1969 CST 10 Project

[ennisk1]

Two years ago my father in law passed away after a brief illness while spending the winter with us at our home in Florida. He lived in SW Colorado on some property. Before he passed he told me and my wife to give our oldest son his 1969 Chevy pick up. It has been in the family since new, having been purchased by his father at Reedman Chevrolet in Langhorne, PA. My wife has quite a few memories of this truck while growing up in Miami in the early '70's after her father aquired it.

We traveled to Colorado shortly after his passing in January 2010 to go through the ranch and I decided I'd take a look at the truck to see if it was worth saving and the expense of shipping it across the country.





The good news was that the truck had been in Utah and finally the arid high desert of SW Colorado since the late '80's. Therefore, the rust really was not bad at all. In fact, I was amazed at how solid it was. In addition, I discovered that it was a CST, with factory bucket seats with console. In addition, it has a 350 V8 with a three speed manual on the column. The paint was pretty much all original but severally weathered. The truck had been used all it's life and spent the last part as a ranch truck before it was parked about seven or eight years earlier due to a bad starter. I told my wife that it was in fact worth saving and that we could go ahead and restore it. As a side note, this is a pretty special project for her as it will never be sold and she gave me pretty strict instructions to get HER truck back on the road and looking good. We decided that we would be back out there again in June of that year and have the truck removed from the property at that time.

Upon arriving in June I looked it over again and made arrangements with a local shop owner (Scott at Alpine Auto Doctors in Durango, CO) to come get the truck, clean out the mouse nests, and hold until I arranged transport to Florida. Surprisingly, the brakes were not locked, the tires held air, and it readily moved from the place it had sat all those years. We took it as a sign that it was excited to have a new start! By the way, this was also the first time my oldest son had a good look at the truck....something that will be his after college.





While packing up household items and papers at the ranch that summer, my wife also came across quite a bit of original documentation. We have the original bill of sale, the owners manual, and the original protecto plate issued to her grandfather. A few months later, I arranged transport and the truck arrived in November of 2011. As I typically work on vintage Porsche's, this was something a bit different....actually refreshingly different. As with most projects, it has taken a little while to get started and it now appears that we are also going much deeper as the truck has now been completely disassembled. The chassis and suspension pieces were all sent out to be stripped and powdercoated. the body has been stripped of paint and all rust (which was not really that bad) was repaired with metal. The only replacement panels have been the rockers. The bed was the most amazing, it was sand blasted to reveal only a handful of pinholes around the very rear of the floor....that was it. I'll have pictures of that up shortly. Next step begins later this week which is to start putting the chassis back together and have it as a roller within the next several weeks.



I just discovered this board as I am in a parts accumulation mode right now and also making decisions on the direction of this project. We have decided to keep it fairly stock with the exception adding disc brakes up front, three point seat belts, 5 lug wheel conversion, some mild upgrades to the original motor, dual exhaust, addition of Vintage Air (a must in South Florida), and some type of period correct wheel and tire set up. This is a fun project and I'm really looking forward to the finished truck.

Keith

[Tinkermc]

looks like a very fine starter truck, your son should feel lucky

[72BlckButy]

Can't wait to see this truck come together. Keep us posted on your progress.

Welcome to the board from Mid-MO!

[RocketKing]

Welcome. Great backstory with the truck, I look forward to following along.

[ennisk1]

Work is finally continuing on the CST. After exercising the credit card my wife gave me for this project, parts arrived on almost a daily basis for about four days. Took everything over to the shop and the cahssis is starting to take shape. Pretty boring photos, but they should get more interesting soon...








On another note, I just got off the phone with the engine builder. Just the type of guy I want to do the engine, only does Chevy's, his son drag races, he is a matter of fact and to the point guy, and he is older then me! Anyway, I was surprised to learn that the motor was the 300HP version of the 350 V8. Also, sometime during its life, my father in law had the heads replaced with those from a 1974, probably to reduce the compression ratio. According to the builder these are a good set of heads that were used on trucks and Corvettes. The rest of the motor was fine, just tired. We'll be doing new pistons, rods, intake, carb, and convert to electrictronic ignition. Also, the heads will get a little extra attention, a slightly more aggressive cam, and a couple other very minor tweaks. The goal is to have and engine that looks almost entirely stock, but is just a bit more healthy in power and torque.

