66 4x4 my sons new project

[RANDY COX]

Hey,your doing a great job man,lot's of work,truck is gonna look great,I'm lookin at a 64 3/4 4x4 fleet short bed,that I'm wanting really bad.just wish I could sell my car,to have the funds....anywho keep up the good work,can't wait to see it completed....ROCKS....

[argonaut]

Hey! Thanks for all the support, guys!

I haven't done much on the pickup over the last month because I was saving to maybe buy a house. Anyway, I didn't end up buying it so now I've got to make up for lost time! My goal was to have this thing all put together by the first of the year. Woops!

I did manage the regasket and seal the transmission and transfer case. And refilled them, and my axles with synthetic gear oil. Everything looked really clean when I opened them up. I tell you what, I can't believe how easy the np205 is to disassemble and reassemble compared to the old t221. I'm glad I made the swap. Now I just need to replace the rear main seal and install the new one piece oil pan gasket on the 402 and I should be ready to drop the whole powertrain back in, once and for all.

Then I need to get the steering box hooked up; since I changed my mounting method and cut the mounting blocks off of the frame in lieu of a couple plates to sandwich the frame and spread the load from the gearbox bolts.
Then I can get all of the custom stainless brake hard lines bent and installed and start getting the body back on.

Whew! Lots to do and not much time to do it in!
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[argonaut]

Doing some serious work on the pickup these days.

Welded up the crossover steering linkage. Cut the old steering box standoffs off the frame. Then used my old 2wd power steering brackets to sandwich the frame. Modified the inner bracket so it now has a 90 degree brace and gusset to the front crossmember. Should be pretty strong now.



Dropped the motor, trans and transfer case back into the frame and finished bolting up the crossmembers.





Picked up a super cheap set of F*rd 3/4 ton 16x7" aluminum wheels. I really like the look of these, they have a pretty neutral offset. The previous owner didn't tighten the lug nuts down so the holes in the wheels were destroyed. I had them drilled out for steel inserts at a local shop. The job was a little sloppy but these are just to use until I can get the steelies blasted, powder coated and put some 35x10.5" TSLs on them. I'm basically copying DirtyLarry and running radials on the aluminum wheels and bias play on the steelies. Sorry Larry!



My little brother was helping me swap the wheels over. Have to start them young you know!





Fabricated a mount bracket for the clutch slave cylinder. I think this may hit the cab though, so I might need to cut the top mount off and use the side mount boss for the old mechanical pivot bolt.



Also picked up a package at the post office containing this little guy.

[C/10 King]

Wow!!! Nice little package.

[duallyjams]

Looking good , lets see some pics of the cross over.

[argonaut]

Threw on the cab and the bumper to get a feel for how the pickup will look, and to check a few clearances.









I had moved the powertrain assembly forward 1-1/2" from its stock position and now I have acceptable clearance above the valve covers, next to the exhaust manifolds, and behind the distributor.







The slave cylinder mount bracket clears just fine which makes me happy.



Got the steering gearbox mounted up with the modified brackets.





Here are a few shots of the crossover high-steer setup. I'd like to get a beefier steering arm. This stock Jeep arm is kind of twinkie-looking.









The last thing I did before it got dark was to hook up a chain from the hoist the the wheel and check the flex.... and I'm very sad to report that for the first 12" of wheel travel was all frame flex. As I cranked it up another 9" or so there was a little spring flex. I kind of knew this was going to happen because the old 66 frame is stamped out of 3/16" steel. At the moment I'm so dissappointed I'm contemplating tearing the whole thing down, boxing the frame and reworking all custom welded crossmembers!

[MTCK]

Looks tough, I like the stance. Having the bed and rest of the front clip will stiffen it a bit, as as will the bumpers and hitch.
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[1985-GMC]

Looks good!

Major bummer about the frame flex, I'm afraid of the same thing with GMC. Once the front fenders are tied into the frame and cab and the bed is bolted down it should stiffen it up a little. Also the springs have to break in some so they should end up a little more flexy.

[argonaut]

Yeah we'll see. Its true I have yet to bolt anything else down. The cab was just sitting loose on the frame and the front bumper was just hanging by two loose bolts. But when I had the front wheel 18" off the ground the cab was a tripod with a 3" gap between the 4th mount and the frame...

I think for now I'll just leave it the way it is, especially because I really only have another month or so to get this thing road-worthy. But in a future rebuild phase I think I'll box the frame and do welded in crossmembers.

I have two weeks off for vacation so lets see what else I can get done!

It just occurred to me that maybe I should start thinking about getting the exhaust system installed before I put the body on permanently.

[argonaut]

I could also take a leaf out of each front and rear spring to bring the spring rates down. As it stands now I think I have more lift than I need to clear the 35" tires I'll be running.

[argonaut]

I decided to focus on the cab and bed today and take a little break from all the frame, suspension, powertrain work. Plus I have parts all over the place, and I need to start assembling them, just to be sure I don't accidentally give away, sell or scrap something useful.... it has happened to me already!

