"BUILD: 1970 C10 LWB--->SWB “Jumping Cholla”

[Chaparralman1974]

As good as that bed underside looks Scott, I almost want to ditch the wood floor in mine and do metal like yours!

Looking awesome man!


Clay

[loudchevy]

Got the top of the floor coated in Rust Encapsulator on Monday evening and then hit it with some primer yesterday evening. Overall, pretty happy how the (2) splices in the floor came together. You can't really tell where the weld lines are. I snapped a close up of the surface where the metal was pitted away from the surface rust. It kinda looks like the cratered surface of the moon . It was only in a few areas on the floor and like I mentioned when I chopped it, I was able to cut a lot out for the shortening. It will all get covered in Raptorliner once the sides and gate are in color.

I also picked up the final piece of the bed, a tailgate. It's a Dynocorn reproduction and looks and feels pretty stout. I really wanted an OG but this thing is a sanding scuff away from high build primer and I conceded. I had to get the letters which will look really good in the same white as the cab top

I'm itching to get this bolted together and start the last (2) dent repairs on the passenger side and the gas door on the drivers side. I'm hoping for a productive long holiday weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

[pjmoreland]

Gregski put a Dynacorn tailgate on his electric truck project, and it actually weighed slightly more than the original tailgate.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Gregski put a Dynacorn tailgate on his electric truck project, and it actually weighed slightly more than the original tailgate.

The guy I bought it from had an original from a Blazer and this Dynocorn piece. I had them side by side and I couldn't really tell a difference, they both weighted a ton.

[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Got the top of the floor coated in Rust Encapsulator on Monday evening and then hit it with some primer yesterday evening. Overall, pretty happy how the (2) splices in the floor came together. You can't really tell where the weld lines are. I snapped a close up of the surface where the metal was pitted away from the surface rust. It kinda looks like the cratered surface of the moon . It was only in a few areas on the floor and like I mentioned when I chopped it, I was able to cut a lot out for the shortening. It will all get covered in Raptorliner once the sides and gate are in color.

I also picked up the final piece of the bed, a tailgate. It's a Dynocorn reproduction and looks and feels pretty stout. I really wanted an OG but this thing is a sanding scuff away from high build primer and I conceded. I had to get the letters which will look really good in the same white as the cab top

I'm itching to get this bolted together and start the last (2) dent repairs on the passenger side and the gas door on the drivers side. I'm hoping for a productive long holiday weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

coming together phenomenal craft .....happy Turkey day to you

[Chaparralman1974]

Great work as always Scott!

I am glad that you double checked the front bed panel.....I had no idea that the wood bed and steel bed's were different in that regard. I will get that panel swapped out with you asap.

Clay

[loudchevy]

Productive holiday weekend of C10'ing. I was able to get the bed pieced together with a few bolts, threw the tailgate on (for good looks and a pic), passenger wheel well straightened out, an 85 K5 squarebody gas door/filler installed, and started body filler on the worst bedside (passenger). Pretty happy with all the progress that was done.

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

I am glad that you double checked the front bed panel.....I had no idea that the wood bed and steel bed's were different in that regard.
Clay

As Clay mentioned we found out that the nice front panel he gave me was from a wood bed which is taller than a panel from a metal floor bed. I still had my original, so I threw that on to get the bed together.

I was pretty pleased with how the repo tailgate fit. I'll just have a little adjusting on the trunnions, but everything should line up after going through my test fitting.

I removed the tailgate and got to work on the passenger side, you can see a dented line across the panel where the PO side swiped something. It beat up to sections in the wheel arch and on the very end. I was able to cut out the dents and replace with straight metal from a patch panel I got from LMC.

The next day I got after the gas door. It took all day (9.5 hours) but I'm happy with how it turned out. I cut the door from my 1985 K5, it didn't need the door anymore as it has a fuel cell in the bed. So I used that section along with the filler neck and the piece that connects the neck to the door. I think it turned out great. I had to cut up the inside of the bed panel to accommodate hinge from the door and the filler neck routing to under the floor. Then I fab'd up 2 covers to conceal them. The one that covers the hinge will be welded on, the other will be bolted to allow access to the filler neck if needed. The filler neck will connect to my Boyd's tank inlet and vent lines perfectly. I had seen a few different ways guys were filling the relocated gas tank in the bed. I didn't want to route it through to the lights or have a filler cap on the floor of the bed. I like how it turned out and it will get used often as the 454 will be drinking some gas

Lastly, I started the filler on the passenger side. It was the most beat up and I wanted to get the hard side done first. After about 30 mins of sanding filler, I remembered how much it brings the suck. At least it was only 70 degrees instead of 105! Hopefully I get this first side done over the next few nights and move on the drivers, which only has a few dents and appears to be much straighter.

[Chaparralman1974]

It was great seeing you again yesterday Scott! The fuel filler setup you did looked amazing!

I am planning on going down this Friday to swap out those front bed panels....I will probably bring it by your place this weekend.

Clay

[loudchevy]

I've been block sanding away at body filler the last few days and sprayed a little primer as well. Having an extra 40" of bedside (20" each side) for a LWB would've sucked to try and get straight. I got as close as I "thought" I could with some body filler, unbolted them from the floor, and then sprayed a light coat of primer on the bedsides. For the most part they look pretty straight except for a couple areas that really stood out once they had some grey sprayed on them. I'll go back and fix these areas over the next couple of days.

Chaparralman1974 and I swapped front bed panels so now he has the correct panel for a wood bed and I for a metal bed. The panel was already primed and super straight, so I went ahead and sprayed it with some high build primer. Thanks Clay!

