1972 "Barn Find" (15+ yrs sitting)

[HiredGun]

Hello everyone, my name is Joel. My grandfather recently gave me his old 72 track truck. The truck had been sitting in the back yard under a tent for over 15 years. It took me about 3 months to get everything in order before she was road ready.

-HISTORY-
Doing a little history on the truck, I know I'm at least the 3rd owner and that it's a CST. It was bought out of Baton Rouge from a kid who used it as his project/track truck. My grandfather had it almost 10 years as his Sunday driver/track truck as well. He had a 427 in it, but one day his throttle stuck and he bent some push rods. He swapped the 427 for a 350, but the fuel tank got water in it. He got frustrated with it and it's been sitting there waiting for me ever since.

How I found it:



Pulled out all the parts out of the cab and washed it:




Can anyone explain WHY you would put this "splatter paint" all over the interior?!



Got newish wheels and headlight, then she sat in our work bay for a few months while we got it running:


Pulled the 350


found a big block (366) and mated it to a turbo 400


Holly 4 barrel carb and a Eidelbrock intake and headers



Tank from a blazer (having problems around the sending unit leaking fuel around the gasket)


Found some rot, but not bad for sitting for 15 years!





Back on the ground and ready for the bed



More rust



Tried fixing the door panels


Got her running and street legal. MORE TO COME!!




This WAS my project car to learn on. I've out grown it and will probably sell it. Just can't justify dropping around 5k into it to make it fast with a turbo or swap

[bikeman59]

Very nice. That is a great story and a great find. When you say 'track truck', did he used to race it? You've done a great job so far and I'm looking forward to watching your progress.

[luifer76]

X2 looks like a good project keep the pics coming as you go....

[HiredGun]

Originally Posted by bikeman59

Very nice. That is a great story and a great find. When you say 'track truck', did he used to race it? You've done a great job so far and I'm looking forward to watching your progress.

Yea, he used to drag it. He also took a few of his trucks to the sand drags. His favorite c10 was a hugger-orange 70's CST. The positive traction that was in my truck and the four speed were from that truck and he passed it down to this one. When we were checking everything it seemed the positive traction was acting up and the 4 spd wasn't shifting. So we put a different rear end (don't know the gears) and the Turbo 400.

I'm dealing with wiring up my reverse lights now and my fuel gauge at the moment. And trying to get a flush mounted filler for my gas tank and locate the filler in the bed side (don't want it in the floor, as i plan on using it to haul things) Other than that, the truck is great! I plan on keeping it a flat black

Originally Posted by luifer76

X2 looks like a good project keep the pics coming as you go....

Thanks! I'm looking at body work in the near future. Small things like patching the old filler hole and other patch work first. Then down the road do a frame off restore

[HiredGun]

New addition to the truck. I couldn't for the life of me find a stock breather kit so I had to make one:
Had to piece together parts (in order). Breather, braided hose, fitting, rollover valve, two fittings to fit a rubber line which runs to the tank.


Decided to put it in that back channel in the bed. In order to get to it we decided to cut a hole and slide the new breather in. It was a tight fit. Fit nicely, you can barely make out the breather.

[1980GMC]

That is an awesome truck. Looks like a sleeper! Keep at it bud, it's awesome to see people get into these trucks at a young age.

[shooter64]

cool truck.... good luck that fleck stone was never cool lol. and its a ***** to remove

[HiredGun]

Originally Posted by 1980GMC

That is an awesome truck. Looks like a sleeper! Keep at it bud, it's awesome to see people get into these trucks at a young age.

I've always wanted one since I was young. My grandfather gave it to me as a welcome home gift when I got off active duty.

Originally Posted by shooter64

cool truck.... good luck that fleck stone was never cool lol. and its a ***** to remove

fleck stone is that paint?

[shooter64]

Originally Posted by HiredGun

I've always wanted one since I was young. My grandfather gave it to me as a welcome home gift when I got off active duty.



fleck stone is that paint?

Yeah I believe they still selll it. It is like spay on texture
Posted via Mobile Device

[HiredGun]

Originally Posted by shooter64

Yeah I believe they still selll it. It is like spay on texture
Posted via Mobile Device

stuff is horrible. I hope I never find the guy that put that crap in there. Looks like a lot of sanding in my future lol

[HiredGun]

I'm looking at lowering my truck. I've done some reading and was wondering if I should go to a 2.5 or 3 in drop spindle?

I'm running 15x10's now, but have a pair of 15x8's I can put tires on if need be. I'm all for function and the lower I can go with the spindle the best IMO.


**NOTE: I plan on looking into upgrading my current stock disk brakes in the future.