Project Pops (1980 C10 Build Project)
 

In 1980 my wife's Grandfather walked into a Chevy dealership in the Southern Tier of NY and purchased a brand new Chevy Scottsdale C10 pickup truck for an extra truck to have around the farm. Stripped down no options except an AM/FM radio and what seems to be an upgraded leaf spring package in the rear (believed to be original). In 1989 my wife's Grandfather passed away, and my wife's Dad inherited the truck with 40K miles on it. My father-in-law used this truck for the past 20 years as an occasional driver and it rusted like crazy. We did a patch job on the body back in 2000, but 9 years later it is now rusted beyond belief. The truck now has 66K original miles on it and still runs like a top and starts right up on the first hit regardless of how long it has been sitting.

My father-in-law has given up on using this truck as it is too far gone rust-wise. I have transported it to my large pole barn to begin restoration. I began by taking the front fenders and bed off and hauled away for scrap. The frame is also rusted out. I have purchased a 1986 Chevy C10 truck with a blown engine and solid body as a parts donor. I am going to use the rust-free frame, bed, and cab floor from the donor truck and combine it with the cab, and drivetrain from the project truck to make one good truck. I know I need to get some pics posted.

I would like input from anyone who can give me a good place to buy some paint for the frame as well as replacement bushings for the leaf springs and other suspension parts I will probably need to replace during the first phase of this project. I would like to use some site vendors for this forum, but, being new here, I don't really know who to go to yet. Thanks!

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

I always use POR15 for frame paint, its a rust encapulsator, and seems to work well... others may chime in their opinions as well,

Good luck on your build, the ones with memories are always the best. ..

there are several great venders on the board, I would also suggest ordering a catalog from LMC Truck for your year of truck, they have very good pics of parts, and that way you know which part you need when ordering from our venders here.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

I've used POR15 before and it is good stuff. I know it works well on rusty surfaces, but my donor frame is completely rust free and still has most of it's factory black paint. Any other thoughts for that kind of surface?

Here are the pics
 

This is what I am starting with....

I'm having trouble with photobucket in getting the pics any bigger. I have a dozen more to post, but best I can do right now.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

New attempt at adding pics

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Bed is in great shape LOL

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

So this is what happens when the bed support rails are exposed to nearly 30 years of Central NY road salt....

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

9 year old body work coming back to haunt me....

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

More old body work....I would like to point out that my father-in-law who is probably the worlds most pragmatic man...insisted we do the body work out of old metal parts in his garage. The front fenders were repaired using sections of old metal shed parts from an old shed he had torn down. He likes to save money where he can. I respect him for it. But this time...9 years later we are going to do the rebuild my way....with parts that were made to go on this truck :)

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Like the use of the old angle iron support? I believe that was a part of an old garage door opener track or something at one point :lol:

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

This should round out the outside pics

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

And an inside pic to finish off the pre-project launch photos....I've definitely seen worse interiors.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

looks like a good start, other than Por15, some people have had their frames powdercoated, or just painted, in your area, with the rust issues, I would still say something like Por15, to treat and protect the frame, since your orginal is rusted out. it gives a solid surface, and will also help prevent rust in forming. keep us informed of your progress..

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Good point with locking out future rust. I will look into POR15. Powder coating sounds like a great idea too!

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Looks like you have a bit of work. Gonna be watching this one!!!! Good point on the POR-15, and I wonder if powdercoating would protect it from rusting?

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Thanks. I'm going back and forth a little about keeping it original vs. doing some mild customizing. I'm leaning towards restoring it to original for now to keep this as a budget build, but I do have a long term dream of dropping a big block in it.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

I personally would do the customizing now if thats what youre really wanting. Save yourself some money, instead of re-doing it after restoring it. Just my opinion.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

looks like a good time! the fact that the truck has been around the family since new is a great motivator and it'll give some good leverage when you start buying parts. very cool...

as for whAt paint to use on the frame, i went with eastwoods extreme chassis black primer and paint. couldnt be happier... very chip resistant, all fluid resistant, and coats beautifully. i had the same problem when choosing which to go with. but what did it was the fact that powdercoating will eventually knick or chip and you cant just touch up a small chip. and what if you wanna notch the frame or anything later down the road? as for the por15, i have read more than once that if your not painting it over a rusted surface it will come off in sheets. imo(after many hours of research) i'd use a good paint and primer after sandblasting it clean.

oh yea, the other thing you may want to concider(i almost did this) was sandblast the frame and spray water over it after to start a bit of surface rust after a couple days and then coat with por15. i have heard of other guys doing this with good results. but with the rust your already dealing with thats the last thing you probably wanna do! :lol: good luck man!

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Great tips! Thanks very much. I am still in tear down mode with both the project and the donor truck. I will post pics soon.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Any updates on this one? For some reason I really like this truck!

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Thanks for asking. I have torn all the bad (rusted) sheet metal off of the truck and scrapped it. I am going to need to do a cab floor swap as was done on evoworks build thread. I have taken some pics of my tear down, but haven't dowloaded them to my PC yet.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Okay I have been delayed on this for a couple of months, but I am about to get started on this AND another truck (my 86 K20). I will be working these builds at the same time. I will start another thread for the K20. I am buying a cab/bed combo from another member that are in nice, rust free condition.

The big question I have that I was hoping you guys could help me with is this: Where are you buying your parts??? I got an LMC catalog which is nice, but any good site vendors you recommend? I belong to a Diesel forum where we can post part request and get vendor pricing back, but I haven't found anything like that here yet? Any advice on reliable reasonably priced parts sources will be much appreciated.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

For all my (new) body panels I used GM Goodmark. The fenders fit very good and they are local for me so no shipping which was a good savings on these large parts. Quality was good. I also used Classic Industries and LMC. Happy with all of their products and service. Hope this helps.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

Finally got the tear down pics going on this. The last pic is some frame rot behind the cab on the driver side. My father-in-law braced this with the pictured white piece of angle iron. I've pretty much made the decision at this point that this truck will get an all new frame.

Re: 1980 C10 Build Project
 

I am now working this truck in conjunction with my 2nd project "Cletus". I have started another build thread for Cletus. Cletus is going to be my mongrel work truck and "Pops" will be the Sunday driver that we will keep in the family as it has been since new. This pic is another frame shot of Pops. If you look closely you will notice that is not a Chevy rear bumper. It is actually off of a Ford. My father-in-law got it cheap so he fabricated brackets to hold it. Why? You may ask.... The bumper replacement was necessary because the frame mounted hitch and rear bumper fell off after the rear frame rusted badly enough. Actually if I were to take hold of the rear cross member with my bare hands I could probably rip it right off. One or two whacks with a sledge would definitely do it in.