Noob with a daughters project
 

I'm a sucker for my daughter(s).

I picked up 'Bernie' a two-toned '72 Chevy C10, 402ci from my brother in laws neighbor for $500, as my kiddo wanted "an old truck to fix up." It looked lonely to me, and the parts looked pricey, so I bought 'Floyd' the donor truck (1970 C20, 350ci).

I've started down the process & it's been educational, to say the least. I'm an accountant by training, but enjoy getting my hands dirty, especially when the smell of the old trucks brings back memories from grandma's farm.

We're hoping to have the truck up and running in a few months, but needed to pick the brains of guys far more experienced and smarter than myself. I called LMC and the guy wasn't quite as useful as I'd hoped in talking about how some of the parts fit together. Sigh...

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Looks like a great start to a project (or two!). You'll find a wealth of knowledge here on the forum. Just go into the appropriate section, search for your answer using the "search" feature & feel absolutely free to make a new post to ask questions about any answers that you don't find. I built a VW Beetle with my daughter & it was awesome! Wrenching on an old project and having fun lends itself to lots of chit chat and small talk with your daughter that you might not otherwise get. Very cool of you to have the willingness to take on a project like this with your daughter! Have fun!

Nik

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Thanks Nik. I'm clearly in over my head, but figured the time I'll spend with her will be worth far more than the $2,500 I'm hoping to spend on this project.

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

I'll have to get some pics to go with this update, but here is a summary of what we've done to Bernie (1972 C10) since we bought this little gem of a project. Starting from when I purchased Floyd (1970 C20) on Sept 1 through today, Sept 24:

Floyd (1970 C20) last year it was registered per the license plate was 1986. Likely had gas in the tank ever since then. nasty stuff.

9/3 - Floyd unloaded & into backyard. Kiddo detached & drained ancient NASTY gas :puke: Drained radiator. forgot to drain coolant from engine, so removing lower hose was lively. After the green shower, removed plugs & they looked pretty good. Removed fan shroud. Able to remove front end/radiator/lights thing from Bernie. Hand cranked the engine with breaker bar, the engine wasn't seized up. Glorious Day

9/6 - Loosened bolts off of alternator. didn't have tools to remove it ready.

9/10 - Took out A/C Compressor & loosened all belts.

9/11 - Tested Starter & researched how to "jump" the starter. Thx google.

9/12 - "Jerry rigged" the starter & was able to get the engine to try & turn over. Glorious whine. Performed compression test. Only one cylinder had difference between dry/wet test. Engine seems solid.

9/15 - Tested alternator, it's working. Reattached belts to alternator & power steering. Cleaned gas tank. xfer gas tank neck grommet onto Bernie. Attached body mounts to cab.

9/17 - Joined forum & uploaded pics to get opinion of cab rust & fix.

9/21 - Ordered Front floor supports (2), outer cab panels (LH/RH), Front door pillar (LH), Sending Unit Float, Sending Unit screen from Classic Industries. Talked to technical folks there & they said it's all 16-17 ga steel.

9/24 - looking online to learn how to fix issues from the tear down where important parts were cut away, like brake lines & gas lines. Need to buy a double flaring kit. arranging to borrow a welder from a buddy.

So far so good, am still wanting to have it running by 10/31 with brakes, gas, & coolant systems working.

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Pic 1 - Antifreeze on bottom, old gas on top
Pic 2 - Nasty smelling gas & kiddo
Pic 3 - Tank removed from Floyd (1970 C20)
Pic 4 - Cleaning exterior of tank

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Pics After the antifreeze shower/bath

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Visions of rust issues on the cab floor. Rest of truck has minor surface rust.

Pic 1 & 2 - Driver Side
Pic 3 & 4 - Passenger Side
Pic 5 - Both sides front cab support are shot

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Redneck fix to bypass missing electric connections to the starter. Took a 3" piece of metal, bent & drilled to make a "custom" fit.

Pic 1 - Starter connections from the back
Pic 2 - Starter connections to show bending of metal
Pic 3 - Hooking up the battery to hear Bernie whine for gas
Pic 4 - Nasty remnants of using "cleaner" on the gas tank
Pic 5 - Gas tank drying out after a day at the spa

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Random Pics

Pic 1 - Cab mounts installed (loose for now)
Pic 2 - Putting back in plugs after compression test
Pic 3 - Grinding out some rust
Pic 4 - Upcoming Project - learn to rebuild a carb
Pic 5 - Help I gave to a buddy with his struggling tomato plant

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Nice Progress.
Family time like this can not be Replaced.
Building Memories like this is Priceless.
You have these Pictures to remember all the good times.
I have some old Faded Polaroids:lol: of my projects Years ago.
Brings back memories for me.
I'm Subbed for this Project.

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Update for the last forever:

October 2018 we took on the starter, again,
Attachment 1932597

Once we got tired of that nifty experience, we stole the brake booster out of the donor truck and put it into "Bernie". The master cylinder was useless, so we bought a new one (not pictured), that promptly rusted to match the rest of the booster.
Attachment 1932596

We then cut and learned to flare the brake lines.
Attachment 1932598

We did get some fine quality help from you all here on the forum in regards to the fuel lines & such:

Finally, we were able to try and bleed the brakes, a nice thing to do in late October. My youngest "volunteered" to watch the reservoir for me, which worked well on the front brakes, but not so well on the back when I broke the bleeder screw off from the rust.
Attachment 1932599

The weather was still nice, so I started to try and tear down the steering column the first part of November. I got this far, and then the weather became questionable.
Attachment 1932600

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

We rolled into November 2018, and thanks to the global warming, I was still itching to work on "Bernie" and I'd heard that it'd be good to do some wiring, just to make sure there weren't issues. So I took many pics and decided to go ahead and strip them all out. Attachment 1932601

Well, Mother nature thought it'd be fun to bring on the rain & snow, so I put a tarp over Bernie for a long winters nap. I just hoped & prayed the Painless Wiring Harness would be as advertised, painless, at least by the springtime.

