1964 C10 Daily Driver/Restomod

[MDPotter]

Hello everybody, I'm a new member here and I've been exploring the forum and have found a lot of helpful advice and thought I'd share my experience with this restoration just in case anyone else out there is working on a similar build.

Dad and I are restoring the 64 C10 he drove in high school which belonged to his grandfather previously. It sat in the weeds for 20+ years before we pulled it into the shop in 2006 and took it apart. Life happened, the economy went down the drain, but we resumed the project with moderate effort in 2016 and really got after it this past year. I don't have pictures readily available for all the work done up to July 2018, but they are in the archives.

A summary of the work/mods done so far:
-Replaced inner/outer rockers, cab corners
-Replaced lower half of outer door skin (just below window sill down)
-Replaced inner door bottom
-Sandblasted all reusable parts and frame
-Purchased a whole new bed and front fenders
-Deleted tailgate chains and installed Mar-K hidden latches and links
-Welded up stake pockets
-Installed stainless tank between frame rails
-Rebuilt rear brakes (kept drums)
-Added front & rear sway bars
-1/3 drop
-Front disc brake conversion
-Dewitts radiator
-5.3 LC9 with 6-spd trans out of a wrecked 2012 2WD Silverado
-Power steering conversion

A summary of the work/mods to come:
-Vintage Air A/C
-17x8 6 lug Vision Legend wheels
-Headlights upgrade (TBD)
-Bucket seats out of 99-06 pickup
-Bed wood (Apitong)
-CPP steering column
-Single-DIN radio

We did mockups of (6) different color options and settled on the darker shade of GM Stone Blue Metallic:
-Eastwood rat rod black
-GM Torch Red
-GM Stone Blue Metallic (lighter shade, on fender in picture below)
-GM Stone Blue Metallic (darker shade, right half of bedside in picture below)
-GM Stone Blue Metallic (lighter shade with matte clear)
-Subaru Blue (left half of bedside in picture below)
-MIP or rubber floor mat & sound deadening
-Kick panel delete/speaker install

If all goes well this weekend, the bed will be painted.

[KenAdams]

Nice! Keep the pictures coming!

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

Sounds and looks like you have done a lot of work so far. Let me know if you need one of my hydraulic clutch conversions for that 6 speed.

[MDPotter]

Got the bed, cowl, outer cowls, bed braces, and inside face of the glove box, inner door panels, and ash tray painted yesterday. I'm pretty happy with it; they came out very clean considering my budget booth. I got a couple runs on one of the bedsides, but it should sand out and buff okay since I put on 3 wet coats of UV clear.

Next step is to gap the doors and finish blocking them as well as re-prime the tailgate before final sanding.

[Captainfab]

That looks great

[Indian113]

That sure is a Pretty Blue. Looking Good- Nice Work!

[jimmythompson1964]

nice work !!

[MDPotter]

Got both doors fitted to the cab and test fitted/mocked up the seats and console.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the doors fit, considering that we replaced inner and outer rockers, cab corners, and most of the door skin (also our first restoration). The gaps aren't perfect, but this is a driver, not a show truck so we're happy with them. Also sprayed two more coats of surfacer on the doors and the hood in preparation for another blocking session next weekend.

Seats are out of 99-06 GM truck and the console is out of 07-13 GM truck. The console straddles the transmission hump perfectly, we just have to put a spacer between the front mounting holes and the floor.

[MDPotter]

1/2

Got a lot of painting done this weekend. Painted the inside of the cab, both fenders, grille support, inner door panels, and tailgate. We're really excited to see the truck together and out in the sun because this blue really lights up in the sun and the picture doesn't do it justice.

I had trouble getting the gun inside the concave corners in the back of the cab, they came out very rough so I'll be sanding and buffing those out.

Also got most of the cab sanded for base/clear. Will not have much time in the next few weekends due to a vacation, but at this point all that's left to paint are the doors, outside of the cab, and the hood.

[MDPotter]

2/2

[62bagger]

That color looks great. Cant wait to see it assembled.

[65truckowner]

A friend of mine had a truck that color. His was a 66 I think. Great job

[kdad]

Subscribed..... Great color BTW

[hank scorpio]

Looks great! Which UV clear are you using?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by hank scorpio

Looks great! Which UV clear are you using?

