1965 C10 Stepside working on her **England**

[[JP]]

Hello all,

Grizz has asked me to put a thread up to tell my story..so here it is.

I've always been a biker, currently have a 68 and a 76 Harley shovelhead. the 68 is standard but the 76 I've been modifying it from standard over the last couple of years...rebuilt the engine, wiring, chopped the frame, different front end, etc..etc...

Always wanted a truck though, and in September this year I thought it was time to start looking properly. good old eBay and found one in Spencerport, being sold by a well known bike shop/builders.
Being a shop made me more at ease at transferring money. The deal was easy to do... the problem was the wait!!

this was the ebay photo the got my attention!
She was solid, with a 350V8, TH400, new Holley carb, new ally radiator with twin electric fans, dual exit powerflow exhaust....and the external looks were spot on exactly what I wanted! (except for the ass ugly rims)


deal done... and 2 weeks later I got these photos from the seller.. the truck was being picked up by the shipping company to be taken to the New York docks, I believe this was the 28th of October.



after this.. it was a long wait again till I heard the truck was in a container and got a ship name.. from here it started to get more exciting! started tracking the ship as it went from New York to Charleston, then Le Havre in France, Rotterdam, Hamburg and finally Southampton!




Luckily for me the updates were not only via a mobile phone app... one of my friends works in a tugboat on the docks in Southampton and on the 18th of December I was getting regular updates as soon as he set off to go tow the ship with my truck ( I confess this was pretty awesome getting these photos when I was at work)





From the day it arrived (Friday) I had to wait a few days till I picked it up on Tuesday the 22nd of December! Just in time for Christmas!
The girlfriend took some photos at the shipping company yard.. I think the grin on my face says it all!



Filling her up to fire up.. and she did!

[Ronzo]

Really nice truck, congrats.

[[JP]]

Although she started I already had a mate with a recovery truck there, so we loaded her on and drove back home





As soon as she was on the drive, the first job was fitting new door locks on both sides.
I had already ordered the parts from LMC truck, so I got on with it. As usual with aftermarket/reproductions parts I wasnt' expecting anything to fit straight away (experience from the bike world tought me that).
Had to cut down the bits next to the shaft in order for the key to rotate and actually lock the door.



then was trying to fit 15"s rims I bought before the truck was here... unfortunately the offset is completely wrong and they won't fit. its a shame though because I really like how they looked.
raising the truck is not an option as I like it how low she sits, so will have to go for other rims, but nonetheless here's some photos..





and here's how my suspension is so low.... cheap job that will have to be changed at some point.
From another thread on here I know I need 2" drop spindles with 2" drop springs on the front and 6" drop springs for the rear.

[[JP]]

She sounds sweet! here's a little video.. hope it works!
You have to click the photo.




There's a few jobs I have to do on her that I hope people here will be able to help, and I'll be posting here when I get to those points:

Need to fit a parking brake
The turn signals are working on the rear brake lights, but I need to wire up the orange lights (front and back) and also fit harzard switch so they all blink at the same time (inspection requirements here)
Fit 3 point seatbelts as I have a little 4 year old and she will be truckin with me

have also ordered a load of little parts like door handle pads, door retainers, headlight adjusters, vent window handle, the bulbs and bulb sockets for the front turn signals, etc, etc.. just little bits that might as well get done

[tinydb84]

Wow....I have never seen a lowering job like that...

I admire your dedication. I don't know if I could do that much work just to get a project to me. My hat is off to you sir.

[Ta2Don]

and welcome aboard mate...

Glad Grizz pushed you in this direction… This is an awesome place with great members who are more than willing to help a fellow gear head out… Please don't be stingy with the pics… Very interested to see pics of the bikes, especially the '76 shovel… I enjoyed a '72 shovel for a number of years…

Good looking truck to start with, although the lowering looks like the suspension aspect is next to non-existent…

Along for the ride!!!

