Sooo, I finally got me an old truck - AKC's 1968 C30

[AKC]

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

My buddy had a 72 shorty flatbed back in the day, and put some nice diamond plate boxes under the bed, looked really nice. Can't tell you where he got them (too many years ago) but it's a nice touch. He also put on some Chrome wheels, and did the wood all nice. Man that was a sweet flatbed, wish I had pics, but that was before digital cameras. He lost his storage and kept it at my place for a while, and people were always trying to buy it off me. The mud flaps say Ontario, so I don't know if the push bar is for a plow (it doesn't snow too much around Ontario) maybe the guy had a dragster or something and used it for a push truck. Cool truck. Looking forward to updates. Congratulations.

Thanks!

Not much snow around these parts, but the mount is really, REALLY sturdy.

I'd thought of contacting Atlas Truck Bodies to see if they have any records. I'm sure they get asked all the time. Worth a shot.

[AKC]

Interesting day...

Picked up the truck, drove it home. Or at least towards home. (only an 18 mile trip)

I knew the front tires were a little low, so I swung by my tire place to have them all aired up. They would't do it. Turns out the tires were 11 1/2 years old and they won't deal with them past 10 years.

I know it's just a liability thing, and I could've said "OK, thanks." And gone down to the nearest service station and done it myself.

But I trust my tire guy, and decided to spring for new shoes. One of the pitfalls of a dually - 6 tires. BF Goodrich's. Mounted and balanced, new valves/stems. Don't ask.

Then I went and stopped at the local (and new) Autozone, walked in, looked at a couple knobs and things, turned around and walked out. Went to the NAPA a couple doors down, they had what I wanted. Quality's probably not any better, but they had them.

Stopped to get some gas. I smell gas. I don't know if it's because the filler neck is right behind me, I don't see any leaks in the cab. Gas cap isn't the tightest fitting in the world. Might be coming from the engine bay, I'm not sure. Have to do some 'vestigatin.

Got home. Can't say what the neighbors think, but I really don't care. (I live in a retirement community. I know there's more than just a few motorheads in here.)

Took a bunch more pics (I'll upload later) so I could see where things started.

Then out came all the blue velour upholstery, along with all the upholstery dust. (That's what the thin foam layer had turned into) Of course it was all glued down, but so long ago that it all just peeled up. The dash pad is toast, even if it wasn't cracked, it's got glue all over it. Cheap replacement. Discovered under the blue carpet there appears to be perfectly serviceable floor matting. Pulled the velour off the shift lever (C'mon, really?) and swapped out the Virgin Mary knob for a plain black one. The door panels and dash have glue on them, but it looks a damn sight better than the blue crap. They had even upholstered the trim ring for the shift boot, but didn't bother to screw it, or the shift boot, down.

My speedo works, and the gas gauge works, that's it at the moment. The little Sunpro setup is going bye-bye as soon as possible. Removed the three (YES, THREE!) cover wraps from the steering wheel, it's in decent shape. All the lights work, but I think the turn signal switch is busted. They work, but the lever is really floppy, and I can see a crack in the plastic right at the lever. Another cheap replacement.

Vacuumed up all the crap that rained down from the foam, carpet is in fairly good shape, but I don't think it's gonna stay. The seat is in good shape, but the fold down center console wouldn't flip up with it all the way back. They had just screwed the cup holder/stowage arrangement to the back of the flip, I unscrewed it and took it off. That takes care of that. Plus I think I got an extra click further back on the seat.

So that's where it stands at the moment.

I'm gonna go pick up some fresh headlights and swing by my local Saturday Subie meet. This ought to be interesting...

Sorry for the ramble. Pics soon!

[Husker]

Don't need the Heater out there? Wish I could say that here. Nice Looking Dually
Ron

[AKC]

Well...

That...

Was...

Interesting.

I left in the truck to make a couple stops then head for the Subie meet.

I get a couple miles from home and I start to hear this "hissy-spurty" sound. From inside the cab. Took me a minute to figure out what it was.

