1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

After lots of lurking, reading other peoples build threads I finally bought a C10 - what could go wrong?
Buy a nice clean truck and just use it - right?
Hmm - that was the plan but as usual I just couldn't leave it alone and started tinkering on the poor little truck.

I looked for "the right truck" for some time - initially looking at 67 onwards trucks then briefly F100s (sorry) and finally settled on a 64-66.
OilCityNC in Hayling Island UK had a lovely looking solid truck that they had bought from the original owner in California and it looked like a goodun so after a look over it I decided to go for it.
couple of pics of the old girl still in US:
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...1&d=1630078246
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...1&d=1630078246

My prior project cars have always been air cooled Volkswagens - very different from US pickups but they all appeal to me.
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...1&d=1630078246

I have always hankered after a pickup and have built a LandRover Defender - which was really nice but tiny.
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...1&d=1630078246

When the truck arrived on the back of a flatbed truck the sheer size of the thing dawned on me! - well the length of the bed more than anything. I love the proportion of the long bed but ultimately realised pretty early on that I wanted to shorten it - but didn't know how.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...1&d=1630078701

After fiddling about with the truck a bit in preparation for its first MOT test I found there were a few bits that would need sorting:
it had 2 inch thick wheel spacers all round to allow fitment of 5 stud chrome wheels to the 6 stud drums - these had to go :-)
I got a set of wheel vintique steels - 8 and 6 inch wide with 255 and 235 tyres - this was a great improvement in my book.

The original 283ci motor had been swapped out for a 350 at some point and was a good runner with a dual plane intake, quadrajet and HEI dizzy bolted up to the original 2 speed glide with column change. I was pretty happy with the motor and trans but after a few longer trips I started reading articles about how overdrive boxes and LS motors worked well for these trucks - more of that to follow.

Other than the wheels and tyres the other addition to the truck was an original 60's camper shell which was made in cali originally - a great addition to protect the bed from the UK weather - which tends to be a bit WET.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...1&d=1630078723

more to follow - at this point the truck is mostly in boxes :-0

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Sounds like a great truck. Can't wait to see more.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

A good look round the truck and overall it has done very well being over 55 years old - the warm climate has certainly helped.

A few addd ons over the years like many other trucks - modern stereo hole elegantly added with tin snips, the AC holes in the core support with a gas spanner - the usuals but nothing to worry about overall.

The kick plates and inner cills have a few holes from sitting water and the usual dents to sort out (or not).

I decided to pull the motor and build a simple 6.0 LS with 4L80e - with a carb and minimal electronics - I wanted a quiet, strong motor that could tow stuff and also be a bit of fun when the need arises :-)

I sold the motor and glide as a package locally and once gone I could start tearing the LS donor motor down...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Good to see you posting up.

Like many of us, so many toys over time.

Nice truck.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

thanks Grizz

yes - too many toys and not enough time -

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Looks like a nice truck - when's the next instalment as I take it that you are a bit further on than the pictures above!

P. :D

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Thanks P
Yes - a few months worth to catch up on.
I’ll post something every day to get up to current day :-)
That way you can keep me honest with updates

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

LS engine stripdown

I bought a used 'donor' engine - sight unseen through a engine buyer in UK - a bit of a gamble and the 'first' engine that arrived looked tidy BUT one of the pistons didnt move when turning the motor over! - this engine was collected and inspected - a rod had snapped and tried to escape through the side of the case - without quibble another engine was sent overnight and I started again.

The replacement looked good on first inspection and once fully stripped down all I could find was a pitted cam lobe and a missing lifter.

The engine is a 2005/2006 LQ4 - probably out of a delivery truck or similar - the front pulley is a long version and it has 317 heads that are lower compression.

The rods are the later gen4 floating pin type but the ignition is a 24 tooth early version.

All the heads seemed good and the bores still had crosshatching intact - more on that later!

The plan was to change out mains, rod, rings and all the usual seals and put it back together. However, a schoolboy error changed things.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Engine build - the scratched bore!

I cleaneded everything up and built the bottom end - time to install the pistons, rods - stupidly I thought I would use my trusty old ring compressor - nomally used for 90mm vw stuff so maxed it out for the LS pistons and ended up twisting a ring and then pushing it down the bore.

I might have got away with a ball hone but did not want to risk the build so decided to have the block cut .30" and decked. They also cut the heads .30" to raise the CR up a little over 10:1.

I used Summit LS PRO forged pistons along with some valvetrain upgrades from Brian Tooley Racing.

The entire bottom end was dynamically balanced and blueprinted and I sourced MSD intake kit along with a Holley 750 DP to make a simple motor that I could add onto at a later date if needed :-)

This all went together with new ancillaries and accessory drive from ICT to make a tidy little motor - now to source a 4L80e for it.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Now that looks very nice!