[[JP]]

Oh.. alright, wasn't sure about putting photos up of the bikes, but since you asked...

here's the 76 when I bought her 3 years ago


when I done the hardtail job, the previous year I ran with spring struts on the back, but the hardtail was always on the cards. Got it done with a hardtail kit from FabKevin


Not going to put a load of build photos of the bike, so here's the finished job, well, I still have to make another set of handlbars, same style but no risers, welded straight on the top clamp on the springer forks.



the sissy bar I got a blacksmith to bend 3/8 rods with the sheppard hooks on top and then I done the rest of the welding, made brackets for oil tank, exhausts etc done it myself, the oil lines are made using one standard one cut to make 2, handlebars were bent, etc.. there's loads of bits there that I made myself.
I try to make as much as I can, basically because I'm tight with money! lol

Dont have any on my photobucket of the 68 genny shovel, but its a bog standard(ish) one.

[[JP]]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Wow....I have never seen a lowering job like that...

I admire your dedication. I don't know if I could do that much work just to get a project to me. My hat is off to you sir.

well.. not much a project to me, A project I'd say it was when I had a landover and half of it was a rust bucket lol I had to weld chassi, wings, inner wings, door sills, floors..etc...

this truck is solid, one of the reasons I got it.
I'm not doing anything to the exterior as that's just as I like it, all the other little jobs can be done with time, not massively urgent, I could go out on the truck and drive about as is.

[Ta2Don]

The finished pic of the '76...

Very nicely done, and the sissy bar is spot on!!!

[[JP]]

thanks! on that finished photo I just noticed the timing cover isnt there. one of the things I like on the bike, suits it perfectly:

[Grizz1963]

Welcome [JP] !!

Glad you made it onto here.

Well, you have a bit of work to do, it never stops, like a bike build. But I am sure you will be just fine.

It's such a pity you are a year plus late, I removed my slightly more standard, but lower springs from my truck as well as the shocks, offered them out, free of charge for weeks with no takers, fell over the springs one day and put them on the pavement the next day.

I suspect there will be other guys somewhere in the UK who have replaced springs etc that may have the old parts lying about. Will keep my eyes and ears open.

I said before, I love the whole look of your truck.

Bike is very nice.

Love the Milwaukee Tractor cover too.

I just bought a chopper style bicycle today that will be needing a resto and some decent ape hangers.

Will speak to you about making them yourself sometime.

[ibrown50]

Welcome! another great truck here in Britain, love the paint job (I have a 64 short box stepper), love the shovel too. I have to ask why you're changing the wheels I have 20's on mine, painted the spokes grey to get rid of the "bling" they turned out OK.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=666495&page=6

[[JP]]

the 20's are just not my thing, I prefer the 15's look, also they are so shinny they dont go with the rest of the truck

The rims and tyres are brand new, not even a mark on it. I tried to get the seller in the US to put the standard ones on and drop the price but he didnt want to do it...so she came with the big ass rims.

[62stepside longbox]

Cool truck, glad to see more people on the other side of the pond rebuilding these! Love the 76, went from looking like an average Harley to completely bada$$!

[[JP]]

thanks, that Shovel has my blood, sweat and tears on her! oh.. and wallet! hahaha

Just remembered another thing I need to do to the truck.... change the place where the wipers park! as you can see on the photos they stop in the middle of the windscreen...but havent even looked how to get to the mechanism, weather been pretty bad around here to be outside.
another one for the to do list:

There's a few jobs I have to do on her that I hope people here will be able to help, and I'll be posting here when I get to those points:

- Need to fit a parking brake
- The turn signals are working on the rear brake lights, but I need to wire up the orange lights (front and back) and also fit harzard switch so they all blink at the same time (inspection requirements here)
- Fit 3 point seat belts as I have a little 4 year old and she will be truckin with me
- Change wipers parking location

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by [JP]

thanks! on that finished photo I just noticed the timing cover isnt there. one of the things I like on the bike, suits it perfectly:

One Awesome points cover...

