Battle Hardened Farm Truck

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CaptainMauw

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Indiana
First Name
Josh
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
K30
Engine Size
6.2
Hello everyone. New here and already been lurking throughout the site for info. Just brought the old farm truck from the other farm back to mine as its new home this past weekend.

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Shes a 1985 K30 with a 6.2. She started life as a gov. truck for the DNR or some agency, then was picked up and has been at my best friends farm for the past few decades. Back in 2011/2012 we ripped her all the way to the frame and rebuild her from the ground up into how she currently looks (suspension, engine, drive-train, body, every last thing). Replaced the old rotted out tool body for the new aluminum one with side boxes. It was then that we converted her from single to dual rear wheel. Ever since, she has been a work horse and done just what she was born to do. You name it, shes pulled or hauled it between farm work, construction work, and field tiling work. I've spent a lot of time in the cab of her over the years and as the other farm grew around her, and ultimately outgrew her, I couldn't just see her go anywhere else but my farm.

After being parked overnight the injection pump lost electrical connection and she ran dry after startup. Needless to say I now am fully versed on bleeding the fuel systems on these old diesels. Aside from a slight seep on cylinder 7 injector, she starts and runs strong. Its not a Detroit if it doesn't leave a puddle of fluids underneath it right? In the last few months, the entire front end was completely replaced for new. Barring a good alignment, she tracks and rides like a dream.

I am pretty sure she started life as a cab and chassis given the wheel base. She looks like a short bed truck until you measure and find the current bed to be almost 8.5 foot in length. The glove box tag lists wheel base as 135.5. She is naturally aspirated with a 4.10 gearing setup. The not so good....she runs a TH350 behind the 6.2.

Direct drive at 4.10 means she screams at speed, and 6.2's are not like their bigger brother Detroits that you slam your hand in the door to get mad enough to drive it balls to the wall. The 6.2's prefer those low RPMs, so that's where I am currently digging to figure the best way to bring those rpm's down at 55 mph.

That said, shes a gem from generations ago that, much like her big sister the '64 C60, will continue to be a workhorse as she was born to do. Shes a farm truck so she has her "nuances" and "quick fixes" that I will need to attend to over the coming months. Looking forward to digging deeper into the site and continuing to learn all I can.

- Josh
 

DoubleDingo

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1981
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350
Great truck and story. You need to share photos of the '64 C60 too.
 

CaptainMauw

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Josh
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1985
Truck Model
K30
Engine Size
6.2
Great truck and story. You need to share photos of the '64 C60 too.
Off topic, but why not!

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1964: factory ordered for a lumber/logging company on Indiana/Illinois state line. When the company went out of business, she went to the family farm and hauled grain until ultimately being sold to a classic car restorer in north central Indiana where she sat for a few years when I got her. Proceeded to strip her down completely and rebuild. Stainless brake and fuel lines installed, new brakes on all 4 corners, new master and currently working on hydrovac, new vacuum system throughout, new clutch, new mounts, fully rewired, and new lock ring wheels. Pulled the 292 straight six, bored .040 over, and rebuild with new everything. Rebuild the SM420 inside and out, and then put her all back together. No body work done yet.

Shes a dumper and I just finished the log bunks on Monday. Shes the new log truck for my logging and firewood work that I do. No pics of the bunks yet (can see them in final photo), ill get some over this weekend. Just needs a bed floor and she is good to go.
 

DoubleDingo

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Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350
Off topic, but why not!

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1964: factory ordered for a lumber/logging company on Indiana/Illinois state line. When the company went out of business, she went to the family farm and hauled grain until ultimately being sold to a classic car restorer in north central Indiana where she sat for a few years when I got her. Proceeded to strip her down completely and rebuild. Stainless brake and fuel lines installed, new brakes on all 4 corners, new master and currently working on hydrovac, new vacuum system throughout, new clutch, new mounts, fully rewired, and new lock ring wheels. Pulled the 292 straight six, bored .040 over, and rebuild with new everything. Rebuild the SM420 inside and out, and then put her all back together. No body work done yet.

Shes a dumper and I just finished the log bunks on Monday. Shes the new log truck for my logging and firewood work that I do. No pics of the bunks yet (can see them in final photo), ill get some over this weekend. Just needs a bed floor and she is good to go.

