My 63 C30

[lonestar308]

Howdy gents! I'm new here and wanted to share my project truck and hopefully gain some insight in restoring this old beauty.

This is what I'm starting with: 1963 Chevy C30 purchased by my grandfather in 1965 in Brownwood, TX. I'm hoping to attach photos....

He used it on his farm for over 40 years...pulling cattle trailers, hauling cotton seed from the gin, and wheat to the elevator. I put a few miles on it myself working summers with him...good memories.

When he got it, it had the 230ci L-6, which was promptly swapped for a 292. Later on, my Dad swapped in a 327 small-block, and that's what resides in it today. He also added a 3-speed Brown-Lipe auxiliary trans behind the factory 4-speed to help overcome the 5.14 gears in the Eaton H072.

So, my plans....I want to rebuild this truck with, and give it to, my son who's currently 5. Hopefully make some memories him, me, and my Dad along the way. I currently have a '74 Chevy C20 donor truck for the front suspension/brakes and the rear 14-bolt, as well as a 400ci small-block located in another truck. I'd like to add power steering & power brakes all around, as well as a/c so it can be driven more than 3 months a year here in Houston!

Everything else I want to keep as original as possible....I'll be repainting the same color, and replacing all the wood on the flatbed, as well as getting a new underbed saddle fuel tank (Dad made the current one from 2 plow discs and a section of 20" pipe!).

I'm slowly building my research library for reference material, and am very excited to find this forum!

Any ideas or suggestions you guys have would be appreciated...I've been waiting to start on this since my granddad gave me the truck in 2000!

[mongocanfly]

Welcome!!....truck looks to be in great shape....

[Clyde65]

Nice truck! Welcome!!

[lonestar308]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Welcome!!....truck looks to be in great shape....

Thanks, yeah it's a North Texas truck, and my granddad kept in under cover when not in use, so the body is in great shape, save a couple dings here and there. We did have to power wash about 30 pounds of dirt dauber nests from under the hood and engine bay when we brought it to Dad's shop, and I think mice have been in the cab at some point b/c it has "that smell"....but nothing major that can't be fixed

[mongocanfly]

Yeah my truck had "that smell"....alond with rat crap about 2in deep under the seat....no telling how many were living in the seat...also unreal at where all the nests were built that i kept finding....

[sixty4bigwindow]

This thing is awesome! Can't wait to see some progress

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

I agree that it looks like a decent truck to work with. If you want to keep the truck a dually you will want the spindles, calipers and hubs/rotors from a '73-'87 C30 dually.

[allchevy58]

Congrats, looks like a real solid truck. Mine has 5.14 gears too, looking for newer rearend with 3.73 right now.

[lonestar308]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Welcome to the forum

I agree that it looks like a decent truck to work with. If you want to keep the truck a dually you will want the spindles, calipers and hubs/rotors from a '73-'87 C30 dually.

Originally Posted by allchevy58

Congrats, looks like a real solid truck. Mine has 5.14 gears too, looking for newer rearend with 3.73 right now.

Thanks guys...I have 3 donor vehicles already lined up for this project...a '74 C20 (4.10:1 14-bolt SRW), a '78 Chevy motorhome (front suspension/400 Small Block/4.10 14-bolt DRW), and a '96 Dodge Ram 3500 (NV4500). I'm gonna pull the hubs off the DRW and put them on the SRW to make a C&C 14-bolt so the rear duals will tuck in, and hopefully convert to disc brakes....at least that's the plan...we'll see how well it goes when executed!

[lonestar308]

Picked up some 16" dually wheels last night, off an '06...so they should fit the hubs from the '78 motorhome...can't help but singing Johnny Cash..."I got it one piece at a time!"

['65 chevy lover]

Welcome to the forum! Looks like a good truck to start with. Have fun!

[62bagger]

Nice looking truck. welcome to the forum.

[63burban]

Nice truck

[lonestar308]

Found another pic from around 2000 right after my grandpa gave it to me. I was in college at that time and it was parked at my parent's place. I managed to have the radiator re-cored and rebuilt the carb during that time...then my parents decided to move and it went back to my grandparent's farm for another 14 years until my folks moved back and Dad built a shop....

[lonestar308]

Well crap...

After getting completely addicted to this site and devouring information regarding my '63 C30 resto....I remembered that my grandpa had another '60s era truck at some point, and I thought it had been retired and put out to pasture, so to speak. Dad sent me some pics and confirmed...'65 C20 that needs some lovin'!

Going up in October to work on the C30, and will get a chance to look over the C20 better to see if the cab has any cancer...if not, I think it's a doable build. I'll be starting another thread for the C20 once I know what's what. In the meantime...the pics...

[lonestar308]

Made a quick trip to visit the in-laws, and was able to stop at my parent's place and snap a few photos of the cab for reference...

I know the seat was re-upholstered at some point, no idea if the build sheet survived or not, it isn't behind the seat.

The engine is a 327 out of a '66 Impala that my Dad had...original engine was the 230...

You can see the extra shifter for the 3-speed Brown-Lipe that was installed behind the SM420...so I'll have to fab a patch panel for the hole when that goes away. You can also see the parking brake lever to the right of the 4-speed shifter for the band/drum brake that's attached to the back of the transmission.

Wish I'd been working on this thing for the past 20 years....but that's life and the ball is slowly starting to roll now

[aerotruk63]

43 crayon mark on the firewall must be recirculating heater.
Care to share the beginning of the serial number up to the letter which will indicate where it was built?

[aerotruk63]

Paint 505 ? Woodland green

[aerotruk63]

[lonestar308]

Aero

It's a St. Louis truck...3C363Sxxxxxx

I already knew the color, but didn't know what the 43 was...good info on the heater!

[lonestar308]

We finally got the donor motor home moved over to my dad's place so we can begin harvesting parts. It's a 1978 GMC Vandura G35 with a SB400. Also going to use the hubs off the DRW 14-bolt on a SRW 4.10 14-bolt I pulled from a 74 C20, to make a C&C axle to replace the Eaton 5.14.

[lonestar308]

Well, a setback...turns out the motorhome rear axle is a Dana that was used for the motorhome chassis....so I can't swap hubs with the single wheel 14 bolt I have.

However, I have located a true C&C 14 bolt out of an '85 K30...so less work in the long run.

And we managed to pull the 400 out, now to clean it up, replace all the seals/gaskets and rebuild the Quadrajet...

My son also decided he wanted to wash his truck...so we did that too...probably the first time it's been touched with anything other than rainwater in 40 years...

[sstock]

Originally Posted by aerotruk63

43 crayon mark on the firewall must be recirculating heater.
Care to share the beginning of the serial number up to the letter which will indicate where it was built?

Great observation, this would of largely went unnoticed, rpos were commonly written on firewall in some assembly plants for assembly line installs.

[DPowers]

Nice. Love the fog lights

[lonestar308]

Originally Posted by DPowers

Nice. Love the fog lights

Lol...according to my dad, my granddad put those on shortly after he got the truck in '65. Turns out they are 6V lights...so the first time he turned them on was also the last! Just never got around to taking them off I guess.