Woo Hoo!!!

[benscool1]

I got my truck! 1973 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe 10!! Has a 350, Turbo 350 tranny, A/C, P/S, P/W. All the stock stuff is there and really in good condition(except the body, lol) the original jack, interior is in immaculate condition. Bodywise it needs new front fenders, bedsides, bottoms of doors, rockers, quarter panels, driver's-side floor(the floor is not attatched to the side of the cab...if you wiggle the door you can see the ground..), cab mounts(the cab isn't level), a new **wood** bed floor, and I'm not sure about the motor yet..it ran the first time I started it up, but I started it a third time and it just quit and locked up...I was in the process of getting it out anyway. I took a bunch of pictures too, but my scanner is broken so I don't know if/how long it might take me to get them up. Its two-tone orange and white, really sharp looking.

My eventual plans are to build the motor to a 383, repaint it just the way it is now, put on some Budnik 18s or some Torq Thrusts, and lower it 5/7 just for a start. But first things first, I have to fix the motor, but I don't think I'm going to go 383 right off, probably just going to rebuild it and get it running good and then later on.

Is there any tips you guys can give me? Best places to buy cheap parts? Body parts? What engine parts to get(aftermarket or replacement)? Or any other tips you can give me would be a great help.

Thanks,
- Ben

[kevhill85]

this guy and www.summitracing.com http://www.customclassic.com/

[78SilveradoSWB]

That's Great, but where are the pics?

[kevhill85]

what pic . lol of mine or yours

[benscool1]

I need to finish up the roll of film, and then maybe there is a scanner at the school or library I can use? I'm doin my best, that reminds me, I gotta take more pics tomorrow.

After I got off work my little brother and I worked to get the front end off, when I was at work I talked to a few of the truck drivers that bring in corn to the elevator, and one said he had done a lot of work on a 79, and an 86. He gave me the idea to just unbolt the front end as one whole piece. So as soon as I got home I got to work on it, some of the bolts in the fenderwells were hard to get off, but I got em eventually after I figured out I needed to pound the socket onto the bolt and that would just chip away the undercoating that was on them. And I thought I had to take the doors off to unbolt the fender...wrong, that was about a half hour excursion. Putting it back on was more difficult that I wouldn't thought. I unbolted the 2 big bolts at the front which were a little difficult at first because I didn't realize I had to have someone holding the bolt on the other side....lol, thats my bad. But I got all the bolts off and taken care of...should be pretty loose right?

Wrong.
I guess there are bolts right under the front of the cab that hold the fenders on? Well the one on the pass side was missing(I did that side first) so I didn't even think about there being one on the drivers side until I crawled under for a look about an hour later. I finally found it and it just wouldn't budge at all and I just kept rounding it off. We were gonna trash the fenders anyway and get new ones plus the part above the bolt was mostly rusted away anyway, so I figured 'What the hell?' I busted out the sawzall and made quick work of that bolt. As soon as I cut it the whole front end was loose but guess what? That front end is PRETTY HEAVY. So I'm gonna wait til I get a lot of my friends around and then we'll lift it off. But I also forgot to do something else when I was getting ready to lift it off...unhook the A/C condensor thing(I think, the thing in front of the radiator) and I didn't know if there was any fluid still in the hoses or if I should worry about leaking anything out, so I just left it and called it a night, can you guys tell me what to do on that one?

Thanks,
- Ben

[benscool1]

Got inner and outer fenders off on both sides today. I had to do a little cutting with the sawzall but only on pieces I knew I was going to replace. But some bad news...gonna need a new core support, for about 1 and 1/2 feet on the passenger side it is rusted out. Anybody got one thats in good condition that will fit a 73? And if I get a new one or one from a later model (75-80) would I be able to use the clear marker lenses under the headlights because I've noticed no one has them for the 73, only the 75 or so and on.

- Ben

[benscool1]

OK, I'm pretty mad now. We got the entire front end off the truck now. EVERYTHING needs replaced on that thing, it may even need a new cab. This may not seem so out of the ordinary for some of you guys, but that is not how it was described to me before I bought it. This is exactly how it was described to me over the phone by the person I bought the truck from, I just wrote it down as he said it: 'good body, excellent cab'. I think almost the only body panel that will not need replaced is the hood. The cab was supposed to be good right...the drivers side rocker is gone, the pass. is getting there, there is a place where you can see through the floor on the inside of the cab if you move the door the wrong way. The cab supports are gone(worse on driver sid), the subframe is basically gone(again, worse on driver), both bedsides need replaced. Both front fenders and inner fenders need replaced.

The entire truck basically looks like it sat in a salt bath or something. I'm not really happy right now, cuz it is going to cost me A LOT more than originally presumed...


Thanks for listening to me vent, any words of advice?
- Ben

[1FaastC10]

start scouring the junkyards, im sure there's alot of sheetmetal out there that's not totally gone. or look for another truck with big mechanical problems, and put your mechanicals into it.

[benscool1]

LOL, my mechanics are about as bad as they get. . .

My dad and I got the bed unbolted today before I went to work but we didn't have time to actually get it off before I left. My older brother showed up while I was at work to help out so they got the bed off, and I guess it was pretty bad, so my nephews took a putty knife, hammer, wire brush, and air gun to the frame and cleaned it up real good. Got the driveshaft and shocks off too. They also got the cab ready to unbolt and lift off which I was really happy with, I'm gonna need to make a new floor for each side along with the new cab support and subframe on the drivers side, as well as rockers and cab corners all around.

With all that off and done we decided to take a look at the motor...Several holes in the oil pan. This is not good at all. Its my fault, I shouldn't have started it up but curiosity got ahold of me. Haven't torn it apart yet to see exactly whats wrong but most likely I'm gonna need a new motor.

I finally finished off a roll of pics, I can have my mom develop them on Monday probably, so pics Tuesday? We'll see.

Thanks,
- Ben

[benscool1]

Oh yeah, we got the wiring out, stripped one of the fenders so its ready to be used for target practice, and somehow they broke my coil...lol