Project black-ops

[dandansuperman]

I have wanted a 1970 C10 for 10 years now. I finally made the decision to go for broke and find my truck. I live in Utah, so finding a rust free truck under $10,000 is about inmpossible. I searched far and wide for months before finally finding my truck in Bellevue, Nebraska. I got a great buy on the truck, so I convinced my buddy Mike to go with me on the 2 day journey to get it. Outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming we got caught in a hail storm that destroyed Mike's Duramax. Luckily his insurance company took care of the damage or I would still feel bad. It was quite an adventure getting to Nebraska but finally I loaded up my dream truck and came home to Utah. We pulled it home on a trailer because the previous owner (Rick) said it had been sitting for a few years in his garage. Rick built the truck for the track and the engine and transmission only had 500 miles on them. I purchased the truck for $7000 dollars which I feel was a steal. There is a little rust starting to show on the bottoms of the doors and the passenger floor brace. The truck fired right up and runs like a champ. This truck will smoke the tires right off the rims if I am not careful. The transmission shifts way hard and about throws my poor wifes head through the back window, but remember it is a work in progress. I wanted to start a build thread so I can share my passion with everyone on this board. Heres a little info about the truck I have found out:

1970 Chevrolet C10 2WD SWB

(All this information is from the previous owner who put a lot of time and money into the truck before I bought it.)

Previous owners: Cape Gerardo MO, Wentzville MO, Lake Saint Louis MO, and Bellevue NE

Engine:

Engine Block Casting Number: 3970010 (1968-1979) 2&4 Bolt Main
Truck Hi-perf
The engine was carefully engineered to be a street-able 375-400 hp
The engine was blueprinted and balanced with 9.5:1 compression.
The heads were opened up to 2.02 intakes
1.86 exhaust with hard seats installed so that pump fuel can be run.
Heads were ported and smoothed.
The engine had a high lift cam installed (5/8 race cam)
1:1.5 roller rocker arms installed.
The timing chain is a double roller.
The oil and fuel pump is a stock Z-28 spec unit.
Intake is a Holley 750 double pumper vacuum secondary’s.
Long Tube Headers
New heavy duty 4 core radiator


Transmission:

TH 400 Rebuilt
3,500 RPM Stall Converter
Transm (shift kit added)

Suspension/Drive:

Springs were replaced with stock ones.
A frame bushings, Ball Joints and tie rod ends were all replaced.
12 Bolt Rear End with stock Posi Track
New U-Joints
Balance Drive Shaft


Brakes:

Brake cylinders were rebuilt
Rotors were turned and new brake shoes installed.
Master cylinder was replaced
Used power booster was added to give the truck power brakes.


Body:

Rocker panels replaced
Moldings removed and holes filled
Stake pockets welded up
Body stripped to bare metal
All body filler removed
Truck was primed and painted with 8 coats of enamel black
4 coats were buffed off to create a clear coat shine
Bed was sprayed with enamel clear coat
Interior and under hood was painted
New front bumper
New rear bumper

Interior:

New door moldings
New windshield
New cardboard tank cover
New glove box cardboard
New duct work
New rubber floor mat
New dash pad
Seat was recovered

[67chevy1series]

nice truck ,great story its always good to drag that truck home for the first time

[Cole Trickle]

Looks like a nice solid truck with some extra goodies....

What are the plans?

BTW...I had to drive to utah to find my solid truck...haha

[dandansuperman]

Cole,

Funny you found my thread! I have read yours from start to finish. I grew up in Kanab, Utah, very close to where you found your truck. I just ordered my front disc brake kit from ECE. I stayed with 6 lugs just like you did. I also ordered the 4/6 drop kit from ECE. I have my new wheels in my garage also, but I am waiting until spring to put my tires on. I went with the Summit Racing Legend 6 classic Torq Thrust look. I am planning on pulling the motor this year and re-painting it chevy orange, with new Pro Form valve covers. I am also going to dress it up with some chrome here and there. The exhaust needs done so I will throw on some Sanderson CC10 headers along with a full magnaflow dual exhaust. I need to dress up the engine bay a little while the motor is out. I bought the rust converter kit from Eastwood, along with some of their black frame paint so thats in my plans for spring also. I will eventually put new interior in the truck. I have plans to keep it black, but put a new paint job on it. It looks great, but it has no clear coat and I want to make it my own. I have considered going two-tone, but the last owner spent a lot of time smoothing up the factory trim holes and stake pockets. It has lots of small cosmetic stuff that needs done, but overall its a clean truck. Keep in touch and I will follow your thread as well. You and Nate have done a great job in detailing your work.

[Cole Trickle]

Originally Posted by dandansuperman

Cole,

Funny you found my thread! I have read yours from start to finish. I grew up in Kanab, Utah, very close to where you found your truck. I just ordered my front disc brake kit from ECE. I stayed with 6 lugs just like you did. I also ordered the 4/6 drop kit from ECE. I have my new wheels in my garage also, but I am waiting until spring to put my tires on. I went with the Summit Racing Legend 6 classic Torq Thrust look. I am planning on pulling the motor this year and re-painting it chevy orange, with new Pro Form valve covers. I am also going to dress it up with some chrome here and there. The exhaust needs done so I will throw on some Sanderson CC10 headers along with a full magnaflow dual exhaust. I need to dress up the engine bay a little while the motor is out. I bought the rust converter kit from Eastwood, along with some of their black frame paint so thats in my plans for spring also. I will eventually put new interior in the truck. I have plans to keep it black, but put a new paint job on it. It looks great, but it has no clear coat and I want to make it my own. I have considered going two-tone, but the last owner spent a lot of time smoothing up the factory trim holes and stake pockets. It has lots of small cosmetic stuff that needs done, but overall its a clean truck. Keep in touch and I will follow your thread as well. You and Nate have done a great job in detailing your work.

