Project Family Values: 1971 C10 SWB

[CMars45000]

This truck was purchased by my grandparents for my mother in 1971 as her first vehicle. She was into horses and needed to haul stuff, so a sedan was out of the question. My mother really wanted an El Camino, but my grandfather over-rode that desire. so a C10 it was. It was owned and driven by my mother for about 10 year until she "sold" it to my uncle, who drive it for another 15 years, then it was "sold" back to my grandfather for use on the family ranch in Colorado. All told, it was about 269,000 miles on it, has endured on overhaul of the 307 and a half-assed rusted floor pan repair using fiberglass (Thanks, Uncle Don!) and outer rocker covers.

I "bought" it in 2005 to save it from rotting in a field at the ranch. I was a college student, broke as hell and live in an apartment- I had neither the means or facilities to give it the attention that it needed. So I just started gathering parts. I worked at Napa at the time and started with brake, chassis and steering components. When funds allowed, I bought some aftermarket parts for the suspension, namely an Early Classic Static Drop.

The direction of the build has changed over the years. Originally it was going to be a GenI SBC with a turbo. Now, it has evolved into a Gen3 LS-based swap.

Here are some pics, collected over the years to kick off this build thread.