With help of my faithful assistant, Abby, I put the bed back on the frame.
This is helping me remember why I started on this endless project to begin with.



The bed is from a 62 donor truck, so the bed rails have the mount points set for the wider x-frame. I snagged the rails from the original truck's long bed before I sent the rest of the heap to the scrapper. The original bed wood and strips are long gone with just a couple sections of 3/4" plywood for a floor. For some reason the PO decided to put fifty thousand 5/16" carriage bolts down each bed rail, even though the perimeter bolts would have sufficed. Obviously I have been dreading this day as I knew that at least half of these little bolts would be rusty and not spin off. I was surprised that many of the nuts did come off easily, but as luck would have it, almost none of these were the perimieter bolts which are the only ones that I really need to come off. Bummer. The solution is easy though; I'll just cut a few lengths of 1"x1/4" bar and tack weld a whole row of bolts heads to it. Then I can go underneath and beak all the nuts off. Then zip the bolts from the 1/4" strip and start on the next section. Shouldn't take long.

Then I had a decision to make: I have three cabs, all with one good feature that the other two don't have, and I have to choose one.
- The first cab is on my old 64 2wd is a factory A/C cab, perfect dash, small back window, with barely any rust, but has some sheet metal damage from an accident in a prior life. The damage is not visible from the exterior, and you have to know where to look to see it, but it will always bug me, and isn't easy to fix.
- The second cab came from an old PG&E service truck, has a perfect dash with no accessories whatsoever (clean slate), big back window, but has a lot of rot in the lower firewall, floor, rockers, kick panels, etc.
- The third cab is of unknown origin. It has a clean straight dash, small back window, and some minor rust near the rockers in the usual places, but nothing drastic.

I want a big back window for sure. I drove my 64 around with a small back window for the last 12 years and want to upgrade. So I'll cut the big window panel out and transfer it to one of the less rusty cabs.
Now I also have always liked the uniqueness of the factory A/C cab. But I've never had functional air conditioning in my pickup, the center vent is just a showpiece. Moreover I despise the bulky stock HVAC components. The huge unit under the dash takes up a ton of space, plus the huge deluxe heater in the engine compartment is a bear to work around. So I think I'll probably just snag the center piece from my 64 before I sell it and stash it away for use later on.

Ultimately I decided to use the third cab since is is the most solid base, convert the big back window, and keep the smooth dash for now, and use block off plates for the cowl and firewall vents. I'll probably use a thrift air setup I have from the 62 donor that has a small heater core and blower located in the cab. I have a set of deluxe heater controls I can swap in and adapt to control the thrift air.





I really like to look of the smooth dash. An oddly enough I'm really digging the ash tray, since I've never had one before!







I pulled the standard heater out, pulled the chopped up wiring harness out, pulled the pedal box out and started fresh.
Installed a 20 gallon gas tank (but it has rust and needs to be replaced ) and the seat.
Put the hydraulic clutch pedal and actuator from the 62 into a 66 pedal box. (More on this later once I get my adapter plate made for the firewall) Disassembled all the pedal pivot shafts and sleeves, cleaned and re-greased everything. Operates nice and smoothly now. Reassembled and mounted the box.

[duallyjams]

Wise choice on the cab there young grasshopper. I like the look of the dash with the addition of a BBW.
When you go to box the frame box it from the firewall forward only and use x bracing from the trans to the rear. IMO . If you remove the bottom spring it will soften up the ride and give you a lot more spring flex.
Every thing looks really good , you are doing a assume job.

[argonaut]

Maybe if I wait until tomorrow Santa will drop a rust free, big back window, A/C cab down the chimney!

Wishful thinking?

[argonaut]

Help! Someone has stolen my beautiful chassis and left this multicolored hulk in its place!



Not sure which badge to use. I was all set on the 62 badge emblems, but now I kind of like the 66. What do you think?



Why on earth the GM engineers decided to make the front fenderwell opening so huge, and the rear opening so small, I'll never know.
I have half a mind to grab some spare, rusty front fenders I have lying around and experiment with making a bigger fenderwell on the fleetside bed on my 64, to match the front. Has anyone ever seen this done?





I put all the front sheetmetal on because its supposed to rain in so cal for the next week and I wanted to keep the water off of the motor and the chassis. These are all of the exterior panels I plan on using. I didn't get around to mounting the front panel and grill for now. The inner fenders are a test set where I cut away to lower section to give better access for the shock towers I'm tentatively planning to install. It also opens up easy access to the sides of the motor. This sure would make spark plug changes a whole lot easier! Eventually I'll use heavy rubber mat to make a removable curtain to cover the open area and keep water and dirt kicked up by the tire from getting to the motor.





I pulled the steering column from the 64 and put it in the 66. I was so pleased when I bolted it to the column support under the dash and then went to the steering box and found that the column flange lined up perfectly. The column itself is a hybrid of sorts. I replaced the shaft of a 66 column with that of a 68. This resulted in a stock 66 style upper with the double "D" sleeved shaft lower with the breakaway pin.

