Project Cannonball C10
 

Background
I've been watching the forums for a while but now its time to share my build. First a little background...my departed 78 Blazer. This was my first truck and was in the family for 9 years when I took it over. I spent another 7 years fixing, painting, and putting enough miles to roll the odometer over a few times :)

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...pse845da03.jpg

It stuck with me through a move from BC to California, and a year later back to Canada. I ended up selling it back in 2001 when I got into Corvettes and eventually BMWs. Still, 12 years later, every time I see a nice squarebody passing by I still give a long look. I've reached the stage in my life where I now have the garage space, tools and (some) financial backing to go through with my ultimate squarebody build.

The motivation for this build
All I wanted 12 years ago was a great stance and lots of power. A few years back I got into track/high performance driving and have become hooked. I've owned a couple of M3s and a track-focused MINI, and what I like about these cars is they are equally happy puttering the family to the grocery store or tearing around Laguna Seca. I want to build out a truck with the same kind of "swiss army knife" utility to it. I'm planning to drive it to work at least a couple of times per week, use it to haul my bikes, take it on the occasional family trip (pulling a small trailer), and take it out to Laguna Seca or Thunderhill once or twice a year. I'd also like to do the Hot Rod power tour in it.

A few days ago I stumbled onto a thread asking about a fantasy build and that's when I came up with the project name. I'm setting out to build a truck that is fast, good handling and reliable enough to do the Cannonball Run in: Project Cannonball C10.

I'm hoping to do a lot of the work myself, however I'm not a fabricator, so I've got a buddy who owns a custom shop (One Off Customs in Santa Clara, CA) to help out with body mods, paint, and some assembly.

The Project Truck
 

I'd been trolling the Bay Area craigslist, classifieds and eBay for quite a few months looking for a suitable candidate to start the build on. With what I have in mind my main concern was to find a 73-75 shortwide with a good body. I'm not interested in any of the mechanicals or chassis with what I have planned ;)

There are a lot of rough candidates up on CL for a lot more money then I was expecting, but I'd seen a particular black truck come up a few times

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...pscc9c2939.jpg

I texted the owner and found the truck was a 3 hour drive north from me. With cash in hand I set off at 4am on a weekday morning to check this thing out in person. One drive around the block and I was sold :) The truck looks to be completely rust free with proper GM replacement doors, and fenders.

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...pseb71b684.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...psf9502216.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...psd68667ea.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps89be22c1.jpg

First fuel stop with its garage partner:
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps8c6171ba.jpg

The Chassis
 

After walking through the vendor displays at a few Good Guys shows I knew I needed to consider at least a subframe swap. Spindles and springs weren't going to do it for me this time. The quality of components has definitely improved in the 12 years I've been away, but I have noticed that most of the stuff is geared towards bagged drops now. I'm more interested in a performance static drop. I saw that Porterbuilt offers a coilover setup, but I wanted something a little more dedicated. Around this same time I was flipping through an issue of PHR magazine and came across their Muscle Car of the Year 2012 article. That's where I first heard about The Roadster Shop, and their '70 C-10 shop truck :) The moment I saw that I knew this is the direction I wanted to take my build.

After a few calls and emails back and forth with the guys I have an order placed for a fast track chassis! Its going to have double-adjustable Penske coilovers all around with a 4-bar setup in the rear. I'm planning to run a square setup for wheels with an "aggressive" tire size, which should make it handle like a giant go-kart.

Build time is 8-12 weeks so I'm hoping to see it sometime before Christmas. Until then I'll have to resort to watching their other C-10 build thread :)

While I'm waiting its time to gather all the other parts for this resto-mod...

The Engine
 

Right off the top I knew this thing will need to be LS powered to give me the reliability and power I'm looking for. I had tossed around everything from an LS1 to an LSA, then this beauty popped up on eBay:

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps9d787a9c.jpg

That would be a 2013 Camaro SS 1LE with only 3500 miles on it before a "small" rollover totaled it :) Its amazing what you can buy on the Internet...

And on Monday this fine crate showed up in San Jose:
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...psb12afd26.jpg

So the plan is to drop in the complete LS3/TR6060 assembly. I might put in a GM hot cam a little later down the line if I'm finding a lack of power ;)

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

I like the concept and will follow along.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Sweet. Didn't know they still had the cannonball run.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Can't wait to see this. Should be interesting!

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Sounds like a cool project... greetings from Saskatchewan

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Well... this oughta be fun! Can't wait to see more! have you been following the Roadster Shop Craftsman '70 c-10 Build? Nice piece.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Subscribed!!

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Thats Awesome !

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Cannonball Run has been dead for a while, but a few years back Alex Roy spent a lot of time and effort to break the record. Some great reading and video on his attempts.

I'm definitely NOT planning to run for the record...just going to build it in case I ever wanted to try ;)

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

I've taken a lot of inspiration from your "Clifford" build. I'm trying not to duplicate it too much but right now I'm looking at a similar color scheme for both interior and exterior :)

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

I've definitely been following their build. We are going to aim for the stance on mine to match both the craftsman build and their other Orange/White truck.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Roadster Shop guys are really cool. They can build you anything....! Wish I could go that route with my old truck. I'd went with a full on chassis but it's all good. Keep us updated.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Subscribed.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

I have seen that truck on CL. Where in SJ are you? Im over on the Campbell boarder

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

I'm in South SJ near 85/101. Lots of good driving roads heading south from here :)

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Since I've got some time to kill while waiting for the chassis to show up, I've been hitting up the pick & pulls to search for all the missing small stuff. Made a couple of good finds on the weekend.