That is BADASS!! Thanks for sharing! I own a squarebody, but my heart is with the 60s Series Trucks.

This is mine. I won't derail your thread any more than this.


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CaptainMauw

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Location
Indiana
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Josh
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
K30
Engine Size
6.2
That is BADASS!! Thanks for sharing! I own a squarebody, but my heart is with the 60s Series Trucks.

This is mine. I won't derail your thread any more than this.

No worries, I am right there with you. The late 50's and early 60's are my favorites. Im trying to locate a 59 Spartan 100, but that's a rare truck to begin with. I do love the square bodies though for their overall ruggedness. I wouldn't take a 60's era cross country, but I wouldnt hesitate to take a square.
 

Grit dog

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Engine Size
454
Welcome! And so cool that you're using old trucks for everyday work still. Makes me wanna go small town and just do some laid back work inna old truck!

That 65 Fleetside is beautiful too DD! First glance, that phone pole looked like stacks in the bed. That would look bad@ss with a couple 6" miter cut chrome stacks!
 

DoubleDingo

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Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350
No worries, I am right there with you. The late 50's and early 60's are my favorites. Im trying to locate a 59 Spartan 100, but that's a rare truck to begin with. I do love the square bodies though for their overall ruggedness. I wouldn't take a 60's era cross country, but I wouldnt hesitate to take a square.

If you're not a member on Stovebolt you might check them out. They have a lot of members over there with "Big Bolt" trucks, and sometimes one comes up for sale. This '65, Crusty Biscuit, is our long trip truck. We've taken it all over the place. It's been to Texas and back, up to Lake Tahoe and back doing a big loop on the pretty side of The Sierras to the ugly side, which you can't see because of the smog of the Central Valley. It takes us camping and cruises around town. I have a 292 that I haven't installed yet. Getting some more items before I do that swap. Excited for when I do it, though. We plan on taking a camping trip over the North Rim and loop back down to the South Rim and maybe drop into Phoenix from there, but not until Fall, there is no AC in it...lol...

Welcome! And so cool that you're using old trucks for everyday work still. Makes me wanna go small town and just do some laid back work inna old truck!

That 65 Fleetside is beautiful too DD! First glance, that phone pole looked like stacks in the bed. That would look bad@ss with a couple 6" miter cut chrome stacks!

Thanks, it gets lots of looks. It has a lot of rust on the passenger side. Once I get some extra cash I plan to get a welder and practice on some scrap sheet metal so I can fix the rust issues. It won't get any stacks, I have a camper shell that I switch using on the '81 or Crusty, depending on the occasion.
 

78C10BigTen

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Ted
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C10 BIG TEN
Engine Size
350
Off topic, but why not!

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1964: factory ordered for a lumber/logging company on Indiana/Illinois state line. When the company went out of business, she went to the family farm and hauled grain until ultimately being sold to a classic car restorer in north central Indiana where she sat for a few years when I got her. Proceeded to strip her down completely and rebuild. Stainless brake and fuel lines installed, new brakes on all 4 corners, new master and currently working on hydrovac, new vacuum system throughout, new clutch, new mounts, fully rewired, and new lock ring wheels. Pulled the 292 straight six, bored .040 over, and rebuild with new everything. Rebuild the SM420 inside and out, and then put her all back together. No body work done yet.

Shes a dumper and I just finished the log bunks on Monday. Shes the new log truck for my logging and firewood work that I do. No pics of the bunks yet (can see them in final photo), ill get some over this weekend. Just needs a bed floor and she is good to go.
I REALLY like that grille!! The chevrolet is cool!!
 

DoubleDingo

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1981
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350

CaptainMauw

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Location
Indiana
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Josh
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
K30
Engine Size
6.2
Welcome to the forum and you have all the cool toys!
I spy a '67 Chevelle as well...

Sadly, I cannot claim it, nor the 69 C10 or the 57 chevy on the other side of the barn as mine. They are a close family friends where I had the C60 parked for the overhaul as all my barns that are big enough for that monster are currently dirt floors. There is only one vehicle in this world I would own that is not a truck, and its a '66 chevelle. One day, one day...

