Junkyard C30 stepside work truck "build"

[66Submarine]

Thanks, Rian. Yeah, the abundance of trucks and parts is certainly nice! I actually did make up an aluminum glovebox, but it was quickly cobbled together from a scrap piece I had laying around and I didn't think it was really pretty enough to warrant a post.

I also finally got around to (kind of) doing something and honed the block and polished the crank this evening.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 66Submarine

Thanks, Rian. Yeah, the abundance of trucks and parts is certainly nice! I actually did make up an aluminum glovebox, but it was quickly cobbled together from a scrap piece I had laying around and I didn't think it was really pretty enough to warrant a post.

I also finally got around to (kind of) doing something and honed the block and polished the crank this evening.

I suspect that when Martin and I land in Dallas on the 14th October, we will be just like Japanese tourists off a bus for the first time.

And driving around will drive us mad, seeing so much good stuff.

[rusty76]

Don't forget your camera^^^^^^^

[66Submarine]

Big change of plans...I was offered this stout 638 for a price I couldn't resist and I've decided to go the race truck route.

[66Submarine]

Lol...I actually just threw the 292 shortblock back together and got sick.

[66Submarine]

I pulled the 4.10 third member out of the other truck this afternoon (using only OSHA-approved tools and techniques, of course).

A clip of the 4.57's on the highway:

Cruising 65-70MPH with 4.57 gears, SM420 trans,...

With the 4.10's my current 62-63MPH engine speed will get me 70MPH...nice.

[65truckowner]

keep the updates coming a very interesting project.

[Eric15chevys]

I liked this truck as soon as I saw it. It looks like you have several fun projects. I would love to pick up a 4500 for my 84 4 speed truck, but I found out recently driving 95 with a 454 4500 combo it doesn't improve my gas mileage at all. I just drive faster with the same rpm. I average 10 out of it no matter what even towing a mustang. I love the build though.

[66Submarine]

Thanks, glad you guys like it.

I finally got the 4.10 third member in yesterday!

The first thing I noticed about it was that some chucklehead had put the pinion nut on finger-tight. Really, not only could I grab the driveshaft and shake the pinion around, I actually held the socket in my hand and screwed it off...not even close. The cotter pin was in there, so that was how it was put together...nice.

It also had something like .040" of backlash.

I took it apart, cleaned everything up, replaced the old pinion seal that was hard as a rock, put the pinion nut back on like it was supposed to have been, took some of the backlash out of it, checked the pattern, and I was ready to install it.

But I had one last bit of incompetence to deal with...after getting the bolts out of the third member in the truck it was obvious they were ruined and I had to tap all the holes in the housing and find some more bolts laying around...finally ready to go.

I put it in without any issue, hooked the driveshaft back up, put the axles back in, filled it up with oil, and went for a short test drive around the block.

The change in gearing was immediately noticeable. I didn't love how it felt like I let out a small anchor at some point during the swap, but the reduction in engine speed was nice. It ended up being kind of loud from the past damage, but it doesn't seem to run hot and doesn't leak, so I like it!

The old one also had a lot of pitting on the ring gear and tons of backlash, but I didn't get any good pictures of it.

[66Submarine]

I finally replaced the kick panel vent seals...the original seals were nearing the end of their useful life. You can also see that someone put the left vent's detent plate on upside down at some point.

[66Submarine]

I added some airsoft BBs to all the tires today for some dynamic balancing. Anyone else do this?

[TJ's Chevy]

Never done it. lol Tires I used to have on my 66 were so bad even the chevron station couldn't balance them!

[markeb01]

I’ve never heard of the BB trick, but I did grow up in a time when J.C. Whitney sold Gyroscopic Wheel Stabilizers that worked on the same principle. It was a big transparent plastic ring that looked like a small hula hoop and snapped on the backside of the wheel like a wheel cover. It was about half filled with ball bearings and some type of hydraulic fluid. The sales pitch being they balanced out at speed and increased the life of the tires.

My son still has one in his collection, discovered on the back of a junk yard wheel. They later made a smaller version, shown in this ad:



I’m curious if you notice any results from adding the BB’s.

