Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
A good friend of mine had a 66 C-10, LWB, (this was back in the 80's...)underside essentially the same as a 67-72. I had been under my 68, at that time, working on something, got an idea about routing exhaust out the back. Bends in pipes are restrictive, and a pain to make correctly
He's a legit machinist, and can fabricate ANYTHING... I said, Why not make a couple of bends, just behind the headers, and run the pipes straight out the back,outside the frame, put the mufflers where they need to be???? He says, what about over the rear end??? I told him to calculate how far down the extreme movement of the suspension will be, put the pipe above that. The rear coils are only going to compress, so far (his rear coils were stock) I visit him in a few weeks, and he's got the system installed on his pickup, exactly as we talked about...he was thrilled!!! Back then, the only good sounding, good flowing mufflers were the Sonic turbo mufflers. Don't remember who made them. They were maybe 18" long. He complained they were a little loud, and he bought 2 more of those mufflers. Had 2 mufflers on each side, running end to end. Sounded real nice, but still pretty unrestrictive. THat 66 had a SBC 400 in it, ran incredibly well!!! |
Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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It's finally starting to look like a truck again. We have the doors, fenders, grille, and bumper installed. We spent a lot of time fitting the grille and the fenders - they're all aftermarket so of course it didn't go together as nice as factory pieces. After slotting the grille brackets about 1/2" and doing some hammer and dolly work on the grille, it's all in place and looks decent. We put on the hood to test fit as well. Pretty happy with how clean the engine bay is.
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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We've also been assembling the interior - wiring is all in place as well as most components but we had to order a few little parts that kept us from installing the radio, gauge cluster, and glove box. We had some heat shield/sound dampening left over so we used that up on the back and floor of the cab and laid the carpet and installed the seat belts as well. Wing window frames are stripped and epoxied. Also reapplied epoxy to the hood and cowl in preparation for bodywork. Lastly, bought a reman power steering box since the old one was leaking.
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
I was wondering when we would get an update! Looks great. Those grills will really fight you.
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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I've gained even more appreciation for factory parts in working on this truck - the combination of aftermarket fenders and grille has made it challenging. Aftermarket parts are rust-free, damage-free (most of the time), but the fitment and quality aren't always there. |
Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
I have a oval carbide burr in a die grinder- Known by all as the "hole stretcher". It gets a workout upon front end assembly. Lookin' good!
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
That tool and a dremel have came in handy.
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
Beautiful work and very nice truck
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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Making good progress despite the heat.
Had a local metal fab shop bend up a piece of aluminum to secure the top of the electric fans. Attachment 2113440 Also applied filler to the hood. Nothing too major, except the two big circled areas that are oil canning and are currently huge low spots. If I put my hand underneath and lift gently, it looks pretty good. I've done a little research and heard of guys adding braces to add some structure to these hoods, but I'm open to any suggestions. Also considering replacing the pads between the braces and hood skin, but that might not address these low spots and lift up the spots under the braces too much. Attachment 2113442 Attachment 2113441 Also rebuilt the vent windows, loaded the doors, and installed the head unit and ignition. Attachment 2113443 Attachment 2113444 |
Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
Looking great man. Normally for oil canning you would shrink the metal to tighten it up but if it's low then hmmm, that would make it lower right? Interested to see how you tackle this one.
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
Again, nice work, and great progress. at the rate you are going you will be driving it before winter comes!
Will this become your wife's truck? So much hard work put into it, i would hate to see you sell it now! The recent photos certainly show that you have a good size shop to work in, well equipped too. Keep up the good work, your progress is very motivating to the rest of us. |
Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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So we took a shot at heat shrinking the hood to try and tighten up the steel, but no luck. We just don't have the experience or knowledge when it comes to working sheet metal. We would heat up a spot until it's red, then use a shrinking dolly underneath and use a hammer on top and then quench it. There was hope on the passenger side, but we kept getting high spots on the driver side and seemed to be chasing the oil can around. I can't remember if the hood was this bad in these areas when we bought the truck or not, but I have a level of confidence in the blaster that he knows how to not warp large areas of sheet metal. We all know that these hoods lack rigidity and I think that's the primary issue. In this case, with our lack of skills, we decided to throw in the towel, cut our losses, and order a new hood. Even if we could have made it work, we would have been left with a really ugly underside and it could have been covered with insulation, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to go through all the filler work and cover up that ugliness. Felt a little beat by the outcome, but relieved in a way.
We pulled the bedsides back out and are resuming filler work on them. We still have a few months of warm weather left, but quite a ways to go on the bed so we're trying to focus on bodywork. What I've learned on this truck is this: if you want to have a truck that is all GM sheet metal, you're going to have to spend a lot of time and money fixing original sheet metal or tracking down panels that are in good shape. Or, you can buy new sheet metal and deal with the fitment challenges but avoid a lot body work. Attachment 2118382 Attachment 2118383 Attachment 2118384 Attachment 2118385 |
Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
Sorry to hear about the hood man but sounds like you got a good plan.
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The hood showed up and doesn't appear to be damaged. The quality level is about as good as you can expect. The spot welds on the back edge are raised so I'll have to do some hammer & dolly work on those. Lots of sharp edges. Fit is okay, except the overall width at the back. The gap between the fender and the hood is almost an inch at the back. What we're thinking about doing is drilling out the spot welds where the rear structure attaches to the skin and then try to bend that brace outwards or put some kind of shims between the two.
You'll see that the grille isn't aligned with the driver side fender in the picture - we took it back off and fixed that as it has been bothering me and it will make the hood/grille gap go away. Attachment 2124884 Attachment 2124885 Attachment 2124886 Attachment 2124887 |
Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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Also got the bedsides into their last round of epoxy. I had previously put on 3 coats of 2K and they blocked out very well - I think I spend more time with filler and glazing putty and less time with primer/surfacer than some guys because I was expecting another round or two of blocking. But it came out great so I put on 3 more coats of epoxy for final sanding prior to paint.
Also applied epoxy to the front bed panel and tubs so they can enter the filler work phase. Really starting to see the light on this truck - it's all coming together and it will be a complete truck in the next few months. Attachment 2124888 Attachment 2124889 Attachment 2124890 |
Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
Nice work. And that hood seems a lot less work than a beat up old original. I guess they all end up needing help in the end.
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Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
I am very interested in the tricks and tweaks needed to fit the aftermarket hoods. I have 2 original hoods to choose from, but both have some issues, I am likely a couple of years before needing to address this area on my project, but I am following along to see how and what needs to be done for a good fit, with the aftermarket hood , if I need to go that route.
You have a lot of skills, and a ton of ambition, keep up the good work, its very motivating/ inspiring to the rest of us! |
Re: '69 C10 - Black on Black
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