1972 C10 ... SoCal BBC/TH400

[bs46488]

So this project kind of started by accident in June of 2014. My first project is a 1970 Nova. It convinced me to join the masses and go the LS route, so I was searching for an engine stand on Craigslist....but came home with this instead.



I was told the truck was lowered with Hotchkis springs. Its got some of the Early Classic brackets and parts here and there. It will get the old mildly built 454 with the th400. I'm going to put on a DIY hydroboost. Then once I get some miles on it and any issues worked out, I'll make a final build plan. Here's the Nova donating the Big Block to its new garage mate.



When I bought the truck, it looked almost good enough that you could have dropped the motor. Done a couple things, here and there...then boom! Having a cool old running truck. But it never works that easily.

So within a couple of days this happened (who knew they came apart so fast?):



Warning, for all you purist look away now ... a little of this:



Followed by a little nip here:



Here is how she sits now:



Hydroboost:



And the near future....




Stripping paint and coating everything in epoxy paint from Southern Polyurethane Inc. I'm thinking of calling in sick from work for a couple of days and see how much further I can get with stripping and painting.

[bs46488]

There was no SPID on this truck and the PO has already done some modifications to it. So I'm using that as a free ticket.

Since we all love pictures. Here are some more:

The day I brought it home, no engine or trans


The lines are pretty straight:



But the PO has done extensive work with bondo. And it sat outside in a thin layer of primer, so most all of the bondo has gotten water behind it and failed. This section is where he removed the drip rail:


This pile of bondo I pulled off with my finger nail. It just came off in sheets


I unshaved his shaved doors. Also discovered the original color. I think its 514 Red?



One other spot I found the original color:


Rear mounted Blazer tank

[jjlett69]

Looking good Neighbor! I am here in San Diego also, Otay Ranch. Looking forward to watching your build, subscribed

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Looks to be a killer start!

[bs46488]

A little bit of an update from over the weekend. Getting closer to first start-up/drive.

Quick little brake overhaul. Before spending big money on any upgrades, I just wanted to get it rolling and back to life. I sourced most of the factory parts from Rockauto. The only issue I ran into were the factory brake hoses were too short. Ended up using some '74 Impala lines instead.



I figured my neighbors would not be a big fan of the first start up of the big block with open headers. So I called a couple of local muffler shops that all wanted north of $700 to bend 2.5" exhaust. So I took the 3" straight pipe off of my donor vehicle, bought a couple of mandrel bends to fab up my own exhaust system. Its not going to win any show awards, but I spent about 10% of what the shops were quoting me.

[bs46488]

It's Alive!!!! (Well, sort of....)

I got all the exhaust painted and mounted. Got my fuel sending unit installed, fuel line, and 5 gallons of fresh gas in the tank. Preliminary bleed on the brakes (needs some more bleeding done)

I pre-filled the carb with fuel and it fires up. But then it stalls out and I have exactly 0psi on my fuel gauge. Since the motor was running an electric pump and had a block-off plate on the block, my suspicion is that the previous owner put a cam in it that doesn't support a mechanical pump. I'll pull the old pump and wire it up on truck and see if we can get it running....

[bs46488]

Now it's alive. My father came to visit for a couple of days and we spent some time in the garage and got it working.

I had a resistance issue with the starter cables. Made a quick trip to my local welding store and bought some nice thick 2ga copper cable. That allowed the starter to crank a little harder and pull the fuel pressure up.

According to the DMV, this is the first time in 8 years the truck has moved under its own power.

Here is a picture of my father driving around our cul-de-sac.

[FRANKENSTEINC10]

Loving the build so far.

[bs46488]

So I've been told that I'm starting a kitchen remodel. "We" are just going to do a face lift of painting the cabinets and new counter tops and backsplash, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Anyways, here is the last shot of both projects from this weekend. Got the cars out, cleaned and put away all the tools. Got the chop box, air nailers, etc out of the corner to start the indoor projects.

I'll tinker with them a little during the kitchen work (like trying to figure out why I can't get any brake pedal pressure in the truck!)

After the kitchen project, I'll start some body and paint work on the truck (1st) and the Nova (2nd).

[bs46488]

Back from the kitchen remodel.