[68JOHNDEERE]

I have seen the tube idea on newer semi rims recently.

[1963c-10]

Nice progress!!

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by markeb01

I’ve never heard of the BB trick, but I did grow up in a time when J.C. Whitney sold Gyroscopic Wheel Stabilizers that worked on the same principle. It was a big transparent plastic ring that looked like a small hula hoop and snapped on the backside of the wheel like a wheel cover. It was about half filled with ball bearings and some type of hydraulic fluid. The sales pitch being they balanced out at speed and increased the life of the tires.

My son still has one in his collection, discovered on the back of a junk yard wheel. They later made a smaller version, shown in this ad:



I’m curious if you notice any results from adding the BB’s.

Yeah, they still make a version of those today (as 68JOHNDEERE noted).

They seem to work pretty well IMO. There was a noticeable imbalance before that was pretty bad at certain highway speeds that seems to be gone now (need to drive it a little more to confirm).

Here's a clip of a demo:

Centramatic Automatic Wheel Balancers...

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Nice progress!!

Thanks, I should start making some real progress soon.

[66Submarine]

'65 Chevy C30 @ 65MPH with "new" 4.10 gears -...

There's a clip with the 4.10 gears installed. After driving around with them for a few days, my observation is that they are great on flat/reasonably flat ground, but the little 250 really lacks the power to pull quite a few of the many hills found on the stretch of 101 and 278 between Dallas and Rome; maintaining 65-70MPH pretty much requires WOT a lot of times and 60MPH isn't that much better.

I haven't really noticed an improvement in fuel economy with the taller gears (at least at this point).

I also moved my '68 Impala the other day so I can redo it. I actually had a camera running most of the time, but I haven't had time to edit it down yet (spoiler alert: I greatly preferred the old 4.57's in a hilly area with 6,500LBS on the bumper ).

I finally checked the toe-in today and found it was something like 5/8", so I scraped some of the greasy dirt off the crossmember and set it to 1/8".

[TJ's Chevy]

250's in those days would have come with 4.57's in a truck that big if they were even an option. On my 64 GMC 1500 the 230 came stock with 4.57's and the 305 v6 came with 4.10's. Kinda like your 1 ton...250 with 4.57's and 292 with 4.10's. But since you have that 454 you may as well drop that in. The extra cubic inch with help majorly at this point, or if you like the straight 6 you can find a 48 GMC 348 cubic in 6 cylinder from the semi trucks. Guys have done head work, dual carbs, and headers on those. lol Or just throw a 478 v6 in there and make that a 7500 pound truck. haha

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

250's in those days would have come with 4.57's in a truck that big if they were even an option. On my 64 GMC 1500 the 230 came stock with 4.57's and the 305 v6 came with 4.10's. Kinda like your 1 ton...250 with 4.57's and 292 with 4.10's. But since you have that 454 you may as well drop that in. The extra cubic inch with help majorly at this point, or if you like the straight 6 you can find a 48 GMC 348 cubic in 6 cylinder from the semi trucks. Guys have done head work, dual carbs, and headers on those. lol Or just throw a 478 v6 in there and make that a 7500 pound truck. haha

5.13 was standard and 4.57 optional. The 292 with the 4.10's should at least get me back to where I can climb hills on the highway and maintain speed while unloaded...lol

The 454 and five speed combo should be very nice when I get it in there.

[65truckowner]

The hills will be no problem with the 454.

[rusty76]

454 will definitely do what you want to do.

[66Submarine]

Yeah, the warmed-over 454 should have no trouble dragging the truck around.

On another note, this is what happens when some moron puts a crushed drain pan full of holes back up...I wasn't exceptionally happy about it!

[TJ's Chevy]

On another note(lol) who's truck is that sitting next to yours?

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

On another note(lol) who's truck is that sitting next to yours?

That's my father's '66.

[66Submarine]

The wires to the turn signals/parking lights finally decided they had enough the other day. A quick splice fixed them back up.

I also added a universal windshield washer setup.