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[DCCMB41]

Good Afternoon Everyone

My name is Dave Burnham and I live in South Mills, NC. I have a 1972 Chevy C-10 with a 402 in it. The truck has been in my family since it was new. It was my fathers truck. It has been kept in a garage and never was driven in the winter. My father passed away 25 years ago and I have had it for a number of years now.

My question is should I rebuild the motor and transmission? I am not a mechanic and won't pretend to be. It is a very strong motor and the transmission shifts great. I was thinking of a disassembly, open and inspect and then reassemble with new parts. The odometer shows 48828 and I am not sure if it has rolled over or not?

Please give me your advice and be honest. I have a budget of about 7500 and want to spend it wisely. I know it needs a new exhaust and that will obviously be done after the motor work.

Thanks for the help

Dave Burnham

[chev74]

WELCOME TO THE BOARD. there are many gurus here that know everything you want to know about your truck and more. Personally, i can only help with a few things, but the senior members are geniouses!

as far as messing with the truck-if it aint broke- dont fix it!! you can upgrade though.

I would spend a few days searching around the members profiles and drooling over their trucks, then making some decisions if you want. THey will have done things the right way and can tell you how much it will cost or walk you through the process of doing it yourself

[1972Ryan]

where exactly is south mills.....are we talking mills river? i'm in weaverville, nc

[krue]

Welcome to the board from South Missisippi! Leave it alone until it needs rebuilding!

[Dingfodgy]

Welcome from the Left Coast!

I'd definately leave it alone until it becomes readily apparent that it needs some work. If you know you eventually want a fresh and not-so-stock BB, then I would go buy a rebuildable core motor and build it up over time as you continue to enjoy the stocker. Spend your money on first making sure the truck is 100% safe. Then do the maintenance stuff like u-joints, radiator, v-belts, shocks, ball-joints, tie-rods, and all those suspension bushings and bearings. If you want to alter the ride height than this is the time to do that. Take care of any rust or other sheet metal issues. From there your imagination is the limit.

Regardless of what you do....pace yourself, do as much youself as you can- there are a bunch of really talented folks on this board that are more than willing to share their knowledge for those things you might be a bit apprehensive about and lastly- HAVE FUN!

[Longhorn Man]

welcome to the club!
There's some tests you can have done to determine if it even needs rebuilt. A shop can do a compression test, a leack down test, and send an oil sample out to a lab to determine what kind of contamiates are in it. They can actually tellyou what part of the engine is wearing too fast from the oil samples.
On the tranny, they can do the oil sample, a function test, and a line pressure chack. I couldn't see all this costing too much. Possibly less than 100 bucks + oil lab, but I would suspect more like 150.
If you do this, you'll know where you stand. If it's an honest 50,000 miles, then I can't see it needing much work inside the engine. maybe a good tune, some gaskets that leak could be replaced, and some general preventitive work... but all that would be WAY cheaper than a rebuild... esp if it isn't needed.

A couple things you should consider, possibly before spending a single penny...
where do you want this build to go? Bone stock? Light modification... say rims/tires and a little lower than stock... a bone stock truck maybe... show truck that never sees pavement?
Time constraints... Does it need to be done in 6 months... or do you have all the time in the world?
Location restaints Do you have a HOA that'll give you a hard time... or maybe a code enforcer for a neighbor?... or do you have a huge garage you can hide it in while work is being done?
Body and paint... this is normally the single most expensive part of any project. Look at the trim, the paint, the general aperance all around.
Your budget. You say there's money set aside... could that number grow, or is it set in stone.
And, one we hate to think about sometimes... is there a spouce that will leave you or make you wish she will if you spend too much time or money on it?

All very important things to consider.

[67_C-30]

to the board. If the engine is in decent shape, I wouldn't build it unless you are going to use it for long daily commuting or if you plan on running it real hard (racing, etc.) You can then spend your money on paint/body work and interior, followed by wheels, tires, and other blingness if you are going that route.

[tcb-1]

welcome to the shooting match from Shawnee, KS!!!

Right off the bat, you have a desireable rig. If your truck contains a factory 402BB, then you are one up on a lot of us. As for rebuilding, run a compression check to see how tight your ring gaps are. you can also do the old farmer method of checking rings.... place a piece of cardboard against the muffler, if it's sucked to the pipe and spit back, you may be looking at a ring/piston change. drain the oil and inspect it closely. there's a lot you can deduct from the oil. is it burning oil? is it smoking excessively? if so what color. I'm sure there are more board members with big blocks that will be able to help you more than small block ol' me!

for 7500 bones, you may be able to treat your father's truck to several nice upgrades. I'm sure you pop will look down and smile....

[BigDaddyDave]

Hey welcome to the board,from another NC member.

[Botietruck]

Hey Dave, welcome to the board. This is a great place to share information AND pics about these classics.

BTW, I'm just up the road in Great Bridge (Chesapeake). PM sent

I would like to meet you sometime and see that truck.

[DCCMB41]

Sorry Guys

I guess a little more info would have helped. The truck is probably a 8.5 or 9. There is no rust of any kind that can be found. The front end is new with all bushings and parts replaced. It has new shocks, ball joints, etc.

The truck was garage kept since it was bought in 1972 and my father drove it only on errands and short trips. It was his pride and joy besides us kids, sometimes we wondered if he loved it a little to much.

It is an A/C truck with tilt wheel and a complete gauge package. It is red/white/red.

The rear suspension will be my project this fall. It will be garage kept as well and I have a big garage to work on it out of the weather.

I would like to keep it as stock as possible. I will take it in and have the compression checked and a leak down test done and see what the verdict is. I am going to a dyno next week to get a baseline run to see where I am at and then another piece of the puzzle to know which way to go.

My engine/transmission and exhaust budget is 7500.00 Not sure if that is realistic or not. I have a couple of people that will be helping me to give supervision. I want to do the work myself and just need some guidance.

Thanks for all the advice.

Dave

[Bucky71]

You got any pictures? I love pictures!

[dan42]

Sounds like you have a very nice truck, especially with the family history. I recommend that if everything checks out, don't monkey too much with it. It's a nice feeling to drive a rig very close to how it was when your father drove it, IMO. Bringing back good memories. Some pictures would be great - maybe even one of the SPID. And BTW, welcome from Central California - you'll love this place!!

[stllookn]

Welcome to the board from the sunny Seattle, WA...LOL!

It sounds like you have the truck that we all wish we started with! We love to drool over pictures and your truck sounds worthy of some of that attention. Post lots of pics before you spend a cent! I hope you have a nice place, out of the weather, to keep this family heirloom!

The truck was garage kept since it was bought in 1972 and my father drove it only on errands and short trips. It was his pride and joy besides us kids, sometimes we wondered if he loved it a little to much

Not even possible...but you will soon learn that in due time!

I would keep it completely stock since it sounds like a really nice survivor and has been in the family since new. It will be worth lots more that way anyhow. You can get another truck to shave, drop, mangle and do smokey burnouts down to the lug nuts!!!!!!!!!!

[AH619]

Welcome To The Board From Arkansas. I Would Leave It Untouched Untill It Needed To Be Torn Apart. To Me Original Is Worth A Lot. Marvin