!965 Chevy C-10 Take 2: Project Tanya

[fryer1979]

I wish like hell I was kidding, makes me shudder to think how many great 60's and earlier cars have gone through that yard that no one noticed or saved. I'm just happy that I found this little girl in time, and yes she is a '67. What is left of her isn't in too bad of shape, definitely buildable. Pretty much all that is there is a body, doors, and the front subframe. She's a ground up builder, but that's perfect for what we are doing with her. The 67s have always been my favorite first gen, because of the wing windows, but I have never had one before (even though I had a pretty cool but beat up 68 Camaro just after high school). I'm so excited to have this 'bird in my shop now, words just can't describe.

[fryer1979]

Oh and I did finally put my lettering kit on the grill I refinished last summer....sheesh. The grill and bumper are still in perfect shape so it all looks great....but of course I forgot to take a picture, . I also got the rear lights working again, just needed to clean the grounding surfaces on the tail light housings. She is almost ready for a cars show...

[66-PMD-GMC]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me!.....They were going to crush a early Firebird? Congrats on saving it from an undeserving death. It doesn't look like it is in bad shape. Is it a '67?

Actually the body looks to be in better shape than my '68 Camaro

67... wing windows... stupid people shouldn't reproduce and anyone that would crush an old Pontiac would be stupid in my book... GREAT save.. Do you have a pontiac engine? If not, I have an extra..

[McMurphy]

I figure you have to be a human that is motivated by something totally alien in order to run a crusher.
Like being a Mortician I suppose.

[fryer1979]

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

67... wing windows... stupid people shouldn't reproduce and anyone that would crush an old Pontiac would be stupid in my book... GREAT save.. Do you have a pontiac engine? If not, I have an extra..

I don't have one at the moment, however I do have a B.O.P. patterned TH400. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a good 455... Oh, and I know you would get a kick out of this, I met a guy here in my town with about a 5 acre plot of land who is hoarding Chevelles and GTOs! He mostly has 66 and 67 cars, but there are a handful of all the other years thrown in there as well. Of course he won't sell a single one, but I will be working on him...at lest they won't go to the crusher! His entire family is big into building classic muscle, so they won't sit forever either.

Originally Posted by McMurphy

I figure you have to be a human that is motivated by something totally alien in order to run a crusher.
Like being a Mortician I suppose.

I agree with you on the crusher, I certainly couldn't do it....and the guy that owns and runs the salvage yard is a gearhead with a sick collection of cars....makes no sense to me. I could do the mortician gig though, for some reason that kind of thing never bothered me.....

[fryer1979]

Well she is ready for the show tomorrow, well as ready as she will get anyway. I'm getting really bad at this picture thing, but at least I remembered to snap one just before I came in to work. She made the 45 mile commute here to work just fine, and as soon as I'm off at 6 am we'll be headed the next 65 miles to the show....hopefully I get a chance to nap a couple hours or I'm gonna be one tired puppy tomorrow night.

[66-PMD-GMC]

Originally Posted by fryer1979

I don't have one at the moment, however I do have a B.O.P. patterned TH400. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a good 455... .

Things to look for on the 455 are cracked cylinder walls and signs it was hot or run with water and no coolant.
455 pontiacs are thin walled motors and dollar for dollar building a 455'ed 400 is the better route.
Let me know if you need help on a PM. I work extra hard with Pontiac owners that keep brand X motors out of their build plan.

[fryer1979]

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

Things to look for on the 455 are cracked cylinder walls and signs it was hot or run with water and no coolant.
455 pontiacs are thin walled motors and dollar for dollar building a 455'ed 400 is the better route.
Let me know if you need help on a PM. I work extra hard with Pontiac owners that keep brand X motors out of their build plan.

Hmm, I never would have imagined that the 455 would be a thin walled engine. I thought they were one of the toughest out there. I will shoot you a PM on the 400 subject though, I know where a couple of those are in decent shape so i am interested in what you have for information. And don't worry, I wouldn't put anything bu poncho power in this bad bird.


