1983 Chevy C20 Pickup Restomod.

WEll, after 34 years, the tailgate hinge finally failed. The driver side hinge, mounted to the tailgate rusted through and fell off. I can still put the tailgate down and such, but I avoid it if possible until I install the replacement. Summit Racing didn't have the kit I wanted in stock, so I am just waiting until next friday to pick it up. This is a very minor problem, but an easy fix that needs done.

After having nightmarish problems with a faulty distributor on the previous engine in this truck, I decided to do this one right.

Today saw the purchase and installation of a new Summit Racing blueprinted HEI distributor on the old straight six. With the new distributor came a new vacuum advance line made from steel brake line. I have to run rigid lines under the hood as there is a weird exhaust gas re-circulation line that gets extremely hot and seems to melt anything that has to cross over it. Which is everything...I also ran a solid line to the transmission for the vacuum modulator while I was at it.

Last weekend saw the installation of 6 new AC Delco spark plugs.

Next week will be the installation of new spark plug wires. I very well may buy the bulk wire, all the connectors, and a crimper to make the cables myself. All 6 spark plug wires reside on the same side fo the engine, which simplifies things, but causes weird placement problems. I'm hoping to get the wires to the perfect length, use a wire separator kit to keep the neat, then add boot protectors to the spark plug side to keep things safe from the engine heat. When this is all done, the truck will have an all new ignition system, including ignition fuses.

Once all the wiring has been sorted out and the engine bay cleaned up, the truck is off to a buddy for a really good tune up and inspection. Once that is done, it's simply a matter of saving some money, then pulling the engine to install a new water pump, oil pump, oil pan gasket, head gasket, and any other various sensors and seals that need done. At that point, I will probably just clean the engine up really nice, paint it real pretty, and take my good old time to get it looking the way I really want it to look.

With the temperatures rising pretty rapidly here in Ohio, I decided it was time to up the cooling capacity with a few minor upgrades.

I added a new Derale 19 inch stainless steel flex fan to help cool better. It is slightly smaller than the stock 20 inch steel fan that came with the engine, but has 6 blades instead of the stock 4 blades. The blade angles are much steeper as well, so it pulls a bit more air, even with a smaller diameter. It works just fine.

I also added some Summit Racing coolant additive to help drop the temperature. Neither of these things have made a significant change in temperature, but it is noticeable.

I also picked up a new coolant temperature sending unit. Planning to install this when I wake up. I'm fairly certain the orignal is just fine, but it seems to be at least 30 years old. Can't risk overheating this engine.

I picked up 4 new rubber radiator pads as the originals are worn out and one is missing. The plate that holds the radiator down also got bent up, so the radiator moves around a lot. Hopefully bending the plate back and putting new bumpers will solve that little annoyance.

The final step in the cooling system overhaul is to mount the two electric fans to the outside of the radiator, pushing air into the engine bay. They each have their own adjustable controller as well. This will allow for much greater cooling at lower speeds and long term idling, so I can leave my truck idle like any other vehicle would. The temperature likes to creep up at red lights and threaten to cause fuel feed problems.

When first started, the truck made a very loud and disturbing knocking sound. Turns out to have been loose torque converter bolts. Tightened them up real good, and silence followed.

The next step is to pull the bolts out, one at a time, clean the holes out real well, and instill new ARP bolts with thread locking compound to make sure this never happens again. The engine likes to vibrate things loose, as I have found...

I finally got the coolant system flushed and tested, then properly filled with coolant on Friday. I have this Prestone flush and fill kit installed from last year and finally put it to use. Hooked a hose to it and flushed the whole thing out and filled it with coolant. I ran it quite a while and thought it was safe to take out. Went to take it out for a significantly longer test drive, but ended up stranded again. Overheated again. After being stuck at a stop sign when it stalled before pulling away, I finally limped it home. The truck made it EXACTLY to its parking spot before the engine died again... I let it cool back down and found a few more problems(yay). To start with, it was incredibly difficult to start and barely ran on its own. Previously, it would idle extremely fast, now it stalled at idle. A couple of buddies were looking at the engine when I had it running and started yelling as I could hear the engine dying, so I shut it down. I got out and found that gas was pouring out of the carb as it ran. Not dripping, but pouring. I gave up on it and went to sleep.

