Project Arrogant Bastard, beer fueled 65 build.

[akatc]

The hunt for a c10 started a few years ago, after checking out a few we found this one on the side of the road in a small town about an hour from where we live. Showed up checked it out, drank a few beers with the owner and drove it home.








When we brought it home it was in decent shape for a 50 year old truck that had never been restored.


The previous owner asked to keep the original shift knob because it was his fathers. The only thing we had at the time that fit was a beer tap handle from Arrogant Bastard Ale. We liked it so much we decided to name the truck that.




The multiple colors drove me nuts. I plasti-dipped the whole truck for under $50 and drove it like that for about a year with no problems.







We knew that there was some rust in the floors and we were ready for it.




The small rust spots quickly turned into big ones.


Ordered a bunch of patch panels.


During this whole project my wife wanted to learn and help as much as possible. I taught her how to weld and put her to work.


Rust repair seemed to never end.










Got my priorities straight, mixing beer, welding and watching hockey.


Not the smartest move on my part but it worked, kind of.



Disassembling the bed was a nightmare. It felt like 200 bolts had to be cut off.


The whole project part of this truck was supposed to be only rust repair on the floor and moving the gas tank to under the bed. The in-cab tank had a crack in the filler neck and it smelled terrible.


Well since were back here, we might as well plan for the future and notch the frame.



Ok so we got the frame notched, we might as well get an air ride system while we're here.
We talked to the guys at BC Fab in Rancho Cordova,CA and picked up a fairly simple stage one system with four bags and manual paddle valves. At the time of the purchase they warned me six months down the road I would want to upgrade to the accuair e-level system. I should've listened.



All right, somehow this gas tank relocation has gotten a bit out of hand. We started to disassemble the entire front end.



Started stripping the interior.


Anything we were removing we might as well make better when we put it back on.



The steering wheel had a bunch of the typical cracks in it. Sanded them down and filled it with epoxy. Sanded the whole thing down and it turned out great.


At this point we decided well we're this far in we might as well do it all right and start a frame off restoration. We sanded the interior down to bare metal.



The motor and transmission once pulled, had to go. We debated so many different options. Keeping the original six, upgrading the 235 inline six to the 292 inline six. Getting a small block v8 crate motor. Or going modern and doing an LS swap.



Once the motor and transmission were out the front end had to be addressed. We disassembled the entire thing and hand cleaned every piece we were going to keep and tossed the bad stuff. We got all new ball joints, tie rod ends and bushings. Once it was all down to bare metal we painted everything.




Our shop dog likes to help out when able.


We hand cleaned the entire frame front to back. Went over every inch with a wire wheel and got it all down to bare metal. (should've had it sand blasted)


The original gauge cluster was in bad shape, my wife was looking on this forums and found a few different peoples post on rebuilding them.


We got the paint, new glass and new clear colored pieces. Upgraded the lights to LEDs. It turned out amazing.


With the gas tank out we welded up the cab hole.


As we started to sand the hood we found an awesome design, as I sanded it down it only went over ¾ of the way! If it would've gone the whole way I would've kept it. It was a sad day sanding it away.


The cab. We wanted to complete this project as much by ourselves as possible. So like idiots we didn't get it sandblasted and we started stripping and sanding the entire thing. We went through seven layers of paint. It appeared that no one in 50 years had ever sanded it down. What we found underneath was the original color, Light green.





We couldn't decide between the original rims with big white walls or the gm transit wheel.


They had to be bored out to 3”, so I used an old brake drum and bolted it to the rim and drilled it out. Worked out like a charm




Had to work out where I wanted the air tank for the air ride. Made some brackets for it to go behind the rear mounted gas tank.


Made a cover for the air compressor.



When the truck project was held up I made other projects. One of them was this wagon for car shows.