my 63 upgrade

[1strong63]

hi guys and happy new year. first time on this forum. i'm a french guy from france. just want to share and get advices from all off you dudes because i'm working on a 63 C-10.
for my work i was looking for a pick up, after searching and see what i can have in france (basically small diesel japanese pick ups) i wasn't willing to pay more than 30K in a pathetic engine and truck that you cannot even tow a skid steer with. More than that the registration is right now very costly due to emission laws in france.
So at the beginning of the summer i was looking at private ads and found this long bed C-10 with a V8 and a floor 4 speed. call the guy, trip, drive test and i buy it!
Attachment 1343924
all gauges were in working order, no power brake or steering, starts by looking the key (that's trully impressive!) and for a 1/5th of the price of a new ride, nothing to worry about the interior you can clean easily, a real good working truck.
this truck was from california, i think from a desert area cause it's absolutly rust free : frame and body. all the bolts can be loosen and a ton of sand melted with old grease.
Minor problems but normal for a 50 old truck, done all the services twice clean a bit the wires, fuel line, tune the carb and all was dialled in, then the SM420 start to cry in fourth and i blew a head gasket towing. this small block with the 2 barrel rochester was really nice to tow with and the gearing was well suited to the task
Attachment 1343926
I drove 5000km with it in 3 months before all happen.

This is where the fun part begin. a friend bought a rat rod and was in need of a powertrain i sold the SB with the tranny and i found this for me.
Attachment 1343925
gen IV BB 4 bolts main from a boat (so i get a twin set!). i've melted a fuse and the rebuild snowballed to get a real freight train:
-hight volume, pressure oil pump.
-street warrior intake.
-MSD distrib, coil, trigger box (should have gonne with D.U.I cause less wires)
-comp cam full cam kit 1600-5800 (should have gonne lower)
-new pistons and crank to stroke it to 496ci
-stock iron heads with 3 angle valve job and ported intake and exhaust
-roller rocker and cam
virtual dyno (as accurate as it can be) 360hp @5800rpm and 640lf/ft of torque @2800.
Attachment 1343935
Attachment 1343936
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Attachment 1343938
we did a stand brake in for the cam and then i take the truck and engine to the shop.





then i start looking around for all the parts of the truck: front suspension, a-frame, brakes (drums 4 corners) sterring, driveline. did some research and found that "truck shop" had all the parts i need. the where not very fast to proceed my order but the shipping rate was pretty low and i get all the parts to rebuild the truck in one shoot:
-cab seals
-bearings and seal F/R
-brake master and slave cylinder repair kit
-brakes shoes (my drums where pretty mint and just need a small machining to get like new)
-a few bolts
-cab/frame mounting+ radiator core support
-sterring joints
-brake line
plus a lot af small other parts.

[1strong63]

damn where are the first pics?

[Micmac]

I see some of em. The engine, the engine on the stand, Autometer Gauges, and the Camion in the driveway. Very impressive Mon Ami! Welcome to the 1963 club.

[1strong63]

hi, and thanks for the welcome. Sorry to ask but can we just add 5 pics per post on the thread? if you want to add more pics do you have to do multi post?

[Micmac]

I am not sure as I have never posted that many before, and I have a Premium Membership and I think I can post away? Try it in a subsequent post and see if that works for you. I'm sure some of these other guys that know more will chime in.I happen to think our trucks are the best of the breed of the 60-66 trucks, and have more one off stuff than other years. Oh yeah, never be sorry to ask for help on here. Most of these guys would give you the shirt off their back and don't mind helping each other. I have been on here since 2007 and have only ran into one jerk. So ask away, tons of experience and amazing stuff on here.

[Micmac]

This what is what is says when you try the attachments you can't open.

Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

[1strong63]

so i do it again.
here is the engine i've started with.
then some pics of the build, just the basic trick as hooning the cylinders, check flatness of block and lining the crank mains.
then put it together.









you saw that a million times i guess.

[Micmac]

Nice!