Remember the little Sunpro gauge setup at the bottom of the dash? Well, apparently in the midst of my rooting around in there, I must've busted off the little plastic line feeding the oil pressure gauge and didn't notice. Lordy! How can such a tiny little tube make such a god-awful mess? I had nothing to cap it off with so I just turned around and headed for home. Probably left an oil trail all the way too. So that little Sunpro setup is coming out tomorrow. And I'm taking out the sender and capping off the port for now.

So I went to the Subie meet in my Subie. How dull.

Oh well, the blue carpet WAS decent looking...

Pics of this too later, they'll be good for a giggle or two.

[swamp rat]

Nice truck, albeit a bit oily now..

[AKC]

OK, pics. These are when I finally got home with it. Just to baseline and remember what I started with. There are a lot, I may have to do a few posts.

Photo place holder

My build list. Thanks. Thanks a bunch. Can't see a thing.

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Absolutely THE most ghetto brake/clutch pads I have EVER seen...

Photo place holder

[AKC]

Pics, Part Deux...

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Neighbor's basketball hoop fell over one day.
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These next two - The rivets are for???
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Perfect one to end it on.

Sorry for the discontinuity, some of the photos loaded to my bucket out of sequence.

Now for the disaster pics...

[AKC]

These were taken fairly quickly with my phone, I had to get to cleaning up...

Photo place holder

There's the little bastard, right in the middle of the last shot. The Sunpros are history. As is the carpet. Shame really, while not my ideal floor covering, I could have done without ripping out the seat tomorrow (today) and used the time to do other things.

Oh well, I'm sure this will be an exercise in patience.

To be continued...

[sboris]

Welcome.
Those rivots are for "eye brow" trim.
Neat ol truck. The p/o had some interesting taste. Be patient and keep the updates coming. Congrats!

[swamp rat]

Well the carpet wasn't a molded replacement carpet meant for these trucks so not a big loss, a replacement is probably about $125-150, its been a while since i looked at them. It will be interesting to see that dash with the cloth removed, hopefully its not all glued down. If you never had one of these trucks before the dash pad has about 6-7 studs that go thru the dash and nuts on the back side. Per the glove box SPID if there is any chance of it i would try and see of that paint would rub off of it, question is with what.. Man that's a lot of spring packs in the back too! It does need some rust repair, paint ect, the roof line would be a concern.

[Redline novdog]

I highly doubt that oily mess will be the worst of your problems. There looks to be a lot of projects on that truck,but it is a cool truck, well worth the time and money spent!!!! Good luck!

[AKC]

Originally Posted by Husker

Don't need the Heater out there? Wish I could say that here. Nice Looking Dually
Ron

Thanks! There are pros and cons to living here, the weather is (usually) one of the pros.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Nice truck, albeit a bit oily now..

Thanks! Let's just call it "preemptive ferrous substrate preservation"

Originally Posted by sboris

Welcome.
Those rivets are for "eye brow" trim.
Neat ol" truck. The p/o had some interesting taste. Be patient and keep the updates coming. Congrats!

That's what I was thinking, I'll imagine those bits can be hard to track down? Yes, yes he did. But he's a cool old guy, Vietnam vet, retired from Rocketdyne, recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. That's the reason for the selloff, the DMV is threatening him with the loss of his license.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Well the carpet wasn't a molded replacement carpet meant for these trucks so not a big loss, a replacement is probably about $125-150, its been a while since i looked at them. It will be interesting to see that dash with the cloth removed, hopefully its not all glued down. If you never had one of these trucks before the dash pad has about 6-7 studs that go thru the dash and nuts on the back side. Per the glove box SPID if there is any chance of it i would try and see of that paint would rub off of it, question is with what.. Man that's a lot of spring packs in the back too! It does need some rust repair, paint ect, the roof line would be a concern.

