Here is my 1969 c10 fleetside.

[Ganty101]

First a little intro. I’m David, I’m over in England and went from having a Nissan Skyline R34 GT-T to a ‘68 Chevy C10 350ci. The reason for the switch was mainly to be able to fix it myself (I am a mechanic but there’s a lot of nasty electrics on a skyline!) I wanted a V8 and cheaper to keep (insurance/tax/mot)

After a month of looking I came across one on eBay. It had been lowered £2,000 down to £11,500 and looked to of been restored recently, has disc brakes, Edelbrock carb and power steering fitted. Drove an hour or so to see it and ended up getting it for £10,750. During the drive home I hit 70mph (ish) on the motorway and all the electrics died and the engine cut out. As I’m sat there swearing to myself the truck just fires back up and all the lights came back on etc so I carried on steadily home.

Time for pictures I think then I’ll get back to the build!
https://i.imgur.com/yyIG8mD.png
https://i.imgur.com/I8GgKjB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/YZFk00M.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VOmQsnh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rJu02Cg.jpg

So after road testing again and doing some checks it turned out that the alternator was producing 18volts underload and had burnt out the wiring to the battery. Fortunately we got an alternator off a ‘88 vauxhall cavalier which fit with minor adjustments. We also replaced the wire to the battery with a better gauge wire as the old was burnt out.
https://i.imgur.com/HV4ZA8X.jpg

So that was my first week with the truck. I got it to avoid electrical issues and that was the first issue I had! Typical! Gonna post more as this was back at the beginning of April and a lot has happened.

Quick edit I’ve been lurking around here for a while and know a lot of you like to see the spid so here mine. And info you can get from it would be great!
https://i.imgur.com/nhTMtsk.jpg

[72 tigger]

You do have a original swb!

[Simple10]

Looks tidy ��

[Ganty101]

72 tiger, anything else to get from the spid? I’m new to everything here basically. There’s a lot not right with it. I don’t want to take back to standard but I would like to get kinda close. And thanks simple10, its getting there now. When I get on my dinner break I’ll add some more pics and info on what I’ve been upto!

[Ganty101]

So next job was a service. I replaced oil, oil filter, air filter, plugs, leads and aux belts. Nothing major to note here all standard stuff. Though it does start and run better! Quick run down of things I want to sort out. The ride is awful, the roads here are made mostly of speed bumps and this thing was lowered to the ground. The front arms caught bumps and the rear bump stops were against the axle ultimately giving me no suspension! It needs new tires, the heater doesn’t work, radio doesn’t work, passenger window won’t wind down (very stiff), the exhaust needs replacing and the radiator looks like it’s seen better days! I would also like to sort the bed out as it has cheap plywood and some rails for the bed tops too.

[Ganty101]

So the next job was to sort the ride out. Ordered new springs for the front and new u-bolts for the rear. The front springs went in easy enough but the rear bolts weren’t right. My c10 has trailing arms with coil springs and the bolts can’t for the leaf spring setup I guess. After a few hours and a lot of swear words we got sorted. I won’t post every pic here instead I’ll link the gallery of pics on imgur and a couple of single pics.

Gallery on imgur: https://imgur.com/gallery/L5426AJ
New tires: https://i.imgur.com/7RCQpwT.jpg
Rear suspension before lift: https://i.imgur.com/sC25CDu.jpg
Stripped down: https://i.imgur.com/3ns5EUO.jpg
After lift: https://i.imgur.com/AlrnaOn.jpg
New ride height: https://i.imgur.com/yY64yqo.jpg

So yeah was a nightmare as we couldn’t just take the blocks out as there wasn’t the thread on the Ubolts so had to cut them in half instead. Turns out it rides lovely now with just 2inch blocks instead of 4!

[LockDoc]

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Truck looks good! It will be a lot more enjoyable to drive with the suspension changes.

