1970 C10 SWB - Project "Sprout"

[Tomahawk30]

I'm a little slow getting this started, but figured I'd update with what little I've done so far. We named this one "Sprout" because my wife said it reminds her of the Jolly Green Giant's little green sidekick.



I bought this 70 C10 Custom SWB in early February of 2012. Has new truck rally wheels and new tires. It came stock with manual steering and brakes. Also has saddle tanks (that are in great shape, but not hooked up). Overall, the truck is extremely solid. It needs the passenger rocker panel, rear cab floor corners, and the four cab supports replaced. No rust outside of those areas. The bed (in and out) is in very good shape minus a couple of small dings and dents. The drivetrain (350/th350) is out of a van. The engine is really tired, but the transmission appears to be in great shape.

Since buying it in February, I have converted the points ignition over to HEI, replaced the burned out mufflers for some cheapie Thrush glasspacks, added a power steering gear box (already had the pump still on the engine from the van), and hooked up the old shaft style cassette deck for some driving music!

I'll be taking it in on the 28th of this month to get the bodywork started. I met a guy in Central Oregon that appears to do nice work on a lot of classics, and has done several of our style trucks already. Worked a trade that will get all of my bodywork and paint done, as well as rebuilding the engine, in exchange for the 69 GMC 4x4 short stepside that my son and I started on last year. We decided to keep the C10 and my 72 Jimmy instead, so we were able to get more value in trading the extra truck than in selling it outright. I just have to supply the patch panels and cab seal kit (ordered last night from GMC Pauls). He's going to repaint it back to the original Medium Olive in a base/clear. Hopefully I'll have it mostly together and cruising by summer! More pics to follow....

[Tomahawk30]

On a side note, this is the first 2wd pickup I've ever owned. WOW does it drive nice in comparison (at least now that it has power steering)!

[67cheby]

looks like a great start !

[Tomahawk30]

Here's a shot of the SPID. Kinda hard to read, but here's how it decodes:

B30: Floor Carpeting
G80: Rear Positraction Axle
T60: Heavy Duty Battery
Z53: Gauges AMP, oil, temp
504: Medium Olive
BX2: Bodyside Mldg Wide-Lower
G50: Heavy Duty Rear Spring
M49: Turbo Hydra-Matic Transmission
V43: Rear Step Bumper Equipped
Z62: Cust Comf & Conv Equipped
632: Olive Cust Cloth Trm

[chevy71c10]

Looks like you got a great project truck! Looking forward to the pics after you get it back from paint!
Posted via Mobile Device

[Tomahawk30]

I got most of my order in from GMC Paul's this week! All four cab supports, one of the two rear floor patches, and the complete cab seal kit are in hand. Just waiting on the other floor patch that was backordered. It won't be here in time to take it to the shop with the truck (about a 4 hr roundtrip from my house) but Sky @ GMC Paul's was good enough to reroute the last patch panel directly to the shop for me. Very happy so far with GMC Paul's. They came highly recommended and haven't disappointed!

[sgaylord]

Cool project. Post those pics, we like pics.... :-)

Steve

[Tomahawk30]

Will do Steve!

I did find something kinda funny this weekend. Whatever company installed the saddle tanks for the dealer added a rubber cover between the back of the tanks and the rear tire to help prevent rust. I was looking it over to see what it will take to remove the tanks, and discovered that the rubber cover is actually a chunk of one of the old "Keep On Truckin!" mudflaps. Same thing on both sides! The logo and text face right up against the tanks so it is only visible when you pull it away. I thought it was a pretty funny throwback to that era.

I'm also in the process of trying to remove the lower trim. First attempt at it, and it isn't very much fun. I was going to just let the body guy tear into it, but I looked it over more closely last weekend and other than the pieces right behind the front bumper, it is in really good shape. I've managed to get the door pieces and the pieces behind the front fender on both sides, but beyond that I'm struggling. The pieces right in front of the rear wheel wells will be tough because the saddle tanks are in the way of the bolts. I may end up just leaving the clips installed and using the 3M emblem and trim adhesive tape to reinstall the trim. Hopefully I can at least get the trim off without tearing it up in the process. If anyone has a trick or suggestion for safely removing the trim without removing all the clips, I'm all ears...

