Vintage Evil Build

[chevyguy_72]

Hey guys... I have been on this board for a long time... I have owned my current 72 C10 SWB 2wd since 1996.

History:

I was a junior in high school at the time. So my budget was tight. It came to me as a typical 2wd at stock height, rusted cab (rockers mainly), straight six with a 5 spd trans from a Camaro(actually from a Monza), a six lug 67-68 rear end, stock front 5 lug disc suspension with manual steering. It had 2 different bolt patterns of wheels (that matched). It ran and drove but the engine burned oil like no other... like huge clouds of oil just sitting at a stop light... I am sure I have some pics of it somewhere but they would be real pics not digital ones.. will add them at a later time if I come across them...

I didn't really care because I fully intended to put a small block v8 in it in very short order...

I did just that... I had a older small block 350 rebuilt by a local builder. Sonic cleaned, painted, RV Cam, high rise Edelbrock valve covers, High rise Edelbrock intake, and matching Edelbrock 600 cfm carb. I also had a good relationship with a local scrap yard that was full of exclusively trucks. I think I was out there 3 days a week at least... looking at what had come in... looking for random parts... etc.

So I tore this poor thing clear apart... No idea what I was doing really but I was bound and determined to learn. added junkyard power steering and a 3.73posi 72 rear end as well as other random parts like small block perches etc... Got my new small block installed... then put it all back together and drove it for a couple of days... power was unreal compared to straight six choking on oil ... well it was so unreal that I blew that Camaro (Monza) 5spd up almost immediately...

Didn't know anything about transmissions so I took it to a local shop for repair... they said it would be cheaper to get another... Me still thinking this was a Camaro V8 trans (and the shop not correcting this thought) I opted for another thinking it was just a weak older trans that was the issue... They found a low mileage one from a salvage yard... went through it and said I would be good... WELL.... I proceeded to grenade that one after a couple weeks as well... took it back to them and they asked what I expected putting a Monza transmission behind a V8... *Ding*

Front end came back off... pulled the motor and POS Monza trans removed the manual trans bell housing crossmember and purchased a turbo 350 from a guy locally... After a few more trips to the salvage yard pulling crossmembers, transmission coolers, transmission yolks etc. I purchased a Hurst Indy floor shifter. I started to piece it back together again... and back to life it came... I then started on paint and body... I had a friend that had a shop and did a lot of the work for me for a reasonable price... I spent lots of times at the salvage yard yet again... cutting pieces off cabs, pulling fenders, etc... finally we pieced together a decent body... I picked up a tailgate (which I never had) and the body guy found me a 72 inner and outer grille that was in good shape.

He was quite the artist and came up with a very unique blue and white paint job. We used a 96 Viper blue and a 96 Silverado white both with extra pearls/metallic etc mixed in... We also did front and rear roll pans, shaved marker lights, and shaved antenna hole. He painted it up and I got it back... Added a set of 15in billet wheels with way too short BFG tires... (there was no such thing as 20s back then(at least not in my price range))

I went off to college not too much after and it was rearended when I was a freshman destroying the roll pan, ripping off exhaust hangers but that was about it... fixed the exhaust and drove it for a bit... then ended up buying a car so I had a more "reliable" source of transportation. It stayed like that for a year or so... then I ended up working in a body shop myself for a while and decided I would work on it again... cut out the wreckage that used to be a roll pan and worked (with others guidance) at straightening the bottom parts of the bed and back of the cab that were also beat up from the wreck as well as the rust bubbles in the bottom of the doors that were poking through from the not so great body work it had received from the original body guy... I ended up flipping the tailgate handle inside the bed and shaving the stake pockets... then as fast as I started a body shop job I ended up relocating before I could finish the rest of it... the body work was done... but not painted... so there it sat in primer.

I ended up finishing college then went on to attempt to find a job after... which never proved very profitable... got married and divorced... truck was driven but never really improved... Finally after divorce I got a wild hair to work on it again... bought a full phantom front grille and installed it, added a remote hood opener in the cab, a set of 20in wheels/tires, a new set of Hedman headers, and a f*^% 9in rear end from a Lincoln that is the correct width and bolt pattern for our trucks (never installed)... I finally end up find a decent job and relocate again and then no more progress which brings us up to the summer of 2013.