[[JP]]

Sunny day here this morning so took the cover off and snapped some more photos.

There's a few things I dont even know what they are for or what they do.
Sounds like I'll be spending a few hours tracing all the wiring in the truck to see where everything goes..











For example, that knob to the right of the fuel gage, I can pull it out and I can see behind its connected to a switch, but nothing happens.. so I need to trace that.
The other buttons on the left are headlights, wipers and horn.
Also had a thought yesterday and don't think there's a windshield washer on it... so I'll have to fit one of those. Another thing for the list
Need to find out what gearbox I have, if its a TH400 like the seller said or something else..
and as stupid as this sounds... i havent found the dipstick to check engine oil yet!

Definitely my first job on it, once I have some free time, is to trace all wiring and put wiring in place for the orange indicators.

[Ta2Don]

Switch to the right of Fuel gauge is your heater switch. pulling it should move cable for heater diverter door under dash on right side and twisting knob should turn on Blower motor...

[Ta2Don]

Here's a pic of mine...

[nhr3]

Anybody else notice the distributer on the front of the engine? Chevy 350? Interesting.

[Ta2Don]

I'm thinking one of the General's other brand motors, definitely not a Chevy…

[[JP]]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Switch to the right of Fuel gauge is your heater switch. pulling it should move cable for heater diverter door under dash on right side and twisting knob should turn on Blower motor...

thanks for that, and the photo!
I dont think there's a cable there, but I'll have a look when I have time.

Originally Posted by nhr3

Anybody else notice the distributer on the front of the engine? Chevy 350? Interesting.

nop, not a Chevy, the engine is out of a Buick, or so I was told.


btw, one thing that is getting right on my nerves is where the wipers stop! I'm guessing the way to get to them is taking the panel off that sits between the windshield and bonnet and move the wipers a few splines? (guessing here as that what I'd do on a similar old vehicle)

[nhr3]

After the wipers park. When you turn them on next. Do they go down before up?? If they do not it is just pull the arm and reindex it. no need to pull the cowl panel.

[nhr3]

If the wipers go down before up it is probably a timing issue in park circuit in motor assembly. To get to the wiper motor you may have to pull your radio, but maybe not. If I recall right 3 bolts hold it to the firewall with one electrical plug. You will first have to remove the blade arms and the cowl forward of the windshield so you can disconnect the linkage. this should only be necessary if they go down before up when parked.

[[JP]]

Originally Posted by nhr3

If the wipers go down before up it is probably a timing issue in park circuit in motor assembly. To get to the wiper motor you may have to pull your radio, but maybe not. If I recall right 3 bolts hold it to the firewall with one electrical plug. You will first have to remove the blade arms and the cowl forward of the windshield so you can disconnect the linkage. this should only be necessary if they go down before up when parked.

Yep, the wipers did go down before going up, so I started taking it all apart.
did have to take the radio out but simple job.
I'm not sure how the motor is attached to the firewall, but mine was loose? seem like there's a rust hole on the firewall? when looking from underneath there is the 3 bolts attaching it to a plate but the plate is not attached to the firewall..
Got stuck as cant remove the bolts, need a friend to hold the motor while I try to undo the bolts. hate it when I get stuck in stuff like this needing an extra pair of hands



Even when I eventually get it out I'm not too sure what to do. Also from what I can see in the confined space the motor is, there's a piece at the top that looks like should have some hoses coming out of it? should have taken a photo....

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Switch to the right of Fuel gauge is your heater switch. pulling it should move cable for heater diverter door under dash on right side and twisting knob should turn on Blower motor...

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Here's a pic of mine...

Well.. had a look and the switch only comes out, doesnt twist or has a cable attached to it.. when out it just turns the blower on, but looking at the back of it looks like someone hacked the original plug and fitted the switch it has now.