Truck looks great

Hard to go wrong with that drop/wheel combo.

Keep up the good work I know I have about a million things I want to do to the truck and most are hindered by my lack of $$$...lol

[dandansuperman]

We are building a house so my truck might be on the back burner for awhile. I want to get my headers and exhaust on soon, but we will see how the house goes. Even when you start with a clean truck it can nickle and dime you to death.

[dandansuperman]

Decker looks good in his future truck!

[76kcfdeng]

I can only hope mine looks that good when I am done. LOL Very nice truck to start with.

[VA72C10]

very nice start! awesome truck!

[72BlckButy]

Diggin' the project and the plan you have for it.

My FIL installed a set of the Sanderson Headers on his '69 and they look and perform great!

Be sure to keep us posted on your progress.

[dandansuperman]

I finally got around to pulling my truck in the shop and putting on my ECE disc brake upgrade, and the 4/6 drop kit. I could not believe how good it turned out. ECE makes very high quality parts, and I will do business with them every chance I get. The kit went on pretty easy, with the help of my good buddy Jeremy. I will not post too many pictures of the install since you can go to project blankslate like I did for helpful tips. I will have to do my exhaust sooner than expected, because my long tube headers are about 2" from touching the ground. I sent back my 17" wheels and upgraded to the 20's. I hope to have them on in the spring. My truck does not see any winter driving here because the salt would take a toll pretty fast. I also painted all the brake components with Eastwood Disc Brake Gray paint. Heres a few before and after pics.

[VA72C10]

looking good!!!

[dandansuperman]

I have a set of stock springs out of this truck I would sell if somebody is interested. They were replaced when the truck was built about 10 years ago and seem to be in great shape.

[72BlckButy]

Much better...

[dandansuperman]

I finally put the new wheels and tires on this weekend. I went with TOYO PROXES ST II tires. 295/40/20 on the back, and 255/40/20 on the front. I wanted to keep a classic look, and the six lug, so I went with the American Racing AR 604 Torq Thrust wheels. I could not be happier with the look of the truck. The disc brakes make a big difference in stopping power also.

[JasonBird]

looks great!! sweet ride!

[VA72C10]

Looks awesome! Love the torque thrust ST's (6 lug) Had a set myself but never got around to finishing the project so I sold them.

Yours is only the second 67-72 and first 70 I've seen with them on!

[dandansuperman]

Here is some updated pictures of my engine bay makeover. We are painting the engine with POR 15 Chevy Orange Enamel. I am in the process of installing a 700R4 as well. Here is the list of new parts going on the truck:

PROFORM ORANGE SLANT EDGE VALVE COVERS
TAYLOR SPIRO-PRO IGNITION WIRES HOT ORANGE
EDLEBROCK PRO-FLO AIR CLEANER CHROME LOGO
FRAM AIR HOG AIR FILTER
SANDERSON-CC10 HEADERS
CHROME PULLEY’S
BILLET DIP STICKS
MADE FOR YOU PRODUCTS VERTICAL WIRE LOOM KIT
700R4 TRANSMISSION W/ COAN 3500 STALL
TCI 700R4 TV CABLE CORRECTOR KIT
KUGEL KOMPONENTS SHIFT LINKAGE
EARLY CLASSIC ENTERPRISES TRANSMISSION CROSSMEMBER

FUTURE: MAGNAFLOW DUAL EXHAUST (If my wife lets me)

[Cole Trickle]

nice....your really going for it!!

[dandansuperman]

Finally finished up the engine this weekend. I tried spraying plastikote chevy orange on the engine and it was like orange tinted clear coat. I ended up taking the paint off with aircraft stripper. I think I might have lost some of my skin in the process. I decided to go with POR 15 brush on paint and it turned out really nice. I installed the 700R4 and now I have to wait until I can save enough money to put on my magnaflow exhaust. I have a guy coming to the house tonight to measure my driveline so I can cut it and install the new yoke. I added a ton of new parts I have collected over the past year, and I couldn't be happier how it turned out. Here is some pics:

[VA72C10]

Super nice!!!

[Bennett68C10]

Wow motor looks great

[72BlckButy]

Beau-tiful!!!!

That motor looks amazing.

[dandansuperman]

I finally got the 700R4 transmission in and working great. I ended up changing my stock crossmember to the one from Early Classic. It gave me the room I needed to run the exhaust. I highly reccomed spending the 90 bucks if your looking at doing the 700 conversion. I put a large aftermarket cooler on it because of the heat from the stall converter. I adjusted the TV cable myself, and then took it to a transmission shop to double check my work. He drove the truck and said he wouldn't change a thing. It is the best thing I have done to the truck so far. The tranny made it very driver friendly. I also had the exhaust done. I ended up going with dual 2.5" 40 series flowmasters. I need to take some pics of the finished product because it turned out great. I ran the exhaust through the framerail and came out behind the rear tires. I will try and get some pics up soon. My header paint is burning off faster than I expected. Don't use the Eastwood spray can crap or you will be dissapointed. I followed the directions step by step. I love the Sanderson CC10 headers, but wish I would have spent the extra money to get the ceramic coated ones. I think I will have the ones I bought chromed eventually.

[big_al_71]

Dan how about some pictures of the engine compartment? How did it turned out?