Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Anyone upgrade their manual brakes to power? I have only the main brake cylinder in the engine bay for brakes. Looks like it only stops the front wheels and not the rear. I know having manual brakes makes for really hard breaking and stopping but I feel kike it shouldn't be so hard to stop. I can put tremendous pressure on the brake pedal and it seems like it barely gives. Are there any maintenance suggestions out there. I feel like the pedal should depress a lot more than it is. I just got the truck running and now I want to be able to drive it around a little while I am working on the restore.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

BTW its for a 63 C20

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

No, you shouldn't be able to depress the pedal like power brakes; if you can, you have air in the system or other issues. It should just have a little bit of travel before going "solid". You want to generate pressure, not motion.

The one line splits and goes to both front and rear brakes. This is a modern truck from 1963, not a horse drawn buggy, lol...

If the truck is hard to stop, then look at the brakes themselves. Drums that have been turned out much will not seat up with the shoes correctly until they wear in, which could potentially take tens of thousands of miles IME. The lower shoe contact means the brakes won't be as effective.

My '65 C10 with drums that haven't been turned and good shoes stops very well with minimal effort, and will lock the wheels up easily (manual brakes, of course). It is by no means hard to stop.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Check your wheel cylinders to see if they are froze up, when they freeze up you feel like your applying enough brake that it should stop but the wheel cylinder can't actuate the brake shoes enough to stop efficiently. Went over mine not long ago and 2 of them were froze. I went ahead and replaced all 4 wheel cylinders, shoes and hardware. Stops good now.

Yes you can upgrade to power brakes rather easily, there is info in the FAQ's regarding the parts/processes to do it. Make sure you check out CaptnFab on this site for his info on booster mounting brackets.

Welcome to the forum! How about some pics of you project?

Good Luck!

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Thanks for the tips guys!!!!

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

You sure that's not a 62 c-20? Has a 62 grill and emblems?

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

The title shows 63 and I'm pretty sure I looked up the serial number already and determined it to be a 63 as well. They guy that had it before me said he didn't do any work on it. He bought it from someone up north from us in Door County Wisconsin. Had it towed to his house two hours south and then I had it towed to my house two more hours south from the previous owner. I thought I had a picture of the serial number tag with me but I guess I dont right now.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Easiest way to tell the 60-62 and 63's apart is the 60-62's had torsion bar front ends and the 63 had coil spring front ends. There are big differences in the frames and slight differences with cab mounting, but the biggest issue is the 60-62 brake/suspension parts are different from the 63+ models.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Hi and welcome to the site does your truck have FRONT coil springs?

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

That's right. I forgot that there was a suspension change starting in 63. I will have to check when I get home. The only thing I have done so far to the truck are replace the coil, plugs, battery, battery cables, and cleaned all the connections to get it running. After that I started working on the wood bed. Most of the wood was rotted out so I figured I clean it up. Here is a picture I took after the wood was removed. Is that the torsion bar you referenced attached to the frame and the axel?

While I have everyone you can also see in the picture that there are two cross members that are bent a bit. there is a trailer hitch attached to both of them. Looks like the Farmer might have used it to pull quite a bite. Thoughts? Anything you think I need to worry about? Doesn't appear to affect the integrity of the frame. Should be something I can just cut out and weld new ones back in right?

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

That should be the Trac-bar in that picture. Torsion bars will be in the front, if you don't have springs.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Ill have to look when I get home tonight then. Thanks for the clarificaiton

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

In the pic above....boxed in frame and GM HO 10 bolt rear end.....really looks like a 62.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

I agree it looks like a '62, but that's an HO-52 Eaton; it's a 3/4 ton (20 series) truck.

BTW, nice truck. Doesn't appear to have been driven much from the condition of the interior!

Also, it looks like you have three factory 17.5" tubeless wheels and one wide aftermarket 16.5" on the truck; any chance the missing 17.5" came with it? I think those OE 17.5" and 19.5" wheels really look nice on these trucks. Nice find either way.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

That's the sh!tty part about it. It didnt come with the other 17. Not sure where I can find a single wheel to replace the over sized one. The truck is super solid. Tow truck driver tried to buy it off me before he took it off the flat bed. Its a really solid truck. It doesn't drive too bad. Engine needs some fine tuning but that will come with time.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

I got the truck for $1100.
Signed up with AAA Roadside Assistance $95
Coil, Plugs, Battery, Battery Cables $160
Have a 1960 frame and body parts in the garage $200

Total invested so far $1555 and it is almost a daily driver. Only live 6 blocks from work. LOL.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Price is right and the truck looks pretty solid. The front fenders aren't a bad repair and the interior looks great for stock.

Try the classifieds here on the forum for the rim.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Probably could find one on the forum here. Sucks that it's missing one, though.

It does look like a very nice truck! What engine does it have in it? I guess it would have had/has a 283 or 235 being a '62.