Did you swap the cam out for a BTR stage 2 or the like?

Would be good to hear your feedback.

P. :D

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Thanks Paul - yes went with BTR stage2 kit which came with dual springs, tougher pushrods and retainers. I didn’t want to go mad on cam and make the truck useless low down in rev range.

BTR do turbo cams also 😉
Only other cam related thing I did was to change trunnions to brass bushings and lost all the rocker roller bearings - apparently they can let go into the motor - relatively inexpensive to change.

All new this LS lark but have enjoyed working on it so far...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

That will make two of us then!

Not purchased my cam as yet but going to go for the Sloppy stage 2 and pak springs. Like you I am going to upgrade the trunions, seems silly not too really…

P. :D

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Just a fair warning.... I have an LS 5.3 in my 1969 that was fully rebuilt, upgraded cam and lifters and such, stock heads cleaned up and work a bit, headers, changed out intake and throttle body... and so on. With that said, honestly the hardest part is the wiring. I went with PSI Conversions. Great company honestly, BUT they do not do any custom stuff, so getting the GM Brain programed to work with your set up... that is up to you to find someone that can and will, get your checkbook out.... I have done this and i am very frustrated at the outcome. I cannot work on it, see issues and such because i do not have the software to work on it, proprietary with GM or such that i know of. Anyways, I have done alot of research and found that Holly makes a complete wiring kit with mini screen or full computer program for the LS Family! It comes with everything to make it work and allow you to do complete custom tune or just allow the computer to self learn. It is not cheap at $1400.00 for me with 4L60E but then again PSI was over 1,000.00 so ...... anyways, just something to keep in mind. Not saying to not go with PSI or other or redo stock harness yourself, just giving out what i have found.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

thanks 88Stanger - I totally hear you on the electronics, ECUs and such - I have actively avoided as much as possible.

I have gone with an MSD1412 unit that manages the ignition, cam and crank sensors and have a unit for the 4L80e that changes gear for me with the help from the sensor on the Holley carb.

So - I'm "hoping" that I can avoid tuning or needing specialists to get everything to play nicely in an old truck :-)

Only other unit I needed to get was a digital to analogue speedo converter - a funny little box of tricks that takes the speed sensor output from the 4L80e and turns it into a short speedo cable in to the back of my stock gauge - magic - if it works - we shall see...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

The gearbox refresh - 4L80e

After a bit of reading on the Tinternet it seems these LS motors have been known to punish some gearboxes.

The 2 speed power glide whilst very strong and simple - I thought it would get a bit old revving the poor motor on a run so decided to go for an overdrive box.

The TH400 is known for its strength but it is only available in 3 speed.

The 700R4 is a 4 speed but too many haters online saying they are fragile - whilst Im sure you could build one to last - it probably would not be in my budget.

So the 4L80e seemed to tick most boxes - strong, 4 speed, a bit more modern - the only slight negative for me was it would need an electronic controller and a speedo converter to use the stock gauges.

I managed to source a box “that was running well when pulled” - always a gamble but it was cheap enough to use as a core if it turned bad.

It arrived on a pallet with a converter and no yoke. All looked well on the outside so time to crack it open and fit a shift kit and a few other small mods to help it along - as well as a new harness and filter and gaskets.

Its always a bit scary opening up an auto if you haven’t done one before - the fear of having a ballbearing left over when “you’re done”.

Lots of Youtube videos later and a few parts and I was ready.

It all went surprisingly well - drilling holes in oil galleries isn’t something to get mostly right :-)

I added a deeper sump for some additional fluid and fitted some AN6 fittings to allow an external cooler and fan to keep things from getting too warm.

A sonar forged yoke added on a slip joint to make hooking the prop a bit easier - the tuck is now short so I can run a single prop and loose the centre bearing on the crossmember.

A couple of links to the parts I went with use in case they are useful to anyone else messing with 4L80s :-)

The TransGo Reprogramming shift kit for 4l80e and 4L85e - https://transgo.com/product-details/4l80e-hd2/

The gearbox controller - https://www.tciauto.com/ez-tcu-gm-4l...ontroller.html

The TCI deep sump - https://spike-performance.com/produc...-deep-oil-pan/

The speedo converter box of tricks - https://www.dakotadigital.com/index....rod/prd886.htm

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Ice cream and burn outs by the weekend then.

P. :D

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

If only :-)

I’m catching up quickly with my photos - couple more posts and I’ll be up to date - looking forward to hearing yours fire up...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Chassis Shortening

There are many threads on how to cut down a short bed luckily so I had almost done the job in my head before I had started.

However - I did not have either a clear garage space or a decent welder so happily let the professionals do this part of the project for me.

I used Valley Gas Speedshop in Andover UK - they were fantastic - they filled my specific (pedantic) requirements and also recommended some improvements.