Today, I took the carb off and ripped the whole thing apart. This was extremely easy on the Rochester Monojet single barrel carb, and thankfully so. I was able to understand this carb without any documentation at this point, a huge improvement in my automotive knowledge over this time last year. Fuel leakage on these carbs was a common problem I found when the fuel float level was set wrong or the plastic float had filled with fuel and caused it to raise the fuel levels. As I had neither of these problems, and the gasket was good, I knew something was up. With the carb apart, I found that a piece of crud had gotten under the needle valve, which allowed too much fuel into the carb, which caused it to pour out of the hole for the accelerator pump linkage. After corecting this and cleaning out my fuel filter, I decided to bench test the entire carb the best I could. I'm glad I did, because I found that the linkage that opens the flap on top would bind at random. After testing the vacuum actuator that opens this flap, I was able to verify everything was ok. It still bound up, so I loosened an overtightened screw to free up the linkage. I must have sat there for 20 minutes actuating this flap with a Mightyvac before I was satisfied with it. It opens fairly quickly when the vacuum pressure hits 5 inches. It worked quite well for something from 1985 or so.

I did notice that the fans seemed to be running fairly ineffectively. This may be due to improper placement, as I have the 2 12" electric fans mounted side by side, in the center of the radiator. They should, ideally, be mounted offset, with one by the upper radiator hose, and the other by the lower radiator hose. I will have to double check to find the best mounting practice., and mount them properly.

Another MAJOR problem I found, one common to these engines, was a very loose carb mounting nut. These Chevy Straight Six motors are known for vibrating things loose, especially the intake manifold bolts and the carb bolts. Of the two nuts that mount the carb to the intake manifold, one of them was so loose that I removed it with only my fingers. I later guessed that this was the cause of the poor performance, fast idling, and possible overheating, as it caused a massive vacuum leak, which would have interrupted fuel vaporization and possibly caused the engine to run very lean. I re-ran new fuel lines and clamps all the way around while I was under the hood to clear up a questionable fuel feed. I got that sorted out, re-ran all the vacuum lines, and did another inspection before starting it up. Everything looked pretty darn good.

I finally got in and tried to start this thing up. It fired up almost instantly, even with no gas in the carb. It was kind of shocking, really. It made some hideous knocking sounds at first, then it worked out some air bubbles in the fuel feed, and idled nice and smooth. Up until the oil pressure got up to normal levels, there was a pretty loud knocking down in the engine. I attribute this to the fact that I put really cheap oil in it, added a bunch of SeaFoam engine detergent, then ran it hard to knock all the debris out of the engine. From what I understand, this thins the oil out and pretty well wears it out immediately. Thin, worn out oil does not provide a proper surface for metal parts to ride on, so they can hit each other and rub. Not good for the parts. Oil is very important. I added a KNN racing oil filter and 5 quarts of Valvoline VR1 Racing oil. I use the VR1 racing oil for its high zinc content and special additives. I ran this in the dying small block V8 and it lasted about 5 times longer than any other oil before it deteriorated and needed changed. This stuff is tough. With the new oil in, I cranked the engine, it started, clanked a few times, then idled smoother than anything I have ever owned or seen recently. I let it circulate oil for a few minutes, then shut it down and restarted it. It started faster and easier than anything I have ever seen. I was amazed at this. No more hideous noises, no fuel leaks, nothing worrisome. The only problem I found was a slight whistling coming from the carb. I traced this to the choke flap on the top of the carb and deemed it safe to ignore.

Currently, I am unable to determine the temperature the engine is running at, but I will have access to HVAC thermometers in the morning. All that is left to do is get it up to temperature, test the temperature, then test drive it a bunch and see what happens. If the temperature tests are passed, then it will be ready for daily driving once again.

Tomorrow will the time to do a full tune up on the engine, including new plug wires,new spark plugs, vacuum advance inspection and test, and timing verification. After it is ready to run, I will be replacing the burnt old wiring harness sleeve with new, bright red convoluted tubing. All the wiring will be ran neatly, and the entire engine bay tidied up. Tomorrow should be a very productive day in deed.