BTW, now I see you said "GM HO 10 bolt" 1963c-10. I've never called them that, so I tend to associate that with people confusing the smaller Eaton rears in the pre-'63 half tons for the later 10 bolt GM rear. FWIW, the Eaton 52/72 was actually used under 20-30 series (3/4-1 ton) trucks all the way from 1947 (IIRC) until the introduction of the 14 bolt that replaced it in 1973.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

I'm still trying to determine what exactly I have in it. Its got a straight six in it. Has the code 3836848 GM17 on the right side. Everything I keep reading says its a 230 but I didn't think they made 230's. The other side has B52 848 850 stamped on it. I have the 60-66 Assembly Manual. I looked through it last night and couldn't find what I wanted.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

The hood and fenders are shot. The hood and fenders in my garage are about 90% better condition. couple of dings in them but NO RUST. they have been cleaned up and primered already.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Yeah, but in WI I imagine that rusted out hoods and fenders are pretty easy to find, especially considering how easy they are to find here where they don't even salt the roads!

235 should be what a '62 had, but it could be a 230 that was swapped into the place of a 283. 235 will look like this:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-__jn5PFIGF...0/PICT0011.JPG

And a 230 looks like this 292, but with shorter side covers:
http://66submarine.com/292rebuildpictures/022.jpg

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Sorry for the 235 picture being so much larger than my picture of the 292, but you get the idea. They are pretty visually different from each other if you know what they look like.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Here's a 250, which is just a 230 with a longer stroke crankshaft.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Here's the best pictures i have right now

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Yep, that's a 235 (or possibly 261 if you're real lucky). Which also confirms it as a '62 in my mind, since a '63 would have a 230.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

mschwader,

Looks like a nice start, impressed with the shape of that interior. Maybe a little jealous... What's your build plans?

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

GM HO32 w/10 bolt cover....sorry 66Submarine.... was the standard 10 series rear diff and like yo said 52/72 in the larger series.

All parts point to it being a 62....I'd definitely check vin and frame number to see what you have.

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Honestly I think I want to start with the body and then in. It's got a running motor. Something most aren't lucky to find I suppose. I'm not a huge gear head anymore. At least not like I used to be. Had a 79 Chrysler 300 (came stock with a 360), 90 Chevy 454 SS (probably my most missed), 96 Camaro SS, and then a 2001 Subaru RS. I'm more traditional now in the fact that I own two newer Suburbans. I want to stay carburated. I don't really like the fuel injected idea on an old truck. I gave some thought to throwing a big block in it but it sounds like there is a lot more modification needed than just sticking a 327 or 350 in it. I'm more of a put around guy than a lead foot now.

As far as the body goes. I like the 62 Hood more than the 60 Hood so I'll stick with it. REALLY contemplating changing the bed to a Long Step Side. I already have the fenders and front and rear of the bed off a 60 in may garage. I'm pretty sure I can use those. All I should need is the longer steps in front of the wheel well, the rear steps, and the inside bed walls.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Long bed fleet to long bed step is pretty easy to do. There are different mounting locations for the bed though. The long bed stepside parts (side panels and steps) are not reproduced and a little harder to find, but they are out there....and no steps behind the fenders....just in front. If your considering a swap, I'd look for a donar bed instead of parting it together. It'd be cheaper to do. The front bed panels and tailgates for the stepsides are pretty much interchangeable from late 55-66 so that should help you with your search.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Good to know. There was someone on here down south that I spoke to a while back that was going from Step to Fleet Side and said he would possibly sell his. I'll have to check with him. I've seen some long bed steps that had a step behind the wheel. Must have been a custom job. Thats good to know too. Havent found too many goo photos online that show the back part of the beds.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

They were probably step bumpers which were normally dealer installed. The step bumpers wrap around the back of the trucks and are normally very heavy duty bumpers

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Since I know everyone is dying to know. I finally have the correct answer. It's a 62. I have no idea why I thought ut was a 63. I specifically remember reading about the changes made to 63's and up and being jealous because I had the 62.

Anyway heres a picture of the front wheel. Doesn't look like ive got coils on the front.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

BTW, from my understanding most (maybe even all?) of the parts are the same for the '55 (2nd series) to '66 stepside beds. I know the fenders and all that stuff is supposed to be '55-'66, and IIRC the tailgate is actually a '47-'87 part somehow.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Looks like a fairly decent truck :thumbs:

I agree that it is a '62 C20 with either a 235 or a 261. Most likely a 235.

I do have a single 8 hole 17.5 wheel if you are interested.

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Really? What are you looking to get for it?

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Ohhh...and I saw in the new Class Industries catalog I got yesterday that they are reproducing the long bed stepside bedsides......

Re: Upgrade to power brakes from manual
 

Pretty close....
47-53 had a different design tailgate than the 54-87

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Yeah I bought what I thought was a 64 as it came with a 64 title. The truck did not have a vin plate on the door frame but after removing the body parts found the number on the frame saying it was a 65, also the motor turned out to be a 65 so have to go through the 68A form here in Texas to get it retitled. The North Texas Auto Theft Task Force at least told me the truck is not stolen so that was a relief. But in order to get a new correct title with a new vin plate I have to get the truck completed and take it to them for inspection and then I can get the correct title and be able to get a new vin plate.

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That's what I've always thought, thanks for the picture. Can't remember who was saying it goes back to that, but I guess they got confused if it was used in '54; probably extrapolated that back or something. I think I read it on a parts site selling them, though; hopefully they've corrected that by now!

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I actually see that a lot with the tailgates being listed for the wrong years by vendors.