Looking at a 1965 C30 - input appreciated

[cv65]

Originally Posted by divideoverflow

Weird, no edit button?

Anyway, after looking around, I saw people say that "Only ring and pinion ratios are 4.10 4.57 5.13" for the eaton rear end? In which case 4.10 would be the best to aim for?

Edit: Ah, the edit button just disappears eventually... Anyway, apparently the HO72 4.10s seem to be hens' teeth.

Might think about changing whole rearend with something newer as you would make it easy to find gears ,brakes etc might have to change wheels,what size tires are on there now? some of those old sizes cost more than newer ones now. Captian Fab would know what would work,just kickin ideas around.

[divideoverflow]

Originally Posted by cv65

Might think about changing whole rearend with something newer as you would make it easy to find gears ,brakes etc might have to change wheels,what size tires are on there now? some of those old sizes cost more than newer ones now. Captian Fab would know what would work,just kickin ideas around.

Beats me, I'm jumping the gun on the discussion. lol. I'll figure it out when I go look tomorrow. It might not even be the original gearing/rear. I'll have to scope it out. I was just trying to research the things that would actually matter to me if I end up getting the truck.

[padresag]

Originally Posted by divideoverflow

That is what I was hoping for. I'm not trying to make a 1 ton into a race truck :-)

What gearing do you run on your 1 ton? I'm thinking the 5.13 gears it comes with will be a bit annoying if I have to hit the highway. I was thinking 3.73, but didn't know how well the smaller motors did with the weight of a 1 ton (plus a load, or towing) + the taller gears.

I don't know what the ratio is but it does feel like 4;56. I did buy a 87 3/4t with a 5.7tbi to convert it over . frt and rear axles, but it does drive ok so never bothered
but I remember years ago (circa 1958) when my brother had 37 and 39 chevy p/u and it was amazing what this old 216 would pull for weight in the back
ron

[divideoverflow]

Update time:




Went to see the truck, ended up buying it. It was pouring all day, so I got a bit wet climbing all under it...lol.

Here are the things I discovered:
1. No evidence it was originally a 292. The PO just thought that the one tons didn't come with 230s from the factory. PO put on an intake, exhaust manifold, and carb from a stock 292 truck his dad had. Runs decent, but there is a flat spot around ~35-40mph. I got the carb that was originally on there, it was rigged up by the guy he got the truck from, and it was all screwy. And the manifolds that were on it when he got it were messed up. I figure if nothing else I can use the original carb for a core, or see if it is worth rebuilding.

2. I couldn't find any serious rust issues... or really much of any. I didn't see a problem with the core support when I looked. It really does look like the bumper and bumper side support are just a bit tweaked. I'll get pictures later.
3. I counted 14 bolts on the rear differential cover - swapped axle I'm assuming. The speedo is way off (read about 12 mph low @ ~50mph). Also, the tires are r16. I'm assuming these are one piece, as I didn't see what appeared to be a split-rim.


Missing two studs on one of the fronts:


Rear:



4. Bench is swapped, so it doesn't have a forward tilt. No seatbelts! Need to add some, that is the first time I've ever driven without a seatbelt, felt so weird.
5. Battery tray was fine. Not sure why he had it sideways in the picture:

6. No hammer marks on the inside fender, must have been a weird illusion in that photo:



7. Interior was a bit of hit and miss. It has a stereo, and some old ass speaker bolted to the bottom of the dash (the speakers work somehow...lol. I would have bet money they were shot).


The fuel gauge doesn't work. It goes to half when the truck is off, but then to empty when the truck is turned on. I'll need to figure that one out.

Oil gauge works, and temp gauge works (alledgedly). Oil gauge was leaking, so I'll replace it. The temp gauge didn't go over 160 deg. So either the thermostat is stuck open, or it has a wrong thermostat, or that gauge/temp sensor is shot. Either way, I'll replace all of the above.

8. It needs a radiator overflow reservoir. Didn't seem to lose any fluid since the truck never really heated up.

9. Missing the gas pedal...lol. It just has the rod there, perfectly driveable, but that needs fixing.

Now the big one (to me, anyway):
10. After the test drive I had looked under the truck to make sure there weren't any leaks. It looked fine, the dude's driveway didn't seem to have any oil spots or anything, I didn't see any indication of any issues. Well, half way home I stopped for gas, and oil was actively dripping from the back of the motor. Looks like the rear main seal at first glance. Oil was everywhere, and I had to put in like 3.5 quarts (and I made sure it was full before I left)! From there, I took a slower route, and stopped a few more times to check on it (I was monitoring oil pressure the whole time, it was chilling around 25psi). So the slow route leaked less, and I added an additional 2 quarts the rest of the way back.



