Double Dingo's 1965 3/4 Ton "Crusty Biscuit"

[DoubleDingo]

Digging deeper into the first little blue bin....

Matched lock cylinder, glove box lock and door handle lock set; door checks; extra vent window knobs; found the EGR plug for my vortec intake manifold that is now installed the '81; a new rag collar; and there was some misc wiring, speed nuts for the glove box, a glovebox latch and some misc threaded plugs and such....

 

[DoubleDingo]

More parts porn....

Bed bolts and washers and other fasteners; brand new, well fresh rebuilt unused quadrajet for a 1968 c20, supposedly the first year of that style carburetor; new bumper brackets; new matched set clutch kit; extra ramhorns; extra parts and pieces in the red bin that I need to go through...

 

[DoubleDingo]

Parts porn continues....

HEI distributor; seat belts and arm rests; extra gas pedal and turn signal lever; rear coil spring mounting hardware; new cigarette lighter with proper wiring...and I spot my flex fan in the background, I need to dig out that black bin and see what goodies await inside it...

 

[DoubleDingo]

Parts porn....

Door regulator and door handle seals; 2-speed wiper motor; headlight switch; body mounts; bell housing mounts....

 

[DoubleDingo]

More porn...

Filler neck seal and vent window repair kit; new mirrors if I decide to install them, I kinda like the stock ones that are on the truck, but the doors have the holes and screws already installed for these type of mirrors so taking off the stock ones wouldn't be a big deal, it would just leave a bunch of holes in the doors; glove box; air diverter for a cab that came with factory AC; front disc brake conversion parts....

 

[DoubleDingo]

Are you all quivering yet from the porn...

A barely used wiring harness that is basically a plug and play unit because I installed it in my old '65 so everything is terminated right where it needs to be and there are some taillight pigtails hiding in that photo too, and a new sending unit but he just replaced the one in the tank so I can hang onto this one; headlight relay harness and some bed-side rope hooks to install and a new 2 inch ball; parts and pieces for the gear splitter overdrive unit I have; some body mounts because I was going to have them converted to this style but I will just use them my '81....I need to dig around in that bin and see what else is in there...

 

[DoubleDingo]

Well that's it for now. Yesterday I changed the lock cylinder because he has extra keys that he didn't give me, and I swapped in one of my locking handles so I can lock the doors. After I changed the lock cylinder I decided to rebuilt the door handles with that kit I showed you, but the kit needs to be altered for the key to turn. Those Taiwanians didn't build them right. In the interim I can use the handle I installed.

 

[DoubleDingo]

I spoke again with the guy from Gear Vendor's, and there are defintely old overdrives that were designed to freewheel. I did a little more digging around and found that I most likely have the Borg Warner OD unit, and that it's not supposed to freewheel above 28 mph. I need to diagnose it and see if there is electrical power at specific spots according to the information provided in the link. Another thing I can do is shift without the clutch, so I am going to try that at lunch today. Someone definitely altered the way it operates by adding a dash mounted toggle switch, but now that I have a better understanding of how this thing works, I am going to see if I can grow to like it.

http://www.fordification.com/tech/overdrive.htm

 

[DoubleDingo]

Last night I adjusted the clutch so it engages more towards the floor instead of near the end of its travel. It's amazing, it took only about a 1/4 inch to make the clutch engage at a completely different spot in the pedal. That made the truck feel a whole lot better shifting through the gears. When idling, though, the throwout bearing is making noise, or maybe it's the input shaft of the transmission. I just know it goes away when the clutch pedal is pushed in. Luckily I have a new clutch kit to slap in there. I need to get a transmission jack or rent one soon to make the job easier. While I'm under there I will change out the bell housing mounts and motor mounts.

Last night I also adjusted the column shifter linkage, and man what a huge difference that made as well. No more trying to find 1st or reverse, just pull the handle back and there is no hang-ups in the linkage like before. For those of you that have a 3-on-the-tree I highly recommend you adjust the shifter linkage if you're having problems with it. It is really easy and completely worth the time doing it. I was ready to fork out $200 for a floor shifter but now I am not. I need to dig up the link I posted yesterday about adjusting the linkage and add it here as well. My linkage was a tad different but it was basically the same concept except I don't have holes to insert a screw driver to line them up.

I also took out the heavy stock fan and swapped in my flex fan to cut down on the fan noise somewhat and to gain a couple extra ponies by freeing up the rotating mass just a smidge. I need to get some cooling system flush and run that for a few days and also swap in my 4-core radiator and new shroud. The fan is dangerously close to the old shroud because the shroud has sagged over the years.

I was going to switch over the wheels and tires too, but I couldn't find all the stuff needed to do it, the main one missing was the star wrench. I found it after I got done and sat down on the couch. It was right where I was looking early...lol...oh well, I know where it is now and I have everything else set aside so it will be easier to get going after work.

I didn't take any pics of what I did last night because none of it really changed the appearance of the truck. But when I change the wheels and tires, I will take some before & after shots.

How to adjust 3-on-the-tree linkage...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TCHzIvAvRQ

 

[DoubleDingo]

Just ordered a brake line kit for the power disc conversion kit I have. Now I need to dig up the rest of the kit and make sure I have everything. I think I do. If my memory hasn't failed me, I had a coworker grab a proportioning valve for me when he went to Classic Perfmance Products years ago. I have the control arms, spindles and rotors installed on the parts truck, so those will need to be removed. Oh wait, I need to get new rotors, I remember now I took those new rotors and put them on my 81 because I needed new wheel bearings on the 81 and I had just installed those rotors and they are exactly the same. Okay, need new rotors too and wheel bearings and I know to order them for an 81.

I don't know which to do first though. Replace the clutch or swap in the disc brakes. Probably the clutch, that way I can drain the transmission and add new gear oil and replace the input shaft bearing, and add new seals to it too. And of course clean it up and paint it. I am going to keep the paint scheme on this truck as it came from the factory, and it's a dark blue, so I need to find out what color exactly.

@HotRodPC @bucket @RetroC10Sport @mrmarty @kleedus @chengy @richweyand @MadOgre

Do any of you know what color blue the old 60's series power plants were painted.

 

[MadOgre]

Wouldn't that be the old General Motors red/orange ? Could be blue/gray as well

 

[MadOgre]

https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/do...its/Chevrolet-Trucks/1965-Chevrolet-Truck.pdf

 

[DoubleDingo]

That's a cool manual Ogre. I think these trucks came with the engines painted GM Corporate Blue. On the overdrive there is a dark blue paint and the engine I took out of the parts truck is that color blue. I saw something where they actually didn't paint the transmission but painted the engine with the bellhousing bolted up so there is overspray on the bellhousing. I won't do that, I want it to painted even though it won't be seen under the truck.

The engine in this truck is orange. So it may have been replaced at some point or someone decided to paint it orange. I read where a guy was 5 when his dad had to replace the engine in their truck and he had to watch while it was done. He recalled the engine removed due to a broken cam was grey and the replacement engine was chevy orange. Perhaps that was Chevy's way of telling if an engine was original or not. From the factory painted a specific color, and a replacement engine painted chevy orange.

327's got a certain color, 283's got a certain color, 292's their own color, etc., etc.

 

[CSFJ]

After reading this, I found this online. I never new they used anything other than orange, blue, or black either. Kind of interesting.


http://www.cs.siena.edu/~lederman/truck/Documents/danroyEngineColors/danroyVCCAcolor.html

 

[kleedus]

Chevrolet orange for the 60's v8 mostly