A couple of questions.

[stilkikin]

I've got a 65 C20 LB stepside with an original 283 with 76,000 miles and a 4 speed with granny. I was wondering what kind of carb I have and where I can get a rebuild kit for it? What can I do to lower this thing a bit? I see a lot of stuff for the C10's but not much for mine. Any brake upgrades? What bolt pattern do I have? I have a new rebuilt TH400 I'm thinking of buying from a friend to make it a little more driveable, are there any issues with this swap I need to know about and will the splines line up? What can I do for the tranny crossmember and driveshaft? Is there a reccomended shifter? Sorry for so many questions but I don't know much about this truck yet.

[jonzcustomshop]

should be a rochester 2bbl, with a manual choke.. check around the top for a little tag w/the #'s, if that is missing, you should be able to still get the right kit by telling them y/m/m at the auto parts store.

[DPowers]

Welcome to the site from right down the road- pictures always help.

This link has some info:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=415131

Also Tennessee Classic Truck Club is going to have a meet at Woodridge's in Maynardville on Labor Day Weekend. You are welcome to come and maybe get some info that may help.

[raycow]

<What can I do to lower this thing a bit? I see a lot of stuff for the C10's but not much for mine.>
Use the C-10 stuff. It will fit, except for drop spindles. The ride will improve too.

<Any brake upgrades?>
You can swap the disc setup from a 71-87 C-20. Either swap the whole crossmember or just use everything from the control arms out.

<What bolt pattern do I have?>
8 on 6-1/2"

<I have a new rebuilt TH400 I'm thinking of buying from a friend to make it a little more driveable, are there any issues with this swap I need to know about and will the splines line up?>
This will be quite a bit of work and if you are expecting better highway gearing you won't get it this way. You will need to either swap the rear end or get a transmission with overdrive. The easiest swap would be an overdrive manual. The cheapest would be a 14 bolt rear from a later 3/4 ton.

<What can I do for the tranny crossmember and driveshaft? Is there a reccomended shifter?>
This is all doable once you decide on a transmission.

Ray

[jocko]

welcome to the site stilkikin - regarding the trans question, I have to agree with raycow, TH400 won't buy you much in the drievability department (other than the fact that you're going from manual to auto trans) - but bottom line is you probably won't see your mpg jump much at all. If you're wanting to switch to an automatic because you want an automatic AND you want to improve gas mileage - then 700R4 is a good option for auto trans ease AND overdrive gas mileage (or even a 2004R - but I'd go with a 700 personally). But, since you already have a TH400 (so let's just say it's free...) you could go with a gear vendors under/overdrive box. But that's probably gonna cost an about what 3 whole TH400's would cost.... so unless you're loaded, probably not the best option. If you're just looking to switch from manual to auto and not that concerned with gas mileage - TH400 should be a good deal (and some other folks on here probably have more detail on driveshaft length / spline count, etc required. But there will be some mods required most likely - the usual concerns aretrans output shaft vs. driveshaft yoke spline count - and difference in length of trans (i.e. from rear face of engine block to aft tip of trans tailshaft) will drive whether you need a different driveshaft length).
Good luck, looking fwd to some pictures!
jocko

Wait! I just noticed you said you're THINKING of buying the TH400 from a friend - sorry I missed that the first time. Unless it's an absolute steal, I'd save the extra pennies for the 700R4 and start fresh with the best of both worlds - an automatic with a deeper 1st gear and overdrive - so you get better perf, ease of an automatic, and better gas mileage. Just my 2 cents, which is only worth about 1 cent. Either way, you'll have a cool truck!

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

Just to add to what has already been said, as a basic rule concerning drivetrain, most everything from 1963 thru 1987 will interchange within the truck platform.

I would recommend switching out that HO52 rear end for either a Dana 60 from a '67-'72 or a 14 bolt from a '73-'87 truck. Reason being is that parts are getting harder to come by for the HO52's and when you do find them they are $$. Plus the gearing in it is the main contributor to your trucks lack of driveability.