I have a strong running engine now, but it will not run for long. The thing gets extremely hot and just shoots coolant all over the place out of the little vent on the cap. I do have the temperature gauge working, but overlooked its placement. The sending unit works, but is mounted underneath the thermostat. I had found that the entire upper radiator hose is not even getting warm. It's ice cold when the engine is very hot. The temperature reading I am getting is that of the cylinder head, conducting directly to the thermostat housing. The reading on the gauge is extremely low compared to the block temperature. I can only hope I haven't destroyed this engine today after it overheated...

All day was spent installing electric fans and running wiring. I currently have 2 12 inch electric fans, with adjustable controllers. They are mounted directly to the radiator with no fan shroud, due to lack of clearance. This engine is so long that I have no other current options. I tried a universal fan shroud, but it was too deep and couldn't accommodate the giant fixed fan. I considered a smaller flex fan, but that would need a shroud, which was not happening. I settled on 2 electric fans as I could control them manually if needed, and they scare me less that a steel blade running from the crank shaft. That thing is a severed arm waiting to happen.

The 2 fans move a substantial amount of air, but the fan controllers never kicked them on. I didn't figure out why until after I had bypassed them with a power lead straight to the ignition switch on the fuse panel. Turns out I had put the probes next to the radiator hose that was not getting any warm coolant. They would have never turned on, and are doing no good at all, as the coolant is not flowing through the radiator.

I put some ThermoCure in the system and ran it a minute, letting it sit over night. I suspect a clogged radiator, among possible water pump failure. At this point, I am trying to flush the system, install a new water pump, and replace the head gasket, as I am pretty sure it is blown at this point.

More updates to follow shortly, as tomorrow is another Truck Day for me, I do have some pretty sweet new fuse holders for the start circuit, as well as some bright red convoluted tubing to run the entire wiring harness through. It is currently a mess of hideous wires.

After considering many options to get my truck back on the road, I finally have a solution.

I found a running Chevy 250 cubic inch straight six engine for $300. The guy selling it had a video of it running before he pulled it out, so I was fairly certain it would work. It had sat for a week before I went to check it out. I picked this thing up, and got it home with most of what was needed for a total of about $450. Not bad for the most reliable engine you could get for this truck.

It will not have much power compared to a proper V8, but it will have more power than the previous engine. The electric fuel pump used on the previous engine was failing and misplaced, causing very low fuel pressure under load. This caused the engine to struggle severely. This made the engine very weak and the truck very slow. It could not rev up properly. Highway speeds were almost impossible.

After installing the engine, I could not get the starter motor to turn the engine over. It just didn't have the power. This was a started from a V8, so it should have easily had the power to turn the engine over. The solenoid just clicked very quickly. I eventually managed to short out the alternator on the frame and burn up all the fusible links in the starter motor circuit. After a few days, I managed to get some beefy 60 amp fuses, replace the blown links, and get the circuit functioning again.

I told a buddy about this, and he immediately said that there was a ground circuit problem. He reminded me to hook up the ground strap that grounds the engine to the firewall. This fixed the starter motor problem. I could now turn the starter motor over. I ended up replacing the ground strap with a new copper strap from Summit Racing Equipment.

After checking everything over, and clearing tools away from the engine, I turned the motor over. No fire. It would absolutely not start up. I made sure it had fuel in the line, but no luck. I found that my fuel filter was leaking badly, just before the single barrel carb. After replacing this with the old one from the V8, I got the leak fixed. This gave me fuel pressure again, but the engine still refused to start...

I took off the air cleaner assembly, and opened the throttle a few times. No fuel sprayed into the carburetor from the fuel bowl. This meant that no fuel was making its way into the carb. Cranking the engine over long enough to get fuel from the mechanical fuel pump, into the bowl, would surely kill the battery. After searching for starting fluid, I gave up and found a small can of mixed, 2 stroke gasoline. I opened the throttle and poured a few ounces of fuel directly into the carb. Turning the key, it fired right up, sputtered for a few seconds, then ran steadier than any engine I have ever heard. Shutting it off, I tried to restart it, and this tired old engine started faster and smoother than anything I have ever seen.

I drove the truck to the local baseball fields and back, but made it only two blocks from home. The engine sputtered, and lived just long enough to get the truck safely into an alley. I found that it had dumped all the coolant from a tear in each coolant hose, and overheated. It stalled and refused to start. I threw on the hazard lights, locked the truck up, and walked home, carrying an empty coolant bottle with me. I grabbed another coolant bottle from the garage, filled them both up, and headed back. I refilled the radiator, sat around listening to Norse Myths, and waited. I got it started up again, drove it home, and backed it up into its parking spot in front of the garage to cool down.