I really don't think it was doing this before I left the PO's house. I can't think of a way he would have been able to prevent me from noticing a giant puddle of oil...lol.

After being stopped for about 20 seconds at the second pit-stop. I didn't take a picture of the giant puddle at the first one, which looked like about a quart on the ground.


On the plus side, the manual drum brakes worked great! No complaints with them or the stopping distance. The manual steering was OK, a little more play than I like, but not by much, considering it is a big truck.

I haven't changed out a rear main seal before (if that is what it is, I didn't see a source higher than that, but who knows... it was getting dark and was rainy all day). Anyone tackled it that can speak to how much work is involved? I don't have a transmission jack.

[wcstory]

Congratulations on your purchase!

[Captainfab]

To change the rear main seal you don't have to do anything with the transmsission. You just drop the oil pan and remove the rear main cap. Then the tough part will be removing the seal that is in the block above the crank. Sometimes you can carefully push it around with a flat blade screwdriver. I say carefully because you do not want to scratch the crank. I'm sure some others have better ideas to get the seal out.

[padresag]

are you sure that it is the rear main. I would say that you had problems higher up if you look at the passenger side inner fender, yje heater blower motor and the side of the motor behind the starter all seem wet and the drivers side inner fender seems to have oil spots over it, yet the bottom back of the oil pan seems negligible for any oil' plugged up pcv valve or an oil pressure line(manual guage if so equipped) with a crack or hole in it. sounds like it is moving a lot of oil somewhere all of a sudden if there was no sign of it from before in his yard
ron

[divideoverflow]

Roger that. Will Give it a check. I didn't think that much oil would come out of the pressure line, and I had seen oil up in the engine bay on my other truck when the rear main was the culprit (oil was flung everywhere). But that is good feedback. I'll do the pressure line and check the pcv before anything else.

Edit: and the pictures were deceiving a bit. there was a lot of oil coating the bottom of the pan, and dripping out at the flywheel at idle. However, it could be that is just where the oil is directed. I wasn't getting any drops forward of the oil pan location, but that could just be its travel path.

[divideoverflow]

Update on oil leak! The copper line from the oil pressure gauge was leaking inside and outside. When I looked at the fitting, the copper was pushed way through the cone-shaped fitting member that seats against the receiver in the block, and the gauge. So I swapped that out for a new plastic line one I had laying around. That fixed the leak inside the cab, and I don't see a leak in the engine bay.

However, I'm still skeptical that that was the sole issue... When warmed up, my oil pressure is only reading like 9-10psi @ idle, and it was in the 20+ psi range before I bought it after being warmed up. What would be a typical idle pressure for the 230ci six?

Secondly, I noticed what appears to be the "low pressure" sensor, not connected to anything in the engine bay. Would this spit oil at higher engine speeds, or when the oil gets really hot? I'm not sure if there was a cap on it before that blew off or something:


I didn't see anything coming out of it when I took the truck around the block. I'm not familiar with how that sensor works.

Thirdly, here is a shot of the rear end:


I'm guessing it is out of a 70s-80s truck? I'll pull the cover soon to get that diff fluid changed! and I'll find out what the gearing is.

[divideoverflow]

I was reading some oil pressure threads... Think I found out what is going on. Since it was spewing oil on the drive home, I had to fill it several times, and the gas station only had 10w30. I'm pretty sure the previous owner was running 20w50.

I'll get some decent oil with good zinc levels, and thicker.. and then give it a whirl. I'll have to do a longer drive and see if she leaks, but I saw no oil dripping after a 10 min drive today! So maybe it was just that stupid copper gauge line.

[T and S]

Thats the mother of all rear ends - 14 bolt chevy! a definite keeper! It has all kinds of after market support, lockers, gearing etc... it is a very strong housing also. Glad you got the oil leak fixed, those copper lines will pump out a lot of oil, had one bust on my 72 years ago.

[padresag]

low oil pressure at an idle is usually not a problem with chevs
ron

[divideoverflow]

Good to know. I'll put some more seat time in and see if the leak is fixed.

In the meantime, I ordered a set of these:
http://www.seatbeltsplus.com/product...CPB-Bench.html
10% off due to black friday! I can't stand driving around without seatbelts... I gotta get these in asap. I read a lot of threads about them, and this company seems legit.

[Captainfab]

The truck already having a 14 bolt is definitely a plus.

[RANDY COX]

Congrats on your truck, that must be a later engine I don't think the earlier engines had the low oil temp sensor, I must say I haven't seen any plug wires like that coming of them plugs.. wild.. looks to be a pretty solid truck... glad it turned out to be the oil pressure line than the rear main seal...