Sadly I'm missing the SPID sticker in the glove box (well actually its a different glove box door) so I'm not sure what trim level this one had originally. If I had to guess I'd say it was a stripped down model (Custom?). That gave me some flexibility in finding emblems...and it will be a deluxe custom truck after all :)

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps4296e521.jpg

Also found an upscale bench seat sitting in the bed. The one in the truck now doesn't have the tilt release. It works out nicely as I can drop this bench off at the upholstery shop and still have a drivable truck for the next few weeks before tear down.

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps0a74c545.jpg

The upholstery shop is going to add some bolster and redo in black/houndstooth.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Speaking of which-

http://jalopnik.com/meet-the-guy-who...8-h-1454092837

New Record. The fun part is, look at the 2 current record squabblers arguing in the comments. Vedddy Eeenteresting!

PS- Not really that kinda guy, but I like your bimmer!

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Spent a couple of hours sanding, masking and painting the fender emblems today. I did these and the headlight buckets in Rustoleum satin black over a self etching primer.

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps7ebe682e.jpg

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Thanks for the kind words. When I had my seat at the upholstery shop, we found the original covers under another cover. The insert pattern was laid out using the measurements of the original Custom Deluxe cover. I also see they are reproducing the door panel inserts; I painted mine gloss black instead.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Cool build! I'll be following along!


Side note: I want the pick on you wall of the exposed Comp Yellow C4 Corvette. LOL

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Subscribing.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Sub'd

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Any updates?

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Well quite a bit has happened over the last couple of months, mainly the truck has been stripped and sent out for blasting, and the chassis arrived a few weeks back. I've been holding off on posting any more until the build really gets underway. I'm hoping to get things moving around mid-April.

Perhaps until then I'll throw up a few photos from over the winter.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

I spent most of December stripping down the truck and bagging everything up. Once it was gutted I towed it up to Sacramento to get blasted and primed.

It left as a rolling hulk...

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...psa78325b2.jpg

...and came back squished into a Uhaul :lol:

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...pse365d1b9.jpg

Both the cab and bed were as clean as I was hoping for. Only some minor pinhole rust through the firewall. Front panel on the bed is trashed so we're just going to replace it.

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps0de830f8.jpg

While doing the teardown I realized the doors that came on the truck are the newer ones which accept the full width door panels. I really want the period style so it was a chore to find clean 73-76 small inner panel doors, but after a month of calls and searching I found both driver and passenger doors.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

One morning in early February I got a text message saying a very large box showed up at the shop...

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps3ad4b0d5.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...pse418f98b.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps62f1535a.jpg

Got the motor set in...

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps0a238a5c.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps3e53db13.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...psa02a3d9b.jpg

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

damn....whole new level!

What shop is doing the work?

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Wes @ One Off Customs in Santa Clara, CA.

He's got a wild Camaro project finishing up right now before we can really get started on the truck. I'm hoping for April :)

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Having this time has given me a chance to find/paint/rebuild a bunch of stuff...

Grabbed a non-column shift steering column out of a '76 on Thanksgiving day for $20.

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps868df6df.jpg

Pulled the whole column apart, sanded and sprayed it in semi-gloss black, put in fresh bearings and fitted with new ignition/turn signal switches. Also topped it with a "GM Comfort Grip" wheel in 14" diameter. I took a guess on the size, which matches the diameter in my M3.

I put in a Dakota Digital turn signal lever with 4 wire cruise control (HND-3). This lever really looks like it came with the truck, but I'll be able to wire it into the ECU for modern cruise control.

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps45fb8ac8.jpg

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Over the holiday break I rebuilt the vent window assemblies. What a nightmare project that was! Funny thing is I have no photos from any of that...guess I didn't want to remember.

I also ordered a bunch of Eastwood paint supplies and freshened up lots of the small parts. Turn signal/parking light housings
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...psebdf0849.jpg

Horns :)
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...psd06da047.jpg

Inner door brackets
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps147b413d.jpg

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

And, of course, the delivery guys have been showing up a lot lately :lol:

Vintage Air Gen IV
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps6071288b.jpg

Totally Stainless Bolt Kit
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps7c2d3d44.jpg

A giant box with a reproduction hood that I'm not going to use now
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps5e496d11.jpg

An E-Stopp parking brake kit. I didn't want to try hooking the ebrake pedal up to the Wilwood setup, and I'll hide the button on this kit for a bit of theft deterrence.
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...psf14cfd45.jpg

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Looking good Mike! This is going to be unreal when it gets together. Digging the Mini, too.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Subscribed. This is going to be good.

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

wrd

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

With a pile of parts like that, it's gotta be good!

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Thanks guys. Its coming together one part at a time. I'm trying to do something every day on it, big or small. This morning was sanding and spraying the rear window channels inside the doors. Last week I was focused on wiring, and put together my own headlight relay upgrade integrated into the factory style forward lamp harness.

BTW, after many months of waiting, all my wiring harnesses showed up from M&H Electric. They turned out awesome! They did such an exact job of matching the factory colors and plugs. I went with their classic auto fuse series which comes with an ATO style fuse block and some extra circuits for electric fans and fuel pumps. I highly recommend their setup for anybody doing a restoration on one of these trucks.

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps98a1c771.jpg

Re: Project Cannonball C10
 

Subscribed!