Car show went sweet, and I slept the entire rest of my weekend away after I made it home on Sunday afternoon. My buddy's club (the Union 40 Rodders) did an outstanding job for their first show, and hanging with a bunch of kool kats and some sick vintage rides was so worth my lack of sleep. That hot Nevada sun was killer, but Tanya pulled around like the trucker she is. I've been busy as hell trying to get all caught up from the weekend away, so I'll get some pictures uploaded here in the next couple days. GOOD TIMES!!!!!

[fryer1979]

Ok, here are a few pics from the show. This isn't all I took, but it is a general idea of what was there, and most of the GM trucks. Sorry my phone was taking really crappy pics that day. I messed with it for a while but couldn't get any better.

The first two shots show Tanya and my buddy's '61 Econoline pickup "Kontroled Khaos". It wound up being just the two of our vehicles from my club that could make it. Registration numbers 01, and 02.





This one is a basic line up of the club that put on the show, the Union 40 Rodders. Very kool bunch of guys, and some killer rides....a few of which showed up quite a bit later.



These two were late at night and I had been awake for more than 48 hours. I was trying to show that yes we were actually camping in tents behind the Kit Kat complex. Not very good, but you can kind of make it out...

[fryer1979]

some rides from the show:

[fryer1979]

More:

[fryer1979]

And more:

[fryer1979]

And the last one I'll post was by far my favorite vehicle in the show. This thing was absolutely insane! The guy is a high end car builder and has worked on several movie cars, and many trophy winning show cars. He told me that he just got bored with building off the shelf cars for his customers and just started cutting and hacking on some truck bodies he had (and a mid 80's Mercedes too), with the intent of building something unique and unusual that was nice to drive and fun to show. He calls it done as it is, and even though I don't have a picture right here to show you all, the interior is a top quality job. I think this thing is perfect as it is, and he drives it all over!

[chad64chevy]

fryer, ive been wondering what you have been up too! nice car show, wish i could have gone to a few this summer but had to work!

ive been buying things to work on my truck, and working a lot 7 days a week since may! anyways good to hear from you!

[fryer1979]

Where to start? Well this whole passed week and a half has been a crazy busy week for me out at my shop. It all started with a general ignition tune up at the beginning of last week. While I was in there doing the tune up I went ahead and installed the basic tach I have had sitting for months on my shelves waiting. I went to dial in the carb after the new ignition parts were installed, and I saw that the gasket between the carb base and fuel bowl was leaking pretty bad. So a rebuild kit was ordered. Meanwhile, I have always been aware of an exhaust leak at or around the manifold, so naturally I assumed it was the donut that sealed the downpipe to the manifold. At the same time I picked up the carb kit, I grabbed a new exhaust donut. After completing my carb rebuild, I took the exhaust pipe off the manifold only to have the pipe crumble from corrosion in my hands. So i went back to the parts house, picked up a stick of 2", a glass pack, and some misc supplies. stopped by the local exhaust shop and had them bend up my new down pipe, and my $65 exhaust kit was complete. Got all of that installed and was just putting on the finishing touches tonight when my buddy and I decided to swap out to my new HEI distributor. No big deal except I only had an hour and a half to work before I had to start getting ready for my regular job.... Turned out ok though, because the battery died from cranking the engine over and over through all the day's events today just 15 minutes short of my having to leave. So for now she sits, still not quite running but very close...hopefully tomorrow night we can get her dialed in and running tip-top. Oh, and that exhaust leak turned out to be a missing bolt in the manifold.....if you look at the picture that shows the new HEI distributor, you can see the stud we put in just in front of the carb (it is the bolt that is more rusty than anything else). The new exhaust does sound sweet though, love that glass pack on there.



Here are a couple shots of how she sat when we finished up for the day. In the more side view you can see my new exhaust pipe poking out from under the bed. I'm pretty stoked about my cheapie exhaust. I need to take the down pipe back off and take it back to the exhaust shop to have hime cut a couple inches off the top and re-flare the pipe because it hangs a bit too low for my taste.





Current engine shot. Once we are done with all of the dialing in I'm going to see what I can do about detailing the engine up a bit, I'm getting tired of the nasty engine compartment.



