Projects 1963 C-10

I have been through the Google Mill trying to find, what I consider already done yet wrong, how to get a TH400 under my truck, change the back end out with a junkyard rear end. I can find nothing at all other than go to Curry and just pay a ton; well engineered I'm sure but geez.

I have a 6 lug, 355, still one chamber manual brakes and want to put a TH400 under it so I get some gas mileage and come off the line faster; sorry just saying . Oh, not sure if my tranny is a BW or a Muncie 318.

Help would be great LOL

 

TH400 wont' help your mileage. But we can help you figure out how to install one.

If you have a manual transmission, with the original bellhousing mounts, you'll need a rear crossmember for the transmission, such as was used on the automatic trans equipped 63-72 chevy trucks. Then remove the riveted in crossmember that's under the bellhousing, and install the TH400. you will need to modify the driveshaft with the correct front yoke, and probably shorten it a bit, maybe a lot, depending what's in there now.

I helped the rear gear ratio in the 66 I had, by buying a 70s van rear with 3.07 gears, and swapping the gears and carrier into the original rear. But having a 63, you might have coarse spline axles, etc. so figure out for sure what you have.

going to a lower number rear gear ratio usually helps mileage, and freeway manners. Going to a higher number gear ratio usually improves acceleration. You don't get both, with a 3 speed trans.

 

You're probably wanting a 700r4 rather than a th400. 700r4's do have a slightly lower geared first gear to get you off the line a little quicker plus an overdrive. Best of both worlds... as for installation, all automatics are about the same. With the exception of the th400. Those have either a bolt on yoke or a slip yoke...both are larger that their th350 and 700r4 brothers.

 

Thank you Squirrel. I was hoping to find a later model rear end assembly, with disk brakes, maybe even the 400. In some way I am hoping to gain knowledge by rebuilding this and that, then gain the advantage of a newer setup. Boiled down, like you swapped a 70's Van rear........I'm not that savvy yet LOL. I have 3 on the floor, looks to me like its a Muncie 318 but my father in law thinks its a Borg; can't find the numbers so far. 3rd is slipping some and it has become my daily driver.

 

Nice truck jchav62. Thank you. Guess I will have to start the junkyard journey

 

Thanks! Chances are, you have a Saginaw trans. Not sure of the model number, but it's common for our trucks. As far as your 3rd gear "slipping", that's probably the clutch... the gears in the trans you have won't slip.

 

Thank you and I agree in that the prior owner said it was a Saginaw and was the same as was in my 73 Camaro. I want to get something that I don't have to baby as much HAH.....
Appreciate all you guys' help for sure......I'm a rookie but I KNOW it

 

Unless you object to the manual transmission, an easier route might be to find an early to mid 80's MY6/New Process 4 speed trans from a Chevy or GMC pick-up. They had an 0.73 or so overdrive in high gear and a decently low first gear. There's probably some 5 speed trans with a bit of overdrive that would work well for you too.

 

when i put a th400 in my 63 c10 i used the mid to late 70's stock chevy truck crossmember

 

It's a shame I pitched the original powerglide crossmember out of my 66 Suburban when I did my upgrades, I could have made some money off it, the turbo 400 was offered in 66 and I'm sure it's the same crossmember, didn't realize that they were sought after, although I think the later ones can be made to work.
As to the rearend issue; those from the next gen. ?71/72? are useable with the right wheel offset as they are about two inches wider overall.
My 2000 Silverado rearend is factory 6 lug with disc brakes, don't know the width though.

This associations' website will be a great resource for you also.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/

 

I'm not against a manual but someone told me that it might be easier change out to an automatic; for now its my daily driver

 

This is the old girl for now

 

When I took them I was looking for bolt pattern thinking it would be easy to figure out LOL. The Saginaw pics online look like this albeit they are much cleaner transmissions

 

the 318 muncie has only 4 bolts on the side cover, so it's not one of those. You have a Saginaw or the heavier duty Muncie or something.

posting pictures is difficult...you somehow posted really small pics, so it's hard to see.

Keep in mind that folks used to drive pickups all the time with a 3 speed manual trans, and 3.73 or so rear gears. You can still do it, if you put your mind in the right place. for example, I just finished driving on a long trip with a 40 LaSalle with 4.2x rear gears, and 3 speed column shift transmission...something like 5000 miles in less than two weeks. But you have to realize you're not in a modern car, and adjust your driving habits.

 

http://67-72chevytrucks.com
You might want to check out this forum, lots of info on your truck over there, too.

 

Thanks Squirrel sorry so small, I debated on posting big ones. I actually finding it more enjoyable to drive my truck with my arm up over the seat HAH. Way less stress in my truck

 

Thank you very much. I would not have gone there based on the 67-72 truck name. Appreciate the heads-up

 

I was just gonna come back to this thread and suggest this site too.

 

63 to 72 are very similar.

Sent from my Trimline

 

the 73-87 are very similar on several parts as well. i used the whole front end out of the same truck i got the trans cross member out of and only drilled two holes. nice to have disc brakes. as for the 67-72 rear being wider they used the same bed on the step sides from 55-87 just different fenders. i think the wider rear end looks better anyway.

 

There is no real need for rear discs unless you are hauling overweight down mountains. Just look for mid 70s to 87 Chevy/Gmc rear end with a ratio you want for MPG. Earlier 70s won't have any number lower than 3.07. But the later you go, there are much better ratios for mileage. If you want 6 lugs, get a 4x4 rear end, if you switch to 71/72 front 1/2 ton front discs, those are 5 lug, so get a 2wd rear which are also 5 lug from 71 to 87 (the old squarebody GM trucks)

Like jchav62 said: >If a standard trans is slipping, that is not in the transmission, it is a worn out clutch.

