My '70 LWB SS sees daylight

[jcwren]

Bought this November 11th, 2018. Idly looking through Craigslist, and found this ad with a couple pictures and the text "Father/daughter restoration project, must sell", and no other details. I had been looking on and off for a C10 for 10 or 12 months, and they were either too far gone, too expensive, or too far away. This was about 15 miles from me.

My criteria was that it had to run (so I could move it around while working on it), and no major bodywork required. This one had been stripped and repainted in a base + clear, all the metal work done, but turns out that while it had a 250 in it, it wasn't actually running. There was an Offenhauser triple-carb intake installed, but the carbs hadn't been placed. The brakes were trash, all the suspension rubber was shot, no bed, bumpers not mounted, steering wheel not installed, many odds and ends that needed cleaning up.

I was going to pass on it since it didn't run, but my buddy was like "Dude, if you do not buy this truck, you are an IDIOT. You can put it in my shop to work on it. Looks like 80 to 100 hours to finish". The seller was a co-owner of a wrecking yard, and when I mentioned we'd need to go find a trailer, he said he could bring it over on a rollback later that evening. I didn't even haggle on the price. What he wanted was more than fair, and with free delivery, well, that was too good to pass up.

My buddy's estimate was way off base. Had to buy a radiator, everything in the brake system except the master cylinder and hardlines, turn the drums, new wheel bearings, new bed, new shocks, all the suspension rubber, install the intake manifold (the original 1bbl intake was with it), battery, new duct work, install the door skins (came with), new 3-point Morris seat belts, Boyd Welding fuel tank, new fuel line, new heater hoses, inner fender wells (came with), lots of bits of hardware. Did the headlight relay mod, added a oil-pressure switch and relay for an electric choke. Switched out the points for a Pertronix module. For exhaust, it came with a set of Hedman headers installed, added 18" glass-packs that dumped out into some turndowns just in front of the rear wheel.

The bed took FOREVER. Used Old Masters varnish, and each layer took 3 days to set, then sand, and repeat 8 or 9 more times. Never did get the glass-like finish I wanted, but they're not too bad.

I bought a used 250 engine for a local seller for $100 because I needed the alternator bracket, and the distributor to make an oil pump primer. Primed the engine, it was in good shape, had good compression.

Then I wasted 6 weeks dicking around because of serious stoopid. Bought a eBay special 1bbl carb because I didn't want to use the ones that came with the Offenhauser intake. Installed it, started it, idled really well, and ran decent enough at high RPM with no load. Took it on it's maiden cruise, and under ANY sort of load, it would backfire through the exhaust, and had NO power, like it was way too lean. Figured the eBay carb was crap, mostly because when we first installed it, it leaked from the main gasket, and I had to rebuild it. Decided to put a real carb on there, bought a Holley Street Avenger 350 2bbl and a Transdapt adapter. That was the start of the next fiasco.

I knew with the Holley that I'd need to a cable throttle instead of a rod. Bought a Lokar throttle pedal. Had to design a bracket that went between the carb and the adapter to hold the throttle cable bracket and the throttle return springs. Never did find anyone that sold what I needed to mount it, so I have NO idea how anyone uses these things. All the return spring brackets I can find are for 4bbl carbs. Mine works, I'll add a picture of it later.

Got the Holley installed, STILL ran like crap. Obviously it was something else. Of course we checked timing, looked for intake leaks, set the valves, etc. Played around with different jet sizes thinking it needed to be richer. As I was paging through the manual, feeling like I just wanted to take a sledgehammer to the damned thing, I ran across the firing order. It seemed like this was not the same as what I had. Sure enough, instead of 1-3-5-6-2-4, I had the 2 and 4 swapped. Wouldn't have believed it ran as well as it did with those two reversed, which is why I wasn't suspicious of it earlier. Fixed that, and it ran pretty right nice.

