66 C30 Diesel Build

[66 C30]

After watching everybody else build their amazing trucks, I figured I'd add mine into the bunch. My dad and I bought this truck for $400 my 10th grade year and figured it would be a good truck for me start on.



It's a 66 C30 1 ton dually. 157" wheelbase if I recall. I immediately tore into this, probably more than anyone expected me to.

[66 C30]

I pulled it in and got working on it.



And then the real work started

If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to catch this up to present time, which will probably take a couple posts and I will eventually get to it's current state.

[66 C30]

I tore everything off this truck that I could

[66 C30]

After I got everything stripped



We got a little family get together and walked the cab off the frame

[66 C30]

With the frame out of the way, start into some of the smaller projects.
The transmission:

[66 C30]

The rear end:

[66 C30]

The engine I decided to do for my senior project in high school and has been my main focus the past few months.





That's what it would look like, but that intake would not fit, so it is still disassembled at the moment, just waiting to be finished.

[66 C30]

The original plan was to put the engine back in the truck. But one day I was looking around the local junkyard for an 8 lug disk brake set up and came upon an 84 3500 6.2 diesel. It had the right brakes and the engine supposedly ran when they brought it in. On top of that, the wiring harness wasn't all hacked up. I decided to get the whole truck to get complete front end, powersteering, hydroboost brake setup, 6.2 diesel, complete matching wiring harness and steering column. Other than getting the frame powdercoated, that's about as much I have got done.

Which comes to my current question. Has anyone put an 84, or that style of steering column in a 66 truck. Does anyone know what would be involved with this swap?

[TJ's Chevy]

I know plenty of people have done the 6.2 diesel swap. And I am sure swapping an 84's column into a 66 would be fairly simple. A good member to ask this question would be Captain Fab. Nice project by the way! I look forward to watching the progress!

[NEWFISHER]

That's going to keep you out of trouble for awhile!

[enonz65c30]

Your off to an awesome start. I am working on a 66C30 as well. on the front end are you going to swap crossmembers from the donor truck? that is what I did. It only took 2 hours or so and I only had to redrill 4 holes(2 on each side) to mount my 83 C30 disk brake crossmember. keep up the good work

[Modges'66]

Not sure how good you can fab stuff, but if you look at page 20 of my build, you can get an idea of what you need to consider when installing a newer column into your truck.
Dude! keep at it! everything will get easier as you get things done!
Right now you are at the worst phase of the build!
The closer that you get to being finished, the cleaner you will be at the end of a work session!
This is an experience that you will not soon forget!...Good Luck!!!!

[Captainfab]

I would recommend using the differential from the '84 C30 as well, instead of the Eaton HO72.

[66 C30]

I haven't decided 100% on switching the crossmembers. I likely will to get the rubber bushings, but I prefer the original 4 bolts to the newer style with U bolts.
I have some questions for you Modges'66. Is there a particular reason why you moved the connections down other than for looks, or was the lower bracket hitting them? Also, did you move the column? Steering wheel closer to the seat, further away from the seat?
Captainfab: The rear end out of the truck had the pinion missing and it was locked up. I let the junkyard keep it for some off the price. They were nice enough to let me take it to haul the truck though. It was still a pain to load with it locked up, but we got it home.

[Modges'66]

I moved both of the switches down the column because the ignition switch interfered with the pedal pivot, and the dimmer switch interfered with the lower column bracket. Since they both attach to the same mounting bracket on the column, I moved both together & extended the rods that drive them.
The newer column is also a larger diameter in that area than the original column, so the lower column bracket had to be cut out to allow for the diameter difference and still support the brake switch....

[66 C30]

It's been a while but a small amount of work has been done. I learned that the newer C30 trucks still use the metal bushings in the front, so I am planning on swapping in the new crossmember and using the original control arms. One of the new control arms must have caught some thing because it's all bent, which is why I decided to reuse the old arms. They are already drilled for the sway bar for some reason because it didn't come with a sway bar, but I'm not complaining. I know I've read it a couple places but can someone confirm that the ball joints and control arm bushings out of the 84 truck will fit in the 66 control arms. I already have the parts here, just want to be sure before I get the arms powdercoated.

As stated above, I am planning on using the newer crossmember just because it already has the holes needed for the diesel engine mounts.

I decided to swap in the complete pedal assembly and steering column from the newer truck so that everything lines up with the hydroboost and hydraulic clutch. This also makes the column swap a lot easier since the pedal assembly is the column mount. It wasn't too bad to fit in. I had to remove the original bracket spot welded to the cab and it pretty much went in. It's a little bit short, but I'll figure that out. Now I don't have to worry about the brake pushrod length.

Right now the parts for the front end rebuild wiped out the budget, so now back to saving to get the parts powdercoated so I can put it back together.

[C@rnut001]

I really like what you have planned for your truck. It is also great to see another young person interested in bringing one of these amazing trucks back to life. Keep it up, you will get it! Keep saving and working, it will be worth it in the end!