Sooo, I finally got me an old truck - AKC's 1968 C30

[flashed]

I guess some of us dont realize how lucky we are to have plenty of space and an inside place to play .My shop was plenty big until I filled it up ,been planning to build another one for 2 years but cant find a builder .My 1 ton stays at my buddy's body shop since I cant keep it under cover here .

[AKC]

Got a few small things done today.

Hit the bed wood again, as well as putting some goop on the spacer/leveler blocks under the bed. Reinstalled the second buck board, and gooped them too.

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New glove box liner. Yay! I have a good place to put the paperwork now. Tell me, how much did you folks have to fiddle with yours to get it to fit? I ended up having to punch new holes and move the clip nuts on the top and both sides. But it's in now, and it'll probably come out a few times for other stuff. New screws for the glove box, and I had to re-peen the fascia for the latch, it was about to fall off, which means the latch goes "Kablooie!" Smooth and tight now.

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Put the cowl back on, with a new hood seal. (and screws) Reinstalled the wipers with new blades. They work great. Now I'm legal for the rain. (if it rains) Excuse the plug in the cowl, turns out the upper portion of the aerial mount was cracked and getting worse. I'll get a new one, just for the look.

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I have a project for tomorrow, there may be blue skies over Camarillo. We'll see...

[flashed]

Bed ,glovebox and cowl look great ,keep it up.

[Hack71]

Mineral Spirits and Oil, Good Idea, Lookin Good!

[AKC]

Originally Posted by flashed

Bed ,glovebox and cowl look great ,keep it up.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Hack71

Mineral Spirits and Oil, Good Idea, Lookin Good!

Idea came from here, I just used it. Thanks!


So the skies over Camarillo were only mildly blue. I'm glad I still had a set of good sized wrenches, would have been nice to have some larger sockets too. I made do with what I had. I love pulling rusty fasteners 1/16th of a turn at a time...

'Anela had her braces removed today.

I picked up a decent used OEM front bumper and removed the push bar setup. The new bumper needed a few whacks in a couple of spots, and I just scuffed it up, flattened some of the runs from a previous rattle-can job and used up the rest of the rattle-can of white I had from touching up other parts. Yup, a crappy paint job over an even crappier paint job. Don't look at it too closely...

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Big difference, huh? I know I said I was going to keep the push bar, and it was kinda handy to step on while in the engine bay, but I was not liking the "buck-toothed" look after a while, especially after looking at other folks babies here. The new bumper actually hung pretty easily, and I didn't have any hardware problems. It looks like it's a little high on the drivers side, but oddly enough, it appears to be fairly straight in regard to everything else. I'm thinking the cab mounts are lower on the drivers side.

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I'll fiddle around with it later on. It's bolted down, looks decent, and I've lost a good 40-50 lbs up front. That push bracket is heavy duty. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the setup, I'll just put it away for now. (update - the front bumper/bracket has been sold...)

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Did some measuring for new bed u-bolts, measured for new mudflaps, (these are about to fall off) removed an extraneous exhaust hanger, and pulled the two large blocks of wood from in front of the rear cross member. (The actual purpose of which is a mystery to me, they were very loose.) Stared at things while I was under there.

And can you believe somebody painted the red bowtie up front white? Who does that? Especially considering they left the side ones alone. I picked at the flaking white paint for a little bit and got tired of paint chips bouncing off my face. A job for another day.

Another productive Sunday...

[flashed]

The front bumper looks much better .

[sduckworth13]

Your truck is looking awesome, the bed floor turned out great. I like the bed without the stakes. I'd drive the wheels off it as it sits

[AKC]

Originally Posted by flashed

The front bumper looks much better .

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Your truck is looking awesome, the bed floor turned out great. I like the bed without the stakes. I'd drive the wheels off it as it sits

Thanks guys!

Looking at some of the previous pics, it seems the original bumper was high on the driver side to begin with. Kinda lends credence to the "tilted cab" theory.

[Katrina/10]

Good move, getting rid of that push bar. Front end is so much cleaner!

[AKC]

Originally Posted by Katrina/10

Good move, getting rid of that push bar. Front end is so much cleaner!

Thanks!



The front shocks are pretty much toast, judging by ride and external condition. Summit is listing the Bilstein 24-192941 as an application, but I see on Bilstein's website that it's really for the C10/C20's. Would they still apply and are Bilsteins overkill?

[Katrina/10]

According to the catalog, the shocks are the same from 10 series to 30 series trucks. Rock Auto has a nice selection including Delco, KYB, Monroe, Gabriel, etc. I'm sure any of them would work fine. I bought a set of the Delcos, and I like them.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/c...+absorber,7556

[AKC]

Thanks, I don't know why I asked, I knew I'd plunk for the Bilsteins. I had them on a Chevy G30 1T van a while back and really liked them. Actually, I wish I hadn't sold that sucker...

Picked at the white paint on the front emblem, there's a couple spots where it's stuck on pretty good. It looks like crap, but it's better than being painted in.

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And I picked up a cheap aerial to fill the hole in the cowl. I clipped the cable and mounted it. (I shot at a weird angle, it looks crooked. It's not) If I want tunes, I'll pick up a wireless speaker and use my phone. Heck, I don't even run the stereo in the WRX...

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Ordered new ubolts for the bed from Stengel Bros, and they had new front springs for 'Anela cheaper than NAPA and made here.

[AKC]

Went out for some fresh air and sunshine yesterday. Took a couple of nice long walks, spotted what I came for. A little rollin' around on the ground, some wrasslin' with semi-stubborn fasteners and Voila!

