'70 Shorty Stepper mostly original

[70Huck]

Hey guys, I registered here a while back when I picked up this truck. Couldn't remember if I started a build thread or not, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, I'm from Dacula, Ga just north of Atlanta and I picked this up from my cousin's house in Wilmington, NC. He gave it to me for free since he hardly ever drove it the past 10 years and he knew I'd take care of it. Mostly original '70, 6cylinder, 3OTT, shorty, wood bed stepper

This is a budget build, but I want to eventually do a full PB setup with an LS and 6 speed. But for now, I may have a chance to pick up a complete 305 setup from intake to oil pan, pulleys, carb, belt, small cam, power steering pump/etc for like 800. Thinking I can do that, find a TH350, get a drive shaft done, simple static drop, a few other odds and ends and really enjoy the thing for less than 3-4k.

A little history on the truck, my cousin got it for free from a widow after her husband died. My cousin had gone to college with their son years before. The husband was an iron worker, doing handrails, iron detail work on old houses, etc in the Greenville area. He never left Greenville once he returned from WWII. He served in Pearl Harbor and HATED the Japanese from that day forward because he spent the rest of the war repairing ships that they damaged in the Pacific. He retired from ironworking sometime in the mid-late 70s and kept the truck in a barn, only driving down to the mailbox and back. My cousin got it in 94/95 and has kept it in his garage, only doing household chores and occasionally driving it to work. Anyways, on to the pics

Loaded up at my cousin's house. So glad I bought the helper bags, put 50psi in them for the best compromise of height vs ride comfort. It towed great!


Rest stop in SC


Home sweet home


Found some cool stuff going through the truck, oil change mileage and dates, tire sizes scribed in the drivers door jamb


A lot of dirt and crap, but no visible rust. Floors appear to be in good shape





Found the original (as far as I am aware anyway) owners manual as well as a full book of paperwork in the glovebox


Cab corners and rockers are solid, though the passenger side has been previously repaired



Grille and hood took a little shunt at some point



Needs an antenna lol


The radio and single speaker works pretty good


Options sheet


Here you can see the original paint peaking through the brushed on paint


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Has Sears brand 235/75/15s on it :rofl: Even being 20yrs old, they're not dry rotted or anything surprisingly


Floors really are great, the surface rust is thanks to a leaky windshield seal. Gonna do the old school bus trick for the time being, clear silicone around the edge of the seal. A little wire brush action and rust encapsulator black spray paint fixed that right up



Seatbelts were added later


Cousin threw in his vintage Sears dwell meter and timing light since he has no use for them anymore


You can see the outlet mounted to the rack, also that toolbox is bolted through the steel plate that was laid over the original wood. Haven't gotten under to see where the bolts go to but couldn't get them out with a wrench and vice grips


Found this stuff under the box


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Here's the bigass plastic toolbox that was bolted to the bedfloor


No more rack. It was actually fairly ingenious, it was completely modular, all bolted together


Bed cleaned out, gonna put wood back in it


Looks so much better now





Ole girl runs and drives pretty good. It needs brake work, the rears are dragging bad, the carb needs a rebuild I think, might do a tune-up, and the shifter needs bushings bad. Not bad for a free truck tho :imo:

[70Huck]

Not sure why everything is so huge. I'll try to fix it tomorrow, really need to get to bed now. Just wanted to share and get some opinions. Also, trying to figure out what I need for the small block swap and suspension stuff. Any opinions/suggestions are welcome

[GAc10boy]

Really sweet truck! I'm just down the road in Marietta. Would love to see it once you get it on the road.


Or you can make a little money and sell it to me right since you got it for free... I'm a sucker for steppers.

[04sshd]

Holy huge photos BATMAN!!! #CGM

[cooperhw]

Yep. Hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee pics. Nice truck though. I would love to some day find a survivor like yours. I'm jealous. There, I said it.

[70 shorty]

from another 70 short/step owner, I'm jealous!