[1strong63]

then i remove all the front end to clean/check/rebuild. under the grim of dirt, sand and grease all the A-arms shaft assy were pretty good and their end nuts shafts too, so i just pass 2 full days cleaning them with a knife (only tool that work to remove that s...) before regrease and paint them black but with new seals anyway.






i have new ball joints upper/lower and for the hubs news bearings and seals. shocks and coils were darn good.

[1strong63]

Originally Posted by Micmac

I am not sure as I have never posted that many before, and I have a Premium Membership and I think I can post away? Try it in a subsequent post and see if that works for you. I'm sure some of these other guys that know more will chime in.I happen to think our trucks are the best of the breed of the 60-66 trucks, and have more one off stuff than other years. Oh yeah, never be sorry to ask for help on here. Most of these guys would give you the shirt off their back and don't mind helping each other. I have been on here since 2007 and have only ran into one jerk. So ask away, tons of experience and amazing stuff on here.

many thanks! this is the second forum i'm participating to and the number of guys here is just amazing compared to us, and from what i've already saw, with some serious skills, so i'm not too scared to start working on this truck.

[1strong63]

and here is my old friend. 327 with rochester carb, rod linkage for the clutch, a non working choke cable and a weird fitting in the truck with a bolted to the frame engine bracket on the DS and a welded one on the PS.

he's gonna make someone else happy now

[Micmac]

Talent is everywhere here. Even if what someone is doing is not to my tastes, I still respect their abilities and willingness to try. I figure it is his truck, he can do what he wants. I wish I had that kind of skill!

[1strong63]

Originally Posted by Micmac

Talent is everywhere here. Even if what someone is doing is not to my tastes, I still respect their abilities and willingness to try. I figure it is his truck, he can do what he wants. I wish I had that kind of skill!

for the truck i just plan to rebuild it to make it a reliable daily driver, that's why i'm rebuilding the brakes, steering and putting new seals and bearings everywhere. nothing fancy as i'll rebuild to stock spec, the price of the parts is very cheap and even as a 2wd truck i've done better in the forrest than most of my pals with their fourby. as a 63 truck made in america compared to what we had in the same area in europe, this truck just blow you away when you look at how it's done and assembled with a lot of smart tricks. the A-arms are just wonderfull to look at as they are fully pressed.
i've put 2 tons of wood in the bed one time and with the granny 1rst of the 420 it just did terrific.
for the new engine it's just that the 327 give it up and the 454 was affordable (even if the build was not compared to a small block rebuild!). it was nice to learn while rebuilding that engine (passing a whole night cutting the rings for the correct gap, put together pistons and rods etc)
i'm just upgrading the powerplant to work better with this truck. outside the truck will keep the same.
all the guys first think i was nut to use this king of machine to work with, but after trying it a workmate bought a 55 apache!

[1strong63]

before putting the engine, i wanted to clean the engine bay. the PO just drill a million holes from 1/16 to 2" size! smaller ones were welded while i made patches and welds for the biggest. all the clear spots were holes.


then i spray some flat black as my valves covers. the under side of the hood and the front clip will be painted too.


this all i did since monday when i drive the truck to the shop. the engine was build the past weeks.

[duallyjams]

your doing a great job and having fun while doing it.

[aerotruk63]

Soyez bienvenue. Any pictures of the interior?

[Mathew21]

Subscribing. I like where this is going.

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

Cool truck with a BIG big block chevy. Nice work so far.

Where in France are you located?

I spent a couple weeks in France with my wife and daughters a couple years ago to attend my niece's wedding. We spent part of our time in Paris, then travelled to the south near Toulouse. We had a great time... but I sure didn't see any C10s there.

[1strong63]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

your doing a great job and having fun while doing it.

hi nice to meet you. thanks i try my best. every job has a fun part you just have to find it.

[1strong63]

Originally Posted by Johnny_Lamebridge

Cool truck with a BIG big block chevy. Nice work so far.

Where in France are you located?

