Uncle Loyd's 72' C-10

[cornerstone]

I think it was around this time frame that I went to the Pate Swap Meet. I had planned to get as many bulky parts as I could, so as to save on freight and get the "swap meet price". I scored a new set of wheels and tires from Mr. Coy of Coy's Wheels, picked up my rear wheel disc brakes pre-ordered from Auto City Classics, a full set of upper and lower side trim with wood grain, a chrome grille surround and insert, a set of vent windows, emblems, mirrors, handles and all kinds of rubber seals and gaskets from The Truck Shop.

The rear disc brakes were just a bolt on affair and the cheapest kit out there. I don't expect any performance gains over the stock drum brakes, but mainly changed over to have a matching look. Also changing pads is waaay easier than shoes.

[cornerstone]

It was now time to address the cabs rust. For years I took pride in what I thought was a "rust free" truck. Probably 10 years ago I noticed a few small holes in the rocker panel where the sill plate meets. I took the seat out and sill plates off and cleaned it up while looking for the extent of the damage. There wasn't enough there to upset me so I took the easy approach. I happened to have quite a bit of left over fiberglass mat and resin left over from a previous project, so I slapped a layer over all the holes I could find and went forward. Fast forward to 2017.... knowing that I wanted an actual rust free truck I knew it was time to dig as deep as I needed to get new metal where ever cancer was hiding. Thankfully all I had to replace were both outer rockers, one inner rocker, 2 lower kick panel patches, and 2 small sections of the floorboard. Still not too bad compared to most trucks I see.

[cornerstone]

Undercoating fun! I used a roller to lay this stuff down. I did like the finish, but in hindsight spraying it would have given me more coverage. I used a very low nap roller, but it still soaked up a bunch of it. In the last pic I'm just wanting to show you what I did for best access to get to the underside of the cab for this job, it's a piece of 3/4" plywood with 4 of those wheel dollies screwed to each corner underneath.

[TA_C10]

I like the coys. And does Mr Coy show up there every year? Kinda cool you got to buy wheels from him at pates!

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

I like the coys. And does Mr Coy show up there every year? Kinda cool you got to buy wheels from him at pates!

Thanks. I didn't ask him. His sons were there working the show also. He had multiple brands of wheels already mounted on tires stacked up for sale. I was torn between a set of Rocket Mags, Torque Thrusts in chrome, Ridlers 695 in chrome, and the Coys. Mr Coy gave me his personal viewpoint from the manufacturers perspective. Ridlers were absolute junk (by far the cheapest), Torque thrusts and Rockets were strong wheels but only chromed on the front side, and the Coy's were strong and chromed on both sides. In addition to that, his center caps are chromed aluminum and screw on, as opposed to the rest, which mostly all use a plastic chromed center cap. Of course he would want to sell his own product but after a personal inspection of all the options right there in front of me, I went with the Coy's for the reasons he mentioned. He also talked to me about the problems he had in earlier years with chrome peeling, and the internet trolls exacerbating the problems that were legit. He was a straight shooter in my eyes and I really have enjoyed the wheels thus far... no regerts.

If I'm wrong on any of this I'm open to a wheel or product education.

First pic is a Rocket Mag wheel
Second is a Ridler 695
Third is the Torq Thurst II
Pic with giant tires mounted are the Coy's

[MDPotter]

Those wheels are slick. Are you running 245/45's front and rear?

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

Those wheels are slick. Are you running 245/45's front and rear?

Thanks! No, I have 255/45/20 front tires and 275/45/20 rear tires.

[Camaroguy]

Very cool story and a great start to the truck!

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by Camaroguy

Very cool story and a great start to the truck!

I do appreciate it! It'd be awesome if the lot of us can do Hot Rod Power Tour someday.

[cornerstone]

After all the reading I did I decided to follow 65standard's method for shortening the bedside on the drivers side. If you haven't seen his method I would encourage you to check out his thread. I would post the link if I knew how... but the name of it is "A different approach to a LWB to SWB conversion." The drivers side was dent free and I really liked the idea of less welding. Basically, he removes the front spot welds from the leading edge of the bedside, removes the 12 inches, then wraps the metal back around, and re welds the spot welds. That explanation probably made it clear as mud...

I did a different method on the passenger side. Since I had a dent with a pretty hefty crease in it in front of the rear wheel, that's where I removed the front 12 inch section required.

These pics are not in the correct order, but you get the idea...

[cornerstone]

continued...

[cornerstone]

Rear portion of bedside whackage. While I had the tail light section removed it made it easy to bang out the dent that used to be in the spot that I circled.

[sprint_9]

Great work on your box.

As far as rear end oil, a simple thing that really helped me was sitting down every couple weeks and making a list of important things to do. Cross off and update as needed. Without a list it's to easy to miss something as there is so much to do over a long period.

[MDPotter]

Okay, you are very modest about your bodywork skills. It takes a lot of patience and skill to shorten bedsides and it looks like yours came out great.

Like sprint said, lists are important. I've maintained a list/schedule throughout my build and at times it's had tasks as broad as "assemble bed" or as specific as "fill differential". I use it to lay out my plan of attack every weekend which helps me to know when I need to order parts and be as efficient with my time as I can. This amount of planning (combined with working on it almost every Saturday) has helped me to get my truck done in just over a year. I've also had the help of my dad throughout and the experience of a prior project which are both huge factors.

