1973 C20 Semi-build

[Wraith]

I've never been a full time truck guy, I've always borrowed or rented trucks other than slammed short wides but with home ownership plus projects running all the time a truck would be a good idea. The money spent on a truck of course could be spent on current or new projects so it would have to be cheap. I've been driving by this truck for the last 5 years since we bought our house but a couple weeks ago the house it sat behind went up for sale and that prompted me to stop and inquire about the forlorn truck.

It was a 1973 Chevy C20 and the owner told me he bought it brand new in 1973 and used it to pull horse trailers and eventually the original 454/th400 needed work so his son pulled it and went with a rebuilt th350 and a new Chevy 350 crate engine then drove it for about 13K miles before it had a rod knock and Chevy wouldn't honor the warranty so it was parked.

In 2002.






So today I drug it home the couple blocks away and did a little cleaning.





After a couple shots of degreaser and the hose







I knew it had a new Edelbrock Q-jet but the Performer intake was a surprise.



Paint is hashed but looks okay after a quick buff

[LT7A]

Cool! Clean it up and run it as is, at least for a while? What's your plan?

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Cool! Clean it up and run it as is, at least for a while? What's your plan?

Clean it up and run it mostly as is if at all possible. I'll probably ditch the wheels and tires and go back to the stock/dog dish with new rubber, pull the blocks out of the back to drop the rear down and then pick away at the little projects all over it. I'd love to go back to a 454 some day but really isn't required for my usage.

[Billy81]

For an old C20 that thing is mint

[Matt Man]

Really solid for a 73, nice rig.

[Wraith]

Decided to do some more cleaning plus remove the blocks in back that one was cracked. The original wheels and caps needed cleaned, I think I'm going back to them.




Crummy old and heavy blocks



Just needs some light cleaning underneath

[Billy81]

I have never been a fan of lift blocks plus i can't really imagine why anyone would install them on a C20. Unless they really wanted a raked stance?

[Wraith]

De-bubbafying more today.

Blocks out and rear down 2.5" and cattle guard removed.

[aggie91]

For its age, it looks to be in nice shape. I'd clean up and repaint the stock wheels too! While at it, think about pulling the front bumper and mirrors and giving them a fresh coat of white paint too!

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by aggie91

For its age, it looks to be in nice shape. I'd clean up and repaint the stock wheels too! While at it, think about pulling the front bumper and mirrors and giving them a fresh coat of white paint too!

Everything that was white will be going back to original white and I will be restoring the wheels and caps too.

[Wraith]

Good news and not so great news and good news.

I picked up a new battery today(damn they are getting expensive), dropped it in the truck, removed fuel line from carb, and power from coil. Click. Nothing. ****, the engine is locked up. Good news is when I got under it to try and turn it over by the flywheel the original TH400 is still in the truck. Sooooo, I'm going to throw PB Blaster down all the cylinders and let it sit to see if I can free it up first before I jump in and pull the engine/trans in one piece. Not too big of a setback, I had planned for the worst(pulling the engine) when I bought it anyway.

[Wraith]

Back to de-bubbaing and detint it today

Before




After




Also took time to pour a 50/50 combo of acetone and power steering fluid down the cylinders to try and break the engine free, we'll see....

[yote1234]

lookin good.

[Wraith]

So, interesting turn this morning. Doing some more general clean up, then get under to see if the engine will move but I take a flashlight along, called it right, the flexplate is toast. BUT, I look at the pan and there is only three bolts holding it on. Drop it down and the oil pump is gone(guess that was it in the front seat lol). This engine looks like brand spanking new inside, as it should, but will not turn still. Now I have to figure out what they did wrong 16 years ago. I'm guessing a couple rod caps are switched.

The clues:

1. Oil pump out and in truck.
2. At least enough used rod bearings in truck to cover maybe four rods? Wish I would have counted.
3. Abandoned what they were doing and put pan back on with three finger tight bolts.
4. Engine won't rotate.

Also pulled out the bed mat to clean inspect the bed condition.

[aggie91]

Looks like it might be best to pull the engine and get it on a stand to work though any issues.

The bed floor looks great given it was sitting with a mat in it for so long, with leaves and stuff, I would have thought there would be more rust on the floor area.

[LT7A]

Good luck with the motor. I hope you're able to get it to start spinning. Builds like this where you work with what you've got are some of my favorites. That rig is cleaning up nicely. Looks better without the lift blocks and is going to look great with the hub caps.

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Good luck with the motor. I hope you're able to get it to start spinning. Builds like this where you work with what you've got are some of my favorites. That rig is cleaning up nicely. Looks better without the lift blocks and is going to look great with the hub caps.

I'm going to get this engine running no matter what. I have a 5.3/4l60 fully wired and I could throw it in but it's for my Malibu I am doing a frame off build on and would be way too easy to d that. Where's the fun?

[Wraith]

Been working out of town this week but had 15 minutes to get under it with a screwdriver, ratchet, and pliers. Playing a hunch(or common sense) I tried to loosen the one cap that was easily available, wow, it was way too tight! I loosened two more caps and voila! The crank turns! I went ahead and rotated the engine over and pulled all the flexplate bolts too.

Next plan of attack is loosen all the rod caps and re-torque to spec then give it a whirl.

[Wraith]

So yesterday morning before the sun started scorching the earth I got under the truck, loosened all the rod bolts, then set about torquing them all down, 15lbs to start. All torqued and engine no turny. So today I spent a little time preparing for removal, not too bad for 1.5 hours of work with zero broken bolts.




The plan now is to pull engine and trans out on one piece, find the problem, refresh all seals/gaskets, repaint all under hood items, then reinstall. I ordered up a new flexplate, battery tray, hold down, solid oil pump shaft, and oil primer tool this weekend also.

[Billy81]

Hmm maybe someone used the wrong sized rod bearings?

[LT7A]

[/QUOTE]

That truck was lucky to find you. I like your forensic approach. I got a chuckle out of seeing your jack stands topped with rags to keep from scratching the rear axle. Or maybe to keep from scratching the jack stands :) I like to treat my vehicles as if they're already in good shape. Not set things on the paint, etc. You've done me one better here with protecting a rusty axle.

[Wraith]

Happy father's day for me!




Now on to find why it won't rotate when torqued.



And I found the "rod knock" they were looking for.

[layinrocker65]

Lucky you. I’ve seen that a lot. Commonly confused with rod knock and failed lifter noise.

[Wraith]

Small but important update.

I spent some time and loosened all the caps then started tightening them down until it bound up. Then I went and pulled each, one by one, and inspected. More than once I found this:



I'm sure that doesn't help.

So each one that looked like Godzilla and a hammer went at installing bearings was knocked back to smooth with 1000 grit on a flat surface. Then back through again to play the "which one is tight" game. Turns out #6 is the culprit, crank spins fine with all at 45 ft/lbs until #6. Not sure why but both bearings are .0010 oversized. I'm picking up some plastigauge and a new set of bearings today for peace of mind. Bad news is the passenger exhaust manifold is cracked almost all the way around. Now to try to find a replacement to keep this on budget or grab a set of Summit truck headers/ebay specials.

[Wraith]

More degreasing and derusting in preparation for paint this weekend.





Magic potion at work