65 C60
 

Dad just bought a 1965 C60 Grain truck with an I6, 4 spd and a 2 spd rear end. It has 51000 orig miles, and is in excellent condition, and has a 15 foot box, and all lights and gauges work. What was offered in these trucks for motors as far as the Straight 6? It is a really nice truck, and has lots of power. It also needs a seat cover, is it the same as the pickup seats? I know:wop: but it is in the shed and I'm exhausted from being at camp all week, so maybe this weekend. Thanks for all the input.

Re: 65 C60
 

TTT, will have pics tomorrow, for sure Monday

Re: 65 C60
 

I would say it is most likely a 292....that's what's in my '63 C60. Yeah they're not bad for power until you start pulling some serious weight. But then having 10 gears always helps.

Re: 65 C60
 

Mine has 8, and most of the time you use 6 or 7. Was it the 292 that had offset mounts? My dad said that they had bigger Straight 6's for the trucks, and that they went up to 400CID. He may have been thinking of the GMC V6's as well. It does have the offset mounts and it is fairly big. We need to do some maintenance to it. What should all be done? I know, oil, filter, clean and re-oil air filter, plugs, wires, Dizzy cap, etc. what else? What is availability on cartridge style oil filters? Should we convert to spin-on type? It is midnight, sorry if this may be a little hard to read. Thanks in Advance.

Re: 65 C60
 

Yes, the 292 has offset mounts. The passenger side motor mount is in front of the fuel pump on the 292. It also has 6" tall pushrod covers on the passenger side, as opposed to 4" on the 194, 230, and 250. The 292 was the biggest six Chevy made.

Re: 65 C60
 

:agree: I'd agree with all of MX's info. The 4 speed tranny is likely an SM-420. Besides the obvious clean up stuff you mentioned, you might want to look at Pertronix or a later HEI distributor to get rid of the points.

Good luck with your project, I want to see pics as I like the heavy stuff.

Re: 65 C60
 

Sorry, forgot to take pics today, will tomorrow. I like the truck, it looks like the 292, it has offset mounts, and the pump is behind the pass. mount. I may look into the HEI, but it runs great as it sits, i will have new plugs and wires on this week, but what would be a good oil to put in, and what is the filter? Is it a cartridge or spin on and what is anyone's opinion if it has the Cartridge, and as i said before, what is their availability?

Re: 65 C60
 

Thanks, but it is more of the matter of doing some maintenance work to get it in tip top shape. We plan on using it to haul scrap, as well as an occasional load of water, and we may weld a hitch on and use it to haul really heavy loads that we don't want to put on our pickup.

Re: 65 C60
 

There is a big issue with modern motor oil. They do not have enough zinc to properly lubricate a non-roller camshaft. Read this thread, it is reasonably up to date. flat tappet cam lube
I have been running the newer oil, but am adding a bottle of assembly lube with the zinc.

Your oil filter should be a spin-on and available at any parts store.

Re: 65 C60
 

What about Rotella T diesel oil, or tractor oil? Doesn't that have more zinc? They always ran tractor oil in everything back when my dad was younger, trucks, cars, etc, because they bought it in 55 gal drums. Would that be better than standard motor oil?

Re: 65 C60
 

Yes tractor oil (for diesels I presume) will be fine. The HEI is an easy and cheap swap. The oil filter if it is a canister type should be availble at your better parts stores (Napa) or at a truck stop/shop where they do repair work.

Re: 65 C60
 

:wop:

Re: 65 C60
 

I know, but it is in the shed, and dad doesn't trust me to drive it much yet, and i respect that

Re: 65 C60
 

:lol:

Re: 65 C60
 

Lol

Re: 65 C60
 

According to the article, the newer Rotella T does not have enough zinc. If you have some older oil, it will be okay.

Re: 65 C60
 

Idk what we have, we have some tractor oil, will that have some more zinc than standard oil?

Re: 65 C60
 

Rotella T 30w was purchased by me yesterday and it says it is rated for SJ and older vehicles. The articles linked above still say that it has enough zinc. I would think it would be OK for engines that are already broken in. I use it in my older stuff with flat tappets. I would definately overprotect a new engine though during the break in period.

Heres a thought, how much zinc does ATF or gear oil have in it? Since it is not exposed to emissions equipment the emissions standards may not apply. The operational parameters of both are probably more severe than an engine, why could we not augment our engine with a little (8 or 16 oz.) of ATF or gear oil?

Re: 65 C60
 

We have an appx year and a half old 5 gallon pail of Rotella, so we are good on that, what was the date where it switched?

Re: 65 C60
 

No one knows for sure, the manufacturers won't say.

Re: 65 C60
 

Ttt

Re: 65 C60
 

PICS!!! I also got to drive it, as well as haul a few loads of compost and other stuff, so it was fun.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...0/IMG_0409.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...0/IMG_0407.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...0/IMG_0403.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...0/IMG_0404.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...0/IMG_0401.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...0/IMG_0402.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...0/IMG_0400.jpg

EDIT: Pics Updated

Re: 65 C60
 

Dang, nice truck! How did it manage to stay in such nice shape for 40 years?

Re: 65 C60
 

if that isn't a testament to these trucks, dunno what is.
43 years old and still a work horse!!
thanks for the pictures

Re: 65 C60
 

was owned by a guy who took meticulous care of it. We just put in plugs, put in a new oil and filter, and cleaned the air filter. We need to replace the valvecover gasket, as well as oil pan and rear end gaskets.