1970 C10 Project

[logboy]

Hey all. I started working on my first lone project, a 1970 C10 long box. While I work with wood for a living, I grew up in the family auto repair business so I generally know my way around a toolbox. I picked up the truck from an “auto body professional,” which, judging by this truck, means someone who fixes defects with nothing but seem sealer and bondo. The truck was advertised as “paint ready.” Judging by the amount of bondo shoved in the corners of the fenders and cab, maybe he meant Maaco ready?

The floor is rough. He tried fixing it by taking patch panels and installing them using nothing but seem sealer. It literally looks like there’s a gallon of it on the floor. Rather than try to cobble in different pieces, I have a whole new floor from LMC. I’m going to redo the cab corners and rockers while I’m at it. Back of the cab has a few dents from the box bashing into it. Hopefully I can pull those out and make it pretty again.

The truck currently has the straight six with three on the tree, same as the 75 I had back in high school. I scored a 94 Chevy pickup with a good 350 in it (pre Vortec). My old man is rebuilding a 700R4 trans and putting in a shift kit for me. Rather than dropping two grand to keep the drivetrain electronic I’m just going to put an intake and carburetor on it and use a TV cable. If I do another one in the future maybe I’ll go the fancy route, but I want this truck to be all mechanical.

The truck currently has manual steering. Unfortunately I left an arm in Iraq thanks to a roadside bomb, so strong arm steering is not an option anymore. The new engine obviously has a power steering pump on it already. If I get a new gearbox for my C10, does anyone know if the hoses will match up or do I have to have something made special? Or will the 94 hoses fit?

The truck has a 4 inch drop kit in the rear from early classic enterprises. Unfortunately in the front all they did was heat the springs so it has no travel. The plan is to eventually convert it to disc brakes with drop spindles and factory springs. I’m hoping that will be a better ride than drop springs.

Like most of these trucks, my original gas tank is rusted on the inside. I’m buying a rear tank for between the frame rails. This will get it out of the cab, and give me a little weight over the rear wheels.

The truck originally came with a wood bed. He found another box that had the metal bed and just swapped it out. The metal bed floor is a little rough. It looks like something heavy played ping-pong on the inside. There are a couple rust holes as well, especially in the back. Initially I wanted to go back to the wood bed. Since I work with wood for a living and build high-end furniture I was going to make a wood bed that would blow everyone else’s out of the water. But then I came to my senses and realized that would be stupid. I want this truck to be practical and usable. A truck you can’t put anything in the back of is like a supermodel wife you can’t take in the bedroom. I’m building a driver, not a trailer queen. Needless to say, I have some patchwork to do on the floor if I’m staying with steel. Has anyone ordered the patch panels from LMC or elsewhere? Do they actually match up? I’m going to try and pull out as many of the dents as I can. I’m going to be spraying bedliner so that will help a lot. But its still going to take some work. Rust needs replacement.

This is a South Dakota truck which means rust from salty roads. I need a radiator support, both inner and outer front fenders, the front of the box (stretched out from impacts), and a couple patch panels for the rear. My doors and both bed sides are good. The tailgate is brand new but it’s aftermarket crap and it’s thin. I could literally dent it by standing on it so it’s going on craigslist.

Obviously I have to order a lot of steel. All the used parts I found are crap and in just as bad of shape as mine. I’ve heard a lot of bad things about LMC. On the plus side if you spend over a grand you get free shipping with no freight charge. I looked up classic parts, and it would cost me a small fortune in shipping to get the stuff here. It would be cheaper to drive 14 hours round-trip to Missouri to pick them up. But it would still cost a heck of a lot more than LMC. I don’t plan on using LMC for any chrome or dress up parts like that. My old man and I restored a square body a few years ago and all the chrome looked like crap after just a year. So how is the steel from LMC? Does it fit? Again, my doors and box sides and hood are good. I’m looking at fenders and some bed parts.

I want to thank you guys in advance for any pointers you send my way. I see a lot of amazing rides on here. I look forward to the day that I have mine done.