I'm surprised over the 300hp motor as Grandpa in Law (who bought it new) was a pretty tight SOB. My wife and I are guessing that this must have been sitting on the dealer lot in 1969 and he got a good deal on it. Seems like a strange combo of options...CST, buckets, center console, and the hotter motor. No radio, no power steering,....

[big_al_71]

Welcome from south florida.....Great story and the progress is looking great!!!!

[STOCKISH]

Welcome from NC, cant wait to see it come together.

[TchncnDen]

Your truck and I have been on a similar journey. I was born in PA, then lived just down the road from you in Port St Lucie for 25 years before moving to CO about ten years ago. Your off to a good start and it looks like you have a nice shop to work in.

[gearys 5600]

Cool story, your son should be proud.

Keep updating with pics.

[Zoomin]

When I was in kindergarten my dad took me with him when he bought a 59 Chevy Impala convertible. We kept that car until I was a senior in high school. Anyway, I can vividly remember the Reedman logo that was attached to the rear of the car. The bottom part of it read Langhorne PA. My mom literally cried as the new owner drove away. I'd dearly love to get that car back, and reclaim that part of our family history.

It'll be fun to watch your family continue the memories that a lot of us have that center around family vehicles. Welcome to the board!

[ennisk1]

Ok....time for an update. Still working on the suspension and brakes over the past couple of weeks. The old steering box was used to line everything up, however, it is no longer any good so a new one has been ordered. The brake lines were like trying to figure out a puzzle, but ultimately they all fit. I am pretty happy with most of the parts I have purchased with the exception of the hardware. In alot of instances we have replaced the supplied hardware with one of much higher quality.

I did finally find a shop that I was comfortable with to rebuild the rear end so we were able to get that over to them for disassembly and then take the external parts to the powder coater. We also pressed out the u-joints in the drive shafet and sent that out to the powder coster too.

In addition, the engine block has been bored out to 30 over. Ordered new pistons, rods, head bolts, etc. I should have an update on the motor in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, the plan is to have the chassis as a roller as soon as possible. I've told my paint and body man to have the body and bed painted and ready in 3 weeks....knowing he will probably take 4. The body is pretty solid and most of the metal work has been completed. The plan is to time this so that the painted body and bed will be ready to pick up and mount on the chassis AFTER the engine and gearbox are installed. We'll see how that works out!

Pictures are still a bit on the boring side, but it should be coming together over the next month or so. Next update should show a complete chassis awaiting the engine and gearbox.

[lolife99]

Pics look great,... but I think your calipers are on backwards.

[ennisk1]

Good info and why I love these forums. Let me dive into this and then take a look and see if they are on wrong. Thanks for the heads up!

[nuke1]

Great story and truck you have there, definitely have to keep it I the family, just like mine. My dad bought my truck new also, it will only ever see my family as owners. Can't wait to see the end result.
Posted via Mobile Device

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by ennisk1

Good info and why I love these forums. Let me dive into this and then take a look and see if they are on wrong. Thanks for the heads up!

They should be on the back side of the rotors,...

[808_67C10]

Great story... Lucky young man to end up with a family owned 69 c10!
Posted via Mobile Device

[ennisk1]

After nearly three years, we are close. Hoping to have her finished in a few weeks.

[ennisk1]

Interior....these are the original seats and material. Same with the console.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

good looking rig!

[GAc10boy]

Wow! Great story and really a nice truck - even before you started the resto.

[1956cameo]

Great looking truck!

[68Gold/white]

Glad to see the direction you are taking on the build!!! I favor original type builds, to each their own...I have a 67 and 68, when I get them done I intend to use them, for the purpose they were intended.

The options on your pickup seem strange, but folks had a different way of thinking back, even in the 60's. The country had only been out of the depression since the end of WWII, and the economy still bounced around some, but not as extreme... folks were extremely tight w/ a buck. Power steering was still somewhat of a new thing in the 60's, and drivers back then, men AND women were not as wimpy as they are now...LOL

Glad to see the disc brakes!!! Both mine will be converted also!!!
Converting to power steering would not be all that difficult. The brackets and pulley, are pretty much the same form 67-72, all those V-8 engines had the short water pump, and that bracket/pulley setup was pretty common on most all V-8's from the early 60's til 1970 on small block passenger cars, you just have to make sure the donor has the short water pump...

[steelhorse]

Great story and nice truck.