Look what I am in the process of buying

[DoubleDingo]

About a week ago I got this feeling deep down, I missed the whine of an SM420, so I started browsing for a 64 to 66 c20, and look what I found...

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/4971841440.html

Spoke to the guy Friday and he said it's all stock except for the transmission. It's a 292 straight six, sm420, 4:56s, and he said everything works, the wiring is unmolested, etc. Even if the wiring is jacked, I have a complete harness for the truck, and many other upgrades and replacement parts if needed. I have a 3:54 rear end that is a direct swap, sway bars, a 283 if I want to go v8, multiple bellhousings and transmissions, weatherstripping, basically everything for it because I have a donor truck in my driveway. After some pondering I realized it's easier and cheaper to buy one that is running, over rebuilding and laboring over one that needs a boat load of work to piece it back together. $4,000 savings is what I calculated. To me it is the best wa to go with enough parts for it to remedy anything wrong with it.

He even has a couple extra parts to throw in.

First thing on my list is switch the rear axle, which gets the highway cruising speed to 70 mph at 2600 rpms. Then I have a new rubber floor mat and sound deadening if it needs it. NeXT would be the front disc conversion, just a direct swap over of control arms and springs, and then adding the rest of the kit. And then I have a gear vendor gear splitter overdrive unit, with a rear mounting system I designed and had plasma cutted to support the sm420 so it's not hanging off the back of the aluminum cased gear vendor unit. I am stoked about this truck and can do so much with it without spending any extra money at all, just labor. The only thing that may cost money is swapping to the 283 if the engine needs work.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Arrangements have been made, picking it up Sunday morning. He has other offers up closer, but I made the first offer and he stood by his word to give me a shot at getting it. He said he wants me to get it. He is going to pull the ad too. I am so freaking stoked about this truck! I love my square but I had a 65 before I had a square, missing the older iron right now.

 

[CSFJ]

Nice find. Sounds like it'll be pretty sweet when you're done with it.

 

[Dadof2]

Congrats!

 

[DoubleDingo]

Thanks. I wll most likely rattle can the body if I paint it, and most everything I have planned for it will leave it mostly stock. I intend to use this truck as a truck just like I do my 81.

 

[Quadrajet Power]

Very nice. I bet it is tough as a tank.

 

[89Suburban]

Sounds cool.

 

[f6john]

Jealous, will be a nice ride!

 

[DoubleDingo]

Yesterday he sent me a text that sounded like he was going to back out. Today I asked him if all was still a go. We have officially made arrangements for time and day, just not a location yet. He made one request, that I don't paint it yellow. I had to laugh, but I don't like yellow vehicles, well not my own, if someone else wants a yellow vehicle go for it. But I had to laugh because my parts truck is yellow. It wouldn't have stayed yellow if I put it on the street.

While figuring out how to get this truck down here, I had many different scenarios to think about. Drive it down at a whopping 55 mph because it has 4:56 gears and a straight 6 and I don't want to over-rev the 6. Rent a truck and then rent an auto transport trailer to tow it back. None of the rental places allow towing with their trucks. Uhaul said my 81 c20 wasn't big enough to tow the truck home. Bull crap, it would tow it just fine. But I wasn't going to drive mine up there, which is about 4.5 to 5 hours at about 60 mph, only to get hung up in their liability bs and not be able to trailer it home. My truck can't go much faster than 60 mph because of the 4:10 gears. Uhaul didn't even have a pickup or van that can tow it, just the box trucks. So after a long phone call to the uhaul up there, she was very helpful by the way, just no "Happy ending...lol...", I can drive my car up, stay the night Saturday, get the truck Sunday morning, eat breakfast, go to uhaul, and trailer it back with an empty 10 foot uhaul box truck and auto transport trailer one way. I'll post up some pics when I get it home. I plan to DD the truck for a while. And the first thing it's going to do when we get back is go on a dump run to rid my girlfriend's place of some stuff she needs to toss.

 

[CSFJ]

That liability crap from U-Haul is some serious bs. The last time I rented a car trailer from them was 20 years ago, and they didn't even blink when I hooked it up to a '79 k10. I understand they're trying to protect themselves, but why even bother to rent trailers if they're gonna say no unless you show up with a GM topkick or ford f450 plus?