Second maiden cruise had some odd noises. One noise was the driveshaft bushing rubbing. Since I didn't know the state of the u-joints or the carrier bearing, I had it completely rebuilt, and had them leave off the carrier bearing guards (guy who did the work said he would have recommended that if I hadn't requested it). Other noise was I had used one of the brake pad retainer pins for the 3" brakes, instead of the shorter pin for the 2 1/2" brakes. At least that was an easy fix.

It's drivable now, although I feel like something still isn't right with the 250. I've got noticeably stronger exhaust through the 1-2-3 pipe than the 4-5-6 pipe. My buddy is all "It's fine, just drive it", but I'm not buying that. I've re-checked compression, rese the valves, checked the lifters for correct lift, all that seems right. Dunno.

So she's filthy right now, but she's going to a shop Tuesday to get a deep paint scratch fixed, and then she'll be detailed and ceramic coated. I may start rebuilding the other 250, or at least have the head done and swap that over. If that doesn't do it, I'll rebuild the bottom end and put a new cam in. Sure, I could do the V8 or LS swap, but I'm finding I kinda like that little 6 cylinder. I don't mind the three on the tree, although I wouldn't mind slightly taller gearing. Turns a lot of RPMs and 60 MPH.

Next project will be disc brakes, maybe with a 2/5 static drop, and some nicer wheels. Or maybe not I really don't know what my plans for it are, just kind of winging it.

Thanks to everyone that's answered my various questions, some of which probably seemed pretty basic and dumb. I'll likely have more.

[cornerstone]

Well the truck looks very nice now! I think the steel wheels look great, and would look even better with some P03 caps. Now that you’re up and running are you glad that is the truck you bought, or do you wish you had waited?
Brian

[jcwren]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Well the truck looks very nice now! I think the steel wheels look great, and would look even better with some P03 caps. Now that you’re up and running are you glad that is the truck you bought, or do you wish you had waited?
Brian

Thank you. I'm happy with it. Exhaust is a little loud through those glass-packs, but the price was right (free) and they were readily available (sitting in my buddy's shop). I think I'll swap those out for something with a little more muffling. Sounds really good at idle, but loud when you're at 60MPH (or pretty much anything past idle).

Definitely needs some caps on those wheels. I have a set, but they're a little too beat to go on this truck. Was watching a set on eBay and they closed for over $200. It'd be nice if someone made repops, but I've never found any.

Some of the work required was a little unplanned. For instance, it had a never-used new in-cab gas tank (it may have been 12 years old for all I know, but definitely never had gas in it). Put a few gallons in it, and the next day the cab smelled very strongly of gas. This truck was an early enough '70 model that it didn't have the vapor canister that later ones did. Right then I decided to go to the in-frame tank. That was an additional $800 or so after the tank, AN hose, fittings, etc. And switching from the eBay carb to the Holley was another $600 or so project. It was money well spent, just not planned for.

[notsolo]

Great looking truck, nice score. You can always look for 373- or 307 rear gears while your driving it around. The fuel tank in the rear is nice, just very time consuming in addition to the $... it cost to do.

[68bowtie]

Originally Posted by jcwren

I'm finding I kinda like that little 6 cylinder.

There’s something about a factory height 1/2-ton with that little six putting along that just feels right. Glad you made it through all the fixes. Sounds like quite a process, especially if you’re not mentally prepared for it. Ditto on the hubcaps, that would really look sharp.

[71cheyennesuperlongb]

Good looking truck.


Edited by forum staff:

I had to delete the rest of your message. Only subscribers can offer parts for sale.

[special-K]

I really like the truck as it is. It's good to let ideas for change to marinade a while. Better changes (or none) will come as a result. If you aren't stuck on keeping it original there are all the Chevy car dog dish caps since the early-'50s you can find to pop on. IMO, there are several years much better looking than originals. Some aren't as bulky and make the dish look deeper. It's an old truck tradition to swap car caps but. I have '54s on my '67 SWB project rollers now. Nice clean looking caps with bowtie in blue crest. My first SWB was a '71 and I put '55s on wide steelies, the caps with bowties around the outer circle. There isn't a Chevy car cap I don't like. They are all nice if you ask me. And you can often find those for cheaper.