85 C10 - Street Trucks Freshman Build

[aggie91]

Looking to see what you ended up with on the interior...

[blillie11]

Last set of frame pics.

In the last pic you can see the bed of the truck sitting on the bed dolly we made.

[79azc10]

Nice truck. I always loves the looked of the street truck photo shoots

[stepside83]

This truck is sick love how frame turned out

[lolife99]

Great thread.
I followed this truck build in StreetTrucks magazine.

[rusty76]

I followed this build as well. I kinda lost track of it though. Glad to see on here.

[blillie11]

Originally Posted by rusty76

I followed this build as well. I kinda lost track of it though. Glad to see on here.

Hey Rusty. Yea, it kind of got put on hiatus when I got married and started a family. Plus I moved out of CA so that I could actually afford things. But I'm back at it now and just finishing up a few small details. It's constantly changed over the last 4 years. Including a dash swap, switched paint 3 times (soon to be 4), and just recently converted it to EFI. I'll try to post the next set of pictures later this week.

Anything specific anyone wants to see more of? The fortunate part is that I've got picture after picture of this truck. Almost too much to go through. I've got a video to post that was used at SEMA and a trailer for a web based TV show on the gas tank install.

[rusty76]

Ah life.....it always gets in the way, but as long as you persevere it slowly becomes the reality you hope. I'd like to see what you did with the dash personally. I'm curious about that one. Thanks for sharing your ride.

[blillie11]

Thought I'd end the night with some of the body transformation and metal work pics.

[blillie11]

More shaving....

[blillie11]

A few more....

[blillie11]

Here's the bed floor and wheel wells.

[blillie11]

Part 2 of the bed floor & tubs.

[blillie11]

Part 3 of the bed floor and tubs.

[blillie11]

Can't forget Porterbuilt's Heater Box delete panel.

[blillie11]

Porterbuilt's Heater Box Delete Panel, part 2.

[blillie11]

On to the dash. I'm not a huge fan of the enormous dash in the 73-87 Chevy trucks. Thankfully, neither is Marcel. So, we decided a dash swap was in order.

Here are a few pics of the dash we put in and us cutting out the stock dash. I'll post up the rest tomorrow.

[tinydb84]

Loving the build!

[aggie91]

I like what I saw on the dash in its finished state. Definitely want to see more of how it was done.

[blillie11]

So here's how it all started with the dash. Like I said in my last post, I am not a huge fan of the monster dash in the 73-87 trucks. Neither is Marcel. So we took a trip down to our local salvage yard, Chevy Truck Salvage, to scope out what our options were. By the way, if you are looking for old Chevy truck parts for a resto, Chevy Truck Salvage probably has them. I can't tell you how many times we've relied on them for parts for all of our projects. They are definitely our go to salvage yard.
We decided to go with a 63-66 dash. We looked in a few different cabs and found a super clean dash. The problem was, it was on the highest rack, wedged between two other cabs. The only way in was through the back window. After running 200 feet of extension cords, we started chopping the dash out.
We got it back to the Hardkore Garage and started the swap. The first thing we did was make a template of the '64 dash. Then we made some reference points and started cutting out the '85 dash.

[blillie11]

Here I am removing the dash. We test fit the template again and then made some modifications to integrate the stock vin tag. It should be noted that when we cut out the stock dash, we cut around the stock vin.

One final test fit before we started tacking it in place.

[blillie11]

OK, I lied. We test fit it and then trimmed each of the sides. Test fit again, making sure it was level, and then trimmed a little off the top.

Note: When you have a workbench or somewhere level and sturdy to cut, it's still always best to make your cuts while balancing the part on the rear tire as seen in picture #1.

[blillie11]

One final test fit, and then we started tacking it in place.

After we got it welded in place, we had to make some patch panels for the right and left sides. The ends had a bit of a curve to them, so here Marcel uses a paint can to get just the right bend to the patch pieces.

[blillie11]

The next step was to install the pieces on each side.

I have to admit, my favorite pictures are included in the next few posts. A: It was starting to get dark and the welding and grinding shots look awesome. B: Some of our friends were there this night. Travis Noack, Jason Mulligan, & Harley. 3: The dash really started coming together and I knew this would be one feature that would always set this truck apart. I loved it!

[blillie11]

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