanic here locally that i am going to have check out the noises coming from the transmission. I will ask him to check out the damper as well.

[RatRod68]

Yesterday I decided to try and fix the alternator issue. I had an alternator on the engine I pulled from my 68, so i tried it on for size as I replaced it a few months before removing the engine.

While I was looking at the wiring to fit the new alternator in, I noticed a splice here, a splice there, and lots of electrical tape. I never really paid attention to this stuff before, because the truck ran. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it was rough. The harness has been hacked in so many places, there would be no easy way to fix this. Wires were laying on the exhaust manifolds, and were live, live wires were arcing off the radiator support because they had no where to go, the winch was wired wrong, and all the splices were very poorly done.

Due to this, I made the executive decision to completely redo the harness. My dad gave me an extra complete wiring harness from the 72 we recently restored, but it is in about the same shape as the one in this truck, so I will take two, and make one. I want to use as much of the factory wiring as possible, so it looks as factory as it can. I did upgrade to blade style fuses for all the fused links under the hood. So, without further ado, here are some pictures.

Here is the passenger side, after pulling everything up to where it belongs, and seeing what needed to be done. After this picture, all the tape was removed, and all the bare/damaged wire was removed. (Pic is upside down, sorry)


The wires were hanging down in front of the radiator, so i losened up the radiator, and moved all the wires up to where they belong, then peeled all the tape off, and started tracing wires, and unravelling them. Not to mention all my tools are sitting up there. just disregard those. lol


I also took a picture of the wiring that was arcing off the manifold. I have no idea where this goes... yet. I'll do some digging and find out something. Question for everyone, does this forum have a technical manual section?


Next we move onto the voltage regulator section of the wiring. Its a serious rats. The actual voltage regulator was not grounded, the wire was broken. That is fixed now, but I'm not sure if it works or not.


Here is the other side of it

[RatRod68]

Plugging away! I got all the wiring put together. The harness from the resto truck was in WAY better shape than the one that was currently on the wedgie, so the old one became the cut up harness, and the new-to-me one when in. I decided that i didn't like the look of having the alternator wiring running accross the engine, so i extended the lines, and ran it accross the top of the radiator support, down beside the battery tray, along the framerail, then up the fuel line to the alternator. I think it looks MUCH better.

The only thing left to do is attach the side marker connector to the harness, and the engine bay is finished. I will go over everything with a little tape, and black wire loom to try and clean up as much as i can. I did run the harness behind the fenders like it was from the factory.





On another note, I finally opened up the box from jeremiahking and wow. The guage cluster looks BRAND NEW. The actual cover thingy that is black and chrome is a little faded, but the guages are absolutely perfect. The only thing that would have made this any better is if it was a tach cluster, but for the price they charged, this cluster was a steal. I also got a set of matching door locks and ignition switch. The current setup is off a push button start with the key acting as a kill switch. I am not a fan of this, so I will be going back to the keyed start once I get it to the new house.

[hgs_notes]

I hope it all works out. Did you ever get the wheel base measured? I'm also wondering if the rear suspension of it is the same as a stock C-30 or if it was mofitied for heavier loads. How did it seem to carry the load of your ford?

[RatRod68]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I hope it all works out. Did you ever get the wheel base measured? I'm also wondering if the rear suspension of it is the same as a stock C-30 or if it was mofitied for heavier loads. How did it seem to carry the load of your ford?

Not yet, the only reason i haven't is because i keep leaving my measuring tape at the house, and this is at my dad's shop. I haven't forgetten though! I will be getting it for you as soon as i get this thing home.

As for SGT Ex. He weighs a little more than your average car, tipping the scales at around 6,000 lbs. when i was pulling the truck on, my dad said the front tires of the wedgie came off the ground, but i think he was BSing. The biggest thing is height. It sways in sharp corners. It did the same thing with the Sonic on there as well though. This is just a little more.

As far as the spring packs go, its huge. Like, dump truck status huge. Also, I'm almost certain it has a Corporate 14 bolt in the back. If not, it is an axle that looks just like a 14 bolt. haha

[hgs_notes]

There's no rush. It'll be a few years before I start working on the flatbed. I've just been considering my options with it. So far I've contemplated putting a crewcab on it, or building a hydraulic tilt bed, or getting one of the old ramp beds and making the wheelbase even longer, or even getting a bed like yours for it, or building one like that. What I really want to do with it is be able to safely and comfortably haul a car or truck on it routinely.

Right now its just day dreaming, but there are not a lot of these trucks around that are still being used, so when I see one like yours and you are hauling with it, I want as much info as I can get. What works and what doesn't? What would you do to make it better? Will a longbed truck fit on it? How does it handle with a load like that?

So when you get it going again and use it to haul stuff around, please share how it goes.

[RatRod68]

Will do buddy!
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[RatRod68]

Well I FINALLY got the truck home. The stator on the alternator was very loud, and i didn't have the right connector to plug into the back of the alternator that came off my c10. The truck came with a 72+ style, and a friend of mine rebuilds these into 1-Wire setups. He switched it out real quick, popped in a new fuse in the main wire, and wah-lah! Its charging again.

So then we move to the trip from Frankfort to Lexington. Its about 32 miles from my dad's place to mine, and I still had SGT Ex on the back. It decided to pour down rain, so i was able to test out the wipers, which work amazing. The headlights, not so much. Likely just a fuse or a ground i didn't hook up. Something easy.

This one has me razzled, and should actually be number 1... The steering column moves in and out. I have never seen this before, and i have no idea how to fix it. Anyone able to help?