Most of my $65 exhaust kit:



And what was left of the old one still on the truck:

[fryer1979]

A few more pics.....

Carburetor in pieces:





Not really any specific reason for this one, other than I just thought it was cool to see Tanya with my '67 in front of her:



Here is a left over picture from the Bettys, Bombs, and Bikes car show. The next morning we went to visit our buddy's shop. He is one of the head guys in the Union 40 Rodders club (the club that put on the show), and he owns a business in Dayton, Nv. called Innovative Rod Products. We just wanted to hang out a bit and check out the shop. Yes my bed is full of camping gear....



And finally, my little shop buddy in training. She is only a little over 4 months old right now, so she is too young to be at the shop for long. But she does enjoy visiting from time to time, and is learning about riding in a truck bed.

[shok]

Your new exhaust looks pretty much like what I cobbled together on Saturday, I'm not happy with one part I rushed tho so I have to re do it. Is yours also 2 inch pipe? I was surprised how nice the glass pack sounds on the inline 6.
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[fryer1979]

Yes mine is a 2" pipe all the way back, with a Thrush glasspack. I had a shop bend my downpipe, and make a 45 degree bend for the tailpipe for me. I did all the cutting and fitting myself. Not too bad for a redneck with $45 in parts and a 20 spot to the exhaust shop guy. I just have to get my down pipe shortened a little and I'm good to go. I agree, these inline 6 engines sound awesome with a glasspack and straight pipe.

[fryer1979]

Well, she is still in the shop. I got the HEI and new carb tuned in enough to be driveable, but I still have quite a ways to go. She is really rough running and acts like she wants to die on idle (and sometimes will). Got a few other things in the works as well. There is a small local car show coming up in a week, and I am trying to get a bunch of things done on her before the show. Pulled the grill back off because one of the headlight adjusters popped out of place, and that has turned into a full headlight modification. At the same time I started sanding more of the primer off to reveal the original paint and patina still alive underneath. Hopefully I can get her all done and cleaned up before next weekend. Pics

[shok]

Been awhile since this thread was updated. Have you checked for vac leaks? Does this motor have decent compression? What's the idle speed set at?
With an hei and rebuilt carb I can't think of much that would make these motors run rough. Mine is worn all to hell and even with all the smoke still runs smooth.
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[fryer1979]

Well, I got all of the sanding done for now. She didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, so I will probably throw a little paint on her that I have around here. But at least she looks different for the upcoming show. I started to warm her up a little bit to do some tuning on the ignition and induction systems, but then realized how late it was and that I had to close up to get ready for work tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get her smoothed out and running proper. Even with the way she runs now, she is a whole lot stronger than she was before. Maybe it is just me, maybe I'm odsessing over a problem that doesn't exist.... oh well, I will know tomorrow for sure.

Couple shots:

[redneck6]

looking awsome hillbilly . if dam piston would get here mine would be a runner agin . i rebulit that sj 327 .

[fryer1979]

Spent some time and got her running a little better, but I am still far from happy. The linkages in the throttle are all worn out and held together with bailing wire. I have to put my put under the throttle rod in the cab and pull to get it to drop below 2000 RPMs whenever I am in neutral. Still chuggs like crazy and stumbles all over itself at an idle. Smooths out decently under acceleration, but just doesn't sound right to me...maybe I'm too used to V8s. I need to do a compression test, but that will have to wait until after the car show this weekend. No vaccuum leaks, and the carb seems to be working fine with no leaks....the only thing left is an issue with the engine. On the bright side, a really good friend of mine picked up some pinstriping supplies and is getting back into pinstriping. He wanted to get some practice, so I let him have some fun in the engine bay. Tanya got some tattoos, .

[McMurphy]

Sure is great seeing you posting again !!
Awesome that you are showing Tanya too !!

[fryer1979]

Thanks man. Progress is always slow, but one of the things we believe in in my car club is that as long as our vehicles are driveable we will be driving them to meets and shows....regardless of condition. I've got a few things in mind for Tanya this winter, so hopefully I can keep motivated to keep heading out to the shop.