LockDoc

[Ganty101]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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Truck looks good! It will be a lot more enjoyable to drive with the suspension changes.

LockDoc

Thankyou 😊 Oh believe me it is! Was practically undriveable before.

[cebra]

A rewire was one of the best things I did for my truck and gives me piece of mind that I won't burn my truck down as I add value to it. I made mine starting with a junkyard fuse panel from a S10 but it cost near as much as a wiring kit once done so I would go that route if I had to do it over. Post some pictures of the truck and the Skyline.

[Ganty101]

Originally Posted by cebra

A rewire was one of the best things I did for my truck and gives me piece of mind that I won't burn my truck down as I add value to it. I made mine starting with a junkyard fuse panel from a S10 but it cost near as much as a wiring kit once done so I would go that route if I had to do it over. Post some pictures of the truck and the Skyline.

I am working through other wires as I go but I need to keep it all working as it’s a daily! There’s a link in one of my posts to the full album on imgur of the truck. And many links in my posts in this thread. The skyline is also up on imgur here’s the link: https://imgur.com/gallery/AqqLC

[Ganty101]

So a couple of questions, firstly my drivers side stop light doesn’t work. Now the side light and more importantly the indicator does too. Would that be the indicator switch itself? Secondly I have a Haynes manual for this truck and it says that 350 engines weren’t fitted to 69 trucks. Is mine a 69 or a 70 then? It’s registered as a 69 so I’m guessing the book I have is wrong.

[CG]

That is a sharp looking truck. I always thought the chrome trim done up like yours would be a cool look on a dark truck. I had also wondered about green interior with a dark truck. I like the contrast.

As far as the brake light. Seems to me if one side works but the other doesn't you probably have a ground problem on the non working side. Its a single switch for both sides, so if one side is working the switch is working.

[Ganty101]

Originally Posted by CG

That is a sharp looking truck. I always thought the chrome trim done up like yours would be a cool look on a dark truck. I had also wondered about green interior with a dark truck. I like the contrast.

As far as the brake light. Seems to me if one side works but the other doesn't you probably have a ground problem on the non working side. Its a single switch for both sides, so if one side is working the switch is working.

Thankyou for the kind words. On the brake light issue if the other lights are working wouldn’t that rule out the ground being the issue? I will check it out though when I can.

[Steeveedee]

The wire going into the turn signal switch obviously works, as the right side brake light works. If I read this correctly, the turn signal on the left side rear flashes? If that is the case, it would be the turn signal switch. An easy test before you just remove and replace it, check the left brake light wire (gozoutta the switch) for power with the switch in the neutral position, and then in the left turn position. It's possible that the contacts aren't working for straight ahead, but do connect for turning. Check the right side gozoutta wire to verify solid power with brake on, and intermittent power when the turn signal is on. If you see this for the right side, there can only be one thing wrong- the turn signal switch. I don't remember the colors atm.

[Jason Banks]

The black with the green interior is the most unique thing I have ever seen. Looks great!

[dmjlambert]

David over in England, welcome from David here in Texas! It's fun to see a lurker dive in and help us around here. That is a nice 69 truck. My favorite year, apparently. My profile/avitar picture is what a 69 truck look like as-is condition after sitting in a field since the 80's. You've had the benefit of all that restore work and it turned out quite fantastic. Great color. The 69 trucks had a 350 engine available as an option. Mine has a 350 also. At one time your truck would have had a badge on the side of the front fender that said 8 350.

[Ganty101]

Thanks Steve, I’m gonna get a switch ordered I think. Hopefully it won’t take a month to be delivered like the aluminium radiator has done!
Thankyou for the kind words Jason. Yeah it really stood out from the 10 or so other c10s that were up for sale over here.
Always good to meet another david! We seem to get everywhere haha! Yeah I needed an almost finished truck to keep me on the road still but I wanted something to still be able to make my own. I went to buy the truck thinking it was just black. The photo on eBay did it no justice, the purple really pops in the right light.

