1969 Custom/10 clean up

[Steve-W]

I purpously won't call it an restauration, because that commits me to getting the car in showroom condition

No, I just want to get rid of the rust, upgrade the brakes to disks, clean up the cab and bed and drive it like I stole it!

here is my first piece of progress, the front end of a '73 Blazer 2wd, should fit like a glove.


It barely fitted into my A4 audi


It took 4 of us to lift it in and out of the car


Master cylinder with booster and steering rods(?) (sorry, not sure what it's called in english)


Safety first! Belts for the wife and seat for my 2month old boy

[Steve-W]

here are some pics so you can see what state the cab is in now...





and my little garden in the bed...

[gixxerpymp]

Looks like you have some work ahead of you.. Be sure to take pics!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Welcome to the board that cab is gonna need some work..

[Steve-W]

So after a busy and cold dutch winter, I'm going to get started with the project with a big leap. A mate from Riverside, CA. dropped me an email to inform me he had bought a cab for me!! it's from a 70's C10 and it has no rust. So all I have to do is sand blast it and paint!

[Deckguy44]

Got standard light cab roof. Ever seen one?

[Steve-W]

Originally Posted by Deckguy44

Got standard light cab roof. Ever seen one?

you mean the cargo light? isn't it an option on all trucks?


Time to get back in touch with the community here. I've been suffering from "internet detraction". Just couldn't get myself to go online and post on FB, or linkedIn or forums.

But winter is almost over and I've been busy on the truck, so might as well give y'all an update.

I'm still running 6 lug in the back (std. 12 bolt) and 5 lug in front because of the crossmember swap I did in the beginning. So I saw an add for a 5 lug 10 bolt which came of a '78 G20. it didn't cost much thus I bought it, not realizing it was for a leaf-spring setup, where I have coil-spring on my C10.

But they both have 30 spline c-clip axels, so I though I could just swap them.
Not so much..the axles from the 10 bolt are about 4"s longer. I should have know it wouldn't be that easy. I am glad though that from taking a peek on the inside, both look very healthy, although I never bothered to change the oil on my 12 bolt.

what to do then? 6 to 5 lug converters? or swap the rear ends? Only trouble then is that I have to convert the 10 bolt to coil spring, but maybe that's not as hard as it sounds? (ideas welcome) and how can I find out that that will do with my differential ratio? or do I have to re-open it and count teeth? I looked on http://www.drivetrain.com but couldn't find any 5 bolt axles which would fit in my 12 bolt.

Oh and I swapped my trans gasket for a silicone one..but it leaks even harder now! So i bought another one which I'll put in tonight. We did use liquid gasket as well, maybe that isn't necessary when using a silicone gasket?

here a pic of the 10 bolt

[RCbowtie69]

Hey from N.C. & welcome,keep pictures coming & keep on truckin''

[Steve-W]

last weekend I organized a grease monkey/ smoker BBQ session and invited some friends over for my front end swap.

first we had to deal with some bolts that were grinded off on the '73 crossmember, but fortunatly they didn't give us any trouble.


then we took of the headers and found the were mounted with the original 6 sided bolts instead of the Allen bolts (hope you know what I mean, i have to use an online translater to find some words )
this told me whoever put them on had to use a open ended spanner to tighten them..hence the leakage..
we were smiled upon again, because also they came out without any hassle.

I had told my friends I would spray WD40 on all the bolts and nuts of the crossmember earlier that week, so it would come off easily..ofcourse I hadden't and when it was time to unbolt it, I attended to my smoker to check on the meat
When I heard a scream I assumed it was because of a rounded or broken off bolt...but no, it was because it was laying down on the ground already.
happily I accepted all compliments on my good preparation, but actually I was wondering why the bolts came out so easily...

It's a law in automotive mechanics..when everything seems to be according to plan, the **** hits the fan! the '73 crossmember fits like a glove, but some of the holes didn't line up, so I widened up 2 holes and have to drill 2 new ones, but I'll do that when the crossmember is in place. I found out the the widened holes still are not correct, so we'll have to take it down one more time .

the arrows show the holes not lining up


Yeah..diskbrakes!


the '73 has a sway bar, the '69 didn't..so where to mount??


That's what we call a 10 pound brisket!


That's what we call Texas style smoked brisket!