However, knowing we had a fair amount of rust to tackle, my daughter and I took a welding class offered by a Jeep Club my buddy belongs too. So we learned the basics of welding & now *need* a welder...
Attachment 1932602

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

We had a long & enjoyable winter and then it rained all spring, so I got annoyed and decided to move Bernie into the garage at the end of May so we could work late under the lights.
Attachment 1932614

We battled the starter again, and this time we just bought a replacement, and my daughter found a guy who was willing to help get it installed. It was a nice gesture, but he crimped down the starter onto the wiring, so we had to replace part of the wires to the starter. Kind of a scary omen of things to come I fear...
Attachment 1932617

With the starter alive, we jumped into replacing the wiring as it's been 6 months since we stripped out the wires. My daughter, Goose, learned how to solder wires and we both learned not to fear wiring as bad as I have for years.
Attachment 1932615

My youngest, BAP, came out to help with her little nimble fingers to screw in the Neutral Safety Switch, which we took out & cleaned up.
Attachment 1932618

Finally, it was time to teach her to pack bearings on Bernie.
Attachment 1932616

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

So we went to battle with a dirty little quadrajet carb, something I know little about, but was an educational process.
Attachment 1932629

I heard it was about $350 to get the carb reworked, so I opted to spend a little on an ultrasonic cleaner, and cleaned it up all nice.
Attachment 1932630

I was more efficient than the factory, and had an extra part or two, so I called out for help & you all came out to save my bacon. :clap:

So once humpty dumpty got put back together again, it went onto Bernie like a shiny like a crown.
Attachment 1932631

The month of July was a road trip cross country, then backpacking with some youth, so very little happened on Bernie.

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

With the end of July, it was time to get to work. It started with a question posed in regards to an earlier question regarding Bernie's rear brakes. I opted to listen to the sage words & bought new rear brake cylinders.
Attachment 1932632

While she was replacing the brake cylinders, I went to work on replacing the rear brake lines. It was educational and kind of fun to create the runs & twists. I hit it with some yellow spray paint just to dress it up a little.
Attachment 1932633

We tried to turn the key at some point and quickly realized that gasoline wasn't flowing. We bought a new fuel pump and swapped it out, then Bernie came to life. No more running back to AutoZone to get the battery charged again. No pics on that one, but it was good to have it start on its own.

Getting near the end, so I ordered an exhaust sytem after talking with Goose and pointed out we could pay somone $800 to do it, or we buy a kit for $300 and give it a shot. She wanted to give it a shot, so we ordered a kit. As you can imagine, it wasn't a perfect fit coming down from the Manifold, so we put it up in order best we could.
Attachment 1932634

So we went to drive it up onto a trailer to haul down to the Exhaust shop. Due to miscommunication, the truck stopped early, so we fired it up and dropped it into gear, and sure enough, we laid a little rubber on the driveway... :burnout:
Attachment 1932635

Then we sent it off to exhaust camp for the weekend and got it back today, with all of the little "issues" from the kit corrected.
Attachment 1932636

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

So today, Aug 26th, one year and one day since we brought it home, we took Bernie out for a drive around the block.
Attachment 1932639
Attachment 1932638

We still have plenty more to do on Bernie, but he ran rough, but she ran. This has been a great project with some good times & memories made with Goose.

Thanks to all who have helped to this point, and to those who will help going forward as we now get it "legal" and licensed.

We're like this tonight: :ennyd:

:truck:

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Well congratulations on the success so far. It's great when kids want to get involved with these old trucks

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

This is a neat build thread especially since its a father daughter build. Im going to ask a mod to move this to an area where more people will get a look at it instead of being buried in the welcome side of the board.

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Thanks CG. I don't know where it's supposed to be housed. I just set it up knowing it's good to share the "builds" that are in process. It's been neat to have her involved & wanting to get "her truck" back to life.

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Thanks, it's been fun to work with her & see how excited she gets with the progress. She'll enjoy it, at least until she has to fill the tank on a regular basis! :lol:

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

What a cool build. When I bought my pickup, I had thoughts of just fixing little things and keeping it running for the occasional drive, but that quickly turned into a frame off restomod. Taking a pickup in this condition and getting it running and on the road is a great way to teach your daughters to work on an old vehicle and learn the basics of how vehicles work. Last night I was replacing a window regulator in my fiancee's Dodge Nitro and it really made me appreciate the simplicity and durability of the window regulators in these trucks, along with all of the other mechanical simplicities compared to new vehicles.

As others have said, keep posting progress and asking questions!

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

I like this build a lot. Keep it up. I'm hoping my three year old wants to help me out when she's old enough.

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Great truck and even better team build. I like it and will be following along.

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Very cool! That’s for letting us watch the good times with Goose... this made my day much better. :metal:

Re: Noob with a daughters project
 

Thanks guys for checking in. Been out of town a bit, but am back now and I'm shooting for getting the lights & horn to work so I can get it licensed next week.

The horns work, but there isn't power getting to them. The inside of the steering wheel is gummed up a bit, and the wheel is split up pretty bad, so I'll need to do some cleaning up and playing with horn wiring.