'Lay Down Sally'..NZ based,Belly scraping '69 C10

[NZSIXTY9]

Hey All,Names Adam . Iv owned my 1969 c10 for 4 1/2 years now, and its finally time to nail down the stance and look that im after! Living in New Zealand doesnt make this the easiest project to under take, considering i cant just order bits and expect them within the week, or pop down to harbor freight and purchase any tool i need for a reasonable price haha And our rules and restrictions to get modified vehicles certified and road legal can be a pain in the arse! but im not going to let that stop me!

for the last 2 years iv been buying and shipping parts over and now i have enough to get started. (im going to be playing catch up on photos since i was expecting progress to be slow, but im currently 3 or so months in to the project)

I spotted the truck on trademe ( our little version of Ebay) after searching for a few months , it was recently imported and needed a few things tidying up to get it road legal, but being an automotive refisher, and working with U.S Street machines and hot rods on a daily basis, it all looked achievable

[NZSIXTY9]

the truck had all new bushes ,ball joints ,tie rod ends , brake hoses and what not.All i had to do was fix some lovely rust. Being a car painter by trade made this achievable, but i hadnt tackled anything like this by myself so i had to learn as i went ( which has been happening through out this whole project). I tidied up a few dodgy looking bits and replaced the inner roof panel and corners of the A-pillars. It was then road legal so i cruised it for a couple years, lowered it and tidied up a few things. Its last call of duty was my mates wedding this March

[NZSIXTY9]

And within 2 and a half weeks of that it was down to its bare bones! My boss flys over to the states for a month or so every year around the same time, and we close up shop for 2weeks. this was the perfect oportunity for me to get out of my single car garage and spread out! before it went to work, i instaled the PBfab body drop kit and carrier bearing crossmember

[NZSIXTY9]

id also installed the steering rack notches. And withing the first couple days i had my PBfab Dropmember installed, iv gotta say, their stuff is a pleasure to work with!! Unfortunatly in New Zealand, its not as easy as just bolting in an aftermarket IFS assembly. If the Brand hasnt been used in the country before , you need to e get the item 'Type approved' (which approves the brand/item to legally be sold and used throughout New Zealand). the process involves the submitting of working CAD drawings of the crossmember,stating materials used etc which is a big ask.But more on that later.I also got my KP 4 link installed in the first few days ( if i had done this again i would have used full PB , but like all projects, the plan changed half way through so the rear is a sort of 'bits and pieces' setup

[NZSIXTY9]

Next i got the motor mounted , and did the notching on the cab needed after the PBfab bolt on body drop . I Was waiting on my c-notch to clear through customs at the ime, so tried to keep myself busy till that came in.I got my high hump trans tunnel in, and made the notch for the carrier bearing crossmember ( i realise now that i should have mounted it a little further back, for the driveshaft to clear the cab)

[NZSIXTY9]

My C-notch was ready for me to pick up just in time , along with a repro inner cowl panel since mines a lil 'thin' in places

i went ahead and fitted the notch, bag brackets and panhard .Im not a ticketed welder, but i am confident and compitent welder, so i'll see how the vehicle certifier( the guy who tells me if my cars legal to drive , or just an over priced garage ornament) sees it, even though the welding is fine, i may have to grind it out and get a ticketed welder to do it since im not. Fingers Crossed thats not the case!!!

i also got rid of the in-cab Gas tank and installed a blazer unit, made some basic but functional brackets for that. at this point i had full suspension ( minus rear shocks) and i was a happy kid thats for sure!!

[NZSIXTY9]

Im running Wheel Vintique smoothies 16x7 up front and 16x8 rear. i would have loved to have gone with 20" detriot steel wheels, or 22" delmo smoothies but unfortunatly it just wasnt in the budget. i like the classic look though and im growing to love the small wheels now that the truck swallows them up.

Next up i notched my rad support,fitted my fenders with abit of trimming and got around to tossing the standard booster in favour for a cpp Firewall mounted unit . I also got to see it for the first time on the ground with some sheet metal attached

[NZSIXTY9]

I finally sorted out some rear shocks, and got them tacked in place. At this point i got in contact with a certifier so he could start a file on my build, he said he couldnt make it out for a few weeks, and not to go any further with chassis work untill he had seen it.