I spent a couple weeks in France with my wife and daughters a couple years ago to attend my niece's wedding. We spent part of our time in Paris, then travelled to the south near Toulouse. We had a great time... but I sure didn't see any C10s there.

hi, i'm in south east of france close to marseille. toulouse is at the opposite of the country (even if it's only 250mi from home! nothing to compare with US).
definitely not a lot of US machines beside harleys and mustangs. we occasionally see some big three recent pick up trucks mostly gas than can run on bioethanol for cost. the only diesel are the big unit like 3500 ram or so but they are overmatch for our small back country roads and absolutly out of mind for the price the sellers ask.
cheers

[1strong63]

Originally Posted by Mathew21

Subscribing. I like where this is going.

hi, thanks but don't expect something to fancy, it'll be a reliable daily driver/work truck.
all go no show!

[1strong63]

Originally Posted by aerotruk63

Soyez bienvenue. Any pictures of the interior?

merci de ton acceuil! the interior is pretty vintage. i guess this the best word to describe it.
the PO kept his hole campain all over the place.
i've removed the AC unit, and go clean and apply some kind of rhino lining to clean it fast.
i'll snap pic before/after.

[1strong63]

this is the first time of a long list i'll ask for help.
before dismantling the a-arms and the shafts i notice that the shafts were not centered in the arm.
i guess there is a problem cause the left were differently positioned from the right (and my frame is straight)
the shaft nuts loosen not too hardly and can be bolted back with medium efforts into the arms so i guess they are good to (so does the arms) but when you try to tighten back the arm/shaft/nut combo i notice that at some point the arm get pinched.
so the question is:
-you might have to torque the nuts on the shaft but at the same time centering the shaft on the arm so what's the nuts torque for upper and lower and what's the distance for positionning the shaft on the arm (for example the top shaft have holes to bolt it on the frame, we can use it from center to ? to determine the position)

second point: the lower shaft have a hole and the bracket on the frame for the U bolt a center pin. i had one shaft with the hole in the pin and the other at the opposite.
i guess they must be put the hile in the pin.

all help welcome.

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

I am impressed with what you have done with your truck, especially since you are in France. I'm sure that does add to the difficulty factor.

What transmission will you use behind your 496?

I do not know the torque specs for the control arm shaft nuts, but I do know they are a PITA to get aligned just right. Yes the holes drilled into the lower shafts locate on the pins in the middle of the saddles on the crossmember.

[1strong63]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Welcome to the forum

I am impressed with what you have done with your truck, especially since you are in France. I'm sure that does add to the difficulty factor.

What transmission will you use behind your 496?

I do not know the torque specs for the control arm shaft nuts, but I do know they are a PITA to get aligned just right. Yes the holes drilled into the lower shafts locate on the pins in the middle of the saddles on the crossmember.

thanks.
the truck came with a SM420, but it was not from factory as you can see under the cab the area where the grease from the U-joint splatter the cab and it's 10" after the SM joint mounted now.
but unfortunatly the 4th speed was sometimes hard to get and you really had to line and engange the synchro on the gear before banging the gear. i open and dismantle it and it appears that the gear and the slider clutch teeth were bald. it seems very hard to find parts for this tranny except bearings and seals so plan B.
believe it or not i've found and traded a SM465 and NP205 combo against a toyota tranny and transfert case!

i've sold the NP205 and i'll start rebuild the 465 (who have the same problem of very used teeth but in 2nd but this time i 've found the parts) and convert it to 2WD with used parts i've bought from a nice guy at novak.
i also remove the crossmember held bellhousing and rod linkage clutch actuator because i had the hydraulic bellhousing from the 465 blazer and the BB doesn't have the bossing on the block to put the ball stud for the clutch.

i buy a 12" clutch, a fork and the ball stud on summit and i'll use some used master/slave i have to activate the clutch. they are from a truck using the same size clutch than the chev so i'll check travel but it should be ok. i just do have to fab the bracket to hold the slave. i think about using two holes of the bellhousing.
hope i won't be flame using