'65 Chevy C10 Long Fleet Retrospective Build Thread

[Patina]

these trucks didn't even leave the factory this nice.... amazing job!

[chevyrestoguy]

I love this build!

I've done a bunch of restorations (hence, my screen name) and I love it when it's done as nicely as yours. Your attention to detail is amazing!!

[theastronaut]

Guage panel restoration.

The needles were faded...


So I repainted them. I also used Zymol cleaner wax to polish the background.


I made new warning lamp covers from sheets of translucent plastic. They were glossy so I sanded them with 2500 grit paper to knock the gloss down to match the original peices better. I had to stack abunch of them together to darken them up and they're still a little brighter than the old ones but that just makes them stand out better. The decals were printed in reverse then applied to the backside of the lens like the factory did them.








Put together with bead blasted and satin black painted frame. New outer lens.

[theastronaut]

Heater resto.

Taken apart for blasting and painting.




After painting and reassembly. I used white rope caulk from Ace Hardware to replicate the original sealer. The original screws were bead blasted and painted.

[theastronaut]

All throughout the restoration the owners didn't want to do anything under the hood cosmeticly. But once I started reassembling the truck and they saw how nice it was turning out, we were able to talk them into detailing the engine compartment. Their dad had installed a rebuilt engine shortly before he passed away so we didn't rebuild the 292, just detailed it.

Starting point:







Getting it ready to pull:





Engine out:







Notice the green paint and the overspray pattern on the bellhousing. I replicated this when we repainted the engine and trans.

[theastronaut]

Starting to detail the engine parts.

Bead blasted and repainted. After finding the green paint on the bellhousing, I did some research to find out what the original color for a 292 was. I saw some post on here saying that Alpine Green was very close so I went with that.


More parts added to the pile:






I took the original distributor apart, masked and bead blasted the body and sprayed it with satin clear. New vacuum cannister and cap make it look new.


Original carb before rebuilding/detailing.




After beadblasting:



I sprayed the throttle body with satin clear to preserve the bare cast iron look and dipped the aluminum body in PPG DX503 to recolor it. The hardware was bead blasted and painted.


Air filter lid repainted and new decal applied:



Detailed the starter:




The engine block painted and reassembly started. New brass freeze plugs installed (with all the stampings facing the same direction), engine mounts and clutch arm:


The timing cover reinstalled with new seals. Everything was taken of, bead blasted, and painted seperately to keep from getting paint on the hardware or seals- giving the engine a more detailed look.


Distributor and pushrod covers installed:


The trans repainted with a cast iron finish and bellhousing overspray matched to the original paint.


Valve cover repainted:


Repro decal, detailed hardware, new plugs:


Starter bolted back on.


New oil filter painted the Delco blue, reproduction decal applied.


Hard to see but I left the serial number pad bare metal.



I pulled the oil pan and dropped the engine down from the engine hoist long enough to remove the chains so I could paint the cylinder head. Let it dry and installed the plugs and valve cover. Ready to install back in the truck.

[theastronaut]

Getting ready to drop the engine back in.

Shot some high build 2K Urethane primer on the firewall.


Wetsanded and painted:


I bolted up the inner fenders and marked the rear edges, then masked the firewall out and sprayed undercoating. I used truck bed liner instead of regular undercoating since it dries harder and has a better texture.


The frame pressure washes, scrubbed, and painted. The owners didn't want a full body-off restoration so we just shot low-gloss black on everything. Its going to be driven so no need to fully detail all of the suspension as they didn't want it too nice to be driven






Dropping the engine back in using plenty of padding around the chains:

[McC_65_91]

beautiful work- should be a happy customer

[theastronaut]

More under hood details.

Manifolds installed. The exhaust was lightly bead blasted, then Calyx manifold dressing was applied to give it a cast iron look. We've driven it about 50 miles so far and it still looks that good. We also have it on our Ford 8N tractor and we only have to touch it up about once a year.


Heater, cowl panel, and wipers installed:


Detailded the new master cylinder. Also bead blasted and reused as many original bolts as possible.




Detailed the steering column and shift linkage:


Carb and throttle linkage:


Bent new fuel and vacuum lines:


Had the radiator shrouds powdercoated, then wired/glued on new seals.




Inner fenders and radiator support installed. Had these powdercoated.





Steering column cover:



I thought I'd check out the original harness before I bought a new one. There had been some wires added in that I had to remove but it was in pretty good shape.





After cleaning, rewrapping, and installing in the truck:




New voltage regulator (with the old cover bead blasted and painted to look original), bead blasted and cleared the horn relay, and applied some vinyl dressing to the wires to bring out their color.


Engine compartment pretty much finished up:

[theastronaut]

Some details of the paint process. I used Spies Hecker 8000 series clear on the truck. Every panel was wetsanded with 1000 grit to flatten the orange peel, then guide coated with over-reduced black base coat. Then the panels were wetsanded with Meguiar's Unigrit 2000, then 3000 grade sand paper to refine the wetsanding scratches before buffing. I buffed out the paint with Norton's Liquid Ice extra cut compound using a wool pad, then polished the swirl marks out with 3M Machine Polish on a 3M waffle pad. The final step was to polish the truck with my 6" Porter Cable random orbital buffer using Griot's Garage Machine Polish 3 and finishing with Griot's Best of Show Wax.

Doors after spraying the outside.


Cowl panel:



Front clip paint process. I first sprayed a coat of tinted sealer over the panels. Then they were sprayed with Spies Hecker 257 series single stage. I let the panels dry, then nibbed any trash, scuffed them with a grey 3M pad, and cleared them with Spies 8000 series clear. The grill shell and fenders were masked, the white and black detailing was sprayed with Spies basecoat, then unmasked and cleared.

