Big Rhonda long term build thread

[Knight72]

I am starting a build thread to keep me on task over the next few years for the restore on my 72 lwb. I bought Rhonda for $1500 in Talladega a year or so back. Dropped it off in the garage with plans to chop the fram, make a swb stepper, and drop an old 350 in to putt around in. On the surface she looked great, but after digging in there are some problems I couldn't just gloss over. So my slap it together project and drive went out the window. There's nothing special about my truck, but I have a some sentimental attachment after spending the last year seeing it sit with flat tires looking ragged out and tired. So I am doing a long term build that will probably be a full frame off restoration. The plans also shifted on the drive train. Current plans:

454 (mild build) with Tremec TKO
New complete wiring from AAW
Replace rusted inner cowl, rockers, cab corners, and kick panels.
Replace the rusted sections of bed floor.
Clean and POR15 the frame.
Either a static 2/4 drop or bag system.
Relocate gas tank to under bed
Replace rusty radiator support and fenders.
Paint black with Detroit steel artillery style wheels.
Upgrade rear drums to disc
Power steering and brakes.

Timeline is 3-5 years. Goal is to cut my teeth on the restore doing all of it I possibly can myself. I've rebuilt a Cherokee 4x4 but nothing to this scope. A majority of my time will be practicing with body work and painting old panels. I've got a mig, most tools I'll need, and a plasma cutter. Other stuff will be purchased along the way.

Pictures are how she looked coming home last year. I'll update today or tomorrow with how she currently sits.

[kingNothing]

I remember seeing this truck when I was looking for a 72. You know if its from Talladega it will go fast..lol. Sounds like you have a good plan in place. It should make a very cool truck.I'll be following along

[Knight72]

Appreciate it King. I was impressed with the truck for $1500.

So I had some time in the garage and finished stripping my cab. I've got some areas to fix, but I don't think the cab is too far gone. I'll definitely need rockers and cab corners. I've got the metal but foolishly got rid of the old fenders. I thought they were gone and didn't want them taking up space. So no rocker install until I get fender repops for line up, sucks because I have the metal sitting on the shelf. Cut out the rusty radiator support and meticulously pulled all the dash components and vintage air without breaking it all. The areas I've sanded and stripped look okay. Some pitting in the floor. Cab supports are solid, back half of the cab is solid. Pretty happy so far

Cut the center out of the Reese hitch since some doofus welded it to the frame, I'll have to wait til I pull the bed and cut it out with the plasma cutter. Gotta hit the hardware store for a plug to wire it up.

Also Decided to stick with the 350 for budget sake especially since I have it on the stand and all parts minus the new heads. One day I'll have that 454. I've got it stripped to the long block. Going to hang out there until I finish working my way through my rebuild book.

[Knight72]

Some progress today. Pulled the bed and the Frame is solid just super rusty. Plans are gaining clarity and solidifying on where I want this truck to go. Frame off restoration is probably not the most accurate description. I have seen some amazing full restorations on the site and it's not fair to put my build on that level. I am definitely pulling the cab and bed. So technically it's a frame off, but I am building a driver that's gonna work like a truck and hopefully look good. However I won't be cutting corners and all of the rusted metal will be cut from cab and replaced with new. I am debating on power washing the gunk and wire wheeling the frame, then two coats por15 and a top coat. Southern winters are mild with no salt. I am hoping this is the best course, but I'm still scouring the paint and body subsection. I don't have a compressor up to the task of spraying... Yet. It's on the list. So a roller or spray bomb option is my plan for the frame. Bed floor has some serious issues. It will be the next section to tackle looks to be the left and right sections at the header panel end need to be replaced. I will be marking and cutting those sections and hopefully welding replacements in by late May/early June. I am also planning on bed lining the bed and associated areas due to the expectations of loading tons of stuff in the truck over the next few years. Not sure if I should power wash and por15 it before hitting it with bed liner. Also I decided I am going with solid black paint with a dark saddle interior.

[Knight72]

Pulled the cab, transmission, driveshaft, and emergency brake lines today. Managed to not break anything. Tomorrow I'm going to push it behind the shop and soak her down with some biodegradable degreaser and pressure wash the gunk and dirt dobber nests. On a side note looks like I might have a 12 bolt posi with 3.73 gears. I'll know for sure when I pull the diff cover, but all signs are positive. I think I might have a small bend in the frame up front, might need to heat it and correct it with a bfh.

[72 tigger]

Looks good- you’re doing it right

[Knight72]

Not much done over the last week. Busy at work and at home. I did make time to run the emergency brake assembly and the clutch/brake assembly through the electrolysis tank. Awesome stuff. Those are all gussied up and curing until cab re-assembly.

[68Gold/white]

What are possible negative points about moving gas tank out of cab?

Not trying to be a Beavis here, just wondering...

[Knight72]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

What are possible negative points about moving gas tank out of cab?

Not trying to be a Beavis here, just wondering...

