Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

After letting the frame and front end parts cure for a day so they were not super easy to scratch I used my transmission jack to lift the front crossmember into place and secured it with all new grade-8 plated hardware.

1-1/2" long 7/16-NC bolts in most locations.

I used 1/4" shorter bolts on the upper side positions so they don't interfere with the alignment shims, which the stock fasteners did. There is enough fastener sticking through the nut after a hardened flat washer for both sides and a medium lock washer that the rest probably could be that short too.

I also decided to flip the lower bolts so the head was on top. I hate busting my knuckles on the exposed threads when messing with the engine mounts & fuel lines. They are pretty protected up in the crossmember plus everything is plated so they will come out easily any time in the future they need to be removed.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Decided to put a set of stock rubber clam shell mounts & matching rubber trans mount in the truck for now until I have some more things to order from Summit.

New grade-8 hardware as with the crossmember.

I need to test fit the engine, get everything squared up and install the trans crossmember then I can mark the lower motor mount bolt hole locations, drill them out & put the other two fasteners in for each mount bracket.

That will have to wait until I drop the drivetrain into the 67 C10 so there is enough weight on the front end that I can pull the C2500 LD 6-lug disc parts off of it, get them painted and installed onto the stepside.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Looking great! Nice progress!

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Had to take a day off to put new flooring in the dining room but had enough time this afternoon to drop the engine & trans in the 67 C10 longbed so with a little luck I will get the C2500 disc parts off of it, cleaned up & painted tomorrow.

Once the stepside is on the wheels again I can get the brakes plumbed & working, drop in the drivetrain and install the front clip.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

I finally got back to work on the stepside.

Yesterday I pulled the C2500 disc brakes off the 67 C10 longbed and put the old stepside front drum brake setup onto it. I pulled the C2500 disc assembly apart and cleaned & painted the spindles & rotors.

I installed the new C2500 upper & lower ball joints into the painted C20 lower & C10 upper A-arms this morning then put them on the stepside.

After the A-arms were bolted in place I installed the stepside front springs, C2500 spindles & rotors then installed the Cragar Soft-8 wheels on the front and put it back on the ground.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the tires put onto the matching Cragar Soft-8 wheels for the back of the stepside and get them installed.

The wagon wheels are going onto my K10 to hold it up for now and the rusty modular wheels with OK tires on them from the K10 are going onto the 67 C10 longbed so it can be drivable when it gets to that point.

The K10 is getting converted to 3/4-ton axles so the 15" modulars on it will not be the right bolt pattern and the 15" tires are too small to clear the brakes on the 14-bolt. Might as well use them on the 67 since it needs tires & wheels.

The wagon wheels are 16's so the decent tires from them will fit the 2500HD 10-hole aluminum wheels I have for the K10 / K20 once it has the 8-lug parts on it.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Started working on the larger square body automatic disc brake pedal upgrade to the small 67-72 truck brake pedal.

I like the larger brake pedal and the subtle hint of the disc brake logo.

Need to clear some space on the work bench to weld in my shop then I can attach the square body pedal to the 67-72 arm. The way I cut it and the amount of weld that will be going onto it will make it stronger than the stock 67-72 pedal so it will hold up well but I am going to gusset the back side anyway to make it even stronger.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Finally back on the ground. I was worried it might get knocked off the jack stands during all the time I had it apart & in the air but it survived.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Looking good!

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Thanks. It has been a lot of grunt labor so far getting things cleaned up & painted but it sure looks a whole lot better than it did before I started.

I can't wait for the mechanical build part of it to begin where I can have some fun.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Got the brake pedal welded on then cleaned up the mount bracket and sprayed the whole assembly with satin black.

I will get it bolted in tomorrow, install the master cylinder & prop valve then start plumbing my brake lines.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Picked up the rebuilt calipers, brake pads, flex lines, banjo bolts and new clips so I can get the brakes working on this thing once I have the hard lines plumbed from the proportioning valve.

Not sure if the flex lines are going to work. They might be a bit too long. I will test fit them some time soon and see if I need to use a different part. These are the 93 C2500 parts to match the calipers.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Cleaned up and sprayed the calipers with high heat black so they won't get rusty as fast.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

I stole the tires off the rear street wheels I have for my Camaro and put them onto the 15x10 Cragar Soft-8 wheels I have that were on my 67 C10.

Put them onto the stepside then painted the balancing weights to match the wheels. The silver weights really stand out against an all black wheel.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

The gap above the top of the rear tire is just over 8". Much to high for my liking. Once I get this thing assembled and complete I will see where the ride height ends up and make some adjustments.

Most likely it will end up with an axle over spring arrangement like a Camaro and I will be building a set of Cal-Trac bar like traction devices for it.

The front will come down quite a bit with an iron head big block vs the stock 6-cylinder that was in there stock. I believe the front end was all original parts still (before I tore it all apart) and the springs are the originals. I hope it doesn't drop too far. We will see where it ends up after assembly is compete.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

While cleaning out the interior I decided to take everything out from under the dash so I could clean, repair & paint the whole area and line it with sound deadener.

The glove box had a bunch of scrap & junk in it but one unassuming looking piece of paper I pulled out was the back side of the mounting paperwork for the protect-o-plate. I turned it over and the plate was still attached & readable :metal:

The original owner was Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. of San Francisco. Pretty cool to find this and know the origins of the truck.

This and still having the SPID intact on the original special order paint color glove box door are kind of nice documents to have even if I am changing pretty much everything.

I inverted the image in the last pic so it is more readable.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

I needed to install the steering column to get the brake lines bent & routed properly so that lead to gutting the entire under dash area, hitting it with the grinder & wire wheel then painting the under dash area satin black.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Heater box looks pretty good. Just dirty, no rust anywhere unlike my other trucks that will need some repair work on their heater housings.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Pulled the cheapo stereo out of the dash to find it had been partially cut. No big deal as I don't have a post type stereo to go in just DIN type CD players.

