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My Truck-again....

H

Headwind

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Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Messages
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Location
San Diego USA
1965 C20 Fleetside

Thanks for the info-I ordered that conversion harness from CD for installing an alternator w/internal reg. Sure made it easy! I also was having an overheating at idle problem. I followed some advice I read on this forum-that even though it isn't leaking or making noise the impellers in the pump can have coroded away. I installed a Weiland Hi Flow pump, a new Flex Fan & a Be Cool hi flow thermostat. Wow! What a difference. I drove to San Bernadino from San Diego to participate in the 2005 Route 66 Rendezvous (Anyone heard about it??). It was a 4 day event with a constant 5 mile cruise through the town. You could cruise all day if you wanted to. Sometimes there were so many great classics on the route that you would barely be moving-but my truck just cruised for hours & never went over 195. It was so much fun-I can't wait till next year! Now I finally figured out how to get some pics on this forum so you can see my truck. I wish there were some "before" pics so you could see how much work I've put into it. The body was pretty bad-lots of rust in the usual places-many dents & a wrecked pass. door. Was able to find some usable junkyard parts & shopped online at CD & a few other places. My dad helped me buy the truck about 10 years ago-3 years ago I replaced the tired 283 with a 350 & I haven't stopped since. I added some horses with a Eldelbrock Performance Carb/High Rise intake manifold topped with a K&M Air Cleaner, Hedman headers & Flowmasters. I replaced the stock "granny" 4 speed with a TH700R w/overdrive with a Lokar shifter on the floor. That's Highway cruisin'! I still have much work to do. Still running with the stock manual steering & manual brakes. Right now I'm waiting for my rear cab mounts to come back rebuilt from Steele Rubber (the C20 have different rear mounts). Please forgive the long post-check out my truck-you can enlarge the pics by clicking on them.
http://groups.msn.com/ClassicChevyPUPics/shoebox.msnw?Page=Last

Headwind :D
 
Wow ! Beautiful !! Glad you got all the bug-a-boo's worked out. The Cruise sounds like fun ! I need to get it on my calendar for next year..

DVal
 
The poster for the 16th Rendezvous is on my web page. There are phone numbers, etc. to get info for next year. GREAT FUN!! Yes Jesse. Time $ money. However, you can save a lot of money by putting in a lot of time. I found a paint/body shop that does a lot of classic/mussle car type restoration, a family run kind of place. They did the actual welding/heavy stuff/painting....but I did all the "grunt" work, hours & hours & hours of tedious grinding, sanding, masking....all the prep work it takes to get it perfect for the paint. Patch panels replaced rusted lower fenders, rocker panels...I needed a pass. door & hinges, hinges for the driver side & I needed a hood. I'm the one who walked all over every junk yard within 100 miles to find good fixable parts-they are out there though-
& C10 parts don't always interchange with my C20. Of course, when you start putting things back together, you need new weatherstripping everywhere, maybe a windshield. When you try to use your old trim it looks like crap on the new paint job. And use your old grill? & bumpers? LOL. Mirrors, lens, tailgate chains, hardware & seals....and don't stop there, as long as the seat is out of the truck get it upholstered. Might as well mat & carpet the floor. Seat belts finally? What about the leaky gas tank behind the seat? Boy. That was really a fun job. Could find a new tank okay, mounted it okay. But good luck figuring out a way to fill it. The list goes on & on. Work has to stop for awhile till more $$ is saved for more parts. The really big dollar item, & job best left to the professional, was the TH700R4 tranny (but worth every penny). Doing a lot of the work myself saves $$....As far back as I can remember I used to follow my dad around asking "how does this work, how do you do this?". I used to help him in the garage. I practically lived in the pits at Cajon Speedway helping friends work on their cars. And I made many happy trips to Riverside Raceway to cheer on Richard Petty or to Pomona for the NHRA runs. I do all the work I possibly can on my truck myself. I had help, of course, dropping in the new 350 but once it was in I installed the carb/intake manifold, pulleys, pumps, timing chain, starter, electric ignition, wiring...timing, adj. carb...whatever...I have shop & parts manuals & general repair books to refer to. People I can ask stuff & now I've found this forum where I've learned a lot just by reading the posts....Once again I must appoligize for the long post. I suppose my nickname should be Longwind instead of headwind. I get a bit defensive. Anyone can hire someone else to fix up their truck for them. But where is the fun in that? I like working on my truck. I've had good teachers & I've worked long & hard to get it nice. I'm proud of what I've done & it is fun to share it with others who have "been there, done that"....I saw a license plate frame on a nice truck on the cruise that just about sums it up. It said "This is NOT my boyfriends Truck". :-) :-) :-) :-)

Heather (Headwind) Check out poster at:
http://groups.msn.com/ClassicChevyPUPics/shoebox.msnw?Page=Last
 
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