The truck was delivered to them with cab and bed mounted so they had both the chassis and also the bed sides to cut.

The chassis was cut 20” using a large step joint with rounded corners and also a box behind which provides a lot of additional strength.

To provide some additional rigidity they added large gussets along the rails and crossmember.

To allow for a frame height exhaust 2 large tubes were welded into the crossmember also so I could tuck the tubing up into the frame.

The rear of the rails were also trimmed slightly to allow the fitment of a mid 60s mustang 16 gal tank and the addition of a removable rear crossmember to add some protection for the bed mounted tank.

The rear cab mounts were moved back 12” and all unnecessary tabs were removed to clean things up.

Finally a set of HD C notch panels were added to allow the truck to be lowered at the rear and not risk contacting the frame on the axle.

The chassis would then be ready for media blast followed by 2k epoxy and a tough chassis paint.

final picture is one of my hens using the chassis to perch on - its useful to someone at least...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Bed Side Shortening

Valley Gas handled the bed side shortening for me - cutting them 12” ahead of the wheel opening and 8 behind.

The RHS bedside went smoothly but the LHS had a secret - a bond secret.

There was approx 25mm of bonds towards the rear of the bedside stretching across the wheel opening to the front.

Bondo does not play nicely with a TIG welder so it all had to come off to reveal the battle scars.

Surprisingly the condo did not match the dent. Valley cut out additional sections of the damaged side and replaced them with the cut sections from the RH side.

Although not straightforward I have retained the factory bedsides and they will only require light filling to correct the joints.

All the stake pockets and holes were removed along with many holes added for hooks and other add ons over the years.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

AMAZING WORK

Really nice to see what you have had done

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Truck is now short and ready for the blastfest to start.

Photo showing how deep that bondo was on the bedside - pleased how it turned out - the panels are relatively straight and everything sits nice and square on the revised frame.

I made up some dollies for the frame to make it easier to push the frame around on the gravel - I hate gravel when working on cars.

I also made up a larger version for the cab so I can move that around a bit easier when prepping it for the new interior, wiring and other stuff planned.

I got the axle stripped down and plan to use an Eaton truetrac with 3.73 gears and strange axles with 5 x 4.75 pattern.

Some may have noticed the camper top in the early shots - this is now 2 foot too long :-). I plan to cut it down and have it removable - stored under the carport when I dont need it on the truck.

this now brings me up-to-date with trucky progress so posts will likely be more detailed, smalller jobs and certainly not twice a day :-)

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Off to the blasters today - as soon as its back it will be covered with epoxy primer and then I can start moving in the right direction finally. As soon as stuff starts to get painted it feels like you have come over the brow of the hill :-)

Without the use of a garage I will need to do the majority of the build under a carport - not ideal but excited to get the chassis back and start finally bolting stuff back on...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Don't think I would blast another chassis, good choice on farming it out!

P. :D

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Spent some time on the cab - made a dolly with big (gravel friendly) tyres so I can push the old thing around the drive to work on it more easily.

A few lengths of 3x3 and 2x2 - probably overkill but made it in 2 parts with a timber strut holding it true - it can be dissembled and stored somewhere afterwards or extended into a bed dolly - just thought of that :-)

The firewall had a lot of holes - some made with a gas spanner that had to go.

I am running a small aftermarket heater and blower that will be mounted in the cab so I removed all the heater setup and the holes were filled.

Before the cab goes for media blast I had to remove the tar-board insulation under the dash - horrible stuff to remove.

Also ground down some of the welds on the inside too so I don't have to do too much grinding once its in epoxy.

Fuel tank mount removal? - whats the consensus - trim and leave alone or remove them? - I have a bed mounted tank and would like to have the cab simple looking as possible and possibly a little more room for the seat. Was thinking remove the spot welds and add a couple of strengthening plates for he bed mounts to hang on to?

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

I was planning on doing the blasting Paul but corona had other plans - had this damn long covid - just getting my strength back so enjoying smaller jobs and ramping up still. Looking forward to getting the frame back in epoxy and I can really steam ahead. hope that LS is running ...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

thanks Grizz - have been watching your endeavours to prepare the chassis on your latest project - what an epic challenge...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Great job so far!

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Frame back from blasting - looking very clean and ready for paint.

The day it was collected it rained hard - typical - luckily coated in 2k primer.

Plan to paint it with 2 part epoxy topcoat this weekend along with crossmember, axle and trailing arms.

The rest of the suspension and running gear will probably be satin black to keep things looking simple.

After blasting, I found the factory frame numbers punched into 2 areas of the frame - had no idea they were hiding underneath years of dirt and grime.

The cab is getting some final tweaks ahead of blasting - I'm reinforcing the seat belt anchor points, adding shoulder belt mounts, fabbing a seat frame, removing the tank mounts and a few other tweaks.

