1970 C20 Custom Camper AKA "The War Wagon"

[rpmerf]

I've had the truck for about 7 months now, so I figured I'd start a thread. Its a 1970 C20 Custom Camper, 350, 3 speed auto. It appears to be mostly original.

My uncle bought the truck in 1987. He rebuilt the engine and it was driven daily by him or his wife up until about 2 years ago. When he rebuilt the engine, he lowered the compression to 8:1 for better reliability. He also installed an aftermarket cam to give better power in the mid range. The transmission went up in the truck, and he took it to my cousin's garage to have a Jasper transmission installed. While it was there, my uncle's back went out, leaving him without the ability to walk. He was trying to sell the truck, but couldn't find anyone who wanted it for the price he was asking. I had just bought a house and was looking at getting a truck, so he gave it to me. I am the only car guy of my generation in my family, so he knew that I would really appreciate it, and I would work on it and keep it running.









I rigged up those speakers until I can get some kick panel speakers. The old ones were like PC speakers under the seat.


If you notice the 'horn' on the right, that's an air raid siren. Its hooked up to the alarm. This is part of the reason its known as the war wagon.


It lists auxiliary battery, is that supposed to be a passenger side battery? When I got the truck it had a secondary battery in the bed.


What is supposed to go here?


Not pictured is the cap, but it is in a youtube video I took a while back

‪update 2 car garage, new...

So far on this truck I have:
rebuilt the top half of the carb
replaced the rear brake line
removed a bunch of weird wiring(nothing factory) and the rear battery as I wasn't seeing voltage up front
installed the proper center seat belt(the old one was from a ford?)
put a layer of spray paint over the floor rust

I have many plans for this truck. I would like to install these by the end of the summer:
new stereo, most likely a USA-230
new speakers - kick panel, and dual voice channel in the stock location
new dash pad
new glove box liner
fiber optic cable for the shift indicator
rear view mirror
new gas cap that doesn't leak

over time I would like to:
replace leaking seals around the doors
fix the rust, or replace rusted body parts
paint the truck. I'll be doing this myself.
tach/vac dash, my uncle says he has a couple of these somewhere.
replace the cracked windshield
get a new seat or have this one recovered
get the original mirrors

Overall the truck is in very good condition. I drove it to Carlisle(340 mile round trip) with no problems other than using a bit of oil. I got 12mpg, I might have actually done better since I don't know how much leaked out of the filler cap. I've had the truck up to about 90mph and it runs smooth even at those speeds. Since both of my other cars are currently out of commission until I find time to work on them, I am driving the truck daily now(40 miles round trip).

Currently, my only issues with the truck are gas leaking out of the filler cap, an exhaust leak, and sound only coming out of one side of my rigged speaker setup.

I have one question that comes to mind right now.
My uncle gave me some exhaust manifolds and told me they flow better than the ones on the truck currently. The only issue is that the factory manifold are angled toward the rear while these manifolds point straight down. Is there someplace I can get the downpipes to make this exhaust match up?