New 69 Chevy C10 owner, a couple of minor issues

[alabbasi]

All, I bought a cheap old LWB 69 Chevy C10, LWB in order to replace my old 73 GMC which was stolen last January.

The truck ran but had a huge oil leak and no brakes and a non working transmission. I've been working on this truck in order to make it road ready. The oil leak actually turned out to be a transmission leak which I addressed by installing a new filter and gasket. The dip stick was broken so I replaced it with a new dipstick and tube. However, I'm not able to seal the dipstick which will drain the torque converter over night. I need to figure out what to do here.

Second issue has been brakes which i've rebuilt, but have been unable to bleed. I"m down to the brake hoses and the the master cylinder.

The truck has rust and dents. The PO tried to repair the rockers using sheet metal and sheet metal screws so I need to figure out what's behind it and then turn it into a rolling restoration.

This truck has 4 wheel drum brakes with no servo. How safe is it to tow with this setup?

[68gmsee]

Questions:

What do you mean when you say "not able to seal the dipstick whick will drain the torque converter"?

What problems are you having with bleeding the brakes? Is the pedal going down all the way or feel mushy or do you keep getting bubbles?

Re. towing: Once you get the brakes fixed and working properly you shouldn't have any trouble towing (within reason of course) the problem is going to be stopping. You have to have strong legs on sudden stops with a load behind you pushing you forward. It takes some practice and safe driving precautions but it can be done. A lot of us older guys drove non power brake cars and trucks back in the old days.

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by 68gmsee

Questions:

What do you mean when you say "not able to seal the dipstick whick will drain the torque converter"?

What problems are you having with bleeding the brakes? Is the pedal going down all the way or feel mushy or do you keep getting bubbles?

Re. towing: Once you get the brakes fixed and working properly you shouldn't have any trouble towing (within reason of course) the problem is going to be stopping. You have to have strong legs on sudden stops with a load behind you pushing you forward. It takes some practice and safe driving precautions but it can be done. A lot of us older guys drove non power brake cars and trucks back in the old days.

Thanks for the quick response. The car truck has a small block chevy (not sure which one) with a 2bbl carb and a turbo 350 transmission. The replacement dip stick tube has a thin o-ring around it. I don't think that this O-ring is sealing correctly at the base of the dip stick tube going into the top of the transmission pan. I tried replacing it with another O-ring without luck.

What appears to be happening is that once you leave the truck sitting over night. The fluid from the torque converter drains back down into the pan which raises the level of the fluid. As there i a leak at the bottom of the dip stick. Fluid starts to drip from there and over night, the torque convert drains down completely and what's left in the transmission is whatever is in the pan, below the hole for the tip stick tube.

When I bought the truck, the brakes were completely siezed. I had to cut the drums off with an angle grinder and replace the shoes, hardware, wheel cylinders and drums.

The front brakes will bleed, and the pedal will build up pressure, but no fluid will come out of the back brakes no matter how hard i pump. There is air in the system, but I suspect that either the hoses are expanding or that I have fluid past the seals in the master cylinder.

I plan on replacing the front and rear hoses and then try to bleed the system. Failing that, I will replace the master.

[67c10rustbuket]

Originally Posted by alabbasi

I had to cut the drums off with an angle grinder and replace the shoes, hardware, wheel cylinders and drums.

Ouch ! I prefer the bfh method and a few choice words, I bet cutting the drums was a heck of a job

[hopped up]

i would look at your detent cable in your tranny. it should have an o ring to seal it
Posted via Mobile Device

[lap15]

I would definitely replace the master cylinder.
As far as towing- are you talking about a travel trailer hundreds of miles or minor towing around town? If your brakes are working properly, general towing is fine. I once towed a full size backhoe on a car trailer about 30 miles with a 70 GMC 1500 I once had (6 cyl, 3spd man) with no probs. Granted I drove the speed limit or less, but it was fine.

[67c10rustbuket]

For the trans dipstick I like to change the dipstick tube out for one from the 80s with the grommet end instead of the leaky O-ring end (see pic of grommet) There are plenty in the junkyards or just buy a new one.

I had the same issue with the rear brakes on my truck and it ended up being the steel brake line was restricted somehow and would not allow fluid to get to the rear brakes. I only figured this out after replacing everything else from the master cylinder to the wheel cylinders. After getting frustrated I disconnected the steel line on the pass side of the frame at the front and rear and blew compressed air through it, well I tried and it would not blow air through so I replaced it and bam I got rear brakes working.

Good luck!

[alabbasi]

Ha ha! I used my angle grinder which cut through it like butter. I've been tinkering a little more with it this weekend. As I may have mentioned, I bought this car with an oil leak and transmission leak, along with non working brakes.

The oil leak seems to be non existent but the transmission leak started as a leaky pan gasket and continued when I replaced the dipstick tube with one from oreilly's.

Over the past few weeks, I replaced the brake drums, shoes and wheel cylinders but I could not get the brakes to bleed, and I could not find brake hoses locally so I ordered a set from R*ck auto. After installing them, I was able to get the brakes to bleed and the truck now stops firmly. It will take some getting used to as I'm used to boosted brakes on such a large vehicle.

After changing the O ring on the transmission dip stick tube about 10 times, I was finally able to get it to seal using a metric o-ring lots of grease. I'm hoping it will hold.

I took it for a shake down cruise today and noticed upon my return that truck developed a leak from the power steering gearbox. I also noticed that the heater core was leaking coolant which I will take care off shortly.

A couple of stupid questions.

1) The heater core on my car looks to be the for the type that is specified for a non-a/c car. However, the truck has an under dash a/c unit (but no compressor at this time). Could this be an aftermarket thing?
2) I'm using ATF as power steering fluid which is what I use for all of my cars. Is this OK for GM vehicles or does it need "power steering fluid"?

I'm having lots of fun with this truck. Once make it road worthy, then i'll turn my attention to the body. It has a bit a rust and some bodged body work (the sheet metal and dry wall screws type) that I need to address.