71' C10 Cheyenne Super Build

[xludan]

I bought my 71' C10 a few months ago and I have really been starting to tear into it the past couple of weeks so I figured I would start a build thread.

Overall the truck was pretty straight with very little rust as it was from Arizona. I'm going to be taking this one step at a time but most likely it will turn into a complete resto. The first major issue to be addressed is there was some damage to the drivers side fender with one of the worst patch jobs I have ever seen.

Pics of truck when I first brought it home.




Took of drivers side inner fender. The fender lip obviously needed a little straightening.

Straightened and primed

After Base Coat



I've already picked up a fender off of another that 71' was in great shape. More pics to come when I get the fender stripped and primed.

[xludan]

Also picked up a 200-4R that will be going in eventually. Just need to get the TV cable brackets and switch for lockup.

[xludan]

Tore into the drivers side suspension tonight. Of course it was caked in 40 years of dirt so I had to to a little work with the degreaser and wire brush before I could find all the bolts.


Taken apart and off to sand blasting

[sourkraut]

looks like a nice start! i sure am glad i am past all of that old crime and grease and into the cleaner time of the build.

[xludan]

Got some work done over the past few days. Removed the passenger side suspension and got that degreased and wire wheeled. I also ordered all new upper and lower ball joints, and upper and lower control arm shafts and bushings.

I decided to try out a rust preventative coating I have heard some good things about called 'rust bullet'. I sprayed too coats of it today and so far I really like it. It sprayed very easily without any thinning with a 1.8mm tip. It is silver in color so I will be doing a black top coat after the recommended 48 hour cure time. The only complaint I have about rust bullet so far is it drys exactly the same color as when it is wet so it is hard to tell where you have painted when you go to re-coat. I also don't recommend getting it on your skin because I have found it is impossible to get off.

[xludan]

Painted the suspension components with Dupont Chassis Black a couple weeks ago



This past weekend my Dad came over and we pulled the motor and dropped the front crossmember. I'll be painting the frame using the same method I used on the suspension components (Rust bullet topcoated with Dupont Chassis Black).

[67chevy1series]

dude that primer looks so good i thought it was paint un til mi seen it was black

[xludan]

Havn't posted in a while but I have been working on the truck like crazy. I've finished rebuilding and painting the front suspension and frame. I also rebuilt the rag joint while I was in there. I also rebuilt the motor and painted the block. I've since dropped the motor back into the frame but I havn't taken any pictures yet. I'll post some more as soon as I finish all the wiring.

Frame




Motor before paint



After paint/rebuild

[RCbowtie69]

nice!!

[xludan]

I've had a chance to do a lot of work with some vacation time over christmas. My brother and Dad came over to pull the cab off the frame. Went pretty easy using the engine hoist and a 4x4 with some straps.



I spent about 8 hours of solid work stripping off the old undercoating. That was one of the messiest and least fun jobs I have ever done working on a car. I used a combination of a wire wheel, heat gun and scraper, and some oven cleaner. The heat and scraper seemed to work the best.



The front cab supports had some rust so the first order of business was removing those. When removing the cab supports I found rust on the inner rocker panel so it looks like I will be replacing the rockers and inner rockers as well.





My little brother came over today and we were able to remove the drivers side rocker. I plan on removing the inner rocker tomorrow and welding in some new patches

[xludan]

Got the drivers side inner rocker fitted and tacked in today. The Tri Plus sheetmetal is a pretty good repro in my opinion.

[VA72C10]

Nice progress!!!

[RCbowtie69]

nice progress,keep it up & pictures coming

[67chevy1series]

nice build look forward to enjoying it

[xludan]

Finished welding, dressing, and priming the inner rocker today. Turned out pretty well in my opinion for my first body patch panel ever.

Welded:


After dressing and priming:

[67chevy1series]

Nice progress!!!!!!!!

[RCbowtie69]

nice progress,keep pictures coming

[Gunny704]

im loving it so far keep up the good work!

[RCbowtie69]

Any up date on your build, just checking, keep pictures coming

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work! I as well like the Tri-plus panels. Great fit and nice quality.

[xludan]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. Progress has been slow the past couple of days but I did get driver side door pillar welded in and I also mocked up the rocker panel. The door gaps look good when I did a test fit so I should be welding soon!

[RCbowtie69]

COOL!!! looking good

[xludan]

I got the driver front cab support welded in today and the driver rocker tacked in. The door gaps still look good so I was pretty excited about that.

[67chevy1series]

wow cab looks great!!!!

[RCbowtie69]

looking like some progress is being made,looking good & u look like u r making some head way, keep pictures coming & i will keep checking the build out keep on truckin''