Yeah, I'm not real "tore up" about the carpet, it was coming out anyway. The dash and door panels all have very old contact cement on them, and yet I still think they look better than what was there. Knew about the dash pad, but it's gonna be replaced also, glue all over it and cracked. (badly)

I'm going to try to resurrect the SPID, but I'm fairly dubious of any success. That is one heck of a rear spring set, innit?

Those two spots, the right rocker and right corner of the roof line are pretty much the worst of the rust. The paint is going to be cleaned up a little, but I'm not going too mess with it too much. I want to keep the "character" of the truck.

Originally Posted by Redline novdog

I highly doubt that oily mess will be the worst of your problems. There looks to be a lot of projects on that truck,but it is a cool truck, well worth the time and money spent!!!! Good luck!

Thanks. Thanks! and Thank you! It'll probably be needed.

Appreciate all the comments so far, and I'll have questions, I'm sure.

[67swb72klb]

I would take care of the drip rail caulk to keep the inner roof from rusting

[WorkinLonghorn]

Nice Truck. If it was mine I would add an electric dumping mechanism to the bed and put it to work.

I'm down the 101 a bit from you and coincidentally had some of the exact problems that you had, in the last 2 months.

" I must've busted off the little plastic line feeding the oil pressure gauge and didn't notice."

That happened to me in Dec. and covered my new boots in hot oil on the Ventura freeway. I pulled over and had to drill out the little flange fitting that slides over the end of the plastic tube and reinstall (it doesn't read right but at least it doesn't leak).

"Stopped to get some gas. I smell gas. I don't know if it's because the filler neck is right behind me, I don't see any leaks in the cab. Gas cap isn't the tightest fitting in the world. Might be coming from the engine bay, I'm not sure. Have to do some 'vestigatin."

Same here last week. Turned out to be the fuel pump leaking past the crimp. Darn thing only lasted 19 years. Check that and the hose clamps there and the rest of the pressurized side.


"6 tires. BF Goodrich's. Mounted and balanced, new valves/stems. Don't ask."

HAHA, I laughed out loud at this. My first set of new tires cost more than I paid for this truck ( a LOT more).

"Oh, and I finally have a vehicle the new B/Y plates will look good (and correct) on.

It's too weird seeing a 2015 BMW X5 running a B/Y plate. Or on my 2015 WRX STi for that matter..."

My thoughts exactly ( We are talking about the Black and Yellow plates from the '60s that the DMV has brought back as a $50 option for ANY vehicle).
Now my original black plates mean nothing.

Could be a NP trans. My New Process has one PTO on the right side. If memory serves me (it rarely does these days) the CH (SM) 465 had them on both sides.

Good work so far AKC. -Brian

[AKC]

Originally Posted by 67swb72klb

I would take care of the drip rail caulk to keep the inner roof from rusting

Thanks. I'm gonna get to that.

Originally Posted by WorkinLonghorn

Nice Truck. If it was mine I would add an electric dumping mechanism to the bed and put it to work.

I'm down the 101 a bit from you and coincidentally had some of the exact problems that you had, in the last 2 months.

" I must've busted off the little plastic line feeding the oil pressure gauge and didn't notice."

That happened to me in Dec. and covered my new boots in hot oil on the Ventura freeway. I pulled over and had to drill out the little flange fitting that slides over the end of the plastic tube and reinstall (it doesn't read right but at least it doesn't leak).

"Stopped to get some gas. I smell gas. I don't know if it's because the filler neck is right behind me, I don't see any leaks in the cab. Gas cap isn't the tightest fitting in the world. Might be coming from the engine bay, I'm not sure. Have to do some 'vestigatin."

Same here last week. Turned out to be the fuel pump leaking past the crimp. Darn thing only lasted 19 years. Check that and the hose clamps there and the rest of the pressurized side.


"6 tires. BF Goodrich's. Mounted and balanced, new valves/stems. Don't ask."

HAHA, I laughed out loud at this. My first set of new tires cost more than I paid for this truck ( a LOT more).