Is this what you are referring to?
"Scouring the forum and reading today made me change my mind on moving the gas tank from the cab"


Definitely no negatives to moving it, other than losing the spare tire space, and cost. What I decided was that there aren't as many negatives to leaving it where it's at, as I initially thought. Sloshing and fumes can be reduced and solved. And I don't need the storage behind the seat.

[68Gold/white]

Originally Posted by Knight72

Is this what you are referring to?
"Scouring the forum and reading today made me change my mind on moving the gas tank from the cab"


Definitely no negatives to moving it, other than losing the spare tire space, and cost. What I decided was that there aren't as many negatives to leaving it where it's at, as I initially thought. Sloshing and fumes can be reduced and solved. And I don't need the storage behind the seat.

I was just wondering what your thoughts were. I have a 67 C10, LWB I will be in "economy" spending mode to get it back on the road for a while. I will be leaving tank in cab for a while, also. Costs of new rear tank and fuel system are why I'll leave tank in cab for a year or two. I will be thrilled just to have mine on the street. I plan to upgrade it while still driving it, over time periods of a weekend or week. Tearing something apart and having it not run for YEARS is not a good thing.....

Thanks

[Knight72]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

I was just wondering what your thoughts were. I have a 67 C10, LWB I will be in "economy" spending mode to get it back on the road for a while. I will be leaving tank in cab for a while, also. Costs of new rear tank and fuel system are why I'll leave tank in cab for a year or two. I will be thrilled just to have mine on the street. I plan to upgrade it while still driving it, over time periods of a weekend or week. Tearing something apart and having it not run for YEARS is not a good thing.....

Thanks

No worries, man. I was really leaning to going all out initially, but I'm being very flexible to try and save a few bucks here and there, while not cutting corners. Reading the forum every day is giving me a lot of perspective and insight into the c10 platform, and I'm being swayed by different info and gaining clarity on where I want my build to go. I'm trying to incorporate as much of the original truck and gm design as possible due to it being almost 100% original when I purchased. Everybody has their own personal way to do things. I like to tinker and repair. It's a lot of fun to me, so I don't mind the blown apart and not driving for a couple years. Different strokes and all that. I am looking forward to hoping in and cruising one day though. I appreciate the questions and replies too, helps keep me on task and gives another perspective on things I'm doing as well.

[Knight72]

Been slowly chipping at it in my spare time which hasn't been often between a 3hr round trip to work, full time college, a toddler about to turn two, and another one due in June. I have been picking up parts and working towards getting Rhonda running. I've really only gotten the frame painted. About to begin sanding the bed and cab in 1 square foot sections in my spare time until they are both clean metal. I've got my sheet steel for patches and will start templates and cutting soon. I picked up new cab bushings, new radiator support, and door hinge repair kits. I also picked up a pretty clean 454 Gen IV engine and a th400 transmission. The game plan is to send it off the the machine shop and get the block cleaned and honed and have the crank and rods checked for eccentricity in late January/mid February, even though it looked pretty clean. Brake lines are going back on and power conversion is being added. Then new big block frame mounts, transmission crossmember. Cab back on to begin lining up body panels and working on the driver side rocker. Need to find a good passenger fender in the next 6 months to do the passenger rockers.

[hotwls13]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

What are possible negative points about moving gas tank out of cab?

Not trying to be a Beavis here, just wondering...

It’s kind of pain in the you know what. The so called “kits” from places like LMC truck are really about half a kit. They have no provisions for dealing with the bed crossmember that is in the way of the top of the tank. They also provide zero solutions to getting the fuel to the tank. You have to piece together something yourself. And then good luck dealing with the odd filler size of 1 3/8” on the “blazer tanks”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent “upgrade” and I’ll be happy with my rear tank when it’s done. Just some things to think about when looking at the swap like it’s just a bolt in easy peasy thing.

If I was to do it again, I would either go with a nicer tank, or a tank with the filler going straight up into bed, or relocate and resize the filler on a new blazer tank.

[Andyking1203]

Replaceing the inner cowl ain't that hard.. just take your time and make sure its lined up correctly.. looks like a really good start!!!

[Eddie70]

Looking good. I am wanting to buy one of these trucks to have as a project. I just want a driver but I am sure there is going to be work similar to what you are doing with whatever I buy. Keep up the good work and I'll enjoy watching your progress.

By the way, I grew up in LA, about 10 miles from GA and 10 miles from FL. Little town called Ashford. I saw where you said mild winters and no salt, that put me in mind of that area.

[Knight72]

It has been a little bit since update, I have been busy plugging away through the kung flu plauge of 2020. I have replaced the inner rocker, lower A-pillar post, and outer rocker on the driver side. Cab support, inner rocker on the passenger side. I'm still working on the lower A-piller and the outer rocker for the passenger side. 2/4 drop installed spindles and springs, adjustable track bar, new trailing arm bushings, new shocks, c-notch welded in, new front wheel bearing and rotors. Also knocked out the gas tank relocation. I've gotten the bed apart and will be patching the bed floor soon. Antisquat drop member installed, and a pretty slick transmission crossmember. Also ordered pretty much the entire interior and new bumpers. More work to do.

