argh 63 c10 is gonna be a hefty price tag - info from my mechanic

Google your new 2nd best freind " LMC truck " and get their catalog for your truck, and listen to your best friend " Fekkow HAMB members " and Get R Done your self.
I paid someone to do the metal work on my 54F100 project and they welded new patch panels over the rusted areas. I even knew better than that. So I learn't to fix rust my self and the help from the HAMB and Metalmeet So if I can learn to do metalwork you should be able to swap to a newer front end and rear axle and upgrade the master cylinder.

 

Go power disc brakes and live happily ever-after!! I like the donor truck idea: you get PDBs and modern power steering. But the bolt pattern is an issue....

 

1. & 2. I've looked into this myself, Here's what I plan on doing- 73-87 front crossmember and suspension- the earlier ones have the metal control arm bushings which are more expensive to replace. 3/4 lower control arms- bigger ball joint to fit the 88 and up 6 lug disc spindles. Haven't done it yet but from what i've researched this all should work (upper ball joint is the same), all junk yard parts (read cheap) and all factory off the shelf parts nothing to special order. That should fix all your front end brake issues, find one with power steering and snag the pump while your at the junk yard.

3. easy peazy japaneezy

4. 60-72? is the same rear suspension 70 - 72? is 5 lug I believe. trying to figure out what to do with my gears as well. Some how my 63 wound up being a 12 bolt, but they are different than the car 12 bolts so highway gears might be hard to come by.

5. got my stock master cylinder at carquest for $30 I think, maybe it was $35. Rear wheel cylinder was $10. Most parts are cheap, search around a bit- don't go to autozone.

I paid $2750 for mine and here is what I had to fix:

Carb-had to tear it apart on the trip home, guy I bought if from had no idea how to rebuild a carb, accelerator pump retainer was laying in the bottom of the bowl! $25 for a rebuild kit.

Tie rod end $30

Dimmer switch, New one in glove box old one was jerry rigged for dims only.

Brakes: rear wheel cylinder $10 master cylinder $35

Transmission: Popped out of gear constantly, tree shifters suck. 67 full synchro box $50 Mr. gasket floor shifter $60 conversion u-joint $25

Headlights & Tail lights: $11 a side for headlights, tail lights were $8 the old ones worked fine but they were ugly square trailer lights, and $4 for blue dots.... ya gota have blue dots.

$277- drive it to work every day. So even with all the stuff that needs to be fixed on your truck I think you got a good deal. Between the $50 barn finds and the $120000 barret jackson auctions its hard to tell if you got screwed or not. It's all about what its worth to you.

Good luck sir.

 

rear ends had different mounting spots 60-62,they won't bolt directly into a 63-66.
63-66 is direct bolt in interchange, all 4 years.

 

Rear axle swap;

Your 63 will have a welded-on panard bar bracket which is good news. You can cut it off the 63 and weld it to a 70s through 87 K-10 rear (K-10 is 4x4 which will be 6 lugs). The later 70s and up will get a better chance of getting a highway gear. I ran a 2.76 for many years.

Now is the time to decide on front brake style. If you are not hauling lots of weight down big hills, a power drum setup is fine, and will stop great.

If you prefer disc front, you can use 71-71 C-10 spindles, rotors, balljoints, etc, as a bolt in, and the tierods you have will fit the same size tapers.

If you use 73-87 C-10 spindles, etc, the tie rod tapers are bigger. So you could use a centerlink and outer tie rods from a mid 60s 3/4 ton 2wd to make it all fit.

Neither of these swaps require swapping the entire front end.

If you decide on disc fronts; your donor rear needs to be from a C-10 2wd so that you will have all matching 5 lug wheels.

If you don't mind the travel, I believe I still have a 73-up C-10 disc setup with the 3/4 ton center link and tie rods that I would sell. I also have a 71-72 setup as well.

 

Agree, I would primarily get it running stock before you start changing stuff. If you can redo the front brakes cheaply, then you can take your time to research swaps. You want it to be a driver so make it driveable first. You'll be more motivated then if it's all torn apart. Plus when the 2nd kid shows up it will be hard for you over the winter to spend all weekend trying to figure out why your swap parts don't fit.

Chip away at it and before you know it it will be a solid driver.

 

"mid-60s 3/4 ton C10" .... wouldn't a 3/4 ton be a C20?

 

ok, smarty.. I was thinking 2wd while typing, and that's what came out