Another Squarebody Project: 78 c20 custom deluxe

[straight6chevyguy]

Hello Everyone! I have been meaning to get this thread started for some time now but just have not been able to find the time to sit down and sort through pictures and post very much stuff.
So anyway This my Newest addition to the fleet Its a 1978 Chevrolet c20 2wd with a small block v8 4 speed manual with FF 14 bolt rear.
The truck was my Uncles before his passing earlier this year when I then purchased it from my Aunt for a very good price.
My Uncle had his own way of doing things working on cars and would often do things that would probably be questionable to some people on this site lol.
For him his hobby was finding old cars for cheap or trade and getting them running. He once told me that "it doesn't matter what it looks like you just try to get it running" He would mess with just about anything but chevrolets where always his favorite.
He was always swapping parts from one truck to another and changing things around. some cars would get scraped others would get sold or traded with his buddies sometimes a car would get traded in circles from buddy to buddy back to him and then traded off again.
Anyway this truck was one of the rare few that He actually kept for many years. Of course swapping and changing things on it along the way.
I will actually be back tracking a bit from the current time to share what I have done to the truck up until the current date as I have been working the truck but as said I havent been posting much.
So the plans are: fix the truck up for a work truck not too worried about the dents and dings its an old truck that has been worked hard and since it's already in this shape a work truck is what its best suited for, well I mean I guess all my trucks are work trucks I use my trucks... but that said the plan is to give it some kind of paint job so it's more or less one color and not the franken truck it is now lol. the plan is to go back with the original exterior color which I like.
Here's some pic's to get things started.

[straight6chevyguy]

Small block with a four barrel, assuming it's a 350 but have not ran any numbers yet.
The truck runs and drives but does have a lifter tick though it has ok oil pressure. I'll investigate the lifter tick later.
Fun Fact: This will be my first time ever messing with a small block!

[straight6chevyguy]

When the truck first came home I parked it beside my 65 c20.
both these trucks were my uncles.

[Shifty One]

Nice....are you going to keep the rhino rack?

[straight6chevyguy]

Yeah probably, but it is removable. Actually at the current time of this post I have the rack taken off. Im going to use the truck to tow an old 5th wheel travel trailer home and then probably put the rack back on. I know I can put it to use.

[Shifty One]

I like it!

[straight6chevyguy]

So the first thing that had to be addressed on the truck was the clutch pedal.
It was super hard to press down and would get stuck to the floor when I would press the pedal over half way down. The cause of the problem was the pedal pivot bushings where completely shot causing the pedal to bind. I made some bushings and replaced them so the pedal is now a little easier to push but it's still much harder than I would prefer. This truck has the over center style large clutch pedal spring it was a dog to get off so I could remove the pedal arm to replace the bushings and there was no way to get it back on after ward so for now it's not being used. I will have to remove the entire pedal bracket assembly from the the truck to be able to reinstall the spring. For those that are not familiar with the over center style clutch pedal spring you can do your own research or I will explain when I revisit this situation at a later date.

Next I rebuilt the carburetor. It was my first time rebuilding a quadrajet but the truck does run and drive after ward however Im not sure it's tuned up 100% for proper 4 barrel function but I will revisit that later as well.

Next major deal was replacing the rear axle drum seal that was leaking

[straight6chevyguy]

Cleaned out the heater box it did have a mouse nest in it. I soaked it in a trash can with dish soap trying to get rid of the mouse nest smell lol

[straight6chevyguy]

Was working on the tail and marker lights and found some treasures behind the lamp/bulb housing lol think they fell down the stake post hole. Got a pretty good chuckle when I looked in there and saw the action figure lol.

[straight6chevyguy]

New tires, new wheel cylinder, and a brake line, and a new drivers side parking brake cable are some of the other things that I have done.

[straight6chevyguy]

The trucks horn was dead so I got an aftermarket pair.
After some bracket modifications got them installed and they seem to work pretty good.
Also I had to replace the heater core cause it started leaking. No big deal just a bummer because I had just had the heater box apart and put back together. Lol