After hooking up all the original gauges, I had every single factory gauge working for the first time since I bought the truck. 34 years old, and every gauge on this truck still works. The only things not working are the electric choke on the carb, and the vacuum line for the transmission. The choke isn't actually needed, as the engine starts and runs fine. The vacuum line is a simple fix, which, without, will cause the transmission to remain in first gear. It will not shift. There is no exhaust system just yet, but will be simple to run as it has a single outlet. I plan on running a single pipe with a simple muffler to keep things quiet.

At this point, the truck can be started and driven at about 30mph, for about 2 minutes before it will overheat and shut off. I am replacing the radiator hoses, hose clamps, radiator cap, water pump, and coolant. After replacing those, radiator flush will be run through it, and filled up[ for good.

After filling with water and running to temp, it never got above 200 degrees. All is well now.

With the death of the second engine on 1/29/2017, I find myself without transportation, stuck an hour away from work. I took today off to sort things out, and mostly because I don't have a way to work. I am not without a plan though.

I have found a possible replacement rotation assembly for my engine, and my friend is donating a set of good cylinder heads to my cause, as well as his time this weekend to rebuild the engine and get this old guy back on the road again. I've had a ton of support since the death of my truck, and things should be back on track and better than ever by Monday.

The new rotation assembly is all stock sizes, very gently used, for $100, in the city I work in. It's just a matter of getting up there to pick it up. I have just enough money left to buy it, and food for the week.

This engine is going to have flat top pistons, a mild performance cam and lifters, Edelbrock dual plane aluminum intake manifold, long tube headers, a 60,000 volt ignition coil, Pertronix Flame Thrower distributor with Ignitor II module, and best of all, a Summit Racing Equipment 750cfm vacuum secondary carburetor. This engine should run better than the old one ever could have. I will be adding all new seals, rebuilt heads, new bearings, racing oil with high zinc content, and a new oil pump. I am also going to relocate the fuel pump to the proper place on the frame as it is mounted inside the engine bay now(my fault, didn't know any better). I am pretty sure that it is being starved for fuel at higher RPMs, as I can rev it up in park, and watch the fuel pressure drop way off. I will drop in a new Holley electrice fuel pump if needed.

After the repairs are all made, I am going to take my good old time to tune this engine as well as I can to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen again any time soon.

I am pretty sure the oil pump failed on the highway and spun a bearing or something. Hard to say, but I am pulling the current engine out tonight, and assessing the damage. I will post the results and maybe some pics of the dead engine.

well, the current engine seems to have spun a bearing or something today and I am retiring it. I was driving in the country, then noticed a knocking under load going up a hill. I turned around and limped it home. I noticed that the oil pressure had dropped severely at the time the knock started, which is what leads me to believe it spun a bearing and has rod knock. The original engine from this truck had the same problem. I'm not sire why this happened twice. It could be that they were both messed up, or that I am doing something wrong. In this engine, I was running Valvoline VR1 high zinc racing oil, which should not have failed after a few hundred miles. Unless the cylinders or rinhs were so worn that fire was blasting into the oil and burned it up. I've known that this engine was sick, but no one could figure it out and I could not afford to take it to a shop.

now I'm stuck in the middle of winter, moving an hour away from my job, have no money, and no transportation. I'm currently seeking a replacement engine and rides to work so I don't lose my job. Wish me luck everyone, this is gonna be a bumpy ride.

Having removed the original dash panel because it was stinky and gross, I am left with an interesting problem. I have an abundance of free space in the cab, a lack of dash space to set things, and a few awkward holes in the dash. I am trying to determine what to cram into these rectangular holes and have a few options.

The biggest hole is 4x6 5/8 inches tall. I am considering putting a touchscreen LCD in there as the interface the possible Raspberry Pi based media center. Its diagonal measurement is 7.74 inches.

The other hole, which used to contain the ash tray, is now empty and wasting space. I can build a little box to go inside to hold my phone as I drive, but am considering putting something such as a clock in there. It measures 2x3 inches. It's diagonal measurement is 3.6 inches.

These rectangular holes may not be the same proportions as the LCD screens available, so a smaller screen with a custom face plate may be needed.