Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

That's an interesting concept...be sure to post some pics when you fabricate that. I want to keep the vents...I think they add that 'vintage feel' to the truck. Vintage is what I am going for with some very subtle modern touches that will hopefully go unnoticed.

I am relocating my gas tank to under the bed, so I will have that area behind the seat available. I am also thinking of an amp back there, along with a mobile ham radio. The 23 channel CB will be where you can see it under the dash.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I have also moved the tank to the rear...my buddy that does upholstery already has some big ideas for behind the seat...
I'm thinking also of modifying the inner panel behind the seat, and the seat, to maybe create a couple of inches more leg room..we shall see
my rear cab panel should be here this week...
My plan is to keep some of the original look mixed with some modern upgrades and custom touches...

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I can't wait to see what you do with the area behind the seat.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Not a bunch of pics but here are a couple. Runs great and sounds fantastic but not quite road ready yet. Just a bunch of little things to sort out like leaks, squeaks & rattles and wiring up the tail lights & getting the heater & wipers working right.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I like the SS touch, very nice. The truck looks pretty solid.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So, because I like the look of the kick panels being smooth, I sanded the passenger side kick panel a little, then skim coated it with glazing putty. I then applied a coat of sandable filler primer, then repeated after sanding. The driver side came out baby smooth...as did the passenger side.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Once the inside is finished...all I have left is sanding the roof area inside the cab, then this part is ready for paint. I will paint over the Lizard Skin and all for a more 'factory' look.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So I realized that the dash was sitting off to the side, and that need a crap load of work. Decades of dings, scratches, and general abuse required me to invest some elbow grease to get it to where it would look presentable.

I used a wire wheel on the old hand grinder and went to town...I had to go all the way to bare metal due to all the rust. I think the rust was due to my father-in-law washing out the interior with a hose - true story. He would open both doors and blast all the dirt and crap out from one side out through the other door.

Anyway, I digress...once cleaned-up, I primed with etching primer, then started going over it with filler-primer. Spray, sand, clean, spray, sand, clean...did that 4 times. The dash is as smooth as a baby's butt. Got dings out that have been there for 40+ years. I bet this will look great when painted.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So I thought I would take a break from the dash work and start stripping down the outer cowl panel. It has the hole for an antenna that I plan to weld up. I will use a hidden antenna so it will give me a cleaner look.

The panel is in really great shape, just surface rust. Stripping it is going well.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

A little more progress today. I decided to do a test fit of the dash and see how the new dash pad will look. The dash is just temporarily held in by the six bolts. I will also take the opportunity to get the dash and cab crimp weld around the window opening to realign as those curves are a bit off from cutting the dash out.

Additionally, the outer cowl panel is stripped. I noticed there are a few "pock" marks from the surface rust that was present. The wire brush only gets so much, so I used the Rust Mort to take care of the rust. I will sand the panel tomorrow and prime it after I weld up the antenna hole.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I did get the back of the cab wet sanded with 500 grit, and also did the same with the roof of the cab. It's all as smooth as a baby's butt!

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So, I was taking advantage of the President's Day holiday and thought I would MIG weld up that antenna hole in the outer cowl panel. I think it came out pretty good. There are some defects in the etching primer, but I will get that out as I spray the filler primer.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I installed the Altman Easy Latch kit this past weekend, nice kit with great instructions. I did watch a couple of YouTube videos as well and it made it go so smoothly knowing what to expect.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

nice...I picked up a set of those new in box for $200....some kind of mix up in shipping and the guy got 2 sets for the price of 1....

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Great thread and build, have really enjoyed following along. Quite inspirational for those who have 'teaching ourselves to weld' on the to-do list.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Sweet!

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So I bought new hinges for the driver's side, the old ones were worn after 54 years. Unfortunately I had to go through the gyrations of re-aligning the door again. Fortunately, it lined up extremely well.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So after lots of tinkering with the door and making a plethora of adjustments, I think I got it as good as it will get. I know this much, the original doors did not fit this good.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Working diligently when time allows. At least the driver's side is all one color!

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Well, I got the new hood and front fenders I ordered, they look pretty good quality, I am happy about that. I guess we will see when the time comes to fit them on the cab after I clean and paint the frame. I plan on using the Eastwood rust encapsulator and 2 part frame paint. But the frame is waiting for me to finish aligning the passenger door and doing whatever bodywork that entails.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So I have the passenger door aligned and it is sitting really well for an aftermarket door. I highly recommend the Triplex doors!

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Sorry for the long delay in posting. Life sometimes get in the mix and keeps you from the fun things.

