1966 Chevy G10

GMman wrote:I had the old Gal running again today. I set the timing and adjusted the idle. I also replaced the PCV rubber hose. the valve is ok. After not running for 30 years, the 230 just purrs at idle and revs up on all six without any backfire. Yes I did put in fresh oil and new filter. I will probably install a carb kit down the line. I ordered top and bottom radiator hoses from CARQUEST this afternoon and got my fingers crossed to see if the right ones come in the morning. the top hose is just a straight 90deg bend but the bottom is two 90's with a 90deg twist (but you guys know that). I also got a fresh gallon of antifreeze because the weather up here can be an arctic block cracker. We experienced -30 lows for over a week last winter.  Yes we do have drastic "Climate Change" here LOL!!! Eat your heart out Al Gore!!!

Be careful running it with the air cleaner off and the cover closed while tweaking things, it probably has the old fiber insulation on the cover that's most likely impregnated with oil and gas vapor and one backfire will ignite it!  Many vans have burned up this way, I did one back in the '70's!  Once you get it going, scrap the old insul off the cover and get some new stuff from Jeggs or Summit Racing....as for a front bumper, just keep asking around here, lots of parts vans pass through with bumpers offered from time to time.  Also check over at the VCVC (Vintage Chevy Van Club) site, many parts for sale there too and a wanted section. You can adapt a pickup bumper like shown, but the van ones are around. Biggest cost is shipping it!  The bottom hose is the same as a Nova's, Napa, eBay and the like sell them.  The top is for the van but available.  Check the thermostat too, should be a 180, replace it while you're doing the top hose.

GMman wrote:

Man......most people would consider that thing pretty roached out....nearly as bad as my '65 when I first started working on it.

I'm glad to see there are other crazy people out there like me that don't think this is a lost cause.

(I'm nearly done with the driver side rocket replacement......just need to cap it inside the front wheel well.)

I pulled the gas tank and found that it was packed with dirt between the upper rear of the tank and the rear frame cross member. I had the tank sand blasted and cut the bad areas out of the tank. The body man that will be working on my van is going to patch in some new metal to fill in the massive holes, then I will line the entire tank with liquid fuel tank liner.

I know the hole looks pretty bad but I am confident that the hole can be patched up.

My old radiator was rodded out which opened up too many holes to fix so I got a new core. This is a custom built core that the old tanks will fit on. A little pricy but I won't have to worry about keeping the old gal cool.

Good, I finally got my pictures to upload. I was fortunate to get some garage space with a smooth floor to work on the old gal.

Here is a pretty good view of what I have to deal with. I scrubbed the old gal down with Mr Clean and a scrub brush and took her to the car wash for a good cleaning inside and out.

Nice door latch, LOL!!! Good thing I got those other doors.

The old gal's joints are pretty stiff. I got my work cut out for me!!!

Bumpers are hard to come by....a body shop with a press can probably massage that front one back to life with a little heat and banging...I'd say you need new shocks! LOL, Napa has exact replacements still listed as do most other big auto stores...start with the PB Blaster asap! I have reason to believe that my van started out on par with yours, all of the rockers from the floor down, door bottoms and rear quarters half way to the tail lights have been re-done with sheet metal and or fiber glass plus the area around the gas tank filler by a PO (previous owner)...keep the progress coming...

Van, I need new everything, LOL!!! The local True Value Hardware had a sale on PB Blaster at $2.50 a can so I bought 6 cans. I have been dousing everything in Blaster all along. When I was pulling the old girl out of the dirt this past August the steering was froze up. I blasted all of the steering linkage and just kept working it back and forth until I could steer reasonably well. The bad thing about blaster is that it dries up after awhile as does WD-40 so I have been using 3in1 oil as well. I did grease all of the fitting the best I could but everything will need work....little by little. I have most all of the new brake hardware but am waiting on the front brake shoes. They should be delivered this afternoon. I got everything off of E-Bay and saved quite a bit of money opposed to going to local parts stores.

That's the way to go...search for Donivan's post of injecting grease into the steering box, that may help too. There a few threads showing brake jobs, refurbish the self adjusting stars and read up on the procedures to get the initial adjustment within range, a shop manual helps. Good working stock drum brakes are fine for local cruising around, they were quite large in the front for these vehicles as they were meant to haul cargo. You can always go for the disc brake conversion later. Again. lots of threads here on replacing brakes, lines and master cyls....

GMman, thanks for saving another one that most likely would have been left to turn to dust or sent to a crusher for scrap metal! Thanks for posting pics of your progress. Nice to see some guys not afraid to take on such a PROJECT! Glad you were able to find a spot to work on her.

The Drums are 9.5" Front shoes are 2.5" wide while the rear shoes are 2". Everything is new including the star adjusters. I dropped the drums off at the local parts store/machine shop to have them turned. I measured to see how much brake line I needed and picked that up at the parts store. I got straight sticks of the 1/4" line and the 3/16" came in a bulk coil 25' long for $20. I'll have extra 3/16" but I can use it on my other builders. Bolts twisted off of the old wheel cylinders so i'll need to pick a few up for the new cylinders. The front shoes were delivered to my house this afternoon so I can get busy finishing the brakes up.

You can't go wrong by fixing the brakes first. Safety is the key with these old gems! Nice work so far!!!

I have to fix the brakes because I am going to drive the old gal out to the body shop 8 miles away. I have to go up and down a few big hills along the way. Plus she is going to be at the body shop all winter. The deal is that the body guy will work on her off and on throughout the winter. When she's not being worked on she will be outside with a tarp on her. So by next summer she should be looking pretty.

Sounds like you've got everything under control!! You should see if the body man can take some pics of his progress or if he'd let you take some as he progresses. Can't wait to see it in the spring!

Definitely!!! I'll be going out to take pictures through out the next 6 months.

Working on the brakes.

GMman;  

The shoes are on backwards. The primary shoe with the shorter lining goes to the front and the secondary with the longer linning goes aft of the axle.
Otherwise great job cleaning them all up.



M1D

You know... your right m1. Thanks for pointing that out. It was a long day and I put the shoes on the same way that the old shoes were installed, so they were wrong before. Dopey me!!! I feel embarrassed because back in the day... I could do a brake job with my eyes closed. It's tough getting old!!! No problem, i'll get it fixed and put the shoes on the rear in the right direction. LOL!

Weve all done it or -WILL!!!!!!!!!  Just dont forget to put it in drive -instaed of =REVERSE!!


Hersa some help!!= There is a "Tool" now made that is hand held- allows you to better install the small "Caps" that go over the small spring that locates -- the coil spring & pin that holds the shoes on!! Less than 10 bux @ NAPA!! Ive been putting those caps on with needle nose type pliers since day 1- had a car recently that didnt allow my usual way of installing them. Bought the simple tool & zappo -installed!! heres a similar one=

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KD-Tools-2774-Univ-Brake-Shoe-Retaining-Spring-Tool-/400386456974

Snap on = http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snap-On-brake-spring-tool-/301383531386

one i used= http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lisle-Tools-47400-Double-End-Brake-Shoe-Spring-Washer-Tool-/251293978359

Had a tool like that from Snapon when I was first starting out. I didn't like it because I couldn't see the slotted hole to line up with the retaining pin. I was using a small pliers but then started using a small vise-grip and locking it just tight enough so the retainer would not move but not bend. works great. you can see what you doing and the retainer doesn't get away from you.