[cooperhw]

Very cool truck you got there. I have a 68 C30 truck that I converted into a short bed step side. Why not? Had a hacked up cab, 175" wheelbase, and no bed so why not. Your truck is mine's older brother.

[divideoverflow]

Originally Posted by cooperhw

Very cool truck you got there. I have a 68 C30 truck that I converted into a short bed step side. Why not? Had a hacked up cab, 175" wheelbase, and no bed so why not. Your truck is mine's older brother.

Sweet! I like the stepsides a lot, and that would be my wife's preference. However, I also like a nice stake bed. So I'm going to build a decent set of sides, paint the flatbed, and then see how she looks.

I do like the shorter wheelbase. It makes it feasible to drive on a regular basis and park when you go out! I've never seen a dually this short. That is part of what made me want it.

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by divideoverflow

Missing two studs on one of the fronts:

Whoa! 2 lugs missing, there must be a reason why. '71 and newer 1 ton disc wheels have larger holes because GM used larger studs on disc brakes. I afraid your original C 30 studs are too small for those wheels.

[TJ's Chevy]

These engines will run just fine on low oil pressure. From the factory they were not very high anyhow. Bout 40 pounds tops. My 292 idled at 5 pounds hot with 15-40. Straight 30 is the oil normally ran in these. Though for an older engine Straight 40 wouldn't hurt. Zinc will mainly help to protect the cam. You mentioned having some fun and adding some spunk to the 6 banger. PM me if you have any questions. Just did a 292 myself. lol More than likely a truck that size would have come with a 292. I've seen some with a 250.

[divideoverflow]

Factorystock, thanks on the heads up regarding the studs. I'll check them out. I thought since the rims were hubcentric that the stud sizes weren't as critical.

TJ, thanks for the info! I've read your Crustine thread :-)
My first task will be sorting the carb, since it is a 292 carb and intake (that the PO pulled off his dad's truck) on a 230 motor. Also, I'm guessing it was a 230 originally, I know they came standard in 65 for this truck, and I didn't see any reason to think there was a 292 previously. Doesn't mean there wasn't, though.

Do you know if increasing jets on the 292 carb would be a good move, as opposed to replacing the carb for a 230 stock unit? From what I read, the issue would be the larger venturi adds too much air, or not enough air velocity, or something.

I still want to use the truck as a truck, so no lopey cams or anything like that.

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by divideoverflow

Factorystock, thanks on the heads up regarding the studs. I'll check them out. I thought since the rims were hubcentric that the stud sizes weren't as critical.

TJ, thanks for the info! I've read your Crustine thread :-)
My first task will be sorting the carb, since it is a 292 carb and intake (that the PO pulled off his dad's truck) on a 230 motor. Also, I'm guessing it was a 230 originally, I know they came standard in 65 for this truck, and I didn't see any reason to think there was a 292 previously. Doesn't mean there wasn't, though.

Do you know if increasing jets on the 292 carb would be a good move, as opposed to replacing the carb for a 230 stock unit? From what I read, the issue would be the larger venturi adds too much air, or not enough air velocity, or something.

I still want to use the truck as a truck, so no lopey cams or anything like that.

lol. Thanks, Yeah Two Tone is the one with the 292. If you can locate stock 230 parts you'd be better off. Hopping up those single barrels never worked real well from what I have heard. If it runs fine with the stuff it has on it I wouldn't worry about it. You have an HEI on there and that helps alot. Might check the plugs and see if they are pitch black. If they are then you can lean out the A/F screw and see if that helps. I'd keep the engine stock for the kind of work your doing. A header would help some, but mainly head work is the key for these. More cam also. These engines were built with low air flow to keep the bottom end performance. But if you can locate a 292 I'd grab it. More power and a 4 barrel with headers and HEI does nicely. But onto the carb...I'd check the plugs and if its running rich you won't want to jet it up. From what I am gathering your saying it seems to get more air and Not enough fuel?

[divideoverflow]

That is what I had read on the forums. It doesn't seem to run rich, and has a flat spot around 35-40mph, which in past experience was related to lean conditions.

I haven't checked the plugs yet, I'll do that this weekend when I install the vented oil and gas caps, new pcv, thermostat, and a new temp sensor.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by cooperhw

Very cool truck you got there. I have a 68 C30 truck that I converted into a short bed step side. Why not? Had a hacked up cab, 175" wheelbase, and no bed so why not. Your truck is mine's older brother.

that looks great!

[divideoverflow]

Yay! Books!

[flashed]

I see lots of reading in your future . And I really like that truck.