Chadtoolio
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2020
- Posts
- 3
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- Charleston SC
- First Name
- Chad
- Truck Year
- 1987
- Truck Model
- C30-R30 Wrecker
- Engine Size
- 5.7
Hello all,
I bought a 1988 R30-C30 wrecker a few years ago. I did a few minor things to get it running but the story fast forwards to about 6 months ago. It was really beat having a hard life and needed brakes just to be safe towing cars around my property(I run a BMW and MINI repair shop). When we rebuilt the rear brakes I decided to commit to a minor restoration and pulled the front clip off(ordered doors, fenders, cab seals etc.). I found a crack in the frame on the RF and a twist in the frame in the LF and halted on the project. I knew the motor was good (had great compression and good oil pressure), along with the hydraulics that I had worked on and put new tires on it to be safe. I started looking for another truck about the same year and found a twin line wrecker, with a wheel lift just like mine. It had a small block too and a 4 speed manual trans. The truck was still in service up in Connecticut and the owner stated that he would drive that truck anywhere....The truck looked the part, the price was right, so I bid on it and booked a flight by lunch that day and was on a plane at 7pm. The truck was rougher than I wanted but still was in much better shape that mine. It did have a rough idle to it, but I took a chance anyways.....It took me miles of driving to figure out how not to grind 2-3 gears and was on my way back to SC. A day and half later and 7 qts of oil and one tire, I made it home. The truck was severely down on power and I doubt I could have made it another 30 miles. I wasn't worried because I had the other motor that I knew was good. I had a time crunch though because I found out I was squatting on my neighbors land with some of my parts cars(and an old 1963 Ford C1000 and a Volvo Semi) and needed the wrecker to help move/pull some of these. I got on a mad dash to pull the other motor(it was a TBI engine) and proceed to replace the Cam, intake, distributor, carb, water pump, etc.....I met my deadline and got the motor back together and installed by that weekend and was running the hydraulics by 7 AM Monday morning. I pulled the Semi(no motor and trans) sideways across the Asphalt, this thing was strong man. I have driven the truck and towed quite a few cars and really like the little truck. I put a set of wheels on it and Flo-masters to compliment the headers installed when going through the motor. I have also added a brand new set of In-the-ditch dollies. The cab on it from being from up north...you guessed it, rusty. My cab on the old wrecker was definitely in better shape rust wise and had AC, which the old one didn't, but as the title says is now on a rotisserie getting new rocker and some floor pan work along with seats, dash, carpet and an all over refresh. My first post/question on it will be on factory tachometer/fuel gauge. Since this an intro, lol, I guess I need to cover some personals....I'm Chad, married(21 years) with 3 kids from 24-10. Hobbies are fishing, building/working on my Repair business, and I dabble in doing dirt work with a small excavator and tractor on smaller properties. I love all machinery and sadly make the mistake too often of buying something because its a good deal when spending more money first would save a lot, but sometimes the joy is in the project. Thanks for having me......Chad
I bought a 1988 R30-C30 wrecker a few years ago. I did a few minor things to get it running but the story fast forwards to about 6 months ago. It was really beat having a hard life and needed brakes just to be safe towing cars around my property(I run a BMW and MINI repair shop). When we rebuilt the rear brakes I decided to commit to a minor restoration and pulled the front clip off(ordered doors, fenders, cab seals etc.). I found a crack in the frame on the RF and a twist in the frame in the LF and halted on the project. I knew the motor was good (had great compression and good oil pressure), along with the hydraulics that I had worked on and put new tires on it to be safe. I started looking for another truck about the same year and found a twin line wrecker, with a wheel lift just like mine. It had a small block too and a 4 speed manual trans. The truck was still in service up in Connecticut and the owner stated that he would drive that truck anywhere....The truck looked the part, the price was right, so I bid on it and booked a flight by lunch that day and was on a plane at 7pm. The truck was rougher than I wanted but still was in much better shape that mine. It did have a rough idle to it, but I took a chance anyways.....It took me miles of driving to figure out how not to grind 2-3 gears and was on my way back to SC. A day and half later and 7 qts of oil and one tire, I made it home. The truck was severely down on power and I doubt I could have made it another 30 miles. I wasn't worried because I had the other motor that I knew was good. I had a time crunch though because I found out I was squatting on my neighbors land with some of my parts cars(and an old 1963 Ford C1000 and a Volvo Semi) and needed the wrecker to help move/pull some of these. I got on a mad dash to pull the other motor(it was a TBI engine) and proceed to replace the Cam, intake, distributor, carb, water pump, etc.....I met my deadline and got the motor back together and installed by that weekend and was running the hydraulics by 7 AM Monday morning. I pulled the Semi(no motor and trans) sideways across the Asphalt, this thing was strong man. I have driven the truck and towed quite a few cars and really like the little truck. I put a set of wheels on it and Flo-masters to compliment the headers installed when going through the motor. I have also added a brand new set of In-the-ditch dollies. The cab on it from being from up north...you guessed it, rusty. My cab on the old wrecker was definitely in better shape rust wise and had AC, which the old one didn't, but as the title says is now on a rotisserie getting new rocker and some floor pan work along with seats, dash, carpet and an all over refresh. My first post/question on it will be on factory tachometer/fuel gauge. Since this an intro, lol, I guess I need to cover some personals....I'm Chad, married(21 years) with 3 kids from 24-10. Hobbies are fishing, building/working on my Repair business, and I dabble in doing dirt work with a small excavator and tractor on smaller properties. I love all machinery and sadly make the mistake too often of buying something because its a good deal when spending more money first would save a lot, but sometimes the joy is in the project. Thanks for having me......Chad
Glad to have you