 

[DoubleDingo]

I agree it's bs. I went with my old 65 to rent a car dolly. My grandpa welded the bumper to the frame, and reinforced it, but because there wasn't a class III receiver on the truck to hook to, I couldn't even start the paperwork to rent it. My 81 has the factory bumper, and they told me besides the bumper the truck needed to be at least a 1 ton to pull to pull it. I know the 81 could pull it and be able stop okay, but they wouldn't rent me the trailer if I use it. What I should've done, (and I didn't think of it until I started responding) is used my truck and said I was towing something smaller like a half ton or even smaller, get the trailer, drive down the road a couple miles to the next exit depending on conditions, load the truck on the trailer and drive home.

 

[CSFJ]

Yeah, you could have told them you needed to trailer a suzuki samarai and probably been ok. Hell, the '79 I used the last time I rented from them had a farm style spring loaded drawbar hitch on it. That thing was sweet to tow with. The spring took all the shock load out of it.

 

[HotRodPC]

Ohhhhhhhh you mutha !!! I know you all probably think squares are my favorite. NOOOOOOOO !!! I do like squares cuz they are plentiful, cheap, more modern things already done like PS, PB, Disk Brakes, have creature features like PW, PL, Cruise, AC is common etc. BUT, by far 64-66 is my favorites, and preferably GMC's over Chevy's. I like the GMC Dash's better, and I also prefer the GMC suspension and many times Dana rear axle better over the Chevys. See, back in the day, there really was a difference in GMC and Chevy. I like the 64-66 better cuz I'm not a great big fan of the Knee Knocker and the Wrap around Window. Wrap Arounds are for the 50's trucks. And I prefer the 3/4 tons too.

You're on the right track with the rear end swap if you're wanting to drive it daily or freeway drive it. I toll miss the old whine of the SM420 and the sqeaky Z bar clutch linkage, that is just as solid and can't kill, just like the SM465 which supercedes the SM420. I have a feeling it's going to have the biggo drop out 3rd member, called the GM Corp rear end, but it's actually made by Eaton. It's GM Corp cuz you won't find it in a Ford or Dodge. Made specifically for GM trucks and designed by GM engineers. Eaton just produced it. And there is only 2 gear ratios available for that axle. 4.56 and 4.10, and good luck finding one with a 4.10 cuz 4.56 was by far the most common. I lucked out once and had a solid boner for a week before Viagra was even invented when I FINALLY found a 4.10 ratio in an old ambulance at a Pull A Part. Pulled the floating axles, dropped that 3rd member out and paid $40 for it. Got it home and had it bolted in, in about 30 minutes. Got me a speedo corrector adapter to keep my speedo accurate since the Ambulance had an auto trans or I'd have robbed the speedo gears too. Kept the 4.56 dropout and wanted Posi for racing, so I took the spiders out, cleaned them up really good and ground on them to get the shiney finish off, reinstalled them and had a buddy weld up the spiders for a full time locked up 4.56 ratio. I could swap dropouts in about 30 minutes and didn't even need to jack it up. I'd put the 4.10 peg legger in for weekdays, and about every other weekend, had the 4.56 lincoln locker installed for horseplay and racing.

I'll try not to be jealous but just envious. At least it's going to be at a good home. So yeah, I'll be watching this project. What I'd always dreamed of having, was a 64-66 GMC 3/4 ton non side window Suburban/CarryAll with the windowed rear barn doors and the Dana 60 rear axle on leaf springs instead of the Coil Spring rear suspension that most of t he Chevy's were. That would be The **** for me.

 

[HotRodPC]

If that guy isn't lying about the Posi, there is a good chance that truck has the Chevy heavy duty suspension, which is the OEM GMC suspension, it might be Dana 60 in it and if it's factory posi, it'll be a Limited Slip carrier. If it's a Dana 60, there are certianly different gear ratio options, but IIRC, you'd have to give up the LSD carrier since I think the 4.56 is breaking point for going lower geared. I believe the cut off is 4.10 and taller, and 4.56 on down.

 

[kleedus]

I like the 60's trucks

my first truck was a 63 c10 long bed still have it but its a k10 short bed now

I have many 60's trucks
61 apache short bed
63 c10 short bed
63 k10 short bed
64 k10 short bed
65 k10 long bed
65 c10 short bed

I have been obsessed with the 60 to 66 chevy truck since I got my 63 when I was 15

here are some pics of them the grey 4x4 is my first truck it has lead a ruff life