Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Some stuff I left out. There are a couple of reasons that I have not yet had it inspected and licensed; I still haven't worked out the rear bumper an dually fenders. There will have to be some additional lights on the fenders.

What has stopped me is clutch/ transmission problems that I need to work through, right now it is extremely difficult to shift. This all manifested in the 50 to 75 miles total that it has done since getting it running. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement.

Anyway once that is all done it will get inspected and tagged.

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

If this is a private truck, do you need a CDL? It should fall under the same class as a large RV. No CDL needed for that.

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Yeah, it's registration/tags that was wondering about. There's a guy at the place I work at in Farmersville that has a 40-50s Dodge that's got a Detroit Diesel in it. It may be a 1 ton though. I'll have to ask him next time I see him. He might be under farm tags too. A lot of the guys out there live on some decent sized acreages.

Yeah, it's the wheelie truck.
http://www.roadkill.com/wp-content/u...ony-Angleo.jpg

I'll haven't totally dug into it yet, but are the cabs between the c10-c30 close enough that the fenders and hood from a c40-c60 match up decently? I've seen a couple of pictures where the gauge clusters looked almost identical.

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

The cabs are very similar, floor and firewall differences mainly. The medium duty truck sheet metal wouldn't be a direct bolt on but with some modification anything is possible. Depending on your body working/welding skills the two cabs can be grafted together resolving all of the problems ;)

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

I'm liking that idea.

It feels like there is a fair amount of fabrication either way, but then I don't have to worry about the paperwork as much with a 1/2-1 ton as a base.

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Anything above 1 ton here in Ga according to my farmer Brother N Law is now considered Commercial so he just quit tagging some of his bigger trucks he rarely uses .

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

subscribed

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Thanks for joining the madness!


It has been a long time since I updated this. I now have the front bumper installed along with the tow hooks from the 89 donor. I also played around with altering some side marker lenses to replace the badly faded and cracked park light lenses. I'm not happy with what I ended up with. I'd like to find some NOS park light lenses...

Also, like I mentioned in my last update I'm having problems shifting. Currently the transmission is sitting on the floor. I'm going to put in a clutch and pressure plate, I'm hoping that is where the problem is.

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

update??

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Thanks for the kick-start... When I last updated I mentioned that the transmission was sitting on the floor of the shop, it still is. I've had it out since late February or early March. I'm not proud of that.

Anyway, here is some of what went on since I updated.

First of all after switching over to the park brake mount from the 89 it was difficult to hit the high-beam switch. It was too far left (physically, I'm pretty sure it is politically neutral :) )

Attachment 1798179

I moved it so that the left side of the switch was bolted down to the right side hole. Due to the curve of the floor board the right side of the switch was a little over a 1/4 inch from the floor.

Attachment 1798180

I took an old brass pipe fitting and cut a piece to use for a spacer.

Attachment 1798181

Here it is all bolted down in the new position:

Attachment 1798182

I had to extend the wires a couple of inches to make this reach...

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

I also replaced all of the tail light and backup light lenses. Before and after:

Attachment 1798184

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

The front bumper was one of the things that had worried me all along. The front of the frame is angled in a bit on the 89 whereas it is straight on the 68. Also the top of the frame is wider on the 68 and the top of the bumper bolts to the top of the frame along with side mounted brackets. A measurement of the outside dimensions of the frame showed that the 89 was only 1/4 inch narrower than the 68. So all I needed to do was add a bit or width to the top and drill new holes for the brackets.

Here is the frame with tape applied for marking:

Attachment 1798185

And a shot of the marks up close:

Attachment 1798186

Now the test piece held in place, I got the metal from left over bits that I had cut off the rear of the frame to make it match the pickup bed:

Attachment 1798187

Holes drilled and edges beveled for welding (not easy with the grill in...):

Attachment 1798188

All welded up and ready to grind:

Attachment 1798189

A bit more to come :)

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Here is the Driver side welded and ground, ready for paint:

Attachment 1798197

On the sides I had to weld up a few holes and grind them flat so I could drill new holes - some of the original holes interfered with the spacing for the 68 model brackets. I'll spare you all of the "along the way" photos, here it is with the new holes drilled:

Attachment 1798198

And now with the brackets bolted on. You may notice that I got lazy and didn't strip and paint the brackets; I'll do that when I find a perfect bumper:

Attachment 1798199

You might be wondering why four holes on top instead of the two required for the bumper... Well the 89 had these nifty guys; I think they may be the same as they used in 68, just the 89 mounted them on the side instead of on top. The bolt spacing matched the bumper exactly :metal: :

Attachment 1798200

Here it is with the bumper and tow hooks installed:

Attachment 1798201

I did go back and replace all of the bolts holding the hooks down with grade 8 hardware. You may also notice a conspicuously white lower grill loop. I had a friend who is a metal magician straighten it for me. The top one is smashed, I found a less damaged one that my friend will fix when business slows down.

