75 C10 Moss Gold - Pgreensoup and Son

[pgreensoup]

First off - thanks to all of you regular posters - I've learned a ton from reading all the threads. I just now got the ability to post, so I plan to start posting myself.

On April 9, 2025, my son and I acquired a 1975 Moss Gold Custom Deluxe (for $42 - not kidding). It has NEVER been under cover, and has sat in the Eastern Washington heat, on a dusty road with windows half open for over half its life. And boy were we excited.

It had 70,000 miles on it when we got it. It is absolutely filthy, so we tossed a sheet over the bench seat, and drove it until it started smoking heavily, which was 12 miles. So now with 70,012 miles, we are learning how to replace a brake caliper that appears to have frozen.

My son and I are not mechanical. And like my son, I did not have a father who was mechanical. So we are learning from these forums, and from YouTube. We have dabbled in upholstery, so we plan to start there.

I'll post a few pictures below, and of course would love to hear any thoughts, wisdom, lessons, things to try, things NOT to do.

Besides the frozen caliper, the truck runs (fine?) it has a bit of rust here and there, but nothing terrible other than a huge hole at the bottom of the cab to the right of the driver's door, and a few holes in the passenger floorboard, and the passenger wheel well/fender area. The tailgate is pretty munched up. The interior is a complete disaster. BUT the truck is loud and fun to drive! My friend explained it has a glass pack (whatever that means).

Okay. To the pics! And PLEASE, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[pgreensoup]

Oh, I forgot to mention that before we got the truck, we knew we were going to get it, so I found a tailgate locally for $100. I was so excited to find the right color - although it was from a higher trim level. Here is a pic of the new tailgate and the old one.

[pgreensoup]

April 12, 2025 - So it's time to get that bench seat out and see what we can do. Lots of broken springs - also a large crack in the rails. Maybe we can get a better bench somewhere?

While we are in the cab, looks like we need new flooring for sure.

But the most pressing mater is the frozen caliper. I mess about a bit. Realize I can't even see anything behind the tire for all the grease that has built up over the years, so I do some pressure washing, then tackle the brake lines and the caliper. Well, I mangle one of the brake lines. But lucky for me, 64RELIC lives nearby, has a donor 1980 C10, brings a new/old brake line to replace mine, and gets us back on the road. He also mentions that he may have an 81 seat that is in better condition than my 75.

Also we start taking off the dash, the bezel and start working on cleaning that up.

[Mike80D]

Nice find. What a deal! I would leave it as original as possible if it were mine. (They’re easier on the wallet that way!). I guess the rear bumper, and hitch were added at some time. Noticed the old school brake controller so she has seen some work in her day. You can try to find a chrome front bumper, and hub caps to match. Enjoy your project.

[pgreensoup]

Originally Posted by Mike80D

Nice find. What a deal! I would leave it as original as possible if it were mine. (They’re easier on the wallet that way!). I guess the rear bumper, and hitch were added at some time. Noticed the old school brake controller so she has seen some work in her day. You can try to find a chrome front bumper, and hub caps to match. Enjoy your project.

Thanks! Yeah, we are going to try to revive the paint, and even keep white wheels with hubcaps - although we are painting those "steel". And we think we have a possible chrome bumper from a friend!

[pgreensoup]

Floor holes and new flooring

The rubber flooring was shot. We ordered the Molded Industrial PolyVinyl from LMC. But before we could put it in, there were a few holes to fill. Rather than weld, I created some aluminum patches and used screws and silicone to hold them in place. Folks tell me that means this truck is a “driver” not a “restoration”. Ok.

Next step was wire wheeling, cleaning then POR 15.

After that we installed the new MIP, and used hole saws to cut out the seatbelt and seat bolt hole areas. Used the new seatbelts to hold it in place.
Looks good, but I think we might get some tan floor mats to complete the look.

[pgreensoup]

Seatbelts And a RUST hole.

Safety first. A friend suggested upgrading the seat belts to 3 point harness style. We got them from LMC. The bolts from LMC were wrong - or at least didn’t fit my truck’s pre-drilled holes. Yes, the truck had the holes covered with a plastic cover, but still only had lap belts. My buddy’s 80 parts truck came in handy again with the right size bolts. Seat belts went in easily after that.

We did reinstall the original middle lap belt.

While doing the seatbelts I noticed some puckering paint behind the driver door, then stuck my finger through it, then kept going until I could get my fist through it. Any suggestions on how to go about fixing this? I think we’d prefer the easier, non-welding option if there is one. You can see the hole in the photo, along with a pile of rust on the floor.

[pgreensoup]

Bench Seat

Our 75 seat was in pretty bad shape. My buddy had an 81 seat that folds (the blue one) so we checked the fit and went with that one. Got new bottom foam, and “tan” vinyl and velour seat that looks to be similar to “saddle”. I am noticing that there seems to be a reddish brown saddle, and a more tan saddle out there. Anyone know about this, or why that is?

After wire wheeling the frame and tracks we painted, then reupholstered. The fit is not as tight as we’d like, but it really does look and feel great. Seat sits a bit higher with the new foam, but it is super comfy.

We put in the LMC seat heater kit. Does anyone have any experience with wiring that up? The instructions aren't great. In fact, the kit was a bit disappointing in that there was not enough wire to get the toggle switch to the dash. I called LMC. Yes, they have had other complaints - "but there is nothing they can do." I eventually got a $20 gift certificate which covered the cost of the wires we had to buy to extend the switch. We extended the switch wiring by 5 feet, used a graduated drill bit (carefully) and got the toggle switch installed in the dash next to the ash tray.

[rodstored-72]

welcome aboard!! glad to see that you guys are wanting to tackle a nice project. agree with the above, i would not bother with any paint or body issues now. suggestion: work on getting it to run good & drive safely - all the mechanical stuff. be patient and FOR SURE!! read all you can on HERE, as well as youtube. Be patient & ask alot of questions. it will be more work, but keep us informed & everyone loves lotsa pics!! parts can be found readily, but I tend to go to the reliability of places like LMC truck and any of the vendors here on this site. have fun with the son & keep us posted..

[straight6chevyguy]

Cool truck and great work so far!
Im liking it!

[dakattack7]

Great work. This is the fun way to work on an old truck and not keep it off the road long! I have a 75 GMC K10 short bed in Moss gold. Don't see the color often at all!

[Mike80D]

Nice work. Glad to see a truck being brought back around to a life it deserves.