Father & Son '72 Project Truck

[Snowman34]

As a form of a "mental break", I will share our journey of a "Father & Son '72 Project Truck" since last October. Bear in mind that this is our first venture into the realm of classic cars & trucks. Long time reader; 1st time forum poster.

Last year, our family decided we "needed" a 4th vehicle. I/we wanted a truck, ideally a new one, crew cab, loaded, etc. Our 17 y/o son came to us and said, "What if we went classic?" I advised he needed some airbags & other safety features as a new driver. Case closed. He walked away with a frown.

As I showed potential options, our son again asked, "What if we go classic?" We asked what he was envisioning since he kept bringing this up. My wife & I asked for some examples. He showed us a number of 60's & 70's trucks that were absolutely bad as*! We were honestly hooked!

And here's the kicker; our son says, "Ya know, if you get a new truck, it'll likely lose ½ of its value within a couple years. If you go classic, replace things with some quality or desirable parts, you'll increase your value steadily & likely gain, not lose money."

What the flip was that? Was our son listening all these years when we talked about $$? I suppose. As a kid, my Dad had a "matador red" '57 Chevy Convertible which we rode in a ton, it was awesome. He restored it "a few times". He also had a '70 Chevelle, '90's Vette, Grand National, Trans Am WS6 & a few others. My wife said why not go for it as you had with your Dad, "it's about the experience, right?" She strongly pushed us to do it. Am I in Fantasy Land or what?

So we found a '72 C10 & fell in love with it. It was loud, yellow, obnoxious, had some 20" wheels, and completely impractical. So we brought it home in October. As with any older vehicle, this "needed some work" and definitely wasn't perfect. It was much less "perfect" than originally thought. Heck, we didn't know what we were doing. We should have taken a great friend to look at the truck with us, but he was out of town & we got the "bug" to get it, so we did.

We realized early on that "some things" weren't just right. Like I said, we likely shouldn't have bought it, didn't know what we were doing, but we did it anyway. Our neighbor [a true gear-head] helped us confirm there were unmatched brake calipers & spindles, as well as '73 parts all over the front of the truck. Shocks were totally shot. He/we felt it was best to rip all of that out, so we did.

Over the next few months, we worked our butts off on it. I worked a ton of extra shifts. I'm a nurse who as a few extra jobs so I can put $$ in the "truck cookie jar". Our son used his spare time after he was done with homework & school stuff as a break & worked his tail off on the truck. I helped him when I woke up, but he's done the majority of the stuff on the truck.

It's got/came with a "re-built" stock '73 350 w/stock 76cc heads; stock intake manifold; 750 Edelbrock carb; headers; TH350 re-built; 12 bolt rear w/3.07; Belltech lowering kit; 20" Ridler wheels; gas tank moved to rear.

We've changed & added:
RideTech StreetGrip kit
Wilwood 4-piston disc brake conversion
Complete steering set-up w/all tie rods, drag link, idler/pitman arm; box/column
Upper/lower control arms
New exhaust w/Borla S-Type mufflers that exit out the back
Gauges are now all working
Complete re-wire
Carb re-built
TH350 [previously re-built] working well again & not leaking
New stereo system
Killmat sound deadening/heatshield added
3-point seatbelts
Cheap set of air horns for starters; original was pitiful.

As this COVID stuff is with us, it's slowing down what we'd like to do with the truck, as I'm sure everyone else's projects. We'd like to seek out some opinions, guidance, recommendations for what to do next. Our goal for the truck is a "daily driver", not auto-crossing at all, not a track truck. We want to enjoy this every day. It's crazy yellow & folks high-5, thumbs up us, and in today's world, it's honestly refreshing to see people's faces light up & talk about something other than what's going on. If I step on it, I want it to move, but not wrap our 17 y/o & 20 y/o daughter around a tree. It currently gets 9mpg. We'd like to be able to drive it on a road trip & be completely reliable to go across the country. Dreaming, I know, BUT we all have goals, right? Crazy or not!

Possible upgrades/desires for the future:
Holley Sniper EFI
New Intake manifold
"Maybe" new heads
"Maybe" new SBC/LS down the road
700R4 Transmission
3.73 gear swap
Snowden bench seat & matching door/dash panels

Let us know what you all think. This has been a ton of fun! Frustrating at times for sure, but it's definitely been worth the price of admission vs. buying a new "regular" truck that everyone else has!

Stay healthy & safe out there!
Ryan
Orlando, FL