70 c-10 Rebuild and redo

[mgore68]

Just a few pics of some progress.

[Dwyert4]

Nice work! It's going to look good. So, I'll be the first to ask, do you have pics of the old doors? Plans on selling them?

[mgore68]

I am going to hang on to the old parts for a while. I may get rid of them later on.

[mgore68]

I took a little time to pre fit my new doors and they seem to fit really good. It took a little maneuvering to get them lined up but that was expected. I used a doubled piece of cardboard taped on the door sill to sit them on and it seemed to gap the bottom just right. That allowed me to snug them up and work them in place. I also got the cab in its first shot of primer. I plan to shoot primer on the interior this weekend and start blocking the cab with some finer paper. I also hope to start prepping these new parts. So much to do and I thought I would be much further along but the body work is my downfall. It is coming along though and just hoping to see the light soon.

[mgore68]

Just an update. I got divorced in September and have been through a lot of ups and downs since then. I pretty much ran her off and wound up keeping everything including the kid's, so now I am mom and dad the majority of the time and that has put a big damper on my truck rebuild. I came out great on the divorce except for my mental status but I need this truck done for me at this point.

I had full intentions of doing this one all on my own but I called the guy that has been helping me with supplies and parts and he had wanted me to bring it to his place to spray in his booth anyway. I was asking if he knew someone that would help me on the side to get this thing ready to spray. He said to get it down there and I could just pay labor for his guy and we would get it finished up, so hopefully in the next couple months this thing is going to get back on track.

You never know what life is gonna throw at you but always keep your head up. Everything changes.

[mgore68]

This is taking forever and the guy that is helping me paint it is in no hurry, I know a lot of you know the feeling. I finally got the cab to him Friday and he has already shot the doors and front fenders and they look great. Hopefully he will get the cab done a little quicker and I can start rebuilding this monster. I bought a 72 Cheyenne super in the downtime and that got me pretty side tracked but I am back to this, so maybe some progress soon....

My new Cheyenne

[mgore68]

Finally some good stuff and some progress. The cab is back in my possession and now the work begins of trying to put this thing back together. I still have some prep work to do and then it's all on me for a while. The bed has got to be completed but I have lots to do till then.

[builtbyKane]

That's some good looking paint.

[Ol Blue K20]

Very nice, it's looks great

[mgore68]

Got a little more done Monday on this project. The frame is painted and now it's ready to start adding some stuff back. I also been working on redoing my grill so I can hopefully use what I have. I have polished it and took out the inside cleaned it, hit it with self etching primer and then a coat of flat black.

[Odaroloc]

Very nice! Keep it up!

[mgore68]

Another update and some more progress in the right direction. We got the 700r4 and new motor put in Saturday. Sunday I hooked up the new power steering lines, headers, and heater box. It's starting to finally head in the other direction. Who ever designed those motor mounts was of the devil, took forever to line it up but I am new to this.

[mgore68]

Yesterday my brother came by and helped me install the rear window that just came in. New rubber and New stainless. After all the horror stories I was worried about it but we popped it in, in maybe 30 minutes total. This was a plain stepper but I am adding some trim here and there to brighten her up against that shiny black. This really makes the rear of the truck pop.

[mgore68]

Hooray, hooray, hooray. Fired her up yesterday evening. Had to replace the fuel pump and I'm ordering a new radiator because the lower neck crimped but she is alive. I'm one happy camper. Soon as the new radiator comes in I can start slinging this thing back together after the break in. I went through and replaced all the rubber lines and went ahead and ordered new trans cooler hard lines since I am replacing the radiator. I went to Lowes and got some of the bubble insulation with foil on both sides and some spray contact cement and I am working on lining the floor and back wall with it also. I also replaced the th350 transmission with a 700 r4.

[Ol Blue K20]

Great to hear you hit this milestone.

[flashed]

Nice truck ,Im in to see the rest of it .

[mgore68]

Thanks for the support folk's. Its coming along and I have decided to take my time and try and do it right the first time. I hope to have this thing for years to come.

[68Gold/white]

Look'n Good, Billy Ray!!!

Carry On!!!

[mgore68]

Well if it weren't for bad luck, you know the saying.... Fired off great but I had some radiator problems and had to order a new one as stated above. Got a beautiful new aluminum one and got it installed and looking good. Filled her up and fired it up to do the break in. All of a sudden shes blowing white smoke, OMG. Cut it off and pulled the heads and there is water everywhere. I guess the heads are bad, they had been angle milled and I guess just to much or either the head bolts were to long, I'm just not sure but back to the drawing board. I ordered a new set of Dart Heads from summit and they are supposed to be here Monday, just praying that fixes the problem and the beast will fire again. Man that thing sounded awesome for a minute. This is gonna add a chunk to the build cost but practically everything else is new so I guess new heads will last a long time.

[mgore68]

Just an update. The new heads came in but did not solve the problem. We wound up pulling the engine to go through it again and there was water in one cylinder on the drivers side and every cylinder of the passenger side. My friend helping me has been building engines for 50 years and has never had an issue like this. As we got the water out of each cylinder, they would stay dry except the one on the driver side, it would just fill back up. We cranked the piston down and there it was. The cylinder wall has a whole in it about the size of a ball point pin tip. We figure it is probably a pocket in the casting that opened up after we bored it 30 over and the machine shop just did not catch it. Luckily he has another block so we are starting over with new bearings, rings and all friction components being replaced. I guess it's a good thing it happened now and not a couple months after it was all put back together and driving. I figure the initial startup may have opened up the hole.

[mgore68]

Well, it's alive again. The new block was used in the build and we replaced all the new bearings and rings for the last time hopefully. She fired up last Friday and hopefully now I can move on with the build. Next step is installing the wind shield and getting the doors adjusted with the new gaskets. The new rubber is a pain on these door's as most of you know but I will get it figured out.

[mgore68]

Finally a good update to the project. Windows are now installed but the trim on the front glass I had a little problem with and it may have to come back out. Last weekend I installed all the door glass trim and got the doors adjusted. This weekend we finally started hanging some body panels and it took a little fanagaling but they are on. I have one more inner fender to install and then the front grill can be remounted.

[1971Stepside]

Looks great! Can't wait to be that far along myself.

[mgore68]

I can not believe it has been so long since I updated this. My painter has taken forever on the bed parts. I am picking up the bed finally this afternoon but still have several parts that have to be painted. Never thought this would take this long but stuff happens I guess. I hope to get the bed box installed next week and the wiring done and ready for the fenders. It has been so hot this summer I have not done a lot myself but it's time to finish this up.

[mgore68]

I got the bed box back in my shop. I had to wait a couple day's for some extra hands to get it installed. Also got my step support's painted, it was the only one left to spray. I decided to Rhino line over the rail and the inner bed. I also did the tail gate the same. It turned out awesome I think. The bed had a lot of dings under the wheel wells and the rhino liner hid them well. The wheel tubs will hide them on the outside so only a minor area needed body working.