I am restoring a 1962 Champ and I have two frames. One is a 1962-112"frame (this is the frame I want to use. My parts truck is 1963-122" frame. The steering and shock mounts are different. My question is can the '63 steering setup be transferred over to my '62 frame and if so would the swap be worth doing?...better steering,etc? I am using the '63cab which has the brake and clutch mounted to the dash as opposed to the '62 where the brake and clutch are mounted to the frame.
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IMHO the steering system on your '62 is far better than the Mickey Mouse system they used on the 8Es (63-'64). It is complicated and sloppy and in some cases dangerous. I had a '64 8E7 with a lot of miles on it, but loved the truck except for the steering. Mine was pretty modified- R-1 engine, Powershift, a/c, '64 Lark gages, '63 Lark front, custom camper shell, etc. The steering always felt loose and one day my son, going in to a slight turn, found the steering wheel wasn't steering. He was involved in a head-on collision with another pickup- no serious injuries, but the Champ was destroyed. I bought the truck back from the insurance company and salvaged what I could, but I never did tear in to the steering gearbox to see what happened.Originally posted by crobar View Post
The suspended pedals were nice, but the firewall could flex enough to reduce your leverage on the brakes and the clutch linkage was kind of Mickey Mouse on those. In fact, the reason I had a Powershift was the original owner bought the truck as a five-speed OD, but had so much clutch trouble that he changed it to the automatic.Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.
'64 Daytona Wagonaire, '64 Avanti R-1, Museum R-4 engine, '72 Gravely Model 430 with Onan engine
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