Project Ole Blue:'72 SWB

[cobra_4]

Picked up another truck the other day. After a couple of years of big plans and never working on my '69 (see project thread HERE) I decided it was time to cut losses on it and move onto something a little more road worthy. Plus it was a pretty sweet deal.

The truck had been sitting up for a while, but at one time was supposed to be a pretty nicely built 350, that's about all I know about it right now until I get it home. Anyway, its still mated to the three speed, but its been moved to the floor, which is cool with me. Its rough around the edges, needs some metal in all the usual spots.





I dig the blue because of a couple reason's. The first 68-72 C10 I ever road in was a blue '72 my dad traded a 1957 Chevrolet for(+ money) at a swap meet years ago when I was like three years old. Number two we had a mid 80's roll back for years that was blue. And number three the one that got away was this '68 I used to own. CST, steering, brakes. Nothing nice, but it ran and drove AWESOME. I loved this truck.


Anyway, speaking of steering and brakes, this is a power steering and brake truck, so that's a plus. The plans are to drive the thing, just kind of as a cool old truck. No plans to make a show queen out of it or anything like that. I dig the patina on the paint and plan to add to it. I have a blog/website that I do event coverage on, I'm thinking of lettering it up with my logos in old patina style. Another thought is to letter it up with the chevy dealership logos in town that closed in the 70's. I don't know, time will tell.

Its at my buddies shop right now, I had him get it running for me, tune it up, swap in a new gas tank(came with the truck) and put on a new edelbrock carb I already had(something had used the quadrajunk for a nest of some sort) simply because I just didn't have the time to fool with it. A running, driving truck is much more exciting and easy to work on!

I'll post more pictures when I get it home, hopefully this weekend. I'l be doing tons of small cosmetic and mechanical upgrades along the way.

[cobra_4]

Dang no love?

[mikeleeshields]

Start tearing it apart and get to work lol. Looks like a good base to start with.

[cobra_4]

Finally got it home tonight! Drives pretty nice considering the tires are junk. I didn't get on it too much but it feels pretty strong. Shifter is gonna have to have some work, its either wore out, out of adjustment, about to fall out, or all three.




A shot with my other truck.


The right front fender is a little rougher than I thought. Probably going to replace it with a donor off my white truck. The white fender has some rust, but that can be fixed alot easier than the massive dents and who knows how old bondo in my blue fender.






Gonna give under the hood a good bath hopefully Saturday. I've got a different breather for it, probably swap the valve covers too just to give a reason to get a sneak peak down into the motor. I don't know exactly how much I wanna do under the hood, since I'm going for the patina'd shop truck look. Though I might make it slick under the hood, I kinda like that contrast look too, we will see.




Inside is decent, one door panel is better than the other. Its got kind of a carpet, rubber mat, rust combo going on it the floor. Gonna get all this cleaned up and see what I've got. I've got a awesome seat for it, but its red and black. May put it in and toss a cover over it.





Got a little cancer in the floor.


Always cool to find these in the glove box.



The worst part is the bed, not exactly sure how I want to handle this.




So here she is, home and ready to start working on. Overall I'm happy with it. For the price I paid, I'm in a running and driving truck in a more favorable year for a lot less money than I could have got my white truck on the road for. Plus its a lot more fun to work on something when you can drive it to the store for parts before hand, then take it out to town after the project.



Much more coming!

[cobra_4]

Finally getting to work on it a little bit. Its been either snowing or cold weather or I was working on the Mustang or something something something. Anyway decided to take a break from the Mustang today and jump on this for a while.

These were to be my before engine shots, but when I turned the water on for the first time after winter, I realized we had a heck of a leak. So these plans got shot down.




But I did start soaking it down with some degreaser, hopefully I'll get the water patched up tomorrow night so I can really cut the crap off of it.



On a side note, there's the water problem! Busted a 3 foot piece out!


There must have been one fat squirrel that lived in this truck! Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum!




After cleaning the "carpet" I realized it still had to go, so I jerked it out to find a surprisingly pretty nice original mat underneath.



Even with that birds nest of speaker wires, they actually work, along with the radio!


Nothing screams 80's old school cool than a Kenwood tape player, this baby ain't going anywhere!!


The little things that humor you about an old truck, interior light still works!


Pulled the bed mat out of the bed, yeah, its not good, bad. But I knew it was like this when I bought it. Not 100% sure what the plan of attack is on this one. Don't wanna break the bank, but I really want to put some sort of old school display in the back like an old bike or something, plus I may actually wanna haul something!