The winter seems to be drawing in quickly this year in UK so I want to get everything in epoxy at least as this project is currently under the carport - I would love a big garage to spread everything out in - one day :-)

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Frame paint day - probably one of the last dry / warmish days left in UK so its time to get the main frame covered up with epoxy paint.

This Rustbuster 2 part stuff is meant to either be midcoat or topcoat - depending on how shiny you want it.

I went for a mid grey but will do all the axle, trailing arms and other suspension stuff in satin black so it doesn't stand out too much.

Im not after shiny but I don't want this thing rusting on me too fast.

I got the frame up on blocks (gonna need a hot bath tonight) and prepped it with panel wipe and got mixing the paint up.

I haven't done a lot of painting but a fair bit of YouTubing :-) - what could go wrong.
Paint-gun for this stuff is a cheapo from Amazon with a 2.0 nozzle.

Paint mixes up equal parts of A and B plus thinners to suit. I went for 15%.

During the paint mixing and filtering into the jug I realised I forgot to buy a gun rack - ha a trusty C10 cab mount - perfect...

Let the paint do its thing for 10 minutes then got going...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Got the paint on and had enough to go over some of the tricky spots again to make sure I had as good a coverage as I could.

With a bit of adjustment on the fluid volume and fan angle the paint went on quite nicely - nice wet coats.

It was quite orange peely but did settle down well.

It has a semi gloss finish which is good in my book for a frame.

3rd photo - you might be able to spot the bit Wiltshire flies sat in the paint!

Will let it dry for at least a day before attempting to start bolting bits to it.

Next batch of painting will be the trailing arms, crossmembers and other bit suspension stuff...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Very

Very

Very Pretty.

I do like that finish.

Well done mate, its a load of work these builds.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

thanks Grizz - appreciated.
Im happy with it - its a tough finish and as you say - pretty.

Maybe try the stuff on your chassis - it goes over anything including surface rust and goes very hard over a few days. It was 29.00 including the hardener and thinner as a kit for 1.25ltrs.

I checked out your frame reinforcement - that chassis is going to be nice and solid - especially with the poly bushes...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Lots of stuff going on but have managed to do some prep and paint on the big stuff. I am crossing all my fingers that a house purchase goes through - one big reason being its got a garage :-)

Got the front crossmember painted with a couple of coats of grey epoxy gloss after opening up the control arm holes to accept the bigger U bolts.

Fitted the rear cab mounts (back in their new short-bed position).

Prepped the rear axle with temporary diff cover and again got some epoxy primer and topcoat on nice and thick - this stuff goes off like concrete but takes about 7 days to fully cure.

And finally the wind-chimes all primed and coated with a few coats of grey topcoat (minus the bushings) that are ready and waiting.

Hopefully during next week after work I can bolt the rear end back together with blocks, springs and hardware - feels good to be start putting this jigsaw back together...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Those fresh nuts and bolts do look rather nice.

Well done.

My day was slow, filled with a variety of tasks.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Nothing better than fresh hardware 😀
Would be good to have the knowledge and kit to renovate and re- plate hardware that I removed but I have neither - another time.

Weather this weekend in Wiltshire has been great for painting parts and sadly the last one warm enough for some time.

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

I like the color, very clean, makes me wish I went with gray. :)

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

thanks - when I ordered the paint it was described as dark grey - it kind of looks like shiny primer to me :-)

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Just caught up on this.

Very, very nice.

P. :D

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

thanks Pauly - hopefully you've been able to get some garage time in...

Re: 1965 C10 Fleet Project - unfinished business
 

Bit slow over past few weeks - starting commuting back to office after 18 months of working from home so thats been a bit of a shock to the system!

Wheels for the truck - american racing torq thrusts - these wheels are very old style wise but I really like them - Ive got a set of early porsche ones on my beetle and thought a set of fat and thins would work well on the truck.

Casting on more recent wheels is a bit nasty - the diamond cut rim looks like an old record and the edges are not de-burred - so I spend a fair bit of time with a file knocking off all the edges and now plan to hand sand the rims with wet and dry to knock off the diamond cut finish.

They will get painted with a warm dark grey colour with a low sheen finish to try and emulated a classic magnesium version of the wheel. I did trya goldish colour to make them look like they have a DOW7 mag finish bit they looked a bit too 'pretty' for me so sticking with the grey.

Next was balljoint fitting in the lower front control arms - after powder coat so I was a bit nervous that I would screw the finish up! - A 2 inch hole in some timber and the bench hydraulic press - they went in a treat.

And got the lower rear shock mounts back from powdercoat - Ive modified so I can run shocks running vertically up, outside the frame - this seems to be a popular mod on lowered trucks.