My British Truck build

[Lippyp]

I may as well do a seperate build thread then as I've finally started to get some work done. Ive owned the truck for about eight years now and for a few years it was my daily driver which drew a few raised eyebrows as its not a common sight over here. About three or four years ago I had a series of niggling issues with it that ended up putting it off the road, then came a stressful busy period with IVF treatment and then twin boys were born and free time became a luxury I just didn't have as did money.

Now the boys are three and a half and happy to amuse themselves without too much intervention to stop them killimng themselves although I suspect that will get worse with age! The time has come to get the old girl back on the road again but first she needs those problems sorting and then needs to pass our fairly stringent annual safety inspection known as an MoT test.

Charlotte as she's affectionately known is 1967 C10 Long wheelbase fleetside. She's started life with a six and has ended up at some point losing thgat and gaining a decent 350.

The engine has an unknown but believed not stock cam, an aftermarket Carter AFB four barrel carb currently sat on a stock cast iron intake manifold with a matching electric fuel pump replacing the stock engine driven pump. Its has a pair of cast iron ramshorn manifolds which flow pretty well, only marginally worse than tubular headers, leading to true dual exhausts 2.25" into two seperate boxes and then 3" exiting just in front of the rear wheels each side. It also has a fairly dodgy electric fan conversion.

Transmission is a stock Turbo-hydramatic 350 three speed auto box and a GM corporate 12 bolt rear axle with an open diff.

The issues that took her off the road were fairly minor, one being the back half of both exhausts fell off (I actually ran the nice chrome tips over!) and a fairly serious problem starting when hot due to an old starter motor and heat soak issues as the exhaust runs fairly close to the starter.

I've been gathering parts from all sorts of places including one holiday to the USA when thanks to Wes at Classic Heartbeat I had to buy two extra suitcases for the return journey to bring back my haul of parts including a full carpet set!

I have managed to get some work done over the last few years on and off.

Since then I managed to replace the inner and outer sill on the passenger side, repair the floor and kick panel and A post bottom

Before





After removing the rocker to find more horrors





Managed to rent some workshop space from some drag racing friends



Cut out that rust!



New metal

[Lippyp]

Nearly there





Finished!



I also found a big fat sway bar for the front as the truck left the Fremont factory without one and gave it a cleanup, some paint and fitted it with a set of new bushings and raised brackets from ECE





I've also managed to find a period fibreglass truck cap to go on the back on UK ebay. It had spent about ten years sat on top of a shed next to the coast in western scotland. One 500 mile round trip in my bother-in-laws work truck and it was home in a bit of a sorry state.



after a clean



Tailgate needs some work so its off and in the workshop



The wood rail underneath that it sits on is rotten





Thats all now been ripped out, the area cleaned up and new timber sourced and cut to shape. Next job is to get some epoxy fibreglass resin and glass the new timber in and then finish off the tailgate and mount it up on the truck. Its getting done between work on the truck.

[Lippyp]

The plan for the engine is as follows, replace the tired starter with a high torque gear reduction starter, replace the inlet manifold with an Edelbrock Performer EPS. Convert from the troublesome aftermarket Mallory twin point distributor to a stock factory HEI electronic ignition setup. Replace the hacked about engine wiring loom with a purpose made M&H wiring loom pre-converted for the new ignition setup and fit a set of Mickey Thompson alloy valve covers to dress it up a little.
Fabricate a new throttle linkage rod using some rod ends rather than the bent bit of rod currently in use. Fabricate an aluminium fan shroud and fit a new 18" electric fan from a Volvo T5 with a thermostatic controller.

I started work on the engine a week or two ago

New starter




Spent the day in the sunshine gettinga burnt neck and spannering away.

The scabby rusty engine as she stood in the morning



Start of the teardown





original manifold for a spreadbore carb with an adaptor to take the square bore Carter AFB



Pretty clean underneath the old manifold, just some crusty dried old oil from the bottom of the heat passage in the manifold





Lots of bits, hope I can remember where they all go!



Getting ready for the cleanup, I put a layer of foil over the towels makes it easier to clean up the crud and blocked all the water and inlet passages.



New gaskets in place and RTV silicon across the front and back



The new manifold, its about half the weight of the old cast iron one


New manifold in place



and with all the openings taped up whilst the sealant etc goes off overnight.



This was as far as I got, some nuts and bolts are soaking overnight in some of Bilt-Hambers deox-c solution to de-rust them and I hit a few snags

The first one is I'm short of a few blanking plugs as the new manifold has some extra holes that I don't need so I need to order some in.

The second major snag is that the stock HEI electronic distributor I was going to fit to replace the aftermarket Mallory twin point dizzy simply ain't going to fit. Its much fatter around and even with the cap off its fouling the bulkhead and won't drop in. I knew this might have been going to be an issue as the engine is set back slightly closer than stock.

