1979 c30 454
 

Just picked up this 79 c30 with 454. MSD box, pro billit dizzy, holley carb and edelbrock intake. Runs good, has good tires on front, usable on rear. bed is about a year old. Has a buncha options for a work truck, carpet, headliner, ac, electric windows, tilt, etc. I am not gonna restore it or anything but I am going to make it a nice truck WHILE still using it.... This is important as I am fixing up a house built in the late 1800s and I find myself always needing a bigger bed and forced to tow a trailer. All my trucks are SWB with tool boxes that leaves less then 4ft of space with the humps. it has some rust on the drivers rocker panel that needs fixed. not too bad. Cheap single stage paint. Gotta dig threw my parts, I should have a the correct year front bumper for it. I need to find all the parts to put the a/c back on as its been removed.. and some rewireing to do it the cab as they got the starter on a button as well as the horn. I hate that..... New carpet or vinal floor I havent decided. Bench seat, headliner, out of parts truck I have.. I need to find a set of usable or dyeable door panels for it. Id like to find a stock working radio for it as well. Just make it a decent, presentable work truck.... as thats really all it is. Unless I get handed a usable dually bed or something. I will take better pics this coming weekend as its dark when I get off of work. I took these on the way home with it today.. I have a pic of just about all my rides I tow home at a gas station or stop along the way haha. All in all not a bad truck for 1K

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

cnt wait to see wat you do to it

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

Also, is there anyway to tighten up the shifter in the sm465? its awefull. Also the steering is really touchy. Like if I turn the wheel one way or another, it will keep going. It will go to full lock ff your rolling some. Something with the ps pump of steering gear??? BTW it has the pump with hyrdo assist brakes.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

Got bored went out and pulled the shifter out to see if anything was wrong... First off I want everyone to know that I have NEVER been in a sm465 trans EVER. I dont know anything about them so please be gentle if I ask something stupid. As soon as I pulled the boot I started seeing stuff wrong.... Looks like one of the lock pins is gone and somone put a roll pin in its place. Then looks like someone else put a hose clamp on it to keep the pin in.. Does anyone know where I can get these pins for the case? To replace the loose roll pin. SO I pulled the shifter.. Looks like someone welded the handle to correct something? or is that factory.. Also on the lower part of the shifter, the part that goes in the end is held on by a roll pin. It fits very loose. Also the hole in the shifter itself that the pin hose through is bigger then the pin itself so this may be why its so loose. If this is the case, they shifter is garbage.. And if it is, would there be any reason why I couldnt just weld the part that fits in the end to the handle so it wont move? Atleast till I find a new shifter. With the shifter like it is and the sensitive steering its kind of a scary ride haha. I think I will make a post on the main forum for this as well.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

I got home today. Broke the welder out and welded it all solid. took about 85 percent of the flop out! like a brand new truck now.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

I drove the truck to work today to fix the exhuast leak it had. Got that fixed. Sounds good! Then I went to see what all I had to do to put the right bumper on the front. LOOKS like someone torched the front frame horns off and welded the newer bumper brackets to the frame....... JUST my luck.. the bumper on the front of this thing REALLY bothers me... So I have to change it. SO I guess I am in the search of frame horns... Are they the same for a c30 as a c10 or c20?

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

Love your truck! Glad things worked out okay with the shifter!

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

May be an odd question, but why would someone do that to the bumper? I know I welded the brackets to the bumper, then mounted them, when I smoothed the front bumper, but not the bumper to the frame. Odd to say the least, don't you think? Like the truck, looks sweet man. What all you going to do to it?

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

THANK YOU! I feel the same about yours!

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

I think it was because the later model bumpers are not a direct bolt on and he torched the front off to fit inside the bumper and just welded it on... I WISH whoever did it....wouldnt of!.. I am just going to fix all thats wrong, fix the rust and paint it. new interior. Stuff like that.. Id like to put a nv4500 in it......... BUT I am going to work the truck the whole time.. Hauled home a load of crap from lowes tonight in it!

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

well good luck buddy

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

Well I been driving the crap outa the truck. The more I drive the more problems show up. Which is fine. Its still a $1000 truck so I cant complain. The clutch is chattering like hell and there is a driveline vibration that I am pretty sure is from a loose ujoint at the first position. SO I am gonna drop the transmission this week, replace clutch and anything else I see wrong, all new u-joints too. Also spotted a leaking pinion seal I will try and fix while I am at it... AS LONG as I dont get carried away and snowball into frame off or something I will try and keep it driveable... Sure would like to pull the motor tho and reseal it...... nah...maybe later.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

Awesome find! I love it when people pick up one of these old trucks and use them. You'll need to modify your sig again. It sounds like you got the shifter straightened out, but if not, I know the guys at Novak Adapters are kind of guru's when it comes to the 465's. I can tell you that when I drained the fluid in mine and put Mobil 1 in it, the shifting became much easier. Your steering issue could also be a poor alignment? I believe toe-out will cause what you're talking about. I doubt it is the only problem though, as bad as it sounds. I know the 1-ton's have thicker frames than the 1/2 and 3/4, but not sure about the dimensions. I'm sure you could build a bracket to make it work. It does look a little funny with the wrong bumper on it...

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

I cant afford 50k for a new 1ton so this will work for me! Yeah the shifter is solved for now.. It rattles a bit because its solid but I can deal with it. I plan on changing fluid in everything. What mobile1 did you use? I am pretty sure its just an alighnment issue with maybe some worn parts in the front.. I need to repack the wheel bearings and all so I will check the front end out this week when I get to work on it.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

Darn right, and that's a lot cooler than a new 50k 1-ton and the payment that comes with it. I used 75W90 full synthetic in both diffs, t-case and transmission. My concern was cold weather performance, but it seems to synchronize between gears much better with the new fluid. The old stuff looked like chocolate syrup.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

cool, thanks for the tip.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

have you found a grill?

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

i did. I actually went to the junk yard and bought 4 of em haha. I will take some better pics this week when I bring it to the shop to work on it.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

Looks like a nice little project, I've been looking for a truck like that for a while.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

thats good

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

In your first post of this thread you mentioned a dually bed down the road. Your truck is a cab and chassis truck so it's way too narrow in the butt for a dually bed. Notice how the rear dual wheels are not any wider than the front ? That's a cab and chassis. Your truck never came with a bed from the factory. It came with straight, bare frame rails and was upfitted to the flatbed by someone after purchase. Same thing as the utility companies buy so they can put those service beds on.

I've got a truck like that too so I've learned what to look for.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

Yeah Its a cab and chassis. I have access to full width rear and can shorten chassis to match. In other words. I can make it work if I decide to go that way. thanks for the info!

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

more pics of it in the shop, the clutch linkage that I am unsure how it should be, you can see the two springs leaving the lingage at the same spot and going to two different spots on the frame. If I remove any of them. the pedel will stick to the floor. and some of the grills I got from the junk yard.

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

junk yard grill

Re: 1979 c30 454
 

looks good