Heirloom - 73 C10 Cheyenne

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I've been thinking about putting this thread together for a long while. It is a bit of a story and a long trip (it isn't over yet either).

I've been looking and learning a lot from all the guys on here over the last five years and really haven't posted much at all. Maybe some of the stuff I can put up here will help some others with their projects...many things which seem simple in hindsight were really a difficult learning curve at first. I'm ok with my hands but don't have any real talent like some of you guys. Every piece of this has been a fight to get done at least halfway right.

Here's how it looked when I was getting ready to haul it back into the sunlight in 2011.

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I told a good buddy in college there was a 73 chevy stepside I was eventually going to work over. He asked me "why a 73? nobody wants those, you need a 68, that's what everybody wants".

Well this one has family history (plus I like the squarebody better anyway). Father in law bought it from family in California when he was 14. It was a factory big block truck - 454/t400. He drove it through high school. The 454 got pulled in favor of a L71 tri-power 427 out of a 68 corvette. Apparently this stuff was easier to find in the 70's.

The truck was sold to my wife's uncle (who didn't do anything except cut in a sunroof) and then came back to the father in law a few years later. My wife bought it in high school. Out came the big motor (she wasn't trusted with it!) and in went a 305. The 427 got shoved in a corner of the shop.

When I met my wife (then girlfriend) in high school she was driving it, but it got traded back to her folks when we left for college...couldn't pay the gas. It was parked permanently soon after until 10 years later...

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It cleaned up ok (with three generations worth of help) but was in pretty rough shape. Cab corner rot, couple of fender dents, bent bumper, had to keep it on one side of the dual tanks because switching to the other one sent a constant dribble of gas out of the switching valve (and onto the exhaust).

I drove it 2 hours away and got it in the garage. Stopped at napa on the way and grabbed a drip pan for the leaky 305. The thing had no power whatsoever but sounded pretty good (glasspacks).

Later that summer before I had done much with it my buddy from college stopped through town (picture relevant). We hung out a bit and I had to eventually look it up and prove to him that yes they did sell a 2wd half ton with a 454 as a factory option.

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I had mechanic'd on my own rigs for a long time. About five years before getting the truck I went completely through the motor and manual trans in a ford thunderbird (sorry, my fleet has contained a lot of ford over the years, I am somewhat brand agnostic).

The tbird had a roots blower, was kind of a cool car and the experience taught me a lot. Mostly it taught me that I wanted something that was easier to wrench on if it was going to be a "hobby"!

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So I knew I was eventually going to go get the old stepside. But I didn't know much about what I was going to do with it other than that it was going to get "newer" and I was doing more than just the motor this time.

Without any good plan I started fixing up the inside of the truck cab first (makes perfect sense right?). I have learned several times since then that interior should be the last thing you do, not the first.

I took the old carpet out, cleaned up the quart of oil that had spilled about three decades prior underneath the seat, and took a wire brush to the floor pans. They were pitted but solid.

The original trim color was charcoal gray but I SEM'd everything to black, the gray always looked dirty to me.

I also bought a new ABS headliner, was probably the biggest expense so far. The old one was saggy and because of the sunroof I couldn't just leave the roof bare. Also because of the sunroof I had to cut a big hole in the new headliner. Cutoff wheel threw plastic bits everywhere but did a good job.

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The truck had some good things going for it. The in-laws had almost always put it inside when it wasn't being driven. The original dash was perfect except for small cracks in the speaker vents. The bench seat's cover was not like any other I've ever seen, I suspect maybe it was aftermarket from the 70's. Anyway it was in great shape and not "velour" enough to be outdated.

I found a tach/small gas gauge from another truck and re-arranged my cluster. I soldered together leads on the back to make the flimsy circuit board work.

I also took apart everything under the dash and gave it a good cleaning. The truck was not originally an AC truck but it had been added from another truck at some point in the past. Up here in WA the temps don't really require AC and I liked the idea of less clutter under the dash/hood so I went to ripping it out. While I was at it I resealed the flapper in the heat distribution box with some foam camper mounting tape. This is a nice way to make the truck "feel" newer...when you pull the HVAC over to defrost it is really different to hear it close that flapper softly instead of with a metal on metal sound.

I even got online and found a couple sheets of a flexible rubber. After taking apart the manual kick panel vents I was able to drill out some rivets and replace the rotting rubber that seals these vents. Don't have any pics of these but they turned out really nice.

[MTCK]

Cool rig. Love the slot mags. Hopefully this story has a big block twist at the end.

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Originally Posted by MTCK

Cool rig. Love the slot mags. Hopefully this story has a big block twist at the end.

The slot mags are staying as long as I can manage it. They are a bit different than what I have seen everybody running. First off they are not repro's, these are the real deal, they even have the western wheels spinners for them. I've seen these going for serious money on ebay...

