Hank - 63 C10 Build

[rbruno68]

Hell All,
Here is Hank, my 63 C10 that I am starting with my build project. I am hoping to add to the great build threads that I have followed on the site. By trade, I work for our local school system so I am not an expert. But, I have worked and messed around with cars and trucks for a long time. I haven't been involved in a build for a long time, so this is a chance for me to get back to one of the things I have always enjoyed.

My plan for Hank is nothing to radical, just want to have a sound and fun driver. I am not going to say I am building a patina truck because I would like to some day paint it. But, for now it will just be a little easier to not do much body work which is going to be a stretch for my skill set.

I am hoping to have him back on the road and drivable in a year. That might be tough, but that is what I am going for.

The plan is to remove the body and strip him down to the frame. I want to make sure everything underneath is sound and rebuilt. I will be replacing ball joints and the rest of the suspension pieces as well as add disc brakes up front. He will have a 350 that is already complete and dyno and a 4 speed Muncie. Since he will be an around the town cruiser, I am going with a 4:10 posi so he will have some get up and go.

Once I get all that part done, I plan to put the body back on and fixed body issues as I go. Might not be the best plan and I am sure it would be better to do those things while it is all apart, but I am more interested in driving Hank and fixing as I go. There will be some body work to be done before the sheet metal goes back on, but I will still have more to go.

I plan to Youtube the build as well because why not right? Plus it will help me remember the tear down part which will be helpful for me. I am not there yet as far as the video part, but hopefully will get better at that too.

I tried to upload pictures, but got a "security token" error message. But I will keep trying. Any advice for upload pictures would be great.

I am sure I will be asking a lot of question to the forum. So, here I go...
Rob

[joesscamaro]

I'm not the best to offer advice on posting pictures but if you click the "Manage Attachments" under "Go Advanced", you should be able to upload from there and post them. Look forward to seeing and reading your updates!

[rbruno68]

I was able to get this one uploaded. All the rest were turned one way or the other. Still need to figure out how to make the right direction. But, this is Hank.
Rob

[rbruno68]

[joesscamaro]

Nice! That looks like a solid base to start with.

[caseyjones]

You're lucky to find a truck that doesn't look like it was messed with too much - great plan on driving while fixing. In fact, you don't even need to pull the body off the truck to do the suspension work you mention - you can chip away at it and keep it mostly together and moving. I know that helped me keep motivation up for working on my trucks.

[rbruno68]

Got started on a small thing. I mocked up the POL sway bar. I wanted to drill the holes and knock out the one rivet before starting to take things apart so it would be how it would sit when finished. I also didn't want to paint or powder coat the frame and then start drilling holes. Bed removal next.

[Shifty One]

Neat truck!

[rbruno68]

Started on Hank with bed removal. It came off pretty easy. I think the previous owner may have removed it to do the bed wood. I didn't have to cut any bolts which I had to do a bunch on my '62. The bumper was a recent addition or at least had been removed and put back on the truck because the bolts were brand new. I am not interested in keeping the farm bumper, so if anyone local to MD is looking for a farm bumper I have one available. I am looking for a straight painted bumper for sale or trade for my farm bumper. The frame looks in great shape. Still looks like it has some of the original paint on it. If the rest of the frame looks like this, I will be very lucky. Some day I will figure out how to rotate pictures so they look right.

[shp4man]

Nice truck !

[88Stanger]

Nice little truck to start with, good base...

[rbruno68]

Thanks guys. Hopefully I will have the front clip off this weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed the front part of the frame is also in great shape. More pictures coming soon.
Rob

[bigmoe]

Are you planning on the squarebody front crossmember swap to get power steering and disc brakes?

[rbruno68]

Originally Posted by bigmoe

Are you planning on the squarebody front crossmember swap to get power steering and disc brakes?

I am sticking with the 63 crossmember. I am adding front disc brakes but not power steering. I bought the CPP kit for 6 lug front disc brakes. It won't have power brakes because my motor doesn't pull enough vacuum.
Rob

[rbruno68]

Got the front clip off this past weekend. Went pretty well. Next up, the cab.


[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[rbruno68]

Took the cab off this weekend. Had a few challenges and whish I had solid tires and a little bit bigger dolley. But, it is off Hank and sitting waiting for a few repairs.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LZX_eKe0I4

[66newb]

Cool...started the video, will finish later. Dang work gets in the way.

[rbruno68]

Added another video of removing the bed. The videos are a little behind my process.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVN9Ld_KA0I

[66newb]

Gonna keep the fuel cell or relocate under the bed or anything?

[rbruno68]

I bought a tank for under the bed in the back. Since it didn't have one behind the seat, I figured I would move the take like so many do to under the bed.

[Pick121]

Originally Posted by rbruno68

I bought a tank for under the bed in the back. Since it didn't have one behind the seat, I figured I would move the take like so many do to under the bed.

What tank did you decide on? Side fill or top fill? I will be doing a under bed tank too.

[rbruno68]

Worked on getting the frame cleaned up and setting the motor in place temporarily. Next is starting to mock up the exhaust and rear mount gas tank. Wanted to do some of this type of work in case I need to drill holes in the frame for hangers, etc. Don't want to drill through nice paint or powder depending on what I do to the frame.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmHMRxWRSw&t=24s

[rbruno68]

I started to work on mocking up my exhaust. Haven't got all the way finished but did get each pipe to the first crossmember and tacked together. As you can see, the passenger side has a much bigger bend in it to get it to the straight pipe to start heading back on the frame. In the other picture, you can see the passenger side header tucks up closer to the block then the driver side. I have a set of Headmen headers that are designed for the truck. Does anyone have a set that the one side tucks into the block that much? I am not sure that it is that big of a deal, but I figured I would ask.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prr_HZkmIAI

[rbruno68]

I went with top fill. That will be the next phase. I hope I am finish with tacking up the exhaust this evening. That has taken a lot longer then I expected. The tank will be next.
Rob

[rbruno68]

Couple updates on my progress. I finished tack welding the exhaust together. I just made turn downs for now in front of the axle. May change later, but that is what I have now. I also finished bending the lines and mocking up the gas take under the bed. I used 3/8 stainless lines which was a challenge at times, but I think I have it figured out. I need to clean up the small little brackets I needed for the fuel pump and filter, but outside of that, I think I have all the holes and other mods to the frame that I wanted to do before I painted. Now I need to pull it all back out so I can start working on cleaning up the frame. I want to take it to a local powder coating place to get a price on powder coating. I know it will be more expensive then paint, but not sure how much more. Here are a couple photos as well as links to YouTube for my progress.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0qa4omMYAc&t=24s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95nLj51skjg&t=268s