Other than a poor attempt at modifying a side marker lamp lens to fit the park light hole that has it caught up. I sort of lost steam with the clutch. If things go well I'll finish that up in August when I have some vacation time.

Thanks again to all who have followed this and my apologies for just dropping off the map for so long.

To all of the other posting your exploits, keep it up - I love seeing what you are all doing!

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Brother! This stuff is cool!...Great work...

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

:agree:

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Thanks, digging your build as well :metal:

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

I just checked out your blue 81, nice truck! Thanks for checking out my build.

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

per·se·ver·ance
ˌpərsəˈvirəns/
noun
noun: perseverance
steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. "his perseverance with the technique illustrates his single-mindedness". synonyms: persistence, tenacity, determination, staying power, indefatigability, steadfastness, purposefulness; patience, endurance, application, diligence, dedication, commitment, doggedness, assiduity, tirelessness, stamina; intransigence, obstinacy; informal stick-to-it-iveness; formal pertinacity

Yeah...all this stuff is demonstrated in this thread. Though somewhere along the line it left "farm truck" status. :lol: Awesome build man!

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Thanks for checking it out! I took a look at your burb, cool truck. Let me know if you wife gets her way and you get rid of the bucket seats, I might try to talk you out of those....

As for it's stats as a farm truck, we shall see :lol:

Oh, I have my new clutch and still trying to figure out what to do about the leaky trans. Stay tuned.

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Have you done alot of real progress lol, i havent been on here in FOREVER

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Not much progress to report. Trans is out, flywheel resurfaced, new clutch and pressure plate purchased and trans in the shop getting reworked.

I hope I can figure out where all the bolts go when I start to put it back together.

--Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Little bits. Other than driving mine, I have been tooo lavy to deal with working in the heat & humidity we are having here.

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

I'm in the middle of putting the CORRECT column in mine.

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Trans back from the shop, now I just need to put it back together

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Good deal. Looking forward to your progress.

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Good, in to see some updates. my k10 is gunna see the road for the first time today, on a trailer.

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Just over four months and I finally put it back together over the last few days. So very much has happened in those four months - I'll talk about that in another post.

Amazingly I remembered how it went together. Only lost one piece... a part of the clutch linkage, but I ordered a replacement from LMC, It should be here by mid-week. I have some pictures but I need to resize them and write it all up. Look for updates this week.

Oh, I haven't started it yet. I plan to fire it tomorrow after church.

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

A whole lot has happened since I posted this:
The biggest change is I lost my job. I worked for a large software company for 19 years but was laid off when a chip manufacturer bought us out. The news of the buyout was early July and from the beginning they stated that they run a very lean management team. From the beginning I expected that I get whacked and I was right. I was notified the first week of November that my position had been deleted (along with 90% of our management staff!) The severance package was good but the reality of becoming unemployed at my age was tough to swallow. I spent the time from July until November in waiting mode and since the layoff I’ve been laying low and basically just licking my wounds.
Anyway, there is only so long that you can spend feeling sorry for yourself so I finally started working on the truck again.

Here is a bit to start catching up: By July I had the clutch out and was rounding up a replacement. The stock clutch in the 89 was unlike any I had ever seen before:

Attachment 1864570

August 14th, transmission heading for the rebuilder. The bed was/is still in good condition in my Colorado so I went to great lengths to make sure that the trans was secured:

Attachment 1864571

By early September I had the clutch reinstalled on the freshly resurfaced flywheel. The clutch disk is the traditional type, the guy at my local parts store had never seen a clutch disk like the stock one either and the kit he had was a traditional disk. While I expect the factory type was superior technology I doubt if this truck will see many crazy heavy loads and traditional disks have worked well for years so I figured it would be sufficient.