[jmking9]

Nice looking rig. I can see lots of potential. Keep after it!

[thelonerife]

Thats a good reason to put in a wood bed floor. Thats old school.

[cobra_4]

Hadn't touched the truck in a couple of weeks but I finally worked on it a little Saturday. I got my other project off the lift so I've got some free'd up inside space and time to work on her. It stopped running good right after I got it home and I wasn't 100% sure why. Its got a "new" good used gas tank and new edelbrock, so I didn't figure I had any trash. What I didn't realize was the old fuel filter was seemingly overlooked, ah ha, there is the problem!

This thing just looks nasty from the outside! Can't imagine what the inside is like!


This thing was wedged in a horrible location between the pump and the metal hard line, you would never be able to change this thing on the side of the road, so I put a straight piece of line in and put my filter up top in an easier to view and change location.



Also free'd up a little yard space today, I sold the '69 stepside that was previously my dream project truck. New owner seems to have big plans, should turn out nice! Just glad its going to a good home!


So now that the truck is on the lift, I should really start to rock and roll. I've went back and fourth on the exact direction of the truck, but I've decided to letter it up patina style but for my automotive website, I've got a plan, we will see how it turns out! Stay tuned! Mucho body work to come in the next month!

[cobra_4]

Wow does time fly, all summer and I haven't touched this truck. Still having fuel problems, may have to pull the tank back out, or put a fuel cell in it.... Not sure which yet. But I know it runs and drive so I''ll work that out later. Really wanting to get this thing DONE in time for Rod Run in Pigeon Forge this September, doubt it will happen, that's six or seven weeks away, but we will see.

Anyway, started sanding on it tonight, pulled the lights out. Got almost the whole passenger side scuffed down so I can see what I'm really working with. Again, this is gonna be a very patina'd truck. It needs hours and hours and hours of body work to make it right and I'm not looking for a show finish or anything.


Some of the bad spots aren't near as bad as I thought. A little mud here, little mud there.



Other spots are as bad or worse than I thought.


Little worried about if I'll ever get new taillight trim on it, the bed's bent and beat on both sides, so I'm gonna save the originals just in case the new ones totally don't fit.


I know its not much progress, but its a start! Gonna keep working on her pretty hard so look for more updates more often!

[cobra_4]

Laid a little self etching primer on the bare metal. It's nice to sand on this thing outside in the evening, but its a pain because I can't leave the bare metal untreated for long.


Almost had my first bad experience tonight, apparently there is a very large yellow jackets nest in the truck, how I didn't get stung I DO NOT know! They were EVERYWHERE!!! Gonna handle that tomorrow!!!

Its small, but if I can work on it everyday, progress is progress!

[cobra_4]

Gotcha!! Now I can get back to work!!

[cobra_4]

More progress, sorry if these updates are boring you, but I feel like long term, when the project is done, tons of updates make for a bad ass build thread.

Got the rest of the truck scuffed down. The drivers side was a TON better than the passengers side. Alot of this old blue is gonna make for a great base for the new blue, no need to take it down too far.


Ah the joys of sanding, first you hit bondo, then you hit whatever the heck they were trying to fix. Random hole.


Started smearing a little bondo over some cracks and obvious bad spots. Although in spots this truck is gonna have alot, and already does have a lot, I'm not a fan of the stuff, nor super skilled at it so I'm trying to be very limited with its use.





Even though there is some pretty nasty surface rust on the bed, I'm gonna treat it, then primer and paint over it. I don't have the time or the skill to mess with trying to smooth it over, plus I'm hoping once I repaint the blue, I'm gonna brush in the white and the different texture will help add to the patina look. Time will tell.



I am gonna try and fix this, don't want anyone needing a shot over opening the tail gate.



More bondo.


Starting to fix the tailgate.


Still wishing I had stolen that white fender. Just trying to repatch this poor patch job of years ago. Actually going pretty good I think.



Started on the roof, what a PITA for someone short! When I get the truck inside I'm gonna pull the valve cores out of the tires, should lower it down enough to work with a little better.

Even at six months pregnant I talked the wife into helping a little!


Surprised to find the inside of the tail gate in good shape.


More self etching primer on the metal.


I started washing under the hood a few months ago, but my water was busted at the shop so I couldn't make much progress. But with it fixed, I really knocked some grease off the motor, its still NASTY though.