If you're not a member on Stovebolt you might check them out. They have a lot of members over there with "Big Bolt" trucks, and sometimes one comes up for sale. This '65, Crusty Biscuit, is our long trip truck. We've taken it all over the place. It's been to Texas and back, up to Lake Tahoe and back doing a big loop on the pretty side of The Sierras to the ugly side, which you can't see because of the smog of the Central Valley. It takes us camping and cruises around town. I have a 292 that I haven't installed yet. Getting some more items before I do that swap. Excited for when I do it, though. We plan on taking a camping trip over the North Rim and loop back down to the South Rim and maybe drop into Phoenix from there, but not until Fall, there is no AC in it...lol...

Haha I have made the stovebolt site a home page for the past few months for that truck. One of the best forums I have yet ever joined. I love the 292 though. Such a simple and easy engine that just grunts. If you want to maintain that bottom end, keep the stock intake and exhaust manifolds and put your money in the head and block. Those restrictive manifolds keep the power band nice and low right where that straight 6 likes it. She wont ever go fast, but then again, a 60's chevy isn't about speed, its about style right?

I get around 7-8 mpg in the beast empty, but she has the aerodynamics of a sky scraper, weighs 9.5k empty, and runs a 6.XX rear gear in direct drive, so I would easily believe 14-16 in a C10 style truck on a 292 just purring away at 55. Even better with a 3.73 ish rear end and overdrive trans

Even in the 04 and 05 silverados I have, there is currently no AC. I was born a few generations too late. I like the low speed, triangle windows, and kick vents. The best AC in my books. I wish my silverado had kick vents.....I can imagine that in the desert AC might be nice though

And yeah, the spartan is the big truck line, bigger than the viking which is a C60 equivalent. I need a big rig, and as cool as a Kenworth or old Pete would be, a Spartan 100 would just fit right alongside these other two girls
 
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DoubleDingo

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Truck Year
1981
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350
Sadly, I cannot claim it, nor the 69 C10 or the 57 chevy on the other side of the barn as mine. They are a close family friends where I had the C60 parked for the overhaul as all my barns that are big enough for that monster are currently dirt floors. There is only one vehicle in this world I would own that is not a truck, and its a '66 chevelle. One day, one day...



Haha I have made the stovebolt site a home page for the past few months for that truck. One of the best forums I have yet ever joined. I love the 292 though. Such a simple and easy engine that just grunts. If you want to maintain that bottom end, keep the stock intake and exhaust manifolds and put your money in the head and block. Those restrictive manifolds keep the power band nice and low right where that straight 6 likes it. She wont ever go fast, but then again, a 60's chevy isn't about speed, its about style right?

I get around 7-8 mpg in the beast empty, but she has the aerodynamics of a sky scraper, weighs 9.5k empty, and runs a 6.XX rear gear in direct drive, so I would easily believe 14-16 in a C10 style truck on a 292 just purring away at 55. Even better with a 3.73 ish rear end and overdrive trans

Even in the 04 and 05 silverados I have, there is currently no AC. I was born a few generations too late. I like the low speed, triangle windows, and kick vents. The best AC in my books. I with my silverado had kick vents.....I can imagine that in the desert AC might be nice though

And yeah, the spartan is the big truck line, bigger than the viking which is a C60 equivalent. I need a big rig, and as cool as a Kenworth or old Pete would be, a Spartan 100 would just fit right alongside these other two girls

It's a good site over there, but those old boys run a tight ship. No shenanigans allowed. But a wealth of information. I'm looking forward to running the 292. I was planning on having the head redone with the lump port kit. But I don't want the truck down for too long. So my plan is to buy a different head, have the lumps installed, and bigger 1.84 valves, then run it. That way I can keep the original head, too. That upgrade will move the torque band up a shade, but still keep the power down low. I don't ever rev my engines over 3,000 unless I absolutely have to, and I like to keep them at low-mid 2,000 rpm range for highway cruising. I think that 292 will like that. No AC in the desert does suck, but you learn ways to deal with it. Ice water. Ice chest with ice, and towels to put ice in and drape across your neck, and open all the vents and windows and let nature's AC (wind) cool you down.

You're right, having an old big rig would be cool, but nothing like having an old Spartan 100. As I was writing that, have you checked out Classic Truck Rescue out of Oregon? http://classictruckrescue.com/
 

Shorty81

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Awesome story, awesome trucks!! Welcome from Ohio. I'm with you on the Windows down and the kick vents open!!
 

1973c10

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Welcome
 

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