Attachment 1864572

As you can see, by the time I started early in January the flywheel had started to rust:

Attachment 1864573

While the trans was out of the way I took the opportunity to address an oil leak that I had created. The cab came off of a small block truck and the drive train is big block. The small block oil pressure port is directly behind the distributor, on the big block it is low down by the oil filter. The oil pressure line was too short to reach so I plumbed it up near the original location with brass pipe fittings. Several of my connections leaked… I disassembled the lines and sealed them up (I hope). You can see the pipes here:

Attachment 1864574

More to come :)

-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Glad you are back on it! Been there...hang tough Brother!

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

I cleaned and painted the bellhousing and the front cover for the bellhousing; more parts that no one will ever see the paint on – just more of my weirdness:

Attachment 1864609Attachment 1864610

I bolted on the newly repainted bellhousing and cover and noted that there is almost none of the cover visible once in place! :banghead:

Attachment 1864611Attachment 1864612

I thought the view from under the truck looking up through the access hole at the underside of the dash was “unique”:

Attachment 1864613

Still more to come :metal:
-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Thanks for hanging in with me!

I installed the starter (as already seen in a previous photo, I also bolted the clutch pivot back in – that is when I realized I had lost what the service manual calls a z-nut, item 3 on this diagram:

Attachment 1864646

I ordered a replacement from LMC (hopefully it is the same between light and heavy-duty trucks). For short term I slid a couple of hex nuts over the shaft to take up the extra space.

Another item I addressed while the trans was out is I fixed the floor that I bent when I snagged the floor on the shifter knob way back in post 142 when I was lifting the cab off of the original frame:

Attachment 1864647

Back then I thought that I would be able to hammer and dolly it back in to shape but because of the bracing under the floor I wasn’t able to dolly it. With the trans out I used the floor jack to push it back up.
Anyway, with all that done it was time to stab the trans back in. It had be sitting so long that the part that the throw out bearing rides on had rusted, so I sanded it down and sprayed it with WD-40 to protect it.

Attachment 1864648Attachment 1864649

Stay tuned,
-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Next up was to secure the trans to my cheap trans jack, I did not feel safe when I removed it so I was really careful getting it ready for the return trip to the truck. I used my car lift to get it lifted up in to position on the jack, I used a couple of short pieces of 2x4 on the sides to help stabilize it and cranked down two ratchet straps. It was quite secure!

Attachment 1864681Attachment 1864682
Attachment 1864683Attachment 1864684

I moved it under the truck and added the shiny new throwout bearing and stabbed it at the truck. Fail! Try again, fail again, repeat. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: Although I pride myself on coming up with inventive ways to do stuff by myself, this time I had to enlist my brother’s help and with two of us it still took another half hour. The angle that the motor sits at significantly complicates stabbing the trans in. I hope I never have to do that again!

Finally got it bolted up and connected the speedometer cable, park brake cable and backup light plug. After all of the connections were made, I topped it off with the outrageously overpriced synthetic gear oil that this trans uses. It was almost 100 dollars per gallon and takes over a gallon and a half. Fortunately, I had purchased the oil when I was still employed! That is where I left it last night.

Attachment 1864685

Today after church, I went to fire it up so that I could do the break-in that the trans guy told me to do – idle in 5th gear with no load (not even the drive shaft – this is to distribute the oil throughout the trans. Apparently I pissed the truck off by not starting it for so long. I was shocked at how hard it was to start and it ran like crap after it did. Anyway, I finally got through the half hour break in and then reinstalled the driveshaft and took it for a test drive. It wont idle but is running good other than that, I’ll need to get a carb kit and clean it out good, I’m sure it has a plugged up idle circuit.
The transmission is way quieter than it used to be and shifts better too - glad for that, between the clutch, trans rebuild and gear oil I’m in to this for over $1500.

I’m sure I left out a lot but that is all I can think of for now.
-Richard

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Good to see the updates Richard and I am sorry to read about the job situation.

Getting things done on the truck is hopefully therapeutic.

Looking forward to more progress.

Re: 68 C50 Looongbed pickup build
 

Getting back to the truck has been therapeutic indeed. As ffor the job situation - it will work out, the man upstairs always takes care of me.
I've been following your thread, your wire and fire event sounds like it will be a great time. Oh, and congrats on your retirement!


Carb kit ordered and on the way, I may finally get this truck legal to drive :metal:

-Richard