1970 C20 father/son frame off rebuild

[justKIDn]

I've been lurking around here since 2017, when I picked this truck up as a father/son project with the end result being my boy’s daily driver when he turned 16 in October of 2020. I've finally decided to start a build thread while stuck inside during this "ice storm".

[justKIDn]

It’s a 1970 C20 LWB with a 350 V8 and a TH350 transmission. It has a Dana 60 rearend with a 4.10 ratio. It was optioned with air conditioning, power steering and power brakes. It wasn’t running and hadn’t since 1996.

[justKIDn]

The boy and his mom went for a “ride” when we got it home. She’s showing him how his girlfriend would ride next to him one day. (He had never seen a bench seat before!)

[justKIDn]

It was in fairly good shape for a 48 year old truck having the traditional rust in the rockers and cab corners, which I consider to be pretty easy fixes. There is however, one spot above the windshield that I’m pretty sure will be kind of challenging.

[justKIDn]

Our plan is to get it mechanically sound. Running and driving, safe and reliable. We rebuilt the engine, adding some power of course, with some stuff I had lying around. (turns out a broken rocker arm stud is why it hasn’t run since 1996) The auto transmission is going to be swapped out for a stick (that’s what the boy wants), the front brakes will be upgraded from drums to discs, and the whole suspension will be brought to like new condition. We’re keeping the ¾ ton suspension as our family hobby is drag racing. I know that before the boy is out of high school, there will be some sort of racecar on a trailer, in tow!

[justKIDn]

Earlier I mentioned that this was a father/son project, Well, father is the master and son is the student. He is the worker and I'm the helper. By him taking ownership of this project, I think it’ll help him learn to shoulder some responsibility and hopefully get him to put the damn phone down! Fingers crossed, time will tell. Summer of 2018, the teardown begins.

[68Gold/white]

I like all the family "do'ins"!!!
I wonder if the it might be better to just cut the entire top off the donor cab, and graft it onto yours???

[justKIDn]

Here is where we ran into our first roadblock. The front spring eyes on our new drop springs didn’t quite fit into the hangers, so I did a lil grinding to slide them into place. I got the springs in but ground thru the hanger in a couple of spots, and they still didn’t fit correctly. So I left it for now to do some thinking.

[justKIDn]

In the meantime, we moved on to the front end. We installed POL drop spindles and converted to 1971 C20 upper control arms and lower ball joints to add disc brakes. To tie 1970 and 1971 together, we’re using 1971 outer tie rod ends as outers, 1970 outer tie rod ends as inners and POL’s High Performance tie rod adjusting sleeves to connect them together.

[justKIDn]

KaCee had some help from his girlfriend packing the front wheel bearings and he hung the rotors and calipers.

[justKIDn]

Because we converted the front end to 1971 disc brakes, the wheel studs on the rotors are 9/16”. To keep from having 9/16” lug nuts in the front and ½” in the back, we pressed out the ½” studs, drilled out the holes in the hubs, pressed in new 9/16” wheel studs and hit the hubs with some primer and paint.

[justKIDn]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

I like all the family "do'ins"!!!
I wonder if the it might be better to just cut the entire top off the donor cab, and graft it onto yours???

We do almost everything together. The family that plays together stays together.
The only bad spot on the roof is that bad spot where the drip rail gap is. I'm going to attempt a patch first, worse case I'll have to do more if I butcher it up.

[Racer2172]

Nice work so far, keep it up.

[justKIDn]

Originally Posted by Racer2172

Nice work so far, keep it up.

Thanks!

[justKIDn]

Time for another update. We finally got the axle housing in place, and we started assembling it. We replaced the complete rear braking system with all new parts from NAPA and a stainless steel brake line kit from GMCPAULS. KaCee even got some help from his big sis while building the brakes.

[justKIDn]

KaCee had a grease party when a couple of his racing buddies were over for the weekend. They packed bearings and installed the rear hubs and axles.

[justKIDn]

The big brown truck dropped off our anti theft device a couple of weeks ago.
This catches me up on progress. Hoping to drop the engine and transmission in this weekend.
Waiting on the arrival of the new fuel tank to install in the frame and run all of the fuel lines.

[88Stanger]

That is so awesome to have project like this to do with your son and your daughter to go racing... awesome

[justKIDn]

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

That is so awesome to have project like this to do with your son and your daughter to go racing... awesome

Thanks.

[Ol Blue K20]

I'm jumping on board..I'm adoptable too.......

[justKIDn]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I'm jumping on board..I'm adoptable too.......

Ha! I can use all you adoptees, coming up on tax time!

Haven't done too much on our ole blue lately, been getting the racecars ready for the '21 season, but we're about to get back on it. Our new gas tank from Holley came in, we've got it mocked up and now we're waiting on the rest of the fittings to come in. Next step is gonna be to install the engine and transmission into the chassis, secure the tank and run all of our fuel lines. We're also planning on keeping the saddle tanks, but with a twist, details on that later.

[rcrahn]

Fantastic project! I understand firsthand how racing with your son/daughter can take up time and expenses. Good for you! Creating memories that will last a lifetime. Keep the reports coming....

[justKIDn]

It’s past time for another update, but time is something I seem to be lacking. We’ve been racing over the summer, when Mother Nature would let us, and managed to pick up a couple of wins and a runner up. I’ve also been picking at my daughter’s “big” dragster getting it ready for the 2022 race season.

[justKIDn]

Since my last update, I received our new saddle tanks I had made a local fab shop, I liked the idea of the saddle tanks but didn’t like them hanging down below the bedsides. The new ones or shorter and won’t be seen from the side of the truck. I mocked them up with a 2x4 frame to finish running all of the fuel lines. With all of the fuel lines run, the chassis is nearly complete. I still have to modify the original or make a new driveshaft, but I’m waiting to take the measurements after the cab and bed are back on the frame. I will also fit a new rear bumper and receiver hitch at that time.

[justKIDn]

We installed our radiator and fan setup from Engineered Cooling Products, I hope it cools as good as it looks.