[Lippyp]

More new parts and some old ones back.

Ignition upgrade, one Pertonix Ignitor electronic ignition conversion kit for my Mallory Twin spark distributor and one 40,000V Flamethrower coil. Seems to be the best way to ditch the points and get electronic reliability.



Just been and picked up the valve covers from the blasters after they've been soda blasted. The plan is to see if they'll polish up on the sides and then paint the top black with just the top of the fins and writing polished.





Just got to gut the distrubtor, give the outside a clean up and maybe a bit of a polish and then fit the new bits inside. Then I can shove it back in, finish up putting the rest of the bits back on, wire it all up with the new loom and then get it running and time it up.
Then I need to sort the brakes out, I have sourced a factory power brake setup from a very kind member on here, as at the moment it has manual drums all round. They stop well but are hard work so this will make it easier. I have to fit all the bracketry and linkages and the servo and plumb it in.

Due to it standing outside it now needs a number of new brake pipes so I'm going to change the whole lot for stainless steel lines from Inline Tube and fit stainless braided hoses for a firmer pedal.

Then I have some interior stuff to do, new carpet, a new red flake moon steering wheel, Moon quarter sweep rev counter to mount on the column, tints to remove from the windows as they are ludicrously dark and illegal here. I have an audio install to do at some point with an 8" sub and a couple of amps.

There might be other stuff to do (isn't there always!) and eventually when I get a workshop big enough to actually get her in she'll get a full on resto done.

[propanemudtruck]

Glad to see you're eating well in the shop!

All joking aside, nice work so far. I really need to get some of those body clamps before I get too into my next project, they look pretty nifty!

[Lippyp]

Ahh the chocolate chip mini muffins, sadly not for me, just the two small people in my life! I thought at first you were referring to the packet of chocolate hobnobs on my inner fender, you simply can't work without a good supply of coffee and biscuits!

The liettle panel clamps make it a whole lot easier where you have access to both sides, they even set the gap at just the right size for a decent weld.

[propanemudtruck]

For panels with no access to the back side I bet it would be worth it to cut a hole in the seam just bigger than the backer of the clamp, weld up the entire panel then patch the small hole later...

I'll definately look for these some day or just build up a set.

[caminokid]

How do they treat you over there when you drive your Chevy? I guess why i ask...you think back to Rick Allen of Def Leppard. They have always thought the guy that wrecked him was cause he had that Vette.

[oldblue1968chevy]

haha cool build man! What intake did you get?

[Lippyp]

Its an Edelbrock Performer EPS, supposed to give an extra 5hp and 9 lb/ft of torque over what the standard performer gives and has a better mounting flange for square bore carbs so less leaks.

As to how you get treated, pretty much its all smiles and waves and the odd challenge at the lights from the less mentally sharp young lads in small shopping cart hatchbacks with coffee can exhausts and plastic tat stuck to them who seem for some strange reason to think all pickup trucks have pedestrian diesel engines in them.

Just today been to a massive American car show near me, a good few hundred cars from fins and chrome through to todays stuff, via big rigs, military vehicles, bikes and the odd hot rod.

Picked up a bit more "art" to go on the wall in my garage, one repro Chevrolet Super Service wall sign and three old US license plates, one 1963 black plate california, a 76 from Nebraska and a 1983 Minnesota Vehcile in Transit Dealer plate. The aim one day is to get at least one plate from each US State. I've even got a genuine US Traffic light to hang up and get running and some vintage signs from all over, the UK, France and the USA.



These compliment the four I've already got, I try and get them within the right period but its not always possible but I like interesting ones, I can see it could become an obsession!

[vectorit]

Looks like you are getting everything handled very well!

It's so interesting to read about a Brit that actually digs American stuff...

Subscribed!

[sgaylord]

Good work keeping that truck looking nice.

Steve

[bigguy69]

coming along nice!!

[Lippyp]

I just love old stuff, it drives my wife mad but she just smiles sweetly and says yes dear ususally when I'm upside down in a rubbish skip somewhere!

This is a French 1963 Michelin garage tyre pressure tin wall chart.



Traffic light



I've also got a full size 50km/h sign and a road sign to my village in France I hauled out of a skip and an original 1930's enamel Texaco Oil double sided garage sign.

[oldblue1968chevy]

whats a 'skip' lol? i think its cool too^^!

[Lippyp]

Ahh, two nations seperated by a common language LOL


A skip



Delivered to your house by one of these so you can fill it with rubbish to be then taken away for disposal.



Rich pickings for those who think of one mans rubbish as another mans treasure, rooting through these is known as skip diving.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Lippyp

Ahh, two nations seperated by a common language LOL


A skip

IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/Lippyp/skip20house.jpg[/IMG

Delivered to your house by one of these so you can fill it with rubbish to be then taken away for disposal.

IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/Lippyp/skip_top.jpg[/IMG

Rich pickings for those who think of one mans rubbish as another mans treasure, rooting through these is known as skip diving.

I really enjoy the differences in the way we use the same language! I see you've got a Texas license plate on your wall... Thats cool.

Owning one of these chevy's around these parts gets smiles and waves, over there, I bet its all the more interesting!

Cool truck build by the way!

[PHAT TONY]

Love to see an old pooper surviving that far from home; good work!!

[mcbassin]

Very cool story and build! Looks like you did nice repair on the rust too. I'll be watching the progress.

[Lippyp]

Just spent about twenty minutes doing the points to electronic conversion on the distributor. Very very simple really. The kit is a Pertronix Ignitor. You just whip out the old points and wiring and screw down an adaptor plate, slip the magnetic sleeve onto the spindle, feed the wires through the hole and then set the gap between the module and magnet to .030" and tighten up, fit the new rotor arm and jobs a good un. I'll need to regap the plugs to a bigger gap for a fatter spark as its also getting a matching 40,000V coil so that should mean better starting, improved power/mpg and more importantly no bloody points to adjust constantly plus no condensor to burn out (they were always going tits up)

The old points (two sets as its a twin point distributor)



The kit



Halfway there



All Done and ready to go back in at the weekend.



I've just ordered some deox rust dissolving gel from a company Bilt Hamber to get rid of the rust on the vacuum advance module before it goes back in. I've got all the bits now to refit it and the carb and block off all the extraneous holes in the manifold. Then its just a matter of deciding on a new more discreet location for the coil and wiring it all up with the new loom.

I've also decided to go with an in hose mount for a standard intermotor fan switch from X Engineering to run my electric fan automatically as at the moment its on a manual switch. The valve covers are going off to be polished by a pro after some black paint between the ribs on the top.

[Lippyp]

Did some more work, lots of painting of little brackets and bolt heads etc that have been de-rusted. Refitted brackets, pipe plugs etc to the manifold filling in all the extraneous holes and added my funky little Moon direct mount temp gauge, spectacularly useless when the bonnet is shut but a nice little detail. I also gave the plug leads/cap a good clean-up as I'll be re-using them unless they turn out to be duff as they are not that old but were filthy. I've also got some nice little chrome wire seperators to keep the plug leads nice and neat once the'yre back in.

I also pulled out the old wiring which was amazingly badly bodged. I was missing a load of wires including the brake warning light, the oil pressure warning light lead went from green at the plug to red to blue via several bodged joints, the main feed to the coil went down to a wire half the size etc etc. Good job I have a new loom if I can work out how to get the old one out and also refit the main power feed wire to the block as it had been pulled out and yes another bodged joint. The wiring is 43 years of bodges and crimps and twists and tape some of it seemingly for no reason like the bypassed neutral safety switch that works fine but has just been bypassed so you can now start it in gear. I can forsee many frustrating hours with a meter, soldering iron and torch.





Tomorrow I'll be refitting the distrubutor and attempting to fit the new loom if I can work out where the two extra wires I have go. Oh and finding a new location for the coil. I have a feeling I may need a longer lead.



Extra wire!

[oldblue1968chevy]

ahh, so dumpster diving is 'skipping'? lol

I would love to go over there someday, we have friends of the family over there somewhere. (Not really sure lol)

[VA72C10]

looking good! Nice work so far.

[Lippyp]

Hopefully the valve covers should be done end of next week. They've gone off with a guy from a hot rod forum over here to be painted and polished. Nice guy, drives a 3.0L Ford V6 (essex) engined T bucket and also runs a vintage slingshot dragster.

[Lippyp]

Managed to do some more today, got the distributor back in, the coil relocated to the original stock location on the inlet manifold so once the carb is back on it'll be out of sight, connected it up to the dizzy too. I then spent ages trying to get the damn plug for the engine wring loom undone from the bulkead, its held on by one 1/2" bolt but it seems to just be spinning. I took the fusebox out from the back of it so I could see what was going on, gave it a whack to try and seat the bolt into the thread but it still won't undo, it just spins. I think I need to get the wife on the socket whilst I put some pressure on the end of the bolt from inside. Fuse box is absolutely filthy, forty three years of accumulated crud so I'll give it a good clean with some elecrical contact spray before it goes back in. That was as far as I got apart from finishing off removing the tint from the rear window and cleaning the glue off and removing a bit more glue from the side window. Oh and I fitted the new stat and new chrome water neck I need to regap the plugs before I refit the wires and then I can fit some little chrome wire tidies to neaten it up.



One filthy fuse box and rats nest of wiring



The back of the offending plug