At least I don't have to feel bad about cutting up an uncut dash now.

I have a few holes to weld up above & to the right of the stereo opening from PO's equipment hangers.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

A PO had put a single aftermarket speaker into the center dash opening with a speaker grille over the top of the dash louvers.

I got lucky and the speaker had been mounted through the stock louvers and none were butchered to install the other speaker.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Pulled the cracked dash pad off and found quite the dead bug collection under there.

The pad support is rust free and all the studs are in good shape. I might look into getting this one recovered.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

The truck came with a set of decent bucket seats but no mount brackets. I had the old seat frame from the 67 sitting around so I pulled it apart and set the bucket seats on it.

They fit pretty well to the seat base frame so I put it in the truck. It sits a bit high but that could be fixed pretty easily. It will work for something to sit on while working on the truck much better than a milk crate or the bucket seats sitting right on the floor.

As you can see I also pulled the driver door off so I could get the lower pillar patch installed. Then I can put the outer rocker on and paint the cab to keep all the bare metal from rusting any further.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

I got the new master cylinder installed and test fit the 2nd gen F-body perpendicular mount proportioning valve bracket. Won't work on a 67-72 truck with manual brakes as the steering column is right in the way.

I will need to find or fabricate a parallel style mount bracket but I may just buy an aftermarket bracket & prebent lines as they are pretty inexpensive.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Truck is lookin' good for the short time you've been workin' on it. Great to see someone else from Spokane on the site! :metal:

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Thanks.

Not many of us on here. There are a few though.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Finally managed to get the the wrecking yard again to grab the other half of the clam shell motor mounts I need to install the drivetrain.

Got a cancer free battery box and a crew cab truck rear seat that is in pretty good shape along with the shoulder belts from the same truck.

I didn't think the seat brackets would be even close but they line up pretty good. I am going to modify an old set of 67 bench seat mounts I have to fit the crew cab seat as the mounts on it are not adjustable.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

First cancer free used battery box I have come across up here. It looks like it will clean up nicely and save me some money there.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

The driver side door shell was pretty hammered in addition to the large dent in the skin. The dent is easily fixable but the upper hinge mount area had been cut out and oxy-acetylene welded back together along with the window regulator area.

Not worth the effort to fix it when I have two other better sets of doors on hand.

I may experiment on this one to see if I can remove the door skin intact and fix it for the K10 project. The skins on it are really ugly but the shells, tinted glass & chrome vent window parts are in great shape.

I want to play around with the bare inner shell to see if I can retrofit some square body power window & lock parts into the 67-72 doors. It will be a whole lot easier to test fit with the skin off and easily reinstallable for clearance checks. I have a bunch of the square body parts sitting around so it won't cost me anything but a little time.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Put the square body high hump tunnel back into the 67 cab and installed the 67-72 high hump tunnel from it into the stepside.

Now I have the clearance needed for the T-400 or any other trans I choose to install down the road and it fixes the chopped up hole a PO put there for the column to floor shifter conversion that was done a long time ago.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Got the manual steering gear box, center link & idler arm cleaned up, painted and reinstalled.

Forgot the 67-68 steering shaft was longer. I am going to save this 68 one for the 67 C10 in case I hate the 3-speed manual trans and put an auto trans back in it.

My 69 K10 has a good auto trans column that will go into the stepside and I will complete the square body steering column retrofit I started for the K10.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Got the 69 auto trans column with shift indicator & fiber optic parts pulled out of my 69 K10 project and installed into the stepside.

Since I am pulling the in cab fuel tank out of the K10 I unbolted the seat and slid it out of the way instead of removing the steering wheel for column removal clearance. I may keep the Vega GT steering wheel on there until I can find the 68 horn button & install parts I need to make it functional but eventually the 68 wheel will go onto the stepside.

Still need to pull the in cab fuel tank out of the K10 and put it into the stepside but that will have to wait until my new filler neck gasket shows up and I get the cab sprayed with some paint to protect it over the winter.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Pulled the wing window & glass out of the damaged driver door from the stepside and put them into the good door shell.

Also installed the door handle and adjusted the door better while I was at it.

They will come apart again when I have the money for the new seal kit and have the time to paint the truck.

At least now there is glass in there to help keep the weather out over the winter.

I still need to install the rear glass but need to wait for the new seal to get here and I am going to paint the cab first.

Current plan is to paint the outside of the truck satin black without messing with any of the body work other than hitting it with the DA sander to clean the surfaces up. The interior will get painted dark red to match the seat.

I need to get it on the road and completely functional so I can use it as a truck and get my other project vehicles completed and gone. After that I can give the stepside the attention it deserves to make it as nice as I want it to be.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Truck is really coming along..

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Nice progress!

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Thanks guys.

I need to wait for the rain to stop so I can get the front brakes installed & plumbed then I can install the engine & trans and the 67 / 68 front clip.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Decided it was best to have the engine in and headers on before I fab up any of the front brake lines so I just finished installing the engine & trans today. Will post pics when I get home from work.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

sounds like a good idea! Looking forward to the pics!

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Looking good,you have came along way with your build,keep pictures coming & keep on truckin' :metal:

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

Sorry it took so long. The wife had the camera at work with her.

I ended up shifting the engine forward a little to allow me to remove the tall valve covers without pulling the studs from the head.

Re: 69 C10 swb stepside project 45 ACP
 

The K10 project donated its 67/68 front clip to the cause.

The front end didn't come down hardly at all with the weight of the big block and front clip due to the HD factory springs so it will need some drop springs. In the rear I am probably going to do an axle over spring flip and adjust the ride height with shackle length as needed.