I modified maybe 20 60-66 Chevy/GMCs in the 1990s... all but one got PS and PB, most stayed drum brakes unless it was a tow vehicle. PS & PB makes these trucks SO much more pleasing to use as a modern truck. Every owner was stunned when I did that to their trucks.

Trust me on the PS & PB, as I drove my own for years as dailys, and my old customers all kept theirs too, unless they died. The truck will go from feeling like an old farm truck to a modern truck feel which fits better with surviving out there with all the texting drivers I also used a stock 70-72 front sway bar on all the ones I did.


Back then, most of the owners wanted A/T swaps. These days most of the younger guys want standard transmissions. Trends change. It is a lot of work to properly do a swap to column shift A/T. I always used A/T columns from 68 to 72 Chevy/GMC trucks, along with the trans crossmember from those donor trucks.

BTW, a 63 C10 rear is a good thing to get rid of if you want to keep the truck forever. That is a one-year rear end with unique axles, and if the wheel bearings wear on the axles too much, you need to find 63 axle shafts. The old replacement "axle saver" aka "extended bearings" will not fit a 63 rear.

...and like was said above, the 70-87 rears did get a bit wider, maybe 1.5", but like that person said, they do look better because the narrow stock rear had the tires too far inside the wheel wells.

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Thank you all. Nice to hear from folks in the know. Being 57 I drove old cars but spent my life at sea and didn't get to play with the cars that I had. To Jim's comment about driving several miles in an older car, when I was a young sailor I drove my 53 Chevy from California to Virginia. I wouldn't do it know though.
Good gouge on the PB, I have PS thank goodness and have looked at the PB systems on LMC et al. Is it worth getting a junkyard PB setup? I guess finding out what will work in our Classics is trial and error; glad you guys have that experience

 

Boils down to what you want. I'd probably put in a new clutch and gears/ 3rd member and drive it.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I loved those old trucks with the SM420 4-speeds, had a great sound to them and they worked so well, so what 1st gear was essentially useless?

 

I am being "schooled" well by you all; learning what was never known before. I will look at the SM420, thank you very much. My truck isn't ready by any means to handle torque and HP; we do like to cruise though LOL. Appreciate ya'

 

So back to the clutch slipping. The Saginaw became much easier to locate then when I thought I had a Muncie 318. Just to make sure I don't goof up on the clutch and replacing it, any thoughts on what I order and from where? I have accounts on LMC, Brother, Classic CI and no experience with transmissions. Thanks fellars!

 

That is a very easy transmission to remove. And the clutch can slide out from the bottom of the bellhousing where the sheet metal dust cover is.

I would not get a clutch from those vintage resto places unless the price is same as local Napa or Autozone. I'd pull out the old one first, then buy it local to make sure it matches... or if you want to do internet, then check Rockauto for their prices.

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Thank you Frank, good knowledge point. On many things I just don't know what is common and not so common. Some of the computers don't go back to 63, well at least on one occasion at Advanced Auto where I asked how much 80/90 went in the case; the kid went to Google. Sooooo, I was afraid to ask for a clutch plate (?) for a Saginaw and get the blank stare hah. I know some things are common to every Chevy 350 but tranny's are a strange beast for me; don't know what's common or not. So I will look on NAPA and the others and see what comes up but if there are any details you know of please let me know. Again, thanks a bunch.

 

I have put some power through the SM420 and my brother had one he street raced extensively in a 1-ton GMC.

I run a truck clutch set up in my car, cast iron bell housing and forged steel fork. I got an 11" Zoom clutch in it, looked up a Chevy C30 truck and got that one.

 

I would just tell the local auto parts store that you have a 63 Chevy C10, with a 3 speed standard transmission, then see if they ask what size the clutch disc is or not.

here is the only similar one that I still own. I just put it back as my daily driver this week because my only other car, the 32 in my avatar, has a leaking radiator that I can't get to right now. It's a 66 3/4 camper special, it was factory A/C, tinted glass, 327 4 speed truck trans, 2wd with 4:11 gears. (I was forced to run this modern cap recently, it looks like crap but works ..and it was out back in my sons stash...free )


I did this one back in the mid 90s. It has 1979 drivetrain: TH400, 205 heavy duty cast iron transfer case, 3.21/3.23 axles, 79 front discs . It will tow a loaded car trailer at 80mph highway easily. Stops great with a 72 C20 master/booster. I ran this same drivetrain in TWO different former 2wd trucks that I then swapped to 4x4 to run the ocean beaches with a slide-in camper...from 1982 onwards.. (I used a 72 K20 frame and springs that sit low enough to load the camper; a stock 60-66 4x4 chassis sits way too high and the camper jacks won't lift it that high to load the camper). I think I got my moneys worth out of those 10,000 original mileage 79 K20 donor parts that I bought in 1982 for $450.. The drivetrain I bought was 4 speed, so I converted the T-case to take a TH400, and used a stock 79 2wd GMC TH400 trans which surprisingly needed no mods for the 4x4 swap.(and sold the 4wd 4 speed stuff for $150)

Take a look at this 72 C20 master cylinder & booster...if it was a 72 C10 master, the front of the master would feed the fronts, but the 3/4 ton master is reversed...the front of this one feeds the rear brakes. No clue why GM did that.??

The A/T column is one I used on most A/T swaps back then, around 68-70 C series with the chrome shift indicator bezel. Around early 70s the bezel was a bit bigger and plastic which looked too modern for this truck. I also added the tach dash from a 62-63 C60-C70, and I also used the 64-66 big truck grille which looks pretty cool compared to stock C10-C30.