[Tinkermc]

looks a lot like interesting build here

[Tomahawk30]

It should be a relatively quick build if nothing else... I'll always have little things to work on, but the bodywork, paint, and engine should be done pretty quickly and it'll be my daily driver by July (hopefully).

I did get a break in the rain long enough to get ALMOST all of the trim off this evening. The two under the front bumper and the two on the cab corners I'll leave for when the body man has the tank out and the bumper off. The two frontmost pieces probably need replaced anyway as they are in the worst shape. The rest appears to be in very clean driver condition, or will be with some steel wool and a repaint of the black.



Parts!!! (Courtesy of GMC Paul's)


And a front shot just for fun...

[gearys 5600]

Nice old truck ..keep the pics coming.

[ZUBZ]

Sweet truck.......while I have always been after a 72 long bed and I could only find a 70 short bed around here I am liking the 70'z trucks....

[Tomahawk30]

Zubz, did you pick up the short bed? I'd love to see it!

[ZUBZ]

Originally Posted by Tomahawk30

Zubz, did you pick up the short bed? I'd love to see it!

@Tomahawk, not yet, you can see pics and info here on this thread. Basically the owner passed away 3 weeks ago and hence the process have been delayed a little as the estate takes over.

here is the link and pics of the truck in the meanwhile: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...46#post5339246

[ZUBZ]

Originally Posted by Tomahawk30

Zubz, did you pick up the short bed? I'd love to see it!

Hi Tomahawk, Yes I made the final payment today into the banks account which is looking after the estate of the previous late owners. I will be updating my thread soon and will post up pictures of the original paperwork etc I received with the truck. Can you believe in 1970 the owner bought the truck brand new for R2875.00 (South African Rands) which roughly translates to about $330- if we use todays exchange rate, amazing hey! Thanks for the support guys.

[VA72C10]

Looks like a great start to the project!

[Tomahawk30]

Anybody have a suggestion as to what kind of paint I should use to clean up the black portions of my lower trim?

[Tinkermc]

I use PPG on all my parts

[Tomahawk30]

Got it dropped off today for body and paint!!! Now to work on cleaning up my trim while I wait...

[C10_ustacould]

Good looking project! Looking forward to watching the progress, have fun!

[Tomahawk30]

My paint and body guy got started on the truck this week! I was in the area and swung by to check out the progress but he wasn't home and the bed was locked up in the shop where hes been working on it.






I decided to have him remove the saddle tanks and shave the doors. I bought a pair of rust free doors with the chrome wing windows and a rust free original driver side fender, as well as all new rear cab floors and body mounts.

By the way, he has a rebuilt 454 for $500 or best offer. I'm keeping my truck a small block but if anyone in the Oregon area is interested just let me know.

[Tinkermc]

I'll keep watching

[Booya]

Nice, cant wait to see it done...

[Tomahawk30]

Stopped by and checked on the progress yesterday. It's coming along, but the downside of trading for services is that the cash customer gets bumped to the front of the line. Still well worth it in the long run, but I guess patience is definitely a virtue if you want the best deal. That said, they are making progress and everything looks good so far. I'm very happy that everything looks as solid as I'd hoped. The frame needs a good cleaning, but everything is in great shape! The gas filler doors have been shaved and they are finishing the body work on the bed now. Still need to clean up a few dings on the bed floor, but it is almost ready for paint.




A shot of the old "Keep On Truckin" mudflaps that were installed between the front of the rear wheel well and the back of the saddle tank (presumably to minimize rust):


Here's the saddle tanks that came out of it. Glad I left it to them to remove as it took some grinding to get the bolt heads off:



A shot of my nice clean new engine in a dirty engine bay:




After seeing it dismantled, I'm kicking around loading up the truck and driving the 2 hrs to Prineville to do some cleanup on the frame and inner fenders this weekend while it is apart. I want to do it anyway, and it would be way easier to do it now. Luckily the paint/body/engine guy is pretty easy to deal with and has no problem with me using his space.

[67cheby]

looking good and great plan !