Is your YZ a 250 or 450? I have a 450, but it's old by today's standards (2009). I haven't ridden it in months though. Been having too much fun working on trucks.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

Okay, you are very modest about your bodywork skills. It takes a lot of patience and skill to shorten bedsides and it looks like yours came out great.

Like sprint said, lists are important. I've maintained a list/schedule throughout my build and at times it's had tasks as broad as "assemble bed" or as specific as "fill differential". I use it to lay out my plan of attack every weekend which helps me to know when I need to order parts and be as efficient with my time as I can. This amount of planning (combined with working on it almost every Saturday) has helped me to get my truck done in just over a year. I've also had the help of my dad throughout and the experience of a prior project which are both huge factors.

Is your YZ a 250 or 450? I have a 450, but it's old by today's standards (2009). I haven't ridden it in months though. Been having too much fun working on trucks.

Thank you, but to be fair I've never laid paint other than primer over any of my filler work, so time will tell.

The Yamaha is a YZ250XF... 2015 I think. I got that one over my life long love with Suzukis because it had electric start and the RMZ250 didn't have that feature yet. The yz also has a 6 speed, which in hindsight I'd rather have the 5 speed. I don't even have the ability to hit 5th gear on my track, so 6th is a waste. If someday I find myself running from the cops I'll have no trouble. The thing will do 99 MPH according to my GPS app.

My buddy and I bought YZ's the same day, he got the 450 and I stayed with a 250. Every now and then, I'll hop on his for a lap or two. Even though I'll be grinnin' the whole time, I know its not the bike for me. I live in pain from previous wrecks all of which happened on the one 450 I ever owned, a 2005 CRF450X. I rode that for one year (injured half of the time) and went back to a Suzuki Rmz250. The crashing stopped... I blame my tendency to have whiskey throttle. My 250 is manageable for my skill level, and I've learned the hard way what my limits are.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by sprint_9

Great work on your box.

As far as rear end oil, a simple thing that really helped me was sitting down every couple weeks and making a list of important things to do. Cross off and update as needed. Without a list it's to easy to miss something as there is so much to do over a long period.

Thanks man. I have a list also, but don't make updates nearly often enough. I can put a reminder in my phone to help me to remember. Good call

[TA_C10]

I almost went into a whole Texans speech about being grounded. But I will refrain. LoL.

Excellent work neighbor. Did you say "hold my beer" before you went for it on the rear end? If not you might need to redo it

And speaking of neighbor, I'm moving south man, found a few acres below ft worth. Finally get to build a shop and get out of this cookie cutter business with a tiny 2 car garage.

I might need to borrow that press sometime soon, very nice. I could have used one of those a few times already. I'll bring the beer.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

I almost went into a whole Texans speech about being grounded. But I will refrain. LoL.

Excellent work neighbor. Did you say "hold my beer" before you went for it on the rear end? If not you might need to redo it

And speaking of neighbor, I'm moving south man, found a few acres below ft worth. Finally get to build a shop and get out of this cookie cutter business with a tiny 2 car garage.

I might need to borrow that press sometime soon, very nice. I could have used one of those a few times already. I'll bring the beer.

Well that's awesome! Where abouts is your new place gonna be? I've got a brother in Cleburne. Come use the tools any time man. Did you already lock down the deal? The 20 acres of woods with a creek across my fence line has come up for sale and I'm hoping to get 10 of them. PM me if you want details.

[cornerstone]

Part of the rear end built that had me leery about my work was the getting the pinion depth right while being sure to not 'over crush' the crush sleeve. I feel like I got it right based on the grease pattern. It's also important to have the proper amount of force needed to turn the pinion. Here again, time will tell.

[72 tigger]

Very nice project Brian! You’re doing things right, should look and run well for years. Following along

[TA_C10]

I'm loving the handmade fuel pump assembly. Wish I thought of that one. Do you have a rollover valve in it and do you have any kind of baffling tray or baffling in tank?

[MDPotter]

Very clean power steering setup. I'm glad to see you have the tight 90's on the gear so you don't have to trim the inner fender.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

Very clean power steering setup. I'm glad to see you have the tight 90's on the gear so you don't have to trim the inner fender.

Thanks! Here again I can't take any credit, Wayne at Kwik performance came up with it. I like it too!

[cornerstone]

For the bed floor, I again went with 65standards method... drill out the spotwelds that hold the rear most cross sill to the floor, remove 8 inches of the beds length, then flatten out the last 1/2" and "tip" it over like it was done from The General. I've made the cuts but have yet to re attach the rear sill.

My floor does have some heavy pitting so I may end up covering it with some sort of rhino liner. Truthfully, I want a wood floor. I've come so close to ordering the needed parts to convert to a wood floor many times. I guess the reason I haven't pulled the trigger is it won't help the truck get back on the road any faster. In fact, I would probably add another few months to the project while I play with my new wood floor. I'm going to really try and hold off on that.

The third pic shows the diamond tipped cutoff wheel I used. I recommend it for making thinner cuts than using a standard grinding wheel. It helps you keep a straight line also.

[TA_C10]

If you do go wood floor, check out gringos truck thread. First thing he does prep bed for lowering suspension and shows how he installed wood over metal bed. Good info if you haven't already seen it. But it's such a popular thread I'm betting you've seen it...