Replaced the entire back half of the brake system and rebuilt the drums. New hard lines bent, new rubber hoses, etc.

Fired the truck up and backed it out of the garage....with actual brake pedal feel!!!!

Here is a pic of the rebuilt drums (before I learned there was a primary and secondary shoe. Amazing how much faster you can do the install the 2nd time)



Larger bore master cylinder.

[bs46488]

Had a little free time this weekend and went after the roof.

I was very pleased to only find filler on the previous owners shaved drip rails and smoothed rear cargo light. The welds look good and the roof skin is in excellent shape.

I'll probably cut the cargo light back out and put in a 3rd brake light/cargo combo.

[bs46488]

Still stripping off old paint.

Bought this tailgate locally. There is a small dent near the "C", but that should be fixable. However, the inside of the tailgate is beat up, dented, scratched, etc.

I have about 90% of the truck stripped of paint now, so I guess I need to mix up some epoxy primer and get this metal sealed up.



Then I've been parts shopping trying to get some materials shipped in for the project. Looking at wood bed kits, the oversize shipping charges and the add on charges to drill the holes bothered me.....so I lucked out and found some wood locally for sale. Guess I'll be making my own wood bed kit.

Look at this wood grain, it is certainly going to look nice when it is sanded and finished.

[WarMonger]

truck looks great. What color do you plan on going with it?

[bs46488]

Paint color....I wish that question was easy to answer.

I want to strip all the old paint off, get it in primer and painted....SO I CAN STOP CHANGING MY MIND ON PAINT COLOR.

I believe I have changed my mind 5 or 6 times now. I started with all solid colors (because I'm a beginner painter), but I always look twice at the metallics, so I have kept that door open.

So here is the progression:
Red
Orange
Orange/white
White
Gunmetal (metallic)
Fine Silver Birch (metallic) - this is my latest and current decision (give me 10 mins and I'll change my mind)

[bs46488]

My father came from New York to visit. So first project up was to cut up all that lumber for the truck bed. A full trash can of saw dust later, we have the basic layout of the bed and channels for the rails.

This wood is going to look great once its sanded and stained/sealed!

[bs46488]

Up next was body work and prep for paint.

New cab corner


And the start of many many hours of sanding ahead of me!

[bs46488]

More body work progress.

I'm shooting everything in SPI epoxy





Overall I'm still fairly pleased (aka lucky) that the panels are fairly straight.

However, I can't say the same for the back side of the tailgate. I'll have to come up with a little magic here

[bs46488]

[/QUOTE]

Here is a little before and after of the tailgate. Still have a little work to do with some dings at the bottom, but pretty happy so far.

[bs46488]

Started initial body work on the other side of the bed.

Hoping to shoot some epoxy in the next couple of weekends.

[bs46488]

A couple of pictures from my weekend progress....







Back together to put away in the garage:

[Mapearso]

Nice work! Coming along great! I'm in for the ride

[bs46488]

Still plugging away. At this rate, you guys will probably have pics of every panel sanded and primed of this truck.

The previous owner "jammed" the truck in this orange color. It failed and flaked off in sheets. So lots of sanding, scrapping and grinding...



24 hours later with 2 coats of SPI epoxy. I'm using wood shims on the hood supports so that I can fill the cracks with SEM 39357 flexable urethane foam. I have to say, after using this product....not that impressed. It has a 15 sec working window and was messing to work with.

But now that all the foam is in, it is a completely different hood. No more flex or wobble. I'll spray some more primer on top once I clean up all the foam mess

[swamp rat]

It may have been messy but well worth it!

[bs46488]

A little delay on posting this past weekends projects.

Got the doors off the cab and in the 95+ degree heat I wire wheeled the door jambs. Luckily the cab inside will only need to be scuffed and painted.

Since I bought some paint, I guess I decided a paint color (finally!)....it will be metallic gray inside and out with red interior.



If you can zoom in, it looks like the previous owner installed new rockers over top of the old ones, then just covered the welds with filler.

[bs46488]

Still plugging away....

Got all the mess stripped off the cab. Sprayed some epoxy so that I can do some filler work.



Getting the bed in high build primer was very satisfying! The cab is next (and the final piece not in final primer). Hoping to paint color next month....