With the correct front panel and the sides 90% complete, I'm going to bolt the entire bed back together for hopefully the last time and get the tailgate fitted perfectly. I can finish up the last areas on the sides that need more filler and blocking and then spray everything but the floor with some high build primer. Goal is to have the bed (and my drivers door that I scratched) in color before 2025.

It is much easier to spray in December in Phx when it's in the 70's in lieu of the July and 105 in my garage. The paint just flows better out of the gun for some reason

[raggedjim]

Nice work Scott, you are really getting after it lately! I ran into the same thing on the front panel for a wood bed being too long for a steel bed.

[pjmoreland]

Those bedsides are coming along nicely

[Chaparralman1974]

That bed is gonna be sweet when it's done man!

Awesome work!


Clay

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Nice work Scott, you are really getting after it lately! I ran into the same thing on the front panel for a wood bed being too long for a steel bed.

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Those bedsides are coming along nicely

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

That bed is gonna be sweet when it's done man!
Awesome work!
Clay

Thanks Gents!

[zicc1835]

Scott
when you get to the finish line and stand back you will definitely take a bow.... sooo much patience and dedicated workmanship there is some really nice builds being produced on the board in 24 and yours ranks right at the top will be with you when you take that bow
Jess

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by zicc1835

Scott
when you get to the finish line and stand back you will definitely take a bow.... sooo much patience and dedicated workmanship there is some really nice builds being produced on the board in 24 and yours ranks right at the top will be with you when you take that bow
Jess

Jess, Thanks for the nice compliment, much appreciated.

[loudchevy]

Bedsides, front panel, and tailgate were sprayed with high build primer on Saturday 12/14. I spent the last 2 evenings (8+ hours) block sanding all (4) pieces down to 600 grit. I found a couple of pin holes and filled them with some glazing putty after the below pic was taken. The bedsides are as straight as I'm going to get them at this point. They aren't perfect but neither is the rest of the truck

Yesterday I pulled out the sandblaster and blasted the gas door down to bare metal and shot some primer on it. I blasted the light bezels while I had everything out as well, those will get primed and put aside for now. I still need to hit the gas door with some high build and sand it down and do my final test fit in the bedside.

I'm planning on spraying color this weekend. It's going to be high 70's in phx so the weather will be perfect!

[Chaparralman1974]

Looking great Scott! Are you painting the tailgate trunnions and brackets separately?


Clay

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

Looking great Scott! Are you painting the tailgate trunnions and brackets separately?

Clay

I was thinking about just bluing them. I think them being dark with go better with the Raptorlined bed inside.

[pjmoreland]

You're almost to the bolt-it-all-together phase.

[loudchevy]

Had a great weekend of painted and re-painting

I started on Saturday morning with the bedsides. I knew I should've started with the front bed panel in hindsight. I sprayed the driver's side outer and then went around to the inner side and sprayed the small section of the wheel well and top rail. I walked around to back to the front, and I had massive runs streaking down the side . I actually held it together better than I thought I would . I immediately stopped spraying and went and mixed up a new cup of paint. I had done way too reducer in the first cup. I had to remind myself it wasn't July, and the paint wasn't drying as soon as it leaves the gun tip. From that point on, it was a just a splash of the reducer in every mix and that worked very well for the rest of the panels. I did spray a few coats on the drivers to see if it would magically make the runs go away, but it didn't help.

I got the other bedside done with no runs and it might be the best-looking piece I've painted on the truck so far. I let the 2 bedsides hang in the garage overnight.

On Sunday I pulled the sides and set them on the bed floor, which happens to be a fantastic rolling garage cart. I got the tailgate and front panel cleaned up and hung and ready for some color. I didn't paint the whole inside of the front panel as that is getting liner sprayed once the bed has been assembled. I do have a little metallic build up on tailgate on the middle section. I couldn't get it to not pool up and "run", hopefully it will sand/buff out. I let those panels hang and dry while I got to work with my driver's front door that I scratched a couple of months ago while working on the bed floor. I scuffed up the scratch and filled it with 2 coats of glazing putty, sanding it down between each coat. Then I scuffed up the entire door in 220/400/600 grit to get it ready for it's second coat.

I pulled out the DA sander and hogged down the runs on the driver's bedside (I think the C10 gods wanted me to do extra work on the driver side on this truck and paint the door and bedside twice) and hit the rest of the panel with the 220/400/600 grit sequence to get it ready for repaint.

The boy and I moved the tailgate and front out of the garage and made them hang out with the cab in the driveway and we setup another makeshift apparatus to hold both the drivers door and bedside. Both turned out great in the end it just sucked to have to sand them down and repaint.

I going to let everything sit and fully dry for the next few days before bolting the bed together for the last time after xmas.

[loudchevy]

Just a few more pictures from the weekend

[pjmoreland]

It's looking fantastic! I'd like to try my hand at painting my truck eventually. I've never painted an entire vehicle before. It looks intimidating.

[raggedjim]

Nice work Clark!

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

It's looking fantastic! I'd like to try my hand at painting my truck eventually. I've never painted an entire vehicle before. It looks intimidating.

Thanks, It looks intimidating because it is LOL. This is my first ever attempt with a paint gun. After doing all this bodywork and paint, you understand why a really good paint job costs a grip of money. I was pretty ambitious for doing a metallic on my first try. It def added more complexity to an already foreign skill for me. In the end, It's not perfect but I'm pretty happy and proud of the results knowing I did it all myself.

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Nice work Clark!

Clark is the best. Stapling your sleeve to the fascia was fitting for my first post today.

[Chaparralman1974]

Nice work Scott!! Now you need to wrap that door up in bubble wrap so you don't scratch it again! LOL!!

Clay