That left me looking for things to do in the mean time. Even though inner fenders are reasonably priced for the amount of work they save you , the shear size of them was going to make them a little too pricey once landed on our shores, so after sifting through the "Nacho" build thread for the 100th time, i decided to tackle the inner fenders myself, by this time i was back at work, so it took me a fair few late nights after work ,and a few weekends,but i got them done!! they're nothing to brag about in their current state, but once theyve had a skim and had some semi gloss black laid down on them i think theyll be primo!

[NZSIXTY9]

Now i fitted the fenders so i could test fit the hood, with some minor trimming it fit perfect. I didnt need to but i thought it would be fun to put the front on to see what it looked like on the ground

For those of you that took the time to check out my build, cheers! your now up to date. im about a week out from the certifier coming to check what iv done so far, hopefully the list of things he gives me to do/change is'nt too big!! and now the updates will come as they happen so i wont have to play catch up

[Brannon yazell]

Looking great, I like the inner fenders.

[Tinkermc]

the workmanship looks first class, I also like the inner wheel wells and the way it lay's down.

[flashed]

Nice build ,I like it .

[mcbassin]

Great project. Looks like you have already invested a bunch of time and cash in this truck. Super nice looking truck. Subscribed!

[NZSIXTY9]

Cheers for the positive feedback guys , much appreciated... Especially about the inner fenders, they tested my patience that's for sure!!

[Hardesty454]

Looks great. Knockeed that all our fairly quickly!

[69CST-V]

Your truck is looking great.... Nice work looks top notch in my book. Keep us posted and good luck.

[lolife99]

Excellent work!
High quality build.
Your truck is now my favorite build thread.
I can't imagine what it costs to get aftermarket stuff to your part of the world.
Congrats on doing it right the first time.
Love it!

[mooseknuckles]

nice work!

[geezer#99]

I see you're keeping the left hand tiller!
Have they changed the rules over there. I was last there in '04 visiting our friend's in Petone. They live up the hill and overlook the Welly harbour. He drives a 67 Chevelle lhd and a 56 poncho rhd. We know another old guy in Dunedin with a 67 Goat rhd.
Nice build. The 16 inch skins suit it.

[jeh]

Going to be a nice build, looking foreword to see more of it.

[NZSIXTY9]

Thanks for the great feed back. Even im surprised at how far its come in such a short time, I put in about 130hrs over my 2week 'hoilday' haha. iv got over 100 photos aswell, its just a pity I didn't start a build thread earlier. no-one wants to sift through that many photos in one go so i just put up a few to start off. i should be full steam ahead again in the next week or so once iv seen the certifier.Ive written out a list of things im thinking hes going to tell me i have to do, hopefully that way i don't get too much of a shock when i see his list. But iv definatly got this forum to thank! iv spent a lot of nights plastered to the screen of my computer researching everyones build threads and getting information/ ideas !

[NZSIXTY9]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

I see you're keeping the left hand tiller!
Have they changed the rules over there. I was last there in '04 visiting our friend's in Petone. They live up the hill and overlook the Welly harbour. He drives a 67 Chevelle lhd and a 56 poncho rhd. We know another old guy in Dunedin with a 67 Goat rhd.
Nice build. The 16 inch skins suit it.

hey mate.Im not 100% sure on the RHD conversion rule, but i think its anything imported that is less than 20yrs old is compulsory to be RHD. But i think converting to RHD was a trendy thing to do in the 80s/90s, along with the fluro decals and the like of, so there are a few vehicles that are RHD without needing to be . Bet theres a few people kicking themselves now for doing it! Theres nothing easier than parallel parking a LHD on the left hand side of the road

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by NZSIXTY9

Thanks for the great feed back. Even im surprised at how far its come in such a short time, I put in about 130hrs over my 2week 'hoilday' haha. iv got over 100 photos aswell, its just a pity I didn't start a build thread earlier. no-one wants to sift through that many photos in one go so i just put up a few to start off. i should be full steam ahead again in the next week or so once iv seen the certifier.Ive written out a list of things im thinking hes going to tell me i have to do, hopefully that way i don't get too much of a shock when i see his list. But iv definatly got this forum to thank! iv spent a lot of nights plastered to the screen of my computer researching everyones build threads and getting information/ ideas !

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