New to Me - 62 C10 Shorty

[Blue_Aura]

Hello All,

Just thought I'd introduce myself and my new project, which is a 62 C10 Shorty. I traded my one of a kind retro military bike that I designed as a tribute for my Dad, who was a Vietnam Vet. I loved the bike, but had to rethink riding while my kids are still small. So, I forced myself to trade for something that would keep my interest and give me plenty of options for customizing. I have always been into classics and have built/restored many 60's to 70's muscle cars, and one '66 Ford F100. I had a '73 4x4 when I was a teen and loved it. I have always wanted a 60-66, or a 67-72 C10, so I found one to trade for my custom bike.

About me; I am married and have 3 wonderful kids, a set of 10 year old boy twins, and a 3 year old princess (future Drama Queen). I live in the Central Valley of CA, and commute to San Francisco for work. I love working on cars and bikes. I have another side project that is different from anything I have ever done; an 89 Honda Civic (my commuter car and future "first car" for the boys). I used to work in the automotive industry and went to school for it, but got burnt out and stopped enjoying working on my own projects. Now I can try and fit in some work on my new project.

The truck has been been painted with Imron paint (no longer available in CA due to VOC laws), not the best paintjob (I can tell it was done outside), but it looks nice. I probably won't touch the paint or body until after I finish all other areas of concern.

The truck has a 350 in it, with an aluminum hi-rise manifold and Q-Jet. It has a really bad rod knock and the PO said that it has low oil pressure when it is warm (try NO oil pressure when it is warm). I got a free '75 350 4-bolt main from a friend that smokes a little bit. Might just throw her in, just to have a runner. Then either decide to get some Vortec heads and manifold, 600-650 Holley DP or Carter/Edelbrock carb, shorty headers, and a Lunati 268 VooDoo cam. Or, I might just go a 383 stroker on one of the engines (haven't checked to see what the current engine is). Either way, I am going to build this truck for torque, not HP, which is opposite from all my other builds.

Truck needs a bed kit after I remove the existing rust and paint with POR-15. I am thinking about going with a polished aluminum diamond plate floor instead of a traditional wood kit. I am going to build a tonneau cover for it before that. The PO is supposed to be getting me the 1/2 gallon of Imron paint that was leftover, so I can paint the bed. If not, I will probably coat it with a hammered paint or textured paint.

Tires and rims are 15" Billet Specialties GTP-53 with 275/70/15 on the back and 235/70/15 on the front. I would like to lower the tire height on the fronts, so I will see about going to a 60 series tire instead. I need to buy the center caps for all 4 rims, so they will look decent. Might sell these and get some 18's.

Stance is raked. Has springs in back that seem to be a lower height. First plan is to lower torsion bars as much as possible, and cut one coil off the back, then get shock relocating brackets and replace shocks with Monroe front shocks. Later plans will be 2" spindle drop in front, along with disc brake conversion.

Brakes are steering are non-power. Heater core is looped together, so I assume (uh oh) that it is leaking. Interior has no fan or heater control levers. Turn signals do not work. Current wheel is a 70's Camaro wheel (yuk) and it has a smaller Grant sitting in the cab. The PO probably thought it looked cool, but found out how hard it is to steer a non-power steering truck with a small wheel .

Seat is a late model Chevy bench seat with seat belt openings. Plan to put in seat belts as soon as I can. I want to get some '94 Silverado seats with the integrated seat belts.

Cab is two-tone, with a white pearl metallic as the second color. Nice combo. Small area of cancer on the step plate (sill). Evidence of cancer under paint at top of the door jamb. Doors need to be adjusted, striker seats in way to far and makes doors hard to open. Glass is great, but needs new felts and all weatherstripping. Back glass surround needs replaced too.

Currently has dual glasspack mufflers, which dump down before the axles. Sounds decent.

Well, that's all I can think of for now.. so here she is...









FUTURE PLAN: (as soon as I lower it)