I'm using SPI's Universal Clear with slow activator. I'm by no means experienced, I've got a run on almost every panel but I'm getting better with every panel and am planning on cutting/buffing when it's all put together anyway.

[hank scorpio]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

I'm using SPI's Universal Clear with slow activator. I'm by no means experienced, I've got a run on almost every panel but I'm getting better with every panel and am planning on cutting/buffing when it's all put together anyway.

Nice! I've been spraying UV cured clear (and sealer) for the last few years and it literally transformed my business (guitar manufacturing). I've been using Hentzen UV poly and I love it. The name of the game for us in clear is build so I'm not as concrerned about having it lay down perfect with out orange peel (almost impossible since we can't spray one side at a time, we're always dealing with a 3D object with full paint coverage).

I've found that 2k urethane sprays a bit thinner and typically will lay down a little nicer than UV Poly but the speed and ability to cure runs and sags thru the entire material is so nice.

I'd say maybe consider either going up in tip size or reduce slightly. Sometimes it seems counterintuitive but I found when I was getting runs, reducing the material to flow out or spray thinner let me put LESS material on and get better coverage at the same time.

Guitars are also tricky because the really good guns are meant for spraying wide patterns so when you narrow down to work on something smaller, it's really hard to balance the flow with out it having one heavy wet path.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by hank scorpio

Nice! I've been spraying UV cured clear (and sealer) for the last few years and it literally transformed my business (guitar manufacturing). I've been using Hentzen UV poly and I love it. The name of the game for us in clear is build so I'm not as concrerned about having it lay down perfect with out orange peel (almost impossible since we can't spray one side at a time, we're always dealing with a 3D object with full paint coverage).

I've found that 2k urethane sprays a bit thinner and typically will lay down a little nicer than UV Poly but the speed and ability to cure runs and sags thru the entire material is so nice.

I'd say maybe consider either going up in tip size or reduce slightly. Sometimes it seems counterintuitive but I found when I was getting runs, reducing the material to flow out or spray thinner let me put LESS material on and get better coverage at the same time.

Guitars are also tricky because the really good guns are meant for spraying wide patterns so when you narrow down to work on something smaller, it's really hard to balance the flow with out it having one heavy wet path.

I was able to spray the 2nd fender without any runs (on the outside anyway) and I've found that I was moving too slow and I have to be aware of double coverage. The concave surfaces are tough too - the inside corners of the cab came out really rough but I'm looking forward to having everything painted in the next month or so and put it together finally.

[hank scorpio]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

I was able to spray the 2nd fender without any runs (on the outside anyway) and I've found that I was moving too slow and I have to be aware of double coverage. The concave surfaces are tough too - the inside corners of the cab came out really rough but I'm looking forward to having everything painted in the next month or so and put it together finally.

You're doing a great job. I literally paint all day for a living but I hate doing body work. Quite jealous here

[Clyde65]

Looks a lot like GM 29 Midnight blue from 85, had a truck that color and loved it.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

Looks a lot like GM 29 Midnight blue from 85, had a truck that color and loved it.

Clyde - It's Stone Blue Metallic G1K from the current body style Sierra. It's such a dynamic color, I can't wait to see it put together in the sun. It looks so dark out of the sun, but the sun shows the metallic and it almost has a little bit of purple to it in the right light.

[MDPotter]

Painted the doors today - now all parts are in paint. We will start putting it together this weekend! We're really excited; this will be the most complete (in terms of being assembled and work progress) since we took it apart.

[rollin thunder]

Love the color! keep up the good work!

[Indian113]

Your doing great, anxious to see it all together

[MDPotter]

We set the cab, hung the doors, and installed sound deadening in the cab this weekend. We made an order with LMC last night for a bunch of rubber and fasteners so we can put the front end together next weekend.

[MDPotter]

It's been a little while since my last update - been busy on the weekends and also spent some time working on my 68. But we've got a lot of the body on the frame, the cab is sound deadened, ECM and main fuse block is mounted, more of the Vintage Air system is in place, rear half of the truck is wired, bed wood is in, and we even test fit the wheels and tires off my 68 and they turned out to be just about right in terms of sizing and backspace.

Wheels are on order and next weekend we hope to get the tailgate and rear bumper on and continue wiring.