[stilkikin]

Thanks for the reply's everyone. I've done some more reading and I'm going to go with the camaro t5 swap. I found a toyota tacoma seat that has a shifter cutout from the factory so I'm going to get measurements on that and see if it will work instead of buckets. I plan on buying a good transmission from a shop that upgrades them to handle more power so I'd rather not have to get a s10 tailshaft if I can. The price of used seats is less than what I'd pay for a seatcover so might as well kill two birds with one stone. Concerning the rear end, I have a 91 ford e350 with a dana 60 and an eight lug pattern. I don't know the bolt spacing though. Any help? It has rear drums to. Any info on what I'd have to do besides welding shock and trailing arm brackets on to make it work? I was going to sell the van to offset some cost on this project but if I can use the rear end and part the rest out I'd be more than willing.

[stilkikin]

Ok I just measured the spares on both vehicles and I swear they are both 8 x 6.5. This is starting to sound good! Doable?

[stilkikin]

Can I find out the rear gearing on the Dana by numbers or do I need to jack it up and spin the wheels?

[stilkikin]

Ok, here's the beast. 67,000 miles and it was rebuilt 15,000 ago from the records. This truck was used at the k-25 plant in Oake Ridge for years before it was sold at auction to the guy that drove it all those years. It comes with years of records as well. it's been sitting in a garage for the last fifteen years. It hasn't seen rain until I took possesion. The body is pretty rough. Needs a lot of sheetmetal. The engine purred like a kitten until I ran the fuel tank dry to put some good gas in it. I need to clean the carb and put in a good inline filter to.



This is a Rochester 2 barrel, right?



I don't think this is factory for this year. If anyone knows anything about this alternator let me know. I thought they had generators in 65.



Here is some pics of the wheels and part of the rear sticking out. If I swap the rear I'm planning on using these wheels until I get some decent rims. I've got to check the fronts still to see if they will fit. If I remeber right this is a dually axle and I should be able to bolt ambulance wheels on this thing. I'm probably going to build a diamondplate and wooden stake bed so the dually look would work. I need to figure out something about the brakes though. These rear drums are huge and I wouldn't mind keeping them if I can.

[stsalvage]

that is not a Dually Rear end and you really might want to look at the lug Nut on that rear end there the same size are passenger Lug nuts. I have a 1965 3/4 ton and i use it as a scrap truck I have a factory 2 speed power glide with a 410 rear end they only had 4 rear ends for these trucks

1. 455 rear gear

2. 411 rear gear

3. 410 rear gear

4. if you ever got luck it was the 387 Rear gear but doubt it but with a step side mabey

NO the alternator is Right for this year so is the Carburetor reason wht it still has the inspection tag on the carb.the 1968--72 are call corporate rear ends there very heavy duty But i have the same rear end as you and one thing most of they guys don't know your rear end is like a 9 Inch ford it is one of the coolest rear ends out there you can still buy the 11 inch drums for it

If your wanting to lower it Best off is to stop Right now.you need to go find a 1964-1972 coil spring rear end 1/2 ton and buy the whore front A frame froma 1971-72 front ends there more easier to work on then the 1973--87 front ends cus all the bushing in the 1973--87 have to be pressed in the 1964--72 all lower and upper A arm busing are screwed in and hell of a lot easier to work on but you can use the spindles from the 1973--85 front ends I know in 1986-87 they went to a bigger upper Ball joint

But if you want better Gas you better go to the 1/2 ton and then you can get a 326 rear gear and the 400 will work fine But your going to have to find a automatic cross member for the 1964--66 truck cus in 1967 the changed the frame made it wider

if you have any questions i'm at stsalvage@yahoo.com I'm Sam i have 11 trucks 1964--72 and this truck i've owned for 16 years but family owned it sence 1969

[stilkikin]

Thanks for the info. I don't know much about older vehicles. This is the first carbed vehicle I've ever worked on if you don't count motorcycles and four wheelers but the principals should still apply. I'm going to learn a lot building this thing apparently. So I'll go ahead and put the van up for sale and start looking for a donor vehicle. I've poked around some more and I think it's a dana 70. I'm going to check in the morning.