BEFORE



AFTER



Still not where I want it, gonna have to take a putty knife to the front of the engine, but its coming. At some point I'll pull the valve covers and accessories and paint everything, may actually do it next so I don't have to worry about overspray on the outside of the truck.

Oooh look, its almost white again!


Ugh, never noticed this before, or if I did I forgot. Something else to patch up!




She ain't too nice, she ain't too pretty, but every step I take I feel good, like saving a dog from the pound, when its done it will be nice to know I saved this one from the crusher!

[FlameOut]

It's always nice to be able to save one from the crusher. Mine is about in the same condition, and probably would have been sent tothe crusher.

Your engine bay cleaned up nicely. I was wondering why there is a double pulley on the water pump? I see you have power brakes, but that runs off of the crank pulley, right?

Mine came with a 250, that I'm in the process of swapping for a 350. Having a heck of a time getting ps pump to line up. Next time you take some photos, could you get a close up of how the ps mounts? Thanks in advance, and looking forward to seeing your progress

[cobra_4]

Originally Posted by FlameOut

It's always nice to be able to save one from the crusher. Mine is about in the same condition, and probably would have been sent tothe crusher.

Your engine bay cleaned up nicely. I was wondering why there is a double pulley on the water pump? I see you have power brakes, but that runs off of the crank pulley, right?

Mine came with a 250, that I'm in the process of swapping for a 350. Having a heck of a time getting ps pump to line up. Next time you take some photos, could you get a close up of how the ps mounts? Thanks in advance, and looking forward to seeing your progress

Will do! I'll try and get some pics over the weekend. I hadn't paid much attention to the pulleys, I know its not the original motor though, so who knows what's been changed, it was a factory power steering truck though.

[cobra_4]

Still plugging along. I just thought the inside of the tailgate was good, how much bondo is in this baby? Sheeesh!


Went over the whole truck with some finer paper, got a few more spots to finish once I get it on the lift, but I'm getting close to being ready for some primer.



Since I'm leaving some rust on places to ad to the patina, I wanted to treat it with rust treatment to hopefully neutralize it. Right now I'm 50-50 on keeping the truck or selling it, if I do keep it, I don't want it to just fall apart one day, or if I sell it I still want it to be a cool hot rod someone can enjoy as is without too much worry. I've had good luck with this Permatex stuff before.


Turns the rust a dark color and is supposed to neutralize it.



Gonna use SEM for the primer, this stuff is awesome and looks like your sprayed it with a gun. I'm hoping the high build will fill in some of the imperfections in the paint. Gotta order some more, I just had this on hand left over from a previous project.


I'm hoping to get the truck on the lift tonight, that way I can work on it tomorrow night and Saturday, especially if the rain moves in like they say. I've got a few minor things to do before I start taping it off. I thought about going ahead and pulling some things off the motor and doing under the hood so I didn't have to worry about over spray, but I haven't decided yet. So anyway the goal is to at least have it ready to spray by the end of the weekend, but really, no more than there is to tape on the truck I'd like to have it in primer by Sunday night, time will tell!

[cobra_4]

Ugh, sorry for the HUGE photos on that last upgrade, used a different host and obviously it didn't work out for me.

[cobra_4]

The plan tonight was to get it inside and on the lift, few minutes work and done. Yeah, right!

The ole' girl hadn't been cranked in what feels like weeks, but honestly was probably MONTHS and when I parked it it wasn't getting enough fuel to run. So I try and crank it, nothing, hit it with some starting fluid, nothing. No fuel in the filter, none in site of coming. I'm not 100% if the fuel gauge works or not? But it was on empty. So I headed to town to gas station to grab a couple of gallons. After about two failed cranks on starting fluid and three cranks on pouring gas in the carb it fired up. But instead of revving it up I just let her sit and idle, assuming it would die when it burned out what was in the carb, but to my surprise, it actually kept running.

Short video of it running, this ole' motor sounds awfully good for being very close to the bone yard!
http://vid1249.photobucket.com/album...psdc5f023f.mp4

Here's my fuel issue, not sure if its a bad fuel pump, not enough gas in the tank to pick it up good, clogged line, or what. Watch the filter close. Its like spit, spit, splurt, HUGE splurt, spit, spit, repeat.

http://vid1249.photobucket.com/album...ps26fa6a39.mp4

So anyway, I just assumed with the lack of fuel, it was spitting and sputtering like usual, so I jump in it to pull it in the shop and to my surprise, its revving up like it should and seems ready to go! So I jump back out and shut the hood, ready for a test drive! Keep in mind up until this point, I've only pulled it in and off the lift in a state of sad sputtering, so I never got to drive it at speed, until tonight! I took her around the neighbor hood four or five times, probably put two miles on it, the ole girl feels good! Got a steering belt squeaking, but other than that it was great! Well, the shifter is junk, but I knew that. She feels real torquey in low gear and will melt the tire(one). Its running good, but not perfect, you can tell its starving for fuel at WOT or anything close.

