Such a beast to drive

[vince1]

I know I am getting old but every time I drive this thing to town and back I come home feeling all beat up.

It spits occasionally and then misses until I am thinking all the plugs are clear. It must be coughing through the oil bath filter. I had lowered my float level after having problems with the one way venting in but not out fuel cap. The pressurized tank would get fuel past the carb and into the crank case. That's been fixed so time to reset the float level.

Once in a while is OK but I can hardly take it any more changing gears all the time in that horrible 4 speed. But I've used up my quota of time spent on this thing this year so it will be at least until year before I can switch to auto.

It is so incredibly loud. I know, my fault for not getting the bare steel floor covered.

My suspension should be good with new springs and shocks but my gosh it sure likes to bounce going over the heaves in the road.

Sorry, just venting and sorry for bringing this up but I remember our 65 Mercury P/U was a lot smoother all around, but granted it was still relatively new back then.

[TJ's Chevy]

My 66 C10 was loud and smooth. Didn't ride like a Caddy, but almost as good as one. I could hammer through bumps with the ol worn out springs and shocks because they were so soft. My GMC is even better...nice and quiet...914 pound V6 in the front....going through bumps is like driving through pie. lol

[Mackie]

Vince, sounds like a collection of overdue maintenance issues. What truck do you have? Trailing arm rear or leafs? Coil front suspension or torsion bar? GM's beat Ford twin I beam IMO, so you have the potential at least for a better ride than the Merc.
Power steering upgrade makes a huge improvement, too.

[vince1]

Its got the trailing arms and a 66 so coils up front. Power steering has been done. It was a farm truck and not so many miles so I don't think worn out. V-8, auto and better seat would help a lot. It sure has consumed a lot of time though with all the welding underneath, removing and putting the box back on, etc. Time to take a holiday from it.

[Clyde65]

is it a short or long bed? My short bed beat me some before I did all the suspension stuff.

[TJ's Chevy]

A V8 won't give better ride let me say. lol Your inline 6 isn't running right simply because it isn't tuned right or something else is screwed. What Exactly is happening when your running the engine? Could just be a simple adjustment your overlooking as you mentioned you adjusted the float level...That will change things.

If your gonna want it to ride like a 2015 Implala then your gonna be in for a bunch of upgrades to that suspension. I have no idea if you have upgraded it or just left it stock, but it sounds like you have left everything stock.

In order to get a smoother ride your gonna want to change out the following:
Coils if you haven't.
Better shocks.
Front Sway Bar at Least.
And a GOOD front end alignment. And I mean Good. The front sway bar will help alot in itself and since you have power steering things will be even easier. Also lowering the truck I've heard has advantages. The type of tire you have also makes a difference.

For my 66 I took a year to plan.....then started on it. So far things have gone to plan. On mine I have replaced the coils, shocks, and installed a front and rear sway bar as the truck will mainly be a road driver. It will have a street built 292 and a tko600. So...it'll have the power I need...the nice smooth shifting tranny and a fairly good ride. So my point.....You Really gotta plan ahead of yourself or this will happen.
And let me be a wee bit frank....These were stinking trucks for cryin out loud!!! They ain't gonna ride like a cadillac! (Unless you put a GMC V6 in the front and a load of iron in the back). They were made to be worked and abused. And that's why Changing them over to something else takes time, effort, and money. I don't know about you...but I'm young. Maybe to young to understand... but before I took my truck apart, it rode better than my mother's new toyota. lol

[vince1]

It has the 8' fleetside box. I am keeping it pretty well stock as a work truck.

When I can get it quiet, be able to sit comfortably, and not have to change gears all the time, that will be half the battle.

Perkier ponies would be nice too. Jockeying for position against the kids in their Mazda 3's ain't going so well.

[TJ's Chevy]

Get a new bench seat or heck...convert to later style bucket seats so you can adjust to how you feel comfortable. A 454 would give you ease of power with that a nice 5 speed close ratio tranny to back it would make things better or a 3 or 4 speed auto.

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

Hey Vince1,

I also find the in-cab noise really tiring, especially when running down the highway.

What's your tire pressure? Maybe softening em up by a couple pounds will help with thumping over frost heaves. And like TJ suggested... front end alignment.

Is the popping and missing figured out? Hot, cold, both? What happens when you run without the air cleaner?