I was able to prime the interior of the cab. Seeing how I am going to paint over the Lizard Skin, I primed it to promote better paint adhesion. At least it is getting to be one color.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to convert the old mechanical clutch to a hydraulic clutch. I like the feel of the cable clutch, makes it feel like a truck. But being 60 years old, my crawling under a truck to adjust clutch cables will be numbered.

There were a lot of good products on the market, and several systems to choose from...hydraulic throw-out bearing, or the classic slave cylinder. I am more familiar with the latter than the hydraulic throw-out bearing, but both seem easy enough to work with. To me, having a slave cylinder would keep any potential leak external to the clutch and easier to see.

So I got the 67-72 Hydraulic Clutch system from Speedway. Today I had to prep the firewall by sanding the area being covered by the reinforcing plate and cut a 1.5 in. hole in the firewall where the clutch master cylinder will go. Here are a couple pics...as you can see, I have the plate bolted on and clamped to better bond the firewall and plate together (this is why I sanded the firewall to bare metal as I did the back side of the plate. Yeah, this will be a permanent mod.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I like the construction of the Speedway clutch mater cylinder, very similar to the Wilwood 3/4 in masters I have seen online and it is made of aluminum. The Heim joint is ok, but I may replace with one that is higher quality. The one provided looks to have like a plastic insert in the joint itself...easy enough to remedy. If I can find a bullet aluminum cap to replace the plastic one I would be even happier!

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Decided I would do a little bit of test fitting of the brake booster and hydraulic clutch master cylinder.

Here is how they fit...

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So after many weeks of life handing me more important issues to deal with, I finally got a chance to paint the interior of the truck. I went with Light Green as a contrast to the Medium Green that will go on the exterior. I will paint the dash in Old English White from the dashpad down, the area of the dash between the dashpad and windshield will be Medium Green. The door panels will also be Old English White as will be that raised area in the roof.

Here are some pictures...

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I ran out of paint to finish the floor board, but will get that this week.

Just for FYI, this is the Medium Green I am going to use on the exterior.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

your attention to detail is beyond reproach
that looks amazing!

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Thanks, I appreciate the compliment. I try to do the best I can. I tend to be OCD when it comes to projects, especially automotive projects.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So I was able to grab more Light Green paint and paint the floorboard of the truck, looks pretty good I think.

I also installed the speakers to 1) see how they look, 2) safe place to store them so they don't get damaged.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I thought I would mount the vintage Fyr Fighter extinguisher to see how it looks. Yeah, it is a little off kilter but I purposely angled it to align with the door opening...however it is angled a bit too much.

Oh well, I'm going to live with it for now.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I was able to steal away some time to work on the dash. surprisingly I was able to get that squared away in an hour. I will get this installed back into the cab tomorrow. I plan on using panel bond adhesive along the window pinch weld and clamp the dickens out of it.
Of course, I will also use the 6 bolts on the sides.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

I was sharing photos of the truck with my neighbor, who was very kind and complemented me on the paint job. He was kind enough to offer his assistance in getting the dash reinstalled into the cab. Never looking a gift horse in the mouth, I said thanks!

So this morning I called him and asked if he was available and like a trooper he came over and we got the dash in with no problems. We installed (loosely) the lower bolts and tipped the dash back so I could lay down the 3M Panel Bond Adhesive, then proceeded to clamp it all down. My neighbor was also kind enough to let me use 3 pairs of his Vice-Grips too.

Thanks Jerry for being a great neighbor!

And yes, the top part of the dash is Meadow Green (Medium Green), to match the exterior color I will be painting the truck.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Very nice work!

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Thank you. I am trying to take my time and not get too eager to where I rush things. BTW, here is a photo without the clamps.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So my next part of this project is to get the interior heater box modified to allow a better mounting solution of the under dash A/C unit. This is that NOS unit I was able to grab for $125. I think it will be a great period accessory for the truck.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Air conditioner is now mounted. This is just temporary as I need to see how much room this unit takes up so I can modify the interior heater box.

I had room for the CB Radio. I am going to install an E-Stop electric parking brake, so the old parking brake handle will not be going in for now.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

Well, today I was able to get the ashtray and glove box door painted and installed. It is starting to actually look like a truck now.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

So, I was looking for a way to personalize the truck and add a little bling (but tastefully). Soooo, I did this. I thought it gave a bit of a tribute to past Chevrolets.

Re: 1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project
 

With the fuel tank being relocated to under the bed, I am going to utilize the space behind the seat for a few goodies...an amp for the radio, a ham radio, and as an area for mounting future goodies. Because I do NOT want to drill holes in the cab if I can avoid it, I came up with this option. I simply cut a 1/2 in sheet of plywood to mount where the tank was and finished the edges with aluminum U channel. It turned out to be a cool place to mount the vintage Ray-O-Vac flaslight..

I am also starting to run the wires up under the dash so I can begin installing the switches.