68 C10 SBSS build - start to finish

[Vic1947]

Hello all, my name is Vic Cook and I live in Kansas City, MO. I joined this forum about a year and a half ago and have lurked on it ever since. During the course of this build, it became my most valuable resource whenever I faced a tough problem. I could alway count on finding several posts where other members had resolved the same issues I was dealing with. Thanks!

After narrowing my choices for a build to a '67 or '68 short bed stepside, I began looking for a suitable starter. I was leaning toward a basket case since I knew I would end up going thru it from top to bottom anyway. My wife, Kathy, instead convinced me to look for a running truck in which someone had already invested some time and $$$. That way, we could attend some of the area cruise-in's right away and not have to wait while I struggled to get into some kind of driveable condition.

I finally located a decent looking truck on eBay and after it failed to sell, I contacted the seller and negotiated a deal. It was in Little Rock, AR about 350 miles from us. On March 23, 2011 we drove down to see it. It was a father/son project and the young man was very proud of it. I have to give them a lot of credit for bringing it back from the dead. They had a lot of build photos in an album they shared with me. Made me a bit wistful thinking how nice it must be to share that experience with your dad.

But reality intruded and after a careful examination and a test drive, I could see it would take a considerable amount of additional work to really clean it up. In short, it was a nice 15 footer. I was about ready to pass on the deal when they offered to include some of the original parts I would need for my vision of what I wanted. So we closed the deal, signed the paperwork and we headed out.

Little Rock is fairly hilly and going down the third or fourth long incline, I wasn't sure the brakes would get it stopped. Radio'ed my wife and we pulled over to see what the problem was. Front discs were red hot and rear drums were ice cold. We had planned to stay at a motel outside town anyway, so we crept on down the road and parked the truck for the night. We took the car to a local restaurant and discussed our plan to get the truck back to KC without totaling it out. We decided to keep it between 55/60 mph with Kathy leading the way in the car and me following at a safe(?) distance. Made it back to KC without incident. Here are some pics of the truck in its "as purchased" condition. Take a good look as it didn't stay this way for long. We embarked on a one year plus frame off restoration that led to its current iteration. I don't have as many photos as some of the members, but I will share what I have in upcoming posts.