70 C-30 build thread

[JennCat]

I give up! Damn this thing has taken over my life and nearly ended some good friendships. Personally, I do not have the fortitude to go through with this to the end. Besides, My friend Richard has done most of the work, been my adviser and has prevented me from doing things the hard way, more times than I would have thought.

I am selling my truck to Richard. It has been at his house nearly from the start, I spend far to much time away to make much progress and more importantly, my project has consumed far too much of his time. My account here is on his computer since I have done much of the online search work while he rebuilt my wiring harnesses, sanded and rattle canned.

He says he will keep the thread updated or possibly start a new account as (I'm certain) he wouldn't want to post under my name.

So, as I will be leaving this in far more capable hands, I would like to say thank you all for your help and the many threads that have helped resolve many circumstances that I was not prepared for.

I will post some pictures of the start of the project (mostly clean-up work) and update it to current. Beyond that, Richard will have to keep you updated as he goes forward.

[JennCat]

The beginning.
After looking at a '69 and being unable to obtain it (from Utah) I settled on this '70 from Oklahoma. The ad said, "runs and drives". During a conversation on the phone the owner told be it had been through a brush fire and I know that is true because when It arrived here in Kansas (I had it towed) everything that could have melted, had. Moreover, the windshield was cracked from the heat.

Nevertheless, I was growing tired of looking for a classic truck and this one would do fine as a base.

[IMG][/IMG]

[JennCat]

It arrives in Kansas and my friend (Richard) looks it over for me.

[flashed]

Looks good ,what are your plans for it ?

[JennCat]

Originally Posted by flashed

Looks good ,what are your plans for it ?

Well, the plans I had for it were kickin' my ass so Richard now owns it. He will either update this thread or start a new thread. I will update to current, then it's on him.

[JennCat]

Smoke and fire damage under the hood. Hoses and some plastic had been replaced. Radiator shroud warped, some wires melted. Heater box (removed) was half decomposed from the heat.

[JennCat]

A view of the interior. Under the dash was toast, the wires burned and the heat claimed every grommet through the firewall. The dash pad was history and the burn mark are evident in the photo. The seat was typical, worn and torn. The only thing in reasonable condition was the mouse nest behind the fuel tank but the three occupants didn't survive. Time to begin clean-up.

Richard pulled the tank and flushed it

[JennCat]

This is what remain of the composite heater box under the hood. Of interest here is that this truck is built such that removing the heater fan requires removing the hinge from the passenger side of the hood.

Richard wasn't pleased with that so he rebuilt the heater box in two sections. Now, changing the heater core does not require also removing the fan or its section of housing. Also, the fan portion can be removed without taking the hinge off the hood.

First, cutting away the decomposed portions and fitting the remains to a cardboard template of the mounting surface at the firewall.








Then making a rough cardboard template if the missing portions





Then, flattening the rough cardboard template and transferring the pattern to sheet metal to produce a form for a fiberglass lay up.






Fitting the form. The metal worked as a base to lay-up glass and it had a plastic separator between it and the fiberglass so the form could be removed.



Richard finishing the fiberglass repair on one half of the heater box (fitting the chute)