Build resumed after a long break - 1969 C10

[mplex2000]

Well, I bought this thing back in 2005 or so. Actually, my wife bought it for my birthday. Paid too much and it was in much worse condition than I thought. It barely functioned and I think I drove it about 4 miles before tearing it apart. Lack of funds and spare time caused me to ignore it for a long, long time but I pumped myself up by reading the build threads by everybody with more talent than me and doing fancier stuff than me (i.e. everyone here!) and motivated myself to get back to work on it.

The original cab was so rusty I scrapped it and picked up another a couple of years ago. The truck was green, and the new cab is orange (funny because that's the color I want anyway!).

At any rate, here are some before pics to start with. I will hopefully have it torn down to the bare frame within the week and I'll send it off to be blasted/powder coated. I have nearly all the suspension, brakes, etc already purchased, so the chassis should come together fairly quick. Here goes nothing....








Here's the engine when I got it. Yeah, that's a Victor Jr and a Holley 600 Vac. Secondary. Talk about bogging when taking off....



Before I started the real tear down, I cleaned up the engine. I changed the valve covers and removed the throttle return spring set from underneath the drivers side v/c (yeah, it was in there). I ditched the Victor Jr and went with a cheap second hand Holley intake. In the end I decided the motor would not be usable in the long run because it was already .060 over, but it was indeed new - looked like it anyway, and they had told me as much when I bought it, although I had my doubts until I removed the intake.



See how clean it is under there? Too bad it's bored out to 60. The heads are even ported a bit.



More to come...

[mcbassin]

Looks like a solid start!

[thelonerife]

That is one nice wife to buy you a truck. shes a keeper.

[mcbassin]

What he said!

[mplex2000]

Oh believe me, I know!

Here's some in progress....most are from 2005-06. Again, I am just getting started again, but I am going to try to push the build as quickly as time and money allows.

Of course, half the floor in the original cab was 100% fiberglass cloth and Bondo.



And, actually most of the cab was pure Bondo. After finding a lot of rust between the dash and firewall, and removing the caulk and rivets that held in the wiper motor, I gave up (actually a lot of guys here suggested I just get a new cab)



So here is the new cab. Wasn't a lot of room in the garage back then.



Of course, there's the usual suspension horrors.



Lots of work to get everything off the front. Fast forward to yesterday. I finally was able to get the trailing arms with rear axle out of it.

Trailing arms look real bad. Do you guys think I should use these? Hard to tell from the pic, but they are rusted really bad in spots.

[mcbassin]

I wouldn't use the trailing arms if they are rusted beyond repair. They are pretty easy to find on ebay or even on the board here. A lot of guys are building their own and will sell the old ones pretty cheap.

[mplex2000]

Thanks, that's what I figured. I'll look into getting replacements. By the way, I have relatives in Mccloud - I didn't think anybody else lived out there!

So I pulled the engine yesterday and sold it today. Again, no use for a 60 over motor



Now for some of the "new" engine. I picked up a 400 that had imploded about a year or two ago. I gave $100 for it. It was pretty bad, broken rods and pistons, killed the crank, etc. As luck would have it the block came out ok after a .030 bore and they said I should be good to go (that blue block on the floor is the 400 in the above pic).









The 400 is a 2 bolt main. Going to throw some ARP studs on the mains and see how it does. I picked up a set of SRP Pro Series pistons and some Scat H beam 6" rods for it. Once I have the cash for the forged crank, balancer, etc I will take it back to the machine shop to be finished.

Here's a shot of a couple of the pistons during prep. I alum ox blasted the skirts, and then scuffed them and the faces with light sandpaper to remove any burrs.

[Palf70Step]

Sometime they just take a while. Mine has been disassembled since December of 2002, but I'm getting there.

You got a pretty solid looking ride. Good luck with your build.

[mplex2000]

Bill, you made me feel better knowing somebody is taking longer than me!

To my dismay, I found that I was out of shielding gas for my baby mig but I wanted to get some stuff done anyway so I swapped in the flux core wire. Man I hate that stuff. No matter how hard I try I can't get this thing completed filled, so I'll touch up once I refill the gas.

As you can see, somebody thought it would be a good idea to torch cut a chunk out of the frame, so I fixed it. Once it's touched up I don't think you'll be able to tell it was ever hacked up.

[mplex2000]

Little more progress. Finally the frame is stripped bare. Well of parts anyway, still plenty crusty.

I was going to drop it off for blasting Friday but ... the place I was going to take it said their blaster was broken and they didn't know when it would be running again. Ok...so I called the only other close place I could find, and they do soda blasting. Not that I care what the frame is blasted with, but they wanted $140/hr as opposed to $75/hr that the first place quoted.

Argh. Might have to drive it out to one of the Dallas places ... not much going on in Ft. Worth it seems.

Oh well, so last night I picked up a 4.5" hole saw blade ($35, ouch!) and did my crossmember cutouts for the exhaust. Let me tell you how much fun this was. When I started the bottom hole, the pilot bit snapped. On top of that I could not loosen the set screw to replace it so I had to toss it out. Luckily I found my other mandrel and was able to finish without having to buy a replacement

All in all they came out pretty good. Picture stinks, but I think I actually got the holes even. My slightly smoking drill was not happy with me, however.

[mplex2000]

Well, I took the big block plunge. I was able to sell the 400 block, crank and pistons for right about what I had invested. I then drove way out in the middle of nowhere an picked up my "new" engine.

Not the best but it will allow me to get the mounts, headers and exhaust perfected before putting the body back on.

A 454 complete with TH400 from a 78 dually. I paid $1000 for the who deal. He says the motor was rebuilt and has 38k on it, with the transmission only having about 100. We'll see if all that is true...it's been sitting outside for a couple of weeks so I will need to do some cleanup. It did include ps pump, alt, brackets, and a like new holley, so I can't really complain.

Trying to scrounge up a cheap aluminum intake today, since the old one has some rust in it. Other than that, under the valve covers and what I can see of the oil valley looks nice and clean.

[mplex2000]

ALRIGHT! Finally got the frame and engine crossmember blasted.

Cost me $300 at A to Z Soda Blasting in Justin, TX. Very nice guys, great to deal with. They said they were using some kind of mineral stuff to blast, not soda. I told them I didn't care as long as it came clean!

First pic: dirty nasty frame
Second pic: blasted
Third pic: after a couple coats of POR-15, luckily my 13 year old daughter helped me. What a pain!

[aford78]

Your build is looking good, and there is nothing wrong with taking your time on a project like this.

[mplex2000]

Well, I hate to say it but due to impending divorce and having no other options, I've got to sell this thing along with all the tons and tons of parts I've been buying for it. It's been fun guys, sorry I couldn't see this one through to completion.

[mcbassin]

sorry to hear your selling, hope it all works out good.

[jbristo67]

Originally Posted by mplex2000

Well, I hate to say it but due to impending divorce and having no other options, I've got to sell this thing along with all the tons and tons of parts I've been buying for it. It's been fun guys, sorry I couldn't see this one through to completion.

Man that makes me sad for you. We are all there or close to it from time to time. Hope everything works out for you man.