New to me 1970 Utility truck

[510ducati]

Long time lurker, first time posting. Picked up my dream truck about a month ago in Tracy Ca, about a 1.5 hours from me. I have been looking for a clean utility truck for the longest time and was lucky enough to come across this one on CL. Story goes a Almond farmer bought the truck for his ranch, guy I bought it from was the second owner who never used it. It is a C20, non a/c, 6cyl with a 4spd. I love the boxes and they are in awesome shape, also love the fact that they were US made Locally in Oakland Ca. I have a lot of dreams and plans for it, but for now its getting her road worthy. After a $15 carb rebuild kit and a $90 battery she fired right up and sounds great! I plan on doing a 5 lug and disk brake swap soon, as well as some torque thrusts or the salts. In the future I would love to do the 5.3/NV4500 swap. Here are a few pictures of where I found her, and the trip home. I will keep you guys updated as I work on her.

I would love it if you photo shop gurus could throw some torque thrusts on there with a little drop.

-Joao
San Lorenzo CA

[marvgarr68]

If your going to use it as a service truck then keep it a 3/4 ton. You cant get lt tires in low profile rims and 5 lugs is pushing it for any weight you want to haul. All in all its cool the way it is I love my 76 k20 that I made into a service truck the best thing I did. I use it a lot and haul a lot of weight with it.

[510ducati]

At first I planned on keeping it a 3/4 ton, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to convert it to a 5 lug. Im a plumber by trade, but now Im a 8-5 city worker. So this truck wont be used for income and will be used lightly every so often on the weekends. I don't plan on towing anything with it, and my boxes will be filled with light material and tools. Honestly what it came down to was wheels, I just could not find a wheel I liked in 8 lug. I figured if I was going to spend the money on Disc brakes and I might as well go 5 Lug so I can run some cool wheels.

-Joao

[yuccales]

That's a good old work truck as is! Great find.

[Bishops Trucks]

Very nice find. I'd love to find me one of those utility beds for my 4x4.

[Ol Blue K20]

Not sure how long 5 lug/1/2 ton axle bearings will last with just the weight of the service body...just my .02 Nice find Congrats

[special-K]

That's a great survivor! The truck can handle a fairly unloaded utility bed with 1/2t axles,but why? You can achieve the same results retaining the original axles. Not bustin' on your idea or telling you what to do with your truck,just sharing my thoughts. I know what I'd do,different from you,but that's me. I see the truck as keeping it what it is,but changing ride/stance,etc.,and there are nice custom wheels for 8-lug,if that's what you want. I love Torque Thrusts like as much as anyone and not saying they wouldn't look good on that truck. Seems like a lot to do just so you can put those on.
I can envision awesome custom versions and my favorite,old school...9.75/8.25 aluminum slots or steelies,stock height,and era performance engine. If you did a dooley conversion,there are all kinds of wheel choices. I could go on.
I've always had a thing for utility beds and have had quite a few. I better get myself another truck before they're gone. Got a bedside box/8' Stepside for my K2500 I'm working out a deal on now

[marvgarr68]

I would go find a half ton and then you can put your rims on. That truck is worth more the way it is if its hacked up it will not be worth much half tons are easy to find.

[RenoKeene]

I like it like it is also, looks like a really good find. Congrats!

[WIDESIDE72]

I scored these this past week for $150. Cant decide if they will go on the 70 Longhorn or the 02 Duramax reg cab.

http://austin.craigslist.org/pts/4169874947.html

[Sicklajoie]

I'd leave her the way it is. Great find!

[510ducati]

Alright guys, you talked me into it. I will keep it a 3/4 ton.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by 510ducati

Alright guys, you talked me into it. I will keep it a 3/4 ton.

Wise decision. You'll probably find that what you had in mind for the truck's direction will change as you go along, so it's a good idea to not do anything too drastic initially

Keep your eye out for some caps that are more period correct. Those are around late 70's caps. I used to run them. They're easier to find, and less expensive, but the other style is better IMHO

[Mike C]

Good call in staying with the 3/4 I think. Lower it a little and run some low profile tires on some 17" or bigger rims. I'd even do a disc swap. Pretty much what I had done to a 70 GMC big block 2500 truck I used to have. Towed great!

[70cst]

Hey 510ducati ...

to the forums and from Ohio.

You have one ride

[Chevyland]

Stock 3/4 ton

[Chevyland]

Almost stock 3/4 ton

[510ducati]

A few months back there was a 3/4 ton truck on ebay that had the stance I was looking for. Im going to run with those steel wheels and caps until I find some custom ones that I like. The truck is at my buddies body shop right now, I'm going to line-x the bed and tool box tops. Because its going to be sitting out in the weather Im going to have them paint/prime the top of the cab, what do you guys think, flat black or a flat white for the top of the cab?

[ETsC10]

Hey 510ducati, welcome to our part of the world!!!!!

I vote for a stock colored/shiney top. Have them redo
the gutter sealant as well.

Great looking truck and Chevyland's wheel post shows us
what a simple set of beauty-rings on some steelies can do.
Good plan to run them for a while...the look might grow on you!

Your motor? Personally, I'm a sucker for 6-bangers.
Strong, VERY durable and tons of torque! I'd add power steering,
a good sounding exhaust and rebuild the front end.

Add a good carb and an HEI, plus disc brakes for safety, and you
will have a good, very unique driver for pennies on the dollar and
very little labor!

Looking forward to a build thread

[In The Ten Ring]

White would be best if the goal is protecting anything from the sun's heat.

White is "white" because it reflects all colors of the visible spectrum. Reflecting all colors also keeps the temperature lower than any other color could.

I do not think (although physics class didn't cover this) that it would offer any UV protection. Only heat conversion protection.

I'm a sucker for original trucks and if I had it, I'd restore but keep original. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have fun with it and much success.

[special-K]

White top will go best with what you have there and be mo' coola!

[lil hoodlum]

510ducati!

Thanks for sharing your story. Looks like a real keeper. I also would keep her as she is except maybe repaint the front bumper and roof white.

Hope to see more of your progress on this little gem!

Keith

[510ducati]

Update!!! So I have been pretty busy with a new promotion at work and with my 5 month old daughter. My oldest is only 20 months, so needless to say I rarely get the chance to work on my "hunk of junk". I was concerned when I bought the truck that it was going to be sitting out in the rain so I wanted to do a few things to protect it from this winter. Turns out her in CA we haven't had but 3 days worth of rain this winter and its been in the mid 60's these past few weeks. I had the roof's drip edge resealed and shot with a flat black primer, I also had my bed and tool box covers done in Line-X. But the most exciting thing is I picked up a 6.0 with a 4l80e from a 2003 van with less then 10,000 miles. Im going to order some engine and transmission mounts as well as some tbss exhaust manifolds this week and hopefully drop the engine in real soon. Thats it for now, next big purchase will be the disc brakes for upfront.

-Joao

[Spartan]

I would keep it stock. Keep it in its value sweet spot. But that's just me as I tend to stay away from vehicles that have been moniker with... Just kills the value. IMHO
Sweet ride tho

[joeyfig]

looks a lot like mine. what have you done to it?


this one is mine