2 of my friends took their Harleys along, a roadking and a fatboy (sounds like the title of a B-movie


Here a picture of my mate in Riverside Ca. he has the new cab for my truck. bothe he and his brother drive a '69 C10


he uses it for the heavy lifting 2000 pounds of roof tiling!!


more updates soon!

[c1069]

Originally Posted by Steve-W

the '73 has a sway bar, the '69 didn't..so where to mount??

Click here and you will find instructions step by step

[Steve-W]

Ahh spacers! that'll do the trick

[FRENCHBLUE72]

That new cab sure looks like it will save ya some rust work..

[RCbowtie69]

Cool keep on truckin""

[no moa]

What did it cost to ship that cab? Must have been big money.

Good project you got there!
Posted via Mobile Device

[Steve-W]

Originally Posted by no moa

What did it cost to ship that cab? Must have been big money.

Didn't ship it yet, but I reckon it'll cost me about $1500,- all in (VAT, Handling etc) Seeing I'm getting the cab for free, it's a price I'm willing to pay...but first I'll need to get my tax returns

[Steve-W]

Yesterday had an hour to quickly work on my truck. took off the shocks because I need to replace them anyway and the were rattling about... guess the pictures are clear enough to show why, the nut almost fits though that hole. saw on LMC that the sell shock reinforcement brackets, guess I'll have to get me some of those..or weld something together myself.



I'll have to unbolt the crossmember on more time because were the back bolt goes through, the front one locks up as soon as I tighten the 3 bolts from underneath


Also I took the swaybar off, because it was only hanging about. will have to figure something out for that aswell.

[Steve-W]

as the evenings become longer and the temp goes up I decided to dive under the truck for a quicky....(?!)

As I dropped the crossmember to drill out the front holes a bit more I decided to clean it up a bit. 1 can of brakecleaner and a stealbrush later it looks a bit better.
now I'll hose it down with "tectiel" (I guess its a kind of Boeshield, a black thick spray rust inhibator).

doesn't have to be showroom condition, just need to get through the next M.O.T.

[Steve-W]

another day in paradise!

finally found time again to do the last bit for the front end, realining the holes.
ans presto! it fits, so now on to the next stage: brakebooster with master cilinder, brakelines and hoses.. hopefully this will all result in a truck that'll stop when I tell it to

[Steve-W]

Ahh I should google before asking
I see there are brackets for this conversion.

which to use and where to order the correct ones?
I have a friend who's quite good with welding, I'll check with him as well.

[FrankieD]

Here is what it should look like.

[Steve-W]

Ok, bracket ia underway, so as soon as that comes in I can finalize the brakes. but I have one question; look at the below picture and tell me if this is an Proportioning valve or a distribution block?


Do I still want to use it now I have discs in the front?
and how do you bleed it, or is that not necessary?

[FrankieD]

It is a proportioning valve you will need one that is for disk brakes. I also found out that there are 2 different boosters a Bendix and a Delco there is 1/2" difference in the bolt pattern I found out by getting the wrong one the first time luckily Auto Zone took the first back. You will also need the Master cylinder for disk brakes. The bracket I sent you is for a Bendix booster

[Steve-W]

Originally Posted by FrankieD

It is a proportioning valve you will need one that is for disk brakes

ok, at least i don't have to buy a new one...is there any whay to test whether it's still functioning normaly? or is it trail by error once installed?

Originally Posted by FrankieD

The bracket I sent you is for a Bendix booster

Great..I'll assume my new booster is a bendix then

[FrankieD]

Originally Posted by Steve-W

ok, at least i don't have to buy a new one...is there any whay to test whether it's still functioning normaly? or is it trail by error once installed?




Great..I'll assume my new booster is a bendix then

I have never seen one go bad, I used one from the 72 I got the brakes from or you could buy a adjustable one but I don't see why the one you have wouldn't work.

[Steve-W]

Here's an update with some pictures.

Time is an issue for me, between my work and family there is hardly any time left to muck around with my truck..I hope it'll improve as my son gets older

good news, my new cab is on its way. being shipped over from LA to Rotterdam it'll take 6 weeks to arrive, and then we'll take it over to a friends place who has a big garage were we can do the swap. have been tinkering with the brakes a bit, got the bracket and it fits, so all i had to do is get the brake rod to fit between the bracket and the lever. got a mate who welded a ring on it, so I should be able to install it this weekend...