[stilkikin]

I found a craigs list camaro t5 from an 86 305 today for 200. I think I'll pick it up. Can't beat it at that cost. How bad can it be to rebuild this thing? If I get a good book and keep things in order and take photos of dissasembly I think I can do it. Any kind of machine work involved in rebuilding one? Any high performance kits for it? I'd like to build this thing one time only and I've read the rep these things have.

[Captainfab]

Typically the fullsized van rear differentials are a good bit wider than a truck rear differential. But if you're going to change over to a flatbed, that may not be a concern. I would still measure them WMS to WMS to see where you're at. Some of the van Dana 60's that I've seen were actually 60HD's or Dana 61's, and they had higher gears (lower numerically). Also by the look of the hubs and the wheel studs on your current rear differential, I don't think it is an HO52. Some of these trucks did come with Dana 60's from the factory. That could be what you have, but it's hard to tell without seeing the rear cover.

Originally Posted by stilkikin

Concerning the rear end, I have a 91 ford e350 with a dana 60 and an eight lug pattern. I don't know the bolt spacing though. Any help? It has rear drums to. Any info on what I'd have to do besides welding shock and trailing arm brackets on to make it work? I was going to sell the van to offset some cost on this project but if I can use the rear end and part the rest out I'd be more than willing.

[stilkikin]

I'm sorry I'm jumping around everywhere here. The pics of the wheel and hub is on the e350. I'm pretty sure I've got the HO52 on the c20. I put the van up for sale this morning anyway, I'd rather concentrate on just the tranny first. I found the rest of the info on the rear end today and it's a dana 70 hd.

[raycow]

Originally Posted by stilkikin

I don't think this is factory for this year. If anyone knows anything about this alternator let me know. I thought they had generators in 65.

Alternators were standard equipment from 63 on. I can't tell if that particular one is stock though, without seeing a pic of the plug-in connector, which should be on the side or rear of the case.

Ray

[stilkikin]

Thanks for the response raycow. I've read a lot of your posts here and you seem to know your stuff, wish I could say the same for me. Anywway I've been having an issue getting this thing started. Sometimes it'll fire right up and others you can crank till the battery cable smokes and it won't do anything but hiccup like it's starved for fuel. I rebuilt the carb today and put on a new air filter. It's getting fuel and air and I'm having the same problem still. I guess it's time for an ignition upgrade. Any other ideas?




On another note, I found this dangling in the drivers side spark plug wires today. Looks like a heat shield of some kind. Does anyone know where it came from?



Also the hose to the left of the carb looks like a vent hose. It used to go into the old filter. If I get a set of valve covers with vents in them can I remove the hose and plug it wherever it originates?

[jocko]

stilkikin,
if the hose you're referring to is the crankcase ventilation hose (I can't see if it routes to your oil filler tube - but looks like maybe it does) - I'd still recommend using it. I think you CAN cap it off if you have a valve cover breather, but I've been a fan of the older systems. Looks like someone's added a 90 degree elbow to your hose - normally, if I'm not mistaken, these pcv hoses that come off the back of the carb were vented to the crankcase just aft of the distributor directly into the case. Bottom line, gotta have some way to breathe. Might want to check and see if your block has a place to attach the hose behind the intake manifold (behind distributor) - if so, the you could run that hose straight back out of the way (and replace the oil filler tube with a non-tapped one).

Luckily, easier to go from an older engine (like yours and mine) to newer valve covers than from a newer engine to older valve covers that have no vent - then you'd have to invent a way to pcv. There have been serveral threads on how to do this in the past - I think markeb01 had a very good, detailed thread on how he did this. But anyway - not pertinent to your situation, you're proposing going from what you have to newer valve covers - and if you do that, you'd have more than one way to run a pvc set-up.

My 2 cents - only because I like the old valve covers - I usually stick with the stock covers and run pcv the way it was done from the factory.

Nice truck by the way!
jocko

[raycow]

Originally Posted by stilkikin

On another note, I found this dangling in the drivers side spark plug wires today. Looks like a heat shield of some kind. Does anyone know where it came from?

There are two of those heat shields on each side of the engine. They fit below the exhaust manifold and above the plugs. It looks like part of the mounting bracket on that one is broken off. If you want to replace it, I believe that part is still being reproed.

Ray