Thankyou all for the information, help and kindness. I appreciate it ��

[Sparky dave]

That’s weird I thought I was reading about myself for a minute there I’m also david from England with a 69 c10! Although I’ve never owned a skyline but it has been a dream car all my life. Anyway nice truck looks like you got a pearler!

[Ganty101]

Originally Posted by Sparky dave

That’s weird I thought I was reading about myself for a minute there I’m also david from England with a 69 c10! Although I’ve never owned a skyline but it has been a dream car all my life. Anyway nice truck looks like you got a pearler!

Hey bud thanks. You know you ain’t so far from home either! I’m only near Doncaster myself! Yeah the skyline was a cool car but far too high tech really. How long you had your truck?

[Sparky dave]

Doncaster that’s cool I’m from pudsey in Leeds I’ve had it 2 years and have crazy amount of hours in her now. If not even had a drive! I have a front wing to paint tomorrow weather depending and hopefully have my first drive next week. Mine is also a 350 and it’s got a 700r4 in it. What’s it like to drive? Have they got some poke? I’ve been wondering for to long now

[Ganty101]

Originally Posted by Sparky dave

Doncaster that’s cool I’m from pudsey in Leeds I’ve had it 2 years and have crazy amount of hours in her now. If not even had a drive! I have a front wing to paint tomorrow weather depending and hopefully have my first drive next week. Mine is also a 350 and it’s got a 700r4 in it. What’s it like to drive? Have they got some poke? I’ve been wondering for to long now

Well I can’t tell you too much yet as my carb is set up badly so when I get the kit through I will know myself. But yeah even under half throttle and coming from the skyline they do get down the road well! I have power steering which I’d advise and mine has a three on the tree which was fun to learn! Also if you want to lower it watch speed bumps with the lower arms!

[Sparky dave]

I wanted mine lower as well I might reconsider now you say that. I think your edelbrock shares a similar operating principal to my Rochester carb. I had problems with my fuel pressure being too high and pushing past the float bowl so I fitted a pressure regulator. Is it me or have you some performance aluminium cylinder heads on yours too. I could chat for days I love these trucks. Feel free to add me as a friend on here maybe I can meet up at an American meet soon. Mine is a satin black longbed they will look the bees knees lined up

[Ganty101]

Mine is the Rochester anyway. The guy who sold me it told porkies! So I doubt it’s modified at all. Any ways to check? I’ll see what it’s doing ASAP.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by Ganty101

Mine is the Rochester anyway. The guy who sold me it told porkies! So I doubt it’s modified at all. Any ways to check? I’ll see what it’s doing ASAP.

OK, "porkies" are big fat lies, or something?

If he told you it had a different (Edelbrock) carburetor, what you have is probably not modified. Most people know little about carburetors. With the manual you are getting, check around to see if you have the correct jets and metering rods. That's about as far as anyone goes with a Q-Jet. Take a look at the jets and try to see if someone has drilled them out. That was a popular thing in the '70 here in the US to get a little better performance while still seeming to appear stock. Not that I've ever tried that.

[Ganty101]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

OK, "porkies" are big fat lies, or something?

If he told you it had a different (Edelbrock) carburetor, what you have is probably not modified. Most people know little about carburetors. With the manual you are getting, check around to see if you have the correct jets and metering rods. That's about as far as anyone goes with a Q-Jet. Take a look at the jets and try to see if someone has drilled them out. That was a popular thing in the '70 here in the US to get a little better performance while still seeming to appear stock. Not that I've ever tried that.

Absolutely yeah. He also told me it was good to go, with an alternator kicking out 18 volts. I don’t get how someone can be that way. I mean I’m driving down the motorway and everything blows on me. No lights, engine cut out, wires fried battery boiled. It’s not how I’d wanna live my life. I sold my skyline and it was exactly as I said. Everything works and there’s no issues at all. I made sure of it intact!