70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Hi Everyone! I decided to start a build thread so I have a place to document everything and can maybe be held accountable for some progress by someone other than myself. That said I have 2 guidelines:
1) it has to be drivable every summer so no big multi-year blow apart frame off
2) I have to do something on it every day, no matter how small

Pics from the for sale ad:

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

As usual the pics look better than it does in person but these trucks are getting really hard to find around here and are usually utter rusty junk or high asking prices for mediocre restorations. There's also a ton of C20's and GMC's for sale here in western Canada but I have always preferred the Chevy front clip and didn't want the hassle of dealing with rear leafs. This one was better than most I had looked at or seen for sale and the asking price was fair for how popular these trucks are now.

It's a pretty low optioned truck 292 4 spd no power steering or brakes. Someone had done a poor job on the cab corners and outer rockers but it was drivable and I drove it home 20km or ~15miles with no issues even getting up to 55mph on the secondary highway.

As I named the thread it's one piece at time so it stays a driver for the non-winter months here in the great white north. The plan, which is subject to change as they all are, is as follows: static 4/6 drop with bolt in C-notch, shortbed conversion, repair the bad rust, 71/72 grill, decent 4 wheel disc brakes, 6L/4L80e swap, sloppy 'don't BS me' turbo kit clone running on Holley Terminator X Max. Truck might get a factory two tone paintjob some day but will be shoptruck/ratty looking for long while first. I want to drive it and not worry about it or worry about my son hitting it with his bike or a puck in the garage.

Truck at home. My wife and her friend decided it looked like an Earl and I can live with that.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

SPID
And it only came with one key but I found a spare hiding in the PCV :metal:

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Had these cool mudflaps on it so I had to snap a pic for the state mudflap thread. Seat is in good shape and the fabric looks like something out of a squarebody but it is a fixed back. There is a similar one for sale near me with a flip forward back and drop down armrest that I may go pick up.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Good rule to have for being able to drive every summer. I tore apart my K10 and it's been 3.5 years now and still not ready. Things just snowball and I just wish I could drive it already!

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Pulled the seat and floormat out to get a better look at the cancer issues. The floormat was in terrible shape and came out in pieces and liberal shop vac applications. Passenger side is definitely worse than the drivers side but both are mostly contained to the front mount area. The front mounts had been sleeved in some home built tin and tar concoction that just further destroyed any remaining metal. The passenger side got a lot worse looking after I dug out a nice chunk of epoxy. I am a bit concerned about the toe seam on the passenger side so I'll see what the wire cup on the grinder uncovers.

More pics to come, they won't attach right now.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

I had a car I started on before moving away to school and it sat for almost 8 years before I finished so I'm not eager to get on that program again. :jest:

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Passenger side cab floor photos from prior post. I've never done much bodywork before so it will be a steep and harsh learning curve.

Scott's Super Trucks is one of the best sources in Canada for C10 parts so I have a stack of sheetmetal from them ready to go in. Maybe once I get the passenger side done I'll reward myself with some drop springs :metal:

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Only other thing worth mentioning to this point is that I pulled the heavy duty rear bumper off to install a fair condition sport bumper the previous owner included when I bought the truck. Unfortunately he cut the bumper bolts so I didn't get the mounts with it so I have those sitting in a pile as well. I pulled the cowl last night as I was finishing up so I can pull the passenger side fender tonight and get a look at the rest of the rot. I would love to be able to leave the outer rocker on but not sure I can make that happen.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Looks like a cool project. I like your thoughts of one thing a day but you also don't want to burn yourself out on it. Can you weld?

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

bnorth,

Keep at it, you"ll love it once its done. It took me just about three years to get my "blue baby" complete (see it in my icon). Even so, there is always something to update etc!

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Fair enough, I'm sure of the days will be ordering a part or shop supplies or cleaning toddler finger prints off the windows lol. I am a beginner welder but yes I have a miller 180 autoset in the garage.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

You can fix almost everything with a decent welder. :)

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

I like it, try to stick to your rules, I always blow them apart and then they sit for years!

You know, if you squint your eyes this kinda looks like the Grand Canyon...

Good luck, Rg

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Quick update here. Not sure if I've worked on it every day but have at the minimum done research or been working in the garage every day if not on the truck directly.