[Knight72]

More pictures

[Knight72]

Still building the old girl. Life keeps getting in the way. Not too much done since the last update. Getting ready to take a couple weeks of PTO from work over the next couple months to cannonball on a few big items. Since the last update I posted I have installed a high hump (for the 454 that ain't going in now), bent and run rear 3/16 stainless steel brake lines. Added new front rubber brake lines, and hardware. Painted the drop spindles, painted the new brake calipers and installed pads. I also welded in the missing floor section on the passenger side. Tacked in the outer rocker after measuring fitment. Still need to do the cab corners and the kick panels. The 454 I had in 2020 ended up getting water in the cylinders from sitting in the pasture during our move. It was pitted beyond belief. So Last October I bought another complete engine. After being promised it was a good running motor, I found worse rust than the previous 454, so that was a bummer. Thanks to those two set backs it has been a little demotivating, but I was planning on tryin to have the 454 machined to see if it could be saved. I gave up on that when I found a screaming deal I couldn't pass up on FB market. I ended up with a Vortec 350 roller block .030 over with 4 relief flat tops. Honed and re-ringed by a machine shop. It came with 70cc edelbrock aluminum heads, roller rockers, roller lifters, ARP head bolts, and about 1.5x complete motors worth of parts for $1500. Guy was older and injured and was cleaning out the shop. So in the near future the plan is to rebuild my TH400. Check torque specs on the engine bolts and hear her run soon. Cab corners and sheet metal will be worked on on my next PTO week. Door hinge rebuild and running the AAW kit.

[Knight72]

Little bit of work done. Got all my parts sorted. Cam shaft on order should be here the week of 4/18. Starter the TH400 teardown. Next big projects are TH400 build, Engine button up, and last bits of metal work. 9 days off week after next and I plan to hustle through some of these big projects. Once these are done it will be time to start the road to reassembly and wiring. AAW kit is in the closet and is ready to go.

[LT7A]

Cool truck. Great work and great progress. You might have run across this already, but the part that you thought was bent on your frame, at least the picture I understood you to mean, is a flare that's there from the factory. Pretty common to mistake that for a bend that's not supposed to be there though. I will say I am less familiar with this generation of trucks than the squarebodies, but they have it too.

[Knight72]

Thanks LT7A.

I just wrapped up my PTO time, back to the grind today. I ended up getting less done than I hoped but more than I actually expected with two young kids and a overloaded wife. So with the breaks to help them and spend time playing with the kiddos, I ended up mainly working on rebuilding the transmission and putting the motor together. I am waiting on one sealing ring to show up for the th400 to be buttoned up and installed, and pushrods of the right length to put the engine back together. I checked my rod and main clearances to verify before putting the oil pan on. Everything checked out within specs. Brand new rod and main bearings installed. I got my camshaft delivered and installed and the dummy filler neck from pjmoreland, which is awesome quality. New timing chain set on, and the lifters back in their bores. No metal work this time around but I have some time in late June scheduled off, so maybe I'll get to it then. New stainless tube is in the shop for the fuel lines. I am excited to complete the drive train, it feels like I am really close to a wrapping up a major milestone. All I need to fully finish it is the driveshaft. I can't wait to hear it fire up. And then I spent a day installing tires on the daily driver and getting it aligned.

[72Teeroy]

Nice work

[Knight72]

Not a big update, but an important one. I knew the "chevy" orange the auto parts store sold me looked off, but I figured it was the light gray primer I used. The more I looked at it the more sure I was that they sold me a mopar orange. Well, I am a dummy for not confirming it sooner, but the color wasn't even close. I had to repaint it the right color, or I'd never hear the end of "You know that's hemi orange, right?" mainly from my dad. But boy does this new heart look sweet in the right Chevy red-orange color. Trans is finished up too, and the converter is here. I'll be buttoning them up this weekend and getting them in the truck. Exhaust mock up and driveshaft measuring comes next. I cannot wait to hear this truck run for the first time in at least 7 years.

[Knight72]

And the engine and transmission are in place for good!!!!!!!!! Torque converter in all buttoned up. Waiting on balancer bolt and alternator. Hedman F-body headers fit like crap and did not work like the squarebody guy on another forum said worked for him. I was hoping they would fit and tuck up in the frame. No dice. But my $1500 engine purchase came in clutch again. The random rusty no name brand headers that came with the engine fit like a glove and hang about even with the transmission pan. they got 3 coats of high heat header paint and 2 coats of satin clear high heat. I can live with how they look and where they hang on the chassis. I'll be mocking up exhaust and cleaning up my shop this weekend. Then back on metal work on the cowl to get the front clip back on and installed. Bonus picture of the goodest girl Peaches

[Knight72]

Wrapped up a few items and started a few more this week. I have the 3/8 stainless fuel line run from front to rear. Rubber lines and vent in place and I installed the fuel float in the tank. Got the drive shaft measured for cutting and installed the center support bracket on the drop crossmember. Radiator is mocked in position and is ready for tweaking and fitting next week. Pretty good weekend.