I didn't like the funky radiator support brackets that came on the 4x4 chassis because they never fit right and didn't seem to be at the correct height. So I robbed the pair from a spare 2wd frame and chopped the bottoms off so they'd fit above my front spring hangers.



I also cut the fron frame horns off of the spare frame. I'll be using these to make a rear frame extension, similar to the suburban and panel trucks, on which I can mount the rear bumper. I'm doing it this way because the bumper on my 64 never seemed sturdy on the little bumper brackets. Whenever I stood on it to reach into the bed it felt like it was flexing.



The doors came off of my 64 as well. They're pretty sturdy with minimal rust, but unfortunately the PO cut big sloppy speaker holes in them. When I was in high school I made the carpeted wooden panels for the door bottoms to cover up the two big holes down there and make a nicer mounting place for 6-1/2" speakers. I have a couple of straight door panels to swap on, and I'll be putting an arm rest on both doors.





Going to take a break for a couple of days. Visiting the fam tomorrow and going skiing on Wednesday.
Happy holidays to all!

[duallyjams]

1) the 62 emblem
2) I have seen threads where the rear wheel opening was stretch but not raised that looked good
3) Merry Christmas / have fun skiing

[badpeanut]

Originally Posted by argonaut

Why on earth the GM engineers decided to make the front fenderwell opening so huge, and the rear opening so small, I'll never know.

I have a theory that fenderwell openings were sized for two-wheel drive trucks which typically sat high in the back when empty.

[67chevy1series]

if you dont want the multicolor hulk send the hulk on over this way

[chevy_man5]

I know I have read it in here somewhere, but am at work, so don't have time to find it, but the longbeds have a larger opening for the rear fenderwell. They are close to the size of the front opening. For what reason... I have NO idea! LOL

[badpeanut]

Originally Posted by chevy_man5

I know I have read it in here somewhere, but am at work, so don't have time to find it, but the longbeds have a larger opening for the rear fenderwell. They are close to the size of the front opening. For what reason... I have NO idea! LOL

True in regard to the length: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=275426

I believe the height is the same.

[RANDY COX]

Again My hats off to ya,your doing an excellent job,Btw in my earlier post I said I was lookin at a 64 3/4 4x4 350 4spd short-wide,Guess what I went on ahead and purchased it here's a pix, can't wait to get started on it,it's sittin on a 1970 4x4 frame.

[1985-GMC]

I don't know if its needed but I would bend the slave cylinder bracket back a hair so the the rod comes out straight, and add a gusset coming off the the lower spacer.

BTW what year slave is that?

[argonaut]

1985-GMC,
This was my first prototype of the slave cylinder mount based on some rough measurements I had made. I already made a gusset as you suggested, but didn't weld anything as I wanted to check for fit before welding it. It turned out very close. but as you pointed out the rod angle could be improved. I was planning to cut a new plate that shifts the cylinder 1/2" closer in toward the bellhousing. I was also planning to replace my bellhousing at some point because the previous owner of the donor 73 K20 I pulled it from had installed a 6.2 detroit diesel and cut a hole in the drivers side of the bellhousing for the starter
Luckily I found another member on here selling a factory hydraulic clutch bellhousing. This way I can kill two birds with one stone. I'll probably finish the bracket as is and either throw it in the spare parts bin or give it to someone on here who needs one.

[argonaut]

Originally Posted by Randycox

Randy,
That is sweet!
Its kind of funny to me that you have a 64 sitting on a 70 frame, only because my dad has a 69 sitting on a 64 frame which is basically the exact opposite!

Anyway, it looks clean! And already a 3/4 ton chassis!
The front axle looks like an even later model open knuckle dana 44 in front. Does it have power steering too? Start working on that thing and make a build thread, dude!

I also like the cab running lights. I have a set of 5 that I removed from a 71 1-ton and I've been debating whether or not I want to cut holes in the roof to use them.

[argonaut]

Originally Posted by badpeanut

True in regard to the length: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=275426

I believe the height is the same.

To me it looks like the longbed openings are only extended at the back, not toward the front....

Now I kind of wish I had saved the original orange long bed so I could experiment with adapting front fender openings onto it.

[RANDY COX]

Originally Posted by argonaut

Randy,
That is sweet!
Its kind of funny to me that you have a 64 sitting on a 70 frame, only because my dad has a 69 sitting on a 64 frame which is basically the exact opposite!

Anyway, it looks clean! And already a 3/4 ton chassis!
The front axle looks like an even later model open knuckle dana 44 in front. Does it have power steering too? Start working on that thing and make a build thread, dude!

I also like the cab running lights. I have a set of 5 that I removed from a 71 1-ton and I've been debating whether or not I want to cut holes in the roof to use them.

Hey Jason thanks,the front diff is open knuckle,not sure what year they are,it does have power steering,I want to gather up all my parts before I start tearing down,right now I don't have access to a garage so alot of work will be done outside,atleast I have a truck now,I want to go with the nastalgic look with the dark blue from 64-65 and white top,with skinny tall tires.I will post pixs when I get started.