Wire wheeled the floor, kick panel area to get a better idea what I'm working with. Got the sport bumper on too.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Pulled the hood and loosened off the bumper to get the fender and inner fender off.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

I had been debating pulling the outer rocker but it became clear I needed to get in behind it and it hadn't been done that well anyway so I got that off and found some more rust that I had been fearing was in the A pillar. As you can see they just cut out the inner rocker and didn't even replace it.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Well it didn't take long to break my rule of something everyday. Got busy enjoying the last of the summer weather and working around the yard and then hurt my back helping a friend with some fencing so been out of the garage for 3 weeks due to that.

All I can report is that I got the cab braced up on the passenger side, added a couple more supports after I snapped the photo. No photos but got started on cutting out the A-pillar and kick panel. Hope to get back in the garage by the weekend as my back is finally healing up to finish cutting and finally start fitting up some metal.

I should add I met a new buddy because of the truck too. I found out my wife's friend's husband used to be a body guy and he lent me some hammers and dollys and we had a look at his cool Impala he's building.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Looks familiar!

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Hello bnorth fellow salmonarmenian! Looks good keep up the good work and stay with it I've had my 71 for 33 years and am always doing something to it!

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Well it wasn't a very productive winter on the truck so now that driving season is here in the great white north the pressure is on to make some progress.
I did get all the cancer cut out awhile ago and thought I had a pic up but turns out I didn't so here's one. And another of working on the fit up of the new panel.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Fit up and primed ready to start welding. My fit up is certainly not impressive and the big gaps have given me some extra work to fill.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Started welding the floor in. Had to slice it to get the inner rocker to line up. Just ignore that big pile of bird $sh!t and that hole I blew through :banghead:

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Nothing an angle grinder can't smooth out. Glad to see some progress.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Hang in there, you are doing a great job! Your welds will naturally get better as you gain more experience. I am new to welding myself, so I certainly can relate.

Grinders with a flap sander make everyone look like an expert!

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Excited to see how you do! Sadly, those pillars and floor look very typical for most of these trucks. One day and one step at a time!

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

I have a friend that works in a restoration shop that usually does a couple of these trucks a year, he figures he's done 9 of them. He came over for a look and said it was in much better shape than most of the recent ones he's done so that made me feel better about the amount of metal work it needs.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Job well done, so far!!!
I’m with you, concerning keeping it road worthy, and working on it when possible!!!
My welding skills and yours are similar! Tell me some time what you have your welder settings on, and type of welder, if possible!
Thanks!
Jeff

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Hi Jeff I'm using a Miller 180 Autoset with .023 wire. I had it set for .023 wire and on 20 gauge for most of that but noticed some porosity when grinding the welds so turned it up to 18 gauge for a bit more heat.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Not much progress to report. Pics look about the same as last time but there is a lot more weld and grind filling all the pinholes which are pretty much taken care of now. Been working on planishing the weld joint to get the grinding smoother without thinning the surrounding metal too much. Getting a bit repetitive so will move on to fitting up some of the other repairs.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Hmm truck has become a bit of a junk collector in the garage.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

But the family was out of town for a week so I decided to turn some attention back towards it. Finished up welding the cab mount as well as fitting and welding the lower A-pillar and inner rocker. Didn't really want to lap the inner rocker but the metal was really thin at the cut a previous owner had made, I didn't have a great patch panel, and I wanted to leave as much original metal as possible. I will seam seal joints and let it drain out the bottom.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Solid start, good progress!

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Well that fell apart. Life happened and I didn't touch the truck for about a year and a half so I decided it was time to get back to it.

Fit the outer rocker.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

View of the cab support I replaced.
Also replaced nearly every brake line in the truck after having one fail while I was troubleshooting the brake lights so it has all new hoses and hard lines under the truck. I'm stubborn so I hand bent them rather than buying a pre bent kit. I also picked up a vacuum bleeder and wow I have been wasting so much time not using one over the years. :metal:

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Then I basically got the truck back to road worthiness without taking a single pic, oops. I have been daily driving it for a few weeks and waiting for a new radiator as this one leaks about a liter per day.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Added some 1" front drop springs. Youuuu don't need to worry about that banjo tight brake line. No after pic of the actual new springs installed but the stockers were so tired that it sat at about the same height.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Pulled the wood bed out and then got the longbox off the truck and sold the bedsides.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Started cutting up the frame using the Longshot Fabrication kit and got the inner C-channel supports in.

Re: 70 C10 One Piece at a Time
 

Got it bolted back together using the kit and then all trued up.
Had a buddy that is much more experienced at welding come over and weld up the joints for me.