And added bonus, my blower motor started blowing! Not sure why, the controls in the truck are busted, so I just unhooked it.


Speaking of, look at this wiring nightmare, I gotta get this crap fixed or taped up or something.


On to the lift! Time for the fun to start!


In my last post, I had goals for the weekend, I forgot I had to patch/piece together some sort of rocker panels.




Look at all the crap I dug out.




Now, here is where it's gonna get a little redneck. I know this is 100% THE WRONG way to do this, rocker panels are cheap, etc. etc. But honestly, I don't have a welder, or the skill to use one, or do I want to spend the money paying a shop to fix it. If you think the truck is worth that work? You need to take a second look at the other pics lol! Its a rough hot rod, I'm building it as a CHEAP low budget hot rod that I can enjoy and then maybe pass on to someone else to enjoy at a cheap price. I'm just trying to piece something together on these rocker panels that will look decent at ten or twenty feet. So please don't give my flack about it being wrong, I know it is. But if doing a restoration was the only option on this truck, it would be a soup can by now.

So anyway, just trying to do some patching on the cab corners, the cab, its a mess, but I'll make something of it end the end.

[cobra_4]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, going swap meet hunting tomorrow! Hopefully the ole' girl will get some new goodies!!

[cobra_4]

Well I got rained out of the swap meet so it looks like I'll be ebaying it for the parts I need, no biggie. I got some work done this weekend, not as much as I had hoped but its progress in the right direction.


I'd been going back and fourth on what to do with the inside of the cab, I don't want to pull it all apart and make it slick, but since I'm going with a darker blue, I don't want it to miss match, So I decided just to spray it with the color I'm doing the truck in. No prep, other than just wiping everything down. I want the blended look with the old blue shinning through a little bit, hopefully my vision will work out, stay with me, it will make sense when its finished.






Started priming the truck. First truck I've ever done, its nice how little there is to tape off. Heck when I started I actually hadn't taped anything off.




Taping a little, got almost one side of the bed done with the first coat. Its kinda nice to be able to jump around from project to project so you don't get burned out.

[cobra_4]

A little at work, work today. I tossed the ole air cleaner out, literally, left it outside, someone must have stolen it, but it was junk anyway so I needed a new one. I thought about hunting down an original, but ebay prices are kinda high on the ones I wanted, I searched our junk shelves, but didn't see anything I really liked. So I ended up with this chrome one that came off a '66 Vette we just restored, now I just gotta find a bottom!

This color below is what the roof will be and the wheels. Now the breather and soon the valve covers as well.


Scuffed her down.


A little primer



First coat of white.


And the finished product.

[cobra_4]

Got busy, truck, got shuffled outside, etc, etc. But I'm back on it now. I wanna take it to a local show on the 15th on November so hopefully its ready!! Plus I'm trying to sell my other truck so I need something to haul the trash off in!

Finished taping it off tonight, ordering the rest of the paint I need tomorrow, hopefully going to finish spraying some primer tomorrow night and put it in color on Thursday night!

[cobra_4]

Got her all in primer yesterday.




First coat of blue today.





Gonna put at least one more coat on tomorrow, its looking about like I wanted, an old rough shop truck, can't wait to finish her!!

[cobra_4]

And we have two-tone!

[cobra_4]

Little more progress, I wanted to switch marker and turn signal light styles, I ordered the red ones, but a buddy gave me these off a motor home. Free is free!!



Did the trim with some bumper black, then touched up the spots that were faded out.


I think they turned out pretty good.


Second coat of clear on the back bumper, may do one more since I've got a little left.


Got the bulbs tested and the ones pulled out that I need to replace to make way for the new lenses. Also got most of the valve cover bolts out and ready to pull off for paint.


A little teaser of the direction I've decided to go with the paint scheme on the truck.


I've got two large door stickers coming Friday, gotta add some more cool artwork as well, should turn out sweet! I HOPE! Lol.

[rusty76]

I'll follow.