Rookie with a 70' C10

[acaruth]

Hey guys, I've been a guest in here for a while and finally decided to join up last week. Well this past Friday I finally took the plunge and bought a 70 longbed. Overall it's in decent shape for a $1000 truck and the extra parts that came with it. Originally a Nebraska truck then purchased and driven to PA where it sat for five years until I came along. The body has 85k and a new Goodwrench 350 was put in in 99' when the truck had 55k miles. A TH350 came installed but the PO also included a supposedly rebuilt TH400 with the purchase as well as two extra tailgates, a pair of rocker panels, and a pair of cab corners. I don't really need the cab corners as the truck is solid in that area but boy do I need those rocker panels. The truck runs great. It starts up on the first try and the motor definitely pulls strong. What do you guys think.

[Lee H]

Congrats on the ride, welcome to the board. Lot's of very knowledgeable people willing to help out.

[acaruth]

Thanks Lee. I've seen a lot of nice trucks on this board. I'm not planning to do much, maybe a little mods here and there but for the most part I have to make it a reliable, comfortable driver. First thing I did was take it to my mechanic so he could start on a tune-up. Really dropping it off there was a way to save it from getting towed or broken into b/c I don't have a garage. I have to get started on cleaning up that engine bay though. It' hedious.

[cerjio]

First of all Congrats on the truck , an im slightly jealous , Im building a 70 also , same color as yours when I got it in a million pieces but when i get ready to paint it will be Silver, I see yours has A/C an must have Disc brakes , thats good wish I had the A/C , that will come along soon Idid put disc brakes on it though

[cerjio]

hope these pics come thru

[acaruth]

Thanks Cerjio. Right about now yours is looking a whole lot better than mine. Don't let the cheap camera pics fool you, it needs work. The passenger inner and outer fender is rusted out in the infamous spot. The driver fender is solid but there's a nice size dent that's not worth trying to beat out. And did I mention the rocker panels.

that was the driver side and below is the passenger

[acaruth]

Oh and unfortunately I do not have discs. Drums all around on 6 lug. Which leads me to my next question. Not only do I have to convert to five lug but how to I go about doing a disc conversion?

[VA72C10]

Looks like a solid start. Make sure you're careful with the inner grille.....looks to be in good shape.....and they don't reproduce the 70 inner grille right now...

[acaruth]

Thanks VA72. Your name wouldn't happen to be Terry, would it?

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by acaruth

Thanks VA72. Your name wouldn't happen to be Terry, would it?

Nope, it's Jonathan. There's a Terry in Fredericksburg, VA...

[cerjio]

I have the complete front end off a 75-78 chevy truck on mine, I just unbolted the original , on bolted the new one in place then bought new 6 lug rotors for it , several venders here have those priceier then the five lug but like there look better ,

[cam.man67]

Originally Posted by acaruth

Oh and unfortunately I do not have discs. Drums all around on 6 lug. Which leads me to my next question. Not only do I have to convert to five lug but how to I go about doing a disc conversion?

I wouldn't worry about it. I've been running on six-lug 4-wheel drums since I got the truck, I don't feel the need to change it.

Oh, and welcome to the board from MD! You've got a nice truck, a fun project!

Where in MD are you?

[70cst]

Congrats acaruth ... Looks like a solid truck to me. I am partial to 70 LWB trucks. Oh yes... and from Roseville Ohio.

[JRBECK64]

Looks like your makin great progress. Have you figured out what color you want it when its all done? Look forward to watching you restore this truck.

JRBECK64

[RCbowtie69]

hey from N.C. nice project, it'll will make a nice truck, are there plans to make it short bed truck later, or keep it a long bed, either way it's a chevy, keep on truckin'

[acaruth]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Nope, it's Jonathan. There's a Terry in Fredericksburg, VA...

Sorry Jonathan, I saw you were from VA and I had just spoke to a guy in VA(which happens to be Terry) about buying some fenders.

I have the complete front end off a 75-78 chevy truck on mine, I just unbolted the original , on bolted the new one in place then bought new 6 lug rotors for it , several venders here have those priceier then the five lug but like there look better

Thankd Cerjio, I may go with this route as and keep the drums in the rear. Not trying to go racing anytime soon so this setup will do just fine.

Where in MD are you?

Thanks cam.man67. I may just stick with this setup. The truck is just going to be a cruiser so drums all around should be sufficient. My major concern is getting it to be reliable as possible. I'm in PG County by the way.

Thanks 70cst and RCbowtie69. I actually like longbeds over swb trucks. I now this goes against everyone else's opinion but to me the lwbs look more proportianal.

Thanks JRBECK64. My plans are to paint it flat black or semi gloss black. But then again I've seen some awesome trucks owned by a couple guys here that have me leaning to other colors. Here's a couple of my inspirations

[cam.man67]

PG County? Cool. I'm in Frederick Co. Mind if I stop by sometime?

[ChevyLvr4Life]

Nice truck you have there!, looks like your off to a good solid start. Great deal on that, especially with the extra parts. I'm new to the board too, and also have a 70 LWB. It has a 307 w/ 3sp manual trans. I know what you mean by the rockers, mine are pretty rough too, especially the drivers side. I've gotta put both cab corners in and some floor board patches too. Good luck with yours! Here's a pic of mine....