72 K10 project

[FriskyFleabag]

This is my first K10 I've owned. I have always loved the 68-72 C10's but never jumped on one till last week. This will be a long drawn out build, but a fun one! This is just a bit of backstory, so feel free to follow later on as I start the build. I'm mainly making the thread for myself as motivation to keep fixing her up!

I'm still in the deciding process on where ill go from here. All my previous projects were always all about speed and performance, so this is a complete 180 for me. I can say I strongly would like to do a 12V Cummins build, but we shall see. I'm getting out of the military soon and going back to civilian life so am sure I wont be spending a whole lot on the truck anytime soon.

So.. the story with the truck. I found her on craigslist just browsing and thought it was just a prank. Ad said $1800, but the guy replied and told me that reverse went out and just wanted it out of the driveway. I offered him $1500 for it and drove almost 2 hours to pick her up. I was so nervous someone else would beat me there!

I was about 15 minutes around the corner and the guy calls. I let my wife answer the phone and sure enough he let me know someone else tried to beat me there. His offer was $2500. My wife let him know that we were only a few minutes away and the guy said alright.

I make it to his house and realize the truck has new 35" tires on it, they still had the nipples on them! I honestly jumped and gave him the money and got the title as quickly as possible. The guy told me basically that he owned the truck for a while, drove it regularly, and bought new tires for it before moving. When he went to back it off the trailer, no reverse! He was just tire of it and wanted it gone.

The owner gave me a shove out of his driveway and I was on my way. Stopped and put some gas in her and drove it almost 2 hours home. Made it up my driveway where she will sit for a bit as I decide where to go with the build.

Current issues (at least a few of them):

Tires are a few months old, but the front left has a large knot on the inner sidewall, ouch! Ill have to buy a new tire before starting to drive it, but no big deal.

Cab corners, rockers, and floor pans are rusted with some holes.

Front end is sloppy. When you hit the brakes, she takes a dive to the left.

Trans is toast.

Missing front driveshaft

Tires rub on hard turns. I think its a 4" lift now?

Exhaust leaks galore.

And finally the cosmetics. She's definitely seen better days.

My plans for the very new future is swapping the trans to an SM465 trans just to get her drivable. No matter which direction I go with the build, I will be going with a manual transmission.

So there you have it! Please post any criticism, comments, or generally any helpful advice you can provide. That being said, what direction would you go with the truck?