Last Weeks Project! 1965 Chevy C20 Engine Swap!

[scd88ga]

So... Here's how the story goes. This truck has been in my family ever since the mid 90's when my Dad bought it for $250 and my brother and I were in Middle School. The truck was trashed and better left for dead, but we ended up restoring it is a family and it was finished in 1997. Come the year 2000, my parents split and my Mother got the truck in the divorce. In 2004 my Mother gave the truck to my Brother and I as a gift and it has been stored at his house ever since and rarely sees daylight except for an occasional cruise with it by my Brother to take his Son out for ice cream! He's also taken it to 1 or 2 shows and a couple parades. Other than that, it sits. He lives 120 miles North of me in Rhinelander, WI so I don't drive it either. Less than 5,000 miles have been put on it since 1997! Well, anyway, my Brother and his Wife are expecting there 3rd kid sometime this November, and they are in need of a bigger house. We don't use the truck, they could use the $$$, so we are saying goodbye to it and putting it for sale!

About 3 or 4 weeks ago, my Brother had made plans with me to drive the truck down to my house so I could detail it, fix a couple minor things and get it prepped to sell at the Iola Classic Car Show and Swap Meet this July. He only made it 15 miles South of his house before he heard a boom and some rattling followed by smoke and the engine shutting off... The 230 Straight 6 engine was dead... He had it towed to a buddies shop and all we know is that one of the spark plugs was smashed, a piston was busted up, the cylinder wall was gouged and almost all the engine coolant was in the crankcase... Diagnoses = FUBAR!

Now comes the fun part! Onto the search for a Small Block Chevy V8! Now keep in mind, the goal is to SELL the truck, so the budget is well, not much...

I was able to hunt down a good running complete motor for it, a 307 V8. Don't be alarmed by the look of the engine on the outside, it was actually recently rebuilt and the inside is in EXCELLENT condition!



To begin, I started by tearing down the new engine so I could degrease it and give it a fresh coat of Chevy orange engine enamel! Almost clean enough for new paint in these pics!




Pile of NEW parts! Gaskets, Chrome, etc, etc...


Ugly Broken POS 6 Cylinder...



After I pulled the old engine out, it was a good opportunity to degrease and pressure wash the engine bay and give it a couple coats of fresh black paint! This pic is from the first light coat!


Aha! New engine freshened up and ready to drop in with new paint and a half dozen pieces of bling as well!

[scd88ga]

It's in!

Peek A Boo! I see chrome!


F U POS 6 cylinder!



Time to start putting everything else back together!



Almost ready!


IT LIVES!!!

[scd88ga]

Finally some outside shots of the truck and a short video before i took it for the first test drive!





I spy my Quad Z26!


Video of it running! Note* It has no exhaust, all it had was this video was the exhaust manifolds and the beat up y-pipe that came of the 307!


And finally, all tucked in back in the garage for the night after the successful first test drive!


After bolting the hood back on, I left to go back home, and the following day, my Brother took it to the exhaust shop to have brand no dual exhaust fabbed and installed! I haven't seen it yet, but I guess it turned out NICE! Not to worry, a nice new chrome air cleaner will be going on as well!

All in all it was a fun project! Some of the difficult things were easy, and some of the easy things were difficult, but it all came together without any major snags or setbacks!

The truck will be headed once again to my house in the next week or two, and I will update this thread!

BTW, I DID THIS ALL IN JUST 5 DAYS!!!

The truck will be up for sale in the Car Corral area at the 40th Anniversary of the Iola Old Car Show and Swap Meet July 12th – 15th. http://www.iolaoldcarshow.com/

If anyone is interested, or know someone who may be interested, feel free to send me a PM for more info! Thanks!!!

[Koots]

Sweet C20! Looks like it was well taken care of and you did some great work towards the life of the truck and the resale value as well.

If I had the cash and lived anywhere near you, I'd probably grab it from you.

I'd probably change all that recent hardwork though

[scd88ga]

Sweet C20! Looks like it was well taken care of and you did some great work towards the life of the truck and the resale value as well.

If I had the cash and lived anywhere near you, I'd probably grab it from you.

I'd probably change all that recent hard work though

Thanks! You don't want to see what the truck looked like 17+ years ago when my Dad bought it for $250! Let's just say it spent most it's life as a company pit truck for a concrete business! After that it was retired to farm truck duties, and it's been a Wisconsin truck it's whole life! EEK!

Haha, I'm well aware of the fact that a 307 V8 is no powerhouse! But as you can see, the truck is also a manual, and it's a 3 on the tree column shift at that! Not ideal for racing or slamming gears whatsoever! lol Not to mention that it's pretty damn heavy! I think the 307 is perfect for it, and now it has enough eye candy under the hood that it should be a MUCH easier sell!!!

[Koots]

Thanks! You don't want to see what the truck looked like 17+ years ago when my Dad bought it for $250! Let's just say it spent most it's life as a company pit truck for a concrete business! After that it was retired to farm truck duties, and it's been a Wisconsin truck it's whole life! EEK!

Haha, I'm well aware of the fact that a 307 V8 is no powerhouse! But as you can see, the truck is also a manual, and it's a 3 on the tree column shift at that! Not ideal for racing or slamming gears whatsoever! lol Not to mention that it's pretty damn heavy! I think the 307 is perfect for it, and now it has enough eye candy under the hood that it should be a MUCH easier sell!!!

The 307 is fine, I just would have swapped any gasser for a diesel LOL

That truck and engine will probably go to someone who doesn't want a racer anyway. Just a reliable, strong pickup to cruise around in like back in the good ol' days

[berettaboi]

good looking truck! and nice quick job on the swap! you make it sound easy! (well rearwheel drive and allll that engine bay room helps immensely!)

[scd88ga]

good looking truck! and nice quick job on the swap! you make it sound easy! (well rearwheel drive and allll that engine bay room helps immensely!)

Thanks! Yeah, sitting in the engine bay while setting the timing and redoing the entire wiring harness sure was nice! lol