The other difference, which is kind of good and kind of not, is that these are actually van wheels, not truck wheels. I think it was done on purpose back in the 70's for the california low rider look, but these only have 3.5" backspacing. What is good about that is that the clearance to the A-arms is great! What isn't so good (IMO) is that the 295's stick out of the fenders a bit too much.

I hope to end up using some 275's eventually in front and maybe solve the "bubble" tire look a bit. The mags also need polished but I need to find time first.

Oh yeah I will get to the big block...

[77 Big 10]

Looks nice.

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Originally Posted by 77 Big 10

Looks nice.

Thanks Paul! It's getting there...eventually...maybe.

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At this point, which was about spring 2013 if memory serves, I had a 40 year old truck with a leaky 305, about three coats of orange-peeled rusty black paint, body damage, and a nice fixed up interior.

So I decided that obviously the next step was a redneck frame off and commenced tearing it apart.

One thing that I love about working on these old trucks is how ridiculously easy it is to access every nut and bolt. Contrast this engine pic with the thunderbird motor up above...much happier working on this. Kids helped as only kids can and I tried to bag and label all the hardware as it was coming off.

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One of the best tips I've found on here, and I don't remember who to give credit to, is that you can build a jig for an engine crane and use it to remove a cab. I will buy a tall frosty beverage for whoever came up with that and posted pictures.

Before I knew it I had parts everywhere. Storage has definitely been an issue with this project.

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I think it might be appropriate at this point to reflect on a few things.

A buddy of mine has a 66? or so Chevelle. It was his wife's earlier in life too so we have talked over these projects several times. He has something like $70k into his, a lot of professional work and it is a super nice car (as one would expect).

It was a little before I took the truck completely apart that I asked him what drove him to the point of building something that ridiculously nice. He said something along the lines of "we just envisioned a higher level of performance".

Building a rig that was once your wife's does give a little leeway as far as budget goes. That being said, you have to pay to play, and if you are fundamentally a tightwad to begin with...well. I wanted to build something that was "a higher level" but in no way was I going to throw 70k at something.

So I did what I usually do in these circumstances which was start figuring out ways to cut out the middleman and do everything possible myself. It may not turn out as nice in the end, but I will know it was (almost entirely) done with my hands. In the end if I get a good "date night" truck out of it, and some quality time with family in the garage, it will be worth it.

[rusty76]

I'm following. Nice truck.

[ruffrida2005]

Nice little build you have going on. My brother had a 95' Town car. He had 120 spoke Daytons wheels on it.

[MTCK]

Those do look similar. What are you going to run for the rest of the exhaust? Love how the truck is coming together.

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Originally Posted by MTCK

Those do look similar. What are you going to run for the rest of the exhaust? Love how the truck is coming together.

Thanks, it is a lot of hard work. I don't think I would ever advise somebody to try to sandblast/bodywork/paint in their garage.

I really don't know on the exhaust. At first I was thinking I would piece some stainless together myself but connections are an issue. So I was thinking just to take it to a shop and have them weld some aluminized steel up. Buddy of mine said the shop in town doesn't care whether they have to hook up to long tubes or bend up to short tubes.

Haven't really looked at mufflers either. Want to avoid the highway drone, guessing this thing is going to sound nasty enough without anything too loud. Any suggestions are welcome...

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Got the wife to help me remove the cab (again) on valentine's day. We use the engine crane jig one more time and got it moved over to the cab dolly. You get pretty good at doing this after about the 5th time.

With the cab on the dolly we left for a couple day vacation. Managed to get some hi build primer laid down for a final round of blocking on Friday, then proceeded to block for about 15 hours this weekend. Had to fix a few low spots and re-primer, still need to lay one more coat of hi build on the roof and hopefully it will all scratch out evenly.

I have been getting overspray on the new undercoating, I can't figure out how to mask off the underside. I figure I can spray a little black over the top and get it to look ok before it goes back on the frame.

The place is a mess, I've found that the best way to clean it up is open both garage doors and fire up the leaf blower.

[Corts60]

Very sweet project! It'll be exciting to see it in top coat.

[MTCK]

For mufflers I think I'm going to try a 3.5" magnaflow. Reviews say no drone. I'll let you know if I get to that point before you.

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Originally Posted by MTCK

For mufflers I think I'm going to try a 3.5" magnaflow. Reviews say no drone. I'll let you know if I get to that point before you.

Awesome, thanks for the advice. Didn't want to just stick flowmaster 40s on it (the default choice).

Off to youtube...

[Low Elco]

Great thread, enjoying a lot! Sounds like you're on track with the body and paint, that's about what I did. Good luck going forward, it's gonna be nice!

[Odaroloc]

Awesome build! Love it all! Makes me want to get back out and tear my 71,77, and 78 apart lol