"Oh, and I finally have a vehicle the new B/Y plates will look good (and correct) on.

It's too weird seeing a 2015 BMW X5 running a B/Y plate. Or on my 2015 WRX STi for that matter..."

My thoughts exactly ( We are talking about the Black and Yellow plates from the '60s that the DMV has brought back as a $50 option for ANY vehicle).
Now my original black plates mean nothing.

Could be a NP trans. My New Process has one PTO on the right side. If memory serves me (it rarely does these days) the CH (SM) 465 had them on both sides.

Good work so far AKC. -Brian

Thanks! It is going to be a work in progress.

I didn't get black plates for the Subie, even though it sounds like I did. It would look silly.

Just trying to come up with something I like (and isn't already taken) for black plates on the truck.



As this is becoming more of a resurrection/build thread, I'm going to ask a mod to move it to the "1967-72 Projects and Builds Forum"

Look for the title "Sooo, I finally got me an old truck - AKC's 1968 C30"

Thanks for all the well wishes and support so far...

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by AKC

Thanks!

Knew about the dash pad, but it's gonna be replaced also, glue all over it and cracked. (badly)

Appreciate all the comments so far, and I'll have questions, I'm sure.

The dash pad should be the last thing you remove from the interior and the first thing you put back in after it is painted.... You will see why when you go to remove it....

LockDoc

[AKC]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

The dash pad should be the last thing you remove from the interior and the first thing you put back in after it is painted.... You will see why when you go to remove it....

LockDoc

Yeah, I kinda figured that after seeing what a tight fit it is whan I pulled it to remove the upholstery. Reaching some of the back nuts must be interesting. None had been installed on the left side. I'm just glad all the blue velour is gone.

[AKC]

Got the seat pulled and cleaned up most of the oil. Carpet is out. The right side of the floor mat is in good shape, the left side, not so much. But it's not oil-soaked carpet. The shift boot and trim ring are still out, being cleaned. I'm going to try different things to remove the old contact cement, using it as the test piece.

The seat was only bolted in with 4 bolts, I'll get some new ones tomorrow.

Took some pics of the after-upholstery removal and clean-up. It's ugly, but better than it was. Also removed the tint strip across the top of the windshield.
Straightened and tightened the aerial, even though I yanked and tossed the radio. Looks better than a hole in the cowl.

Also realized I hadn't taken any shots of the wheels with their new boots. At least they're not splits. The shop couldn't get one lug to go back on, it was messed up. Picked up a few at NAPA yesterday. It's close, a little shorter, and shinier.

Took a few more shots of the engine bay after installing the plug in the oil pressure sender port. Tried to spot the engine #'s but couldn't see them. Flat spot on the block, below the alternator, right?

Here we go...

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I'm just going to keep chipping away at stuff. Once the seat is bolted in all the way again, I'm going to get it out to the hobby shop and up on a lift to do an oil change, fresh oil in the trans, and diff. I'm going to assume that this is NOT a posi rear end and therefore friction additive is not required.

Thanks again for all the views and well wishes.

[flashed]

The dash looks pretty good compared to most and much better than before .Interior is much better with all that other crap taken off .The wheels and tires look good .

[WarMonger]

Originally Posted by AKC

Interesting day...

Picked up the truck, drove it home. Or at least towards home. (only an 18 mile trip)

I knew the front tires were a little low, so I swung by my tire place to have them all aired up. They would't do it. Turns out the tires were 11 1/2 years old and they won't deal with them past 10 years.

I know it's just a liability thing, and I could've said "OK, thanks." And gone down to the nearest service station and done it myself.

But I trust my tire guy, and decided to spring for new shoes. One of the pitfalls of a dually - 6 tires. BF Goodrich's. Mounted and balanced, new valves/stems. Don't ask.

Then I went and stopped at the local (and new) Autozone, walked in, looked at a couple knobs and things, turned around and walked out. Went to the NAPA a couple doors down, they had what I wanted. Quality's probably not any better, but they had them.

