Good to see someone posting these how I done it series. I rarely think to have a camera close when I am working on my 38. Several years ago another member made a lot of postings about his earlier model repairs but havent seen any for some time now. Tony
Well, sometimes I'm in the mood and have the time to take pics.
Other times I'm mad or aggravated doing the troubleshooting trying to figure out what is wrong. Sometimes I start out taking pics and then things go sideways and I'm too involved in trying to fix it.
Then, other times it gets too dark for decent pics!
I mainly started doing things like that because other people used to have more 'fix it' sites for their projects and showed how they did things, order of operations, etc.. I found those to be super handy when I was tackling a new project on my old iron, so that's just my way of giving back or 'paying it forward'. A few of my tech articles on there have helped some other folks on their old trucks, so I guess it works out.
My '65 C10 started doing a wonky thing, sometimes the starter would not do anything... and I replaced it earlier this year.
Then it was doing the same thing... of course when I was out and about and on the other side of the big city I live near.
I started some basic troubleshooting and found the small wire going to the starter was cracked in places. I wiggled it, it started right up.
I wound up replacing a good part of that wire and thought it was all good... but, nope.
After a doctor appointment one day, same thing... it hit a lick, then it wouldn't.
HMMN.
wiggled the wire, and it started up.
I started checking it out... the wires going to the main engine harness plug wire on the passenger side of the firewall looked like they were ready to give up the ghost, right where it went into the plug. Hmmn.
Many years ago I had to replace one of those wires... so I unsnapped it and two more wires broke off.
I broke out the soldering gun and what not but I was having no luck this time getting going in the direction I wanted, so I just ordered a new engine harness.
Then things got interesting, seems there were different harnesses, for a 6 cylinder with gauges or lights and for a v8 with gauges or lights. Now, I have gauges, so that part was easy, but I have no idea what engine it had originally. Hmmn.
I went with the v8 with gauges, figured I could make it work.
The box arrives, I check out the goodies... yay new parts.
I start looking at the instructions layout... it was pretty neat, they had each wire numbered with a sheet of paper listing what each one was for. However, it was for the very original layout so I had to do a little internet searching to figure out what I needed.
After that, I basically only needed to hook up two wires, 1 to the HEI hot ignition and the other to the small wire going to the starter. I taped off the other wires as my gauges are wired in other ways(previous owner) or not working at all... though I think I will investigate hooking 'em up later.
At any rate it all fired up and runs again, so yay.
I had a '65 C10 when I was out of high school. I had a new Scout Traveler in '76, and shortly after I graduated, I rolled it and totaled it. Actually lucky to be alive, but remarkably we and the person with me didn't get hurt, we were thrown out of the truck.
After that I took care of my claim with the insurance company and was left with $1200. I think I spent $200 on a used backpack, a pair of vasque boots, and took my guitar and skis (LOL) to Oregon, and paid $650 for the C10. It came with a gun rack! (no guns though... ) I worked in a tree farm and drove it to work every day for over a year...hauled a lot of stuff in it...those are great trucks.
It got me back to L.A. somehow...I should have kept it but wanted something that got better gas mileage...young kids think they know it all...now later on in life I found myself looking for another Chevy.
I run the engine, can not see any spewing coolant, no leaks.
I park it. Check it the next day or the one after... suddenly there is coolant on top of the intake manifold, around the thermostat housing/water neck.
So, my first thought is loose hose clamp or not adjusted right on the water neck. Checked that. Gasket for the thermostat housing was replaced in November 2023... maybe it isn't snug enough to the top of the intake?
This is making me cuckoo. Anything else I can check?
It only leaks after it sits, never while it is running... or at least not while I am looking at it while it is running.
I agree that it is most likely a leak where the hose is clamped to the housing.
My experience is that the surface where the hose clamps corrodes and develops pock marks or small "craters" over time. No matter how tightly you clamp the hose it will not seal especially when cold.
Ole's suggestion will work if the pitting is not too bad. If the surface is really bad I have applied a layer of JB Weld around the neck. Clean it well to get a good bond. Then sand it smooth and connect the hose.
Yes get rid of the paint and have a dry smooth surface for the hose to seal to. A similar situation came up on a tour where a friend with a 54 pick-up actually had the hose pop off the gooseneck and no matter how tight the clamp the problem persisted until the paint was removed both from the gooseneck and the hose inner surface.
I took the water hose off, got some cleaner and a scotch brite pad and some rubber gloves... and attacked my fancy paint job on the water neck. I think I got all of the paint off, it looks like cast iron again, at least where the hose meets up. I cleaned up the inside of the hose as best I could as well, slipped it back on, clamped it back down with the hose.
so far, so good but I have only driven it once or twice since as now I am dealing with a bad brake booster.
on today's edition of: Old Trucks are fun, the brake booster expedition.
So, on my old blue '65 Chevy truck, the brakes were acting up, didn't feel right, so I switch out the master brake cylinder.
Anyways, swapped that out, bled the brakes, still felt weird. Checked other things, bled the brakes again. Still felt weird. Gave up, took it to my mechanic.
He says the brake booster is out.
Ok, cool, he says you can fix that... right. ok.
I've done it before, so! I get out the tools, take it apart... go to the O'Reillys store with my receipt for the booster from November 2010. 😃
Now, here is where it gets silly.
I go in, they take receipt, they look it up. Part not in system. No longer available. HMmn.
They make lots of phone calls to corporate, lots of redirecting to various phone extensions and looking up of things on computers.
Finally they say to the counter man: it is not in the system but you can still request it.
so... hmmmn.
If they don't have the part I wonder what they will do? Hmmn.
How do they warranty a part that they don't have anymore?
Anyway, thought you folks would enjoy today's edition of 'old trucks are fun'.
Now I wait to see if the 'request' finds anything. 😃
A warranty is nothing more than a marketing incentive. It is an economic decision based on the analysis of the incremental profit created by the warranty compared to the projected warranty costs.
Most aftermarket parts that have lifetime warranties are based on the fact that most people do not own the vehicle long enough for the part to fail.
Your situation is one of what they call an “outlier”. They know that situations like yours will happen but are rare enough that they will take the chance.
My guess is that if you look at the fine print in your warranty you will see that they have the option to refund your original purchase price instead of replacing it.
new plate on the firewall that utilizes all 4 threaded holes.
new booster, but the brackets fit vertically instead of horizontally like on a '65 c10(even though this was listed as for a '65)... but methinks it is for a earlier one.
) I worked in a tree farm and drove it to work every day for over a year...hauled a lot of stuff in it...those are great trucks.