I can't possibly imagine where the inspiration to acquire one came from...

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1 1/4" out of an I-don't-know-when GMC 1T. Should clean up real good, got the bushings, bushing brackets and hardware too. I didn't bother with the frame brackets, the donor was still sitting on its wheels, there wouldn't have been much room for swingin' a hammer on a cold chisel. Besides, once I read here that the brackets for lowered trucks work fine, I decided I'd rather have the bar tucked up out of the way. Seems to me after looking at the stock vs lowered brackets, the lowered brackets would be a bit stronger also. ECE brackets on order.

I cooould reuse the bushings and hardware, but seeing as I needed bolts for the new frame brackets, may as well replace the others too. And I found new Moog bushings cheap, they're on the way also.

Took 'Anela out for some fresh air and sunshine today, first to B&B for the new G8 hardware. But they didn't have the nuts I wanted, so off to Oxnard to Keene's to see if they had them. Yeah, we have a Home Depot in Camarillo, but I'd rather give my $$$ to a "Mom-n-Pop" operation when I can. Besides, a little exercise'll be good for the girl. She's still blowin' crap out of her sinuses...

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First good puff of air at 55mph through the cowl to the floor vents and stuff is all over the place.
The seat's a mess agin', at least I only need a brush and not a vacuum.

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It's nice to take a leisurely drive around for a bit...

[RINC]

Great read. I'll be following along on this with all the rest of y'all.

Thanks AKC.

[AKC]

Originally Posted by RINC

Great read. I'll be following along on this with all the rest of y'all.

Thanks AKC.

Thanks!

Not a lot today, just hit some fasteners I'll be dealing with later with PB, in the hopes this will make them easier to remove.

Double checked some measurements for a few things, straightened a rope hook and the middle step at the back (a little) and got the bushing brackets and sway bar cleaned up.

Waiting on a few parts to show up for upcoming projects.

Stared at this-n-that for a while...

ETA - Silly me, I know you folks like pics, no matter how inconsequential.

I found about a 1/2 can of WD-40 hidden in one of the corners of the cab when I first cleaned it out, it's been sitting on my toolbox, may as well use it up. I'd scraped most of the road grime off the bar at the yard, so it just needed a good wiping down. The brackets cleaned up pretty well also.

So, thanks go to Juan (the PO) for a half-can of cleaner!

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And I brushed off the seat and floor. Can't see it in the pic of the drivers side, but there was quite the pile of crud that blew out...

[blue 72 gmc 4x4]

Great truck! Love the looks of the 68 C30's. Just finished up helping a buddy of mine put disc brakes from a 72' under his 68'.

[AKC]

Originally Posted by blue 72 gmc 4x4

Great truck! Love the looks of the 68 C30's. Just finished up helping a buddy of mine put disc brakes from a 72' under his 68'.

Thanks! Nice lookin' truck too!

But stop! Yer a-givin' me ideas! (Mmmmm, diiiisc braaakes!)

And see, his front emblem is still red...

[AKC]

All I can say is - "Dang! That was quick!" (Ordered on Saturday, arrived today, coming from UT. Other pair inbound from TN)

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New springs on the way, new shocks on hand and the sway bar ought to liven up her step a bit.

And, to put a little rumble in her belly...

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I'm still pulling up foggy memory banks, I assume it's quieter with this end towards the engine...

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...than with this end toward the engine?

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It's hard to find much info/data on the Ol' Skools. Should pretty much be direct replacements for the Cherry Bomb glasspacks that are in there now. (Lord knows how long they've been there...)

It's gonna get a little noisy in the Village...

[AKC]

Man... I really need to stop checking out others rigs... (dangit, Kevin!) I just haaad to go lookin' anyway...

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Only thing is they're 17s and I'm running 16s at the moment. And I got new tires already.

[AKC]

And while I think the Alcoa's look OK on an '80s truck like "Hillbilly Deluxe", I'm not so sure they'd look right on a '68.

I can't decide...

ETA - Closest shot I could find of something similar to 'Anela running Alcoa's...



I still can't decide...

[flashed]

I would love to find some Alcoa's for my 72 .

[AKC]

Came home to the other set of swaybar bushings, and the ECE brackets arrived yesterday. Very heavy-duty. I forgot it was mentioned that they come with hardware, so I have 4 extra G8 bolts. I'm sure they'll be used for sumpin'...

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The first set of bushings seem a bit firmer, possibly because they've been sitting in their box for a bit, unbagged. The second set just came out of the bag. They'll probably firm up after some exposure.

Got an email earlier today from Stengel Bros, the new front springs are being drop-shipped from Pontotoc Spring. (the only remaining domestic producer of springs in this country)

New bed ubolts should be here tomorrow, I'll need to make some new tie plates...

[AKC]

I think I'm going to pass on this set of Alcoa's. They're 17's. IF I were to do something like this, I'd rather hold out for 16s. They're 10-hole wheels, they look like mini-rig wheels. Not the look I'm going for.

Besides, I have perfectly good wheels that I spent a good chunk of $$$ wrapping tires around.

I should spend on other items 'Anela NEEDS, and not get swayed by "ooooh, shiny!"
(What you need to do, dumbass, is get out from under the V bike you foolishly purchased right after Alice passed away...)

There, I feel better...

[RINC]

I have the same tyre's on my 69 that you bought. They are worn out so they are high on my Must Do List.

I only need 4 so I will only partially feel you're new tyre pain.

[Katrina/10]

I think the wheels you have now look great. It's always cool to want shiny new stuff, especially if it's a really good deal.