Stopped to get some gas. I smell gas. I don't know if it's because the filler neck is right behind me, I don't see any leaks in the cab. Gas cap isn't the tightest fitting in the world. Might be coming from the engine bay, I'm not sure. Have to do some 'vestigatin.

Got home. Can't say what the neighbors think, but I really don't care. (I live in a retirement community. I know there's more than just a few motorheads in here.)

Took a bunch more pics (I'll upload later) so I could see where things started.

Then out came all the blue velour upholstery, along with all the upholstery dust. (That's what the thin foam layer had turned into) Of course it was all glued down, but so long ago that it all just peeled up. The dash pad is toast, even if it wasn't cracked, it's got glue all over it. Cheap replacement. Discovered under the blue carpet there appears to be perfectly serviceable floor matting. Pulled the velour off the shift lever (C'mon, really?) and swapped out the Virgin Mary knob for a plain black one. The door panels and dash have glue on them, but it looks a damn sight better than the blue crap. They had even upholstered the trim ring for the shift boot, but didn't bother to screw it, or the shift boot, down.

My speedo works, and the gas gauge works, that's it at the moment. The little Sunpro setup is going bye-bye as soon as possible. Removed the three (YES, THREE!) cover wraps from the steering wheel, it's in decent shape. All the lights work, but I think the turn signal switch is busted. They work, but the lever is really floppy, and I can see a crack in the plastic right at the lever. Another cheap replacement.

Vacuumed up all the crap that rained down from the foam, carpet is in fairly good shape, but I don't think it's gonna stay. The seat is in good shape, but the fold down center console wouldn't flip up with it all the way back. They had just screwed the cup holder/stowage arrangement to the back of the flip, I unscrewed it and took it off. That takes care of that. Plus I think I got an extra click further back on the seat.

So that's where it stands at the moment.

I'm gonna go pick up some fresh headlights and swing by my local Saturday Subie meet. This ought to be interesting...

Sorry for the ramble. Pics soon!

Do you remember a little shop there called Cam auto? I dont think they are in business anymore, but that guy was old skool parts man.

[AKC]

Originally Posted by flashed

The dash looks pretty good compared to most and much better than before .Interior is much better with all that other crap taken off .The wheels and tires look good .

Thanks! I like it better, and it feels good knowing the rubber is good to go for a while.

Originally Posted by WarMonger

Do you remember a little shop there called Cam auto? I dont think they are in business anymore, but that guy was old skool parts man.

I do, and I think you're right, the place is gone. I have some friends/former coworkers that are into the Camarillo hotrod/car scene, I need to get back in touch with them.

And now that I look at them, the clearance lights are a bit past their prime. Would it be safe to assume that LED lights on a vehicle this age would look entirely out of place? I kinda think so, I may see if I can score just some new(ish) lenses and put fresh bulbs in.

[AKC]

Originally Posted by WarMonger

Do you remember a little shop there called Cam auto? I dont think they are in business anymore, but that guy was old skool parts man.

Actually, I take that back, they moved to the center on Adolfo, between Lewis and Flynn.

However, he sold the business a year or two ago. Haven't been to them in a while.

[AKC]

Got the seat bolted down with all 8 bolts (imagine that!), one is stripped (oddly enough, not the one I was expecting to be) I'll get a slightly longer bolt and back it up with a washer and nut.

Brake and clutch pads arrived today, no more ghetto kluge.

And some new vent handles showed up, another kluge eliminated.

Still have a little oil dripping out the left side...

[Katrina/10]

At least you won't have to worry about tires, those look great. Interior looks way better without all the floppy fabric. Always fun fixing things other people think are cool.

[AKC]

Originally Posted by Katrina/10

At least you won't have to worry about tires, those look great. Interior looks way better without all the floppy fabric. Always fun fixing things other people think are cool.

Thanks! Just trying to clean it up.

Got the DMV out of the way today, it was actually quite painless. Except the paying part...