68 "Sea 10" K10 art truck build

[68isgreat]

In March of '23, I bought a 68 C10 factory stock height short step and got it running and driving, and was close to finishing it, but I'm an avid bird hunter, and decided it wouldn't meet my long term needs. Sometimes you just need a 4x4. Luckily, I happened across this factory 68 K10 4x4 on fb, and was able to work out an almost straight across trade, where I got to keep my 1990 tbi 350 motor and my new 31" BFG tires and wheels. As you all probably know, these are fairly rare trucks, and only 1706 short step K10's were made in 68. I feel very fortunate to have stumbled onto this one. Here it is in my driveway after I got it a month ago in mid February:





I'm also a professional oil painter (you can see my work at www.marklarsonart.com). My tentative concept for this truck will be an art truck that I can bird hunt in, but also use as a traveling advertisement for my art work. I can use it at art shows, do pop up art shows with carpeted panels out of the bed, etc. I'm thinking of painting it in turquoise with dark ivory top and grille, with the sides fading to subtle wave forms and sea foam imagery (hence the "SEA 10" play on words) painted over muted gold or silver leaf, and variegated red gold leaf pinstriping. Lots of thin, transparent glazes to allow some of the metal leaf to show through and shimmer in the light, and clear coating. My business name will be on the tailgate. That's my plan. We'll see how it goes.

I especially like that it has a gun rack, and these original stickers on the roof are awesome. I'm definitely keeping them:

[68isgreat]

This truck had a 6 cyl/4sp originally. I'm dropping in a new 350 tbi crate motor and rebuilt 700r4/241c passenger drop combo from a 1990 Suburban. I'm almost done painting the frame (waiting for the rain to stop here in Oregon) and will drop in the motor/trans later this month hopefully. Then re-do the brakes, including a front disc conversion that I bought from Horsepower Sales (https://www.horsepowersales-llc.com/), do some rocker repairs to the cab, paint, reassemble, finish wiring, do some custom art on it, and voila! Done by May/June. Fingers crossed. It will basically be a 1990's OBS truck with a 68 body. That's the plan anyway.

[MySons68C20]

Nice truck congrats!

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by MySons68C20

Nice truck congrats!

Thanks! Can't wait to get it done and use it this fall.

[Shifty One]

Love the sticker!

[68isgreat]

Finished painting the front of the frame today, using the KBS chassis paint system. Cleaner, zinc coating, and rust seal paint. Wow, that stuff is tough. Amazing. It's a gloss finish, and they provide a can of satin top coat. It took a day and a half to paint the frame using a brush though, so I may just use satin rustoleum as a top coat to speed it up.



I also installed a new quick ratio steering box from a 78 square, to replace the old 68 version. So I went from 4.5 turns stop to stop to 3.5. And, because my frame is straight without the ps box indentation, the p.o. mounted the old box with nearly 3/4" of stacked washers to provide clearance. That couldn't have helped the steering geometry. The new box is flat and mounts flush to the frame. A really satisfying upgrade. The p.o. did weld a thick frame reinforcing plate behind the box, and welded a crack nearby also, so that's good. No other cracks that I can see, so it's in good shape. Here's the old box and the new one installed:





You'll also notice the drag link was repaired in the past with a thick weld. It shows no signs of failing, but I don't trust it. I'm going to replace it with a newer version that has the adjusting sleeve so I can fine tune the centering of the box. That said, does anyone know off hand if a drag link from a square has the same tie rod ends as the 68 and older version?

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by Shifty One

Love the sticker!

Yeah, me too. It really takes me back. The 70's font really sells it. It's all wrinkly and old, and I thought about having it reproduced and replaced, but I think I'll just paint around it. So cool.

[raggedjim]

Checked your site, you truly are an artist. When I was in college my professor told me I was great at looking at things and recreating them but I would never be an artist because I couldn't envision new things and create them. So I became an engineer, where I envisioned new things and created them!

Good luck with the truck, Rg

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Checked your site, you truly are an artist. When I was in college my professor told me I was great at looking at things and recreating them but I would never be an artist because I couldn't envision new things and create them. So I became an engineer, where I envisioned new things and created them!

Good luck with the truck, Rg

Thanks! It's a blessing, but sometimes I wish I could just leave well enough alone too. Lol.

[68isgreat]

Moderator, please feel fre to move this thread to the 4x4 builds section if necessary.