[AcampoDave]

Road noise is tough but beatable., here's what I did.
1. Fill all firewall holes. This is paramount to comfort. I used nuts and
bolts, slicon, whatever. I had a bad one around my column.
2. Firewall pad. Mine is stock and in good shape.
3. "Peel n' Seal" got it at Lowe's for door skins and floor. I went for 70% coverage.
4. Sealed my leaky wing widows. I never use mine so black silicon did the job.
5. I installed a "mass backed" carpet kit. Rock Auto has them really reasonably priced.
6. Honda push on door seals with new window felts
7. Lastly, I went vintage air which was a superb investment for driveability during
our sweaty summers.

[padresag]

Originally Posted by Mackie

Vince, sounds like a collection of overdue maintenance issues. What truck do you have? Trailing arm rear or leafs? Coil front suspension or torsion bar? GM's beat Ford twin I beam IMO, so you have the potential at least for a better ride than the Merc.
Power steering upgrade makes a huge improvement, too.

65 Merc had a straight axle, did it not?
I see that is when it just came in; thought it was a little later that it happened
ron

[Mackie]

Originally Posted by padresag

65 Merc had a straight axle, did it not?
I see that is when it just came in; thought it was a little later that it happened
ron

`65 was the first year for Fords, maybe not for Mercury. I just assumed.

[vince1]

64 1/2 I think for the twin I beam. Just like our C10's I never liked them after 66.

[BR3W CITY]

My C10 is one of the better riding and believe it or not, easier to drive vehicles, that I own....all that I had to do was put in a computer controlled v8, an overdrive trans, new suspension, brakes, interior...oh and tub the floor 5" for legroom.

Despite my snark, each of those things was done to address some of the things you mentioned, just to a probably-unnecessary level.

The trailing arm rear allows for a truck that rides better than most trucks, even into many late models. A good shock and a reasonable tire profile should make for a pretty pedestrian ride down the road. After that, swaybars can really help even out some of the boatiness it sounds like you feel.

A 3spd auto or even a 700r4 can be put in without insane levels of cost or effort, and if that 4spd stick is bothering you, this might be a quality-of-life mod for you. Thankfully going manual->auto is MUCH easier than the other way around.

As the others mentioned, the sound deadening is another easy one that can be cost-controlled if you aren't hung up on certain brand names.


I think nostalgia had you in rose-colored shades on that 65 M-series though...no way that Ibeam front axle and leaf spring rear rode better than the chevy from the same year.

[vince1]

Rose coloured glasses or maybe I was a little tougher way back then like about 45 years ago.

About the noise, I have a carpet still in the box. I should look at it to see if there is a hole cut for the stick. If yes I'll throw it in, if not, it will have to wait until next year for the auto. Pick n Pull 50% sale should do it for about hundred bucks, plus the extra goodies I will need.

[AcampoDave]

You could cut the hole and enjoy the carpet now and cover it later with some kind of drink holder/console type deal when you go automatic.

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by AcampoDave

You could cut the hole and enjoy the carpet now and cover it later with some kind of drink holder/console type deal when you go automatic.

Just run a floor shift auto, through the same hole

[vince1]

Thought I would bring this up again as I had it out today and it ran good. I had changed the stock I6 distributor and coil to an HEI unit from a 78 Nova. No more coughing and missing until it clears itself. It sure seemed like a carb problem. Now it starts better, lugs better, revs better. I still need to get a full 12 volts to it so maybe it will run even better again. In defense of the old one though, it had probably been sitting close to 20 years and I can't remember having recently worked on it.

Along with the distributor, used Honda Civic door seals came home from the junk yard, so maybe this weekend for install.

Also on the wish list is a TH350 with lock up T/C. It should work OK with the 3.07 gears I hope. Any agree or disagree with this? Thanks.

[chevy_mike]

Yeah, HEI conversion on the 6 is a great upgrade. Really made a difference on my 6. Definitely get the full 12 volts to it otherwise I have heard it can screw up the module in it.

The Civic door seals are SOOO nice. Did that to my panel and the doors close so much easier now!

[dtkarst]

For my in can noise on my 64 c20 I bought some rattle can undercoating and under coated behind the fuel tank, floors, and up on the firewall a bit real thick then put carpet with padding over the floor. Can hardly hear the pickup running when you're inside

[AcampoDave]

I have a 3.07 in both my trucks. I think its a great all around ratio for a non-overdrive transmission on a cruiser pick up.

[slepysal]

I found that the power steering,disc brakes,3.73 gears and land rover bucket seats all added to the "driveabillty comfort" of my truck

[AcampoDave]

Just to clarify my post on the 3.07 rear....I have 283 V8's. One stock and one not. I have never ridden in a 6 cylinder with a 3.07.