Tinted sealer:


Single Stage:


Once the single stage had dried, I mocked up the fender and grill opening to mark where the black and white needed to be masked so that the edges would match from panel to panel.



Masked and white base coat applied.



Fine line tape used to get precise, clean tape egdes.


White masked out, ready to spray the black base coat.



White and black sprayed and unmasked, ready to spray the clear coats.





After spraying three coats of clear.







Door after sanding with 1000 grit and guide coating applied.


Close up of guide coat.


Sanded with 2000 grit. You can see that the guide coat shows where the 1000 grit scratches havn't been fully sanded out around the edges of the sanded spot.


Incredible clarity of reflection in the paint after sanding with 3000 grit and buffing.





I hung the hood up to wetsand it to let the sanding grit and any stray dust/grit that might stick to the wet surface wash off easier.


Also used a Whirlpool water filter to catch any grit in the water lines.


Grit caught in filter that would have made scratches when wetsanding.


Hood after wetsanding and buffing.

[theastronaut]

Here's some reflection shots once the paint was wetsanded and buffed. These pictures were taken after buffing with a wool pad and extra cut compound so the paint looked better after final polishing and waxing.

Door jambs. These got prepped just like any outer panel would; metal worked, skim coated, block sanded, primed, block sanded, wetsanded then painted. Then they were wetsanded and buffed just like the outside panels. No stone left unturned!

[chad64chevy]

man, i like this truck!! you said this was your first restoration!! it don't look like it!! great job and awesome detail! if and when you do make those body tags like me know i might need one or two!! again great looking truck!!

[theastronaut]

Chad, thanks for the compliments!


My dad has done upholstery for 33+ years and already had some original '64-65 seat insert material that he stashed away 25+ years ago. Here's some shots of him working on the seat cover. He used a seat he covered about 18 years ago to make his patterns.










Thin carpet and burlap to keep the springs from eating through the foam.






Solid rod sewn into seat edges to hog ring cover to frame. The original clips wouldn't work to hold the cover on as the new vinyl stretches to much and allowed the cover to buldge out inbetween the clips. The rod allows the whole edge of the cover to have even tension when it's attached with hog rings.


Backrest finished. We had the seat frame sandblasted and powdercoated gloss black.



Finished and installed back in the cab. Don't think dad could have done a better job!

[SFTorange]

I've got to say, this truck is a work of art! I've really enjoyed looking through your build. The attention to detail is fantastic. It's nice to know that there are at least a few examples like this left.

[theastronaut]

Here's some random assembly pics, in no particular order.

The bed reunited with the cab and the wood floor installed.




The step plates installed with all the screw slots "clocked" the same direction and the join of the weatherstripping exactly centered with the Chevy bowtie. Also treated the rubber with Duragloss' Rubber and Vinyl Dressing. You can also see just how "deep" the paint is on the top of the rocker. The door jambs were bodyworked, block sanded, wetsanded, and buffed just like the outer panels.


Backside of the bumpers were wetsanded and painted satin black.


The window handle knobs had a rough edge that needed to be smoothed out.


After wetsanding and buffing to smooth the knob. Better, but not glossy enough.


Rewetsanded and masked, ready for a coat of clear.


Clear coated.




Added padding under the floor mad. I also cut padding to fit in the recessed stamping to level out the floor mat surface.


Vent windows reassembled.


Checking the wiring.


Test fitting the emblems, had to slot out the mounting holes to make them level.


Headlight buckets blasted, painted, and test fit.


Primed and wetsanded the license plate bracket.


Painted with low gloss black paint and reassembled.


The plating on the tailgate chains had dulled out so I polished them with Wenol metal polish and clear coated them to keep them from oxidizing.


Polished the heads of the door panel screws.


Used Duplicolor truck bed liner to undercoat the fenders.


Front clip installed.


Paint edges line up pretty good.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by SFTorange

I've got to say, this truck is a work of art! I've really enjoyed looking through your build. The attention to detail is fantastic. It's nice to know that there are at least a few examples like this left.

Thanks! I really enjoyed the unique opportunity of being able to go to this level of detail with the '65. The owners were in no hurry to get the truck back from us and allowed me to take the truck to a level of finish that they were not expecting, so that the truck would showcase our abilities as a newly opened restoration shop; a rolling business card of sorts. Probably 3/4 of the work was done at no cost to the owner so that they could still afford the work being done, and we could spend the time needed to bring the truck up to our standards of quality. It worked; a guy that has a '55 International pickup heard about the work we had done on the '65 C10 from a friend and after stopping by to take a look for himself, he wanted us to do the metalwork on his '55. So we now have our next restoration project in the shop due to word of mouth "advertising".

Btw, I'll have the truck back at our shop soon to detail it for an upcoming show and I'll try to take some more/better overall shots of it. I've also talked to the owners to see if they'd let us have a professional photographer do a photo shoot of the truck to really capture the details and quality of work.

[Captainfab]

I'd say that you've set the bar pretty high. It is very inspiring to see your attention to detail in this build. I have not seen anyone in this area do this nice of work. I sincerely hope that your restoration business does very well for you.

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Thanks! I really enjoyed the unique opportunity of being able to go to this level of detail with the '65. The owners were in no hurry to get the truck back from us and allowed me to take the truck to a level of finish that they were not expecting, so that the truck would showcase our abilities as a newly opened restoration shop; a rolling business card of sorts. Probably 3/4 of the work was done at no cost to the owner so that they could still afford the work being done, and we could spend the time needed to bring the truck up to our standards of quality. It worked; a guy that has a '55 International pickup heard about the work we had done on the '65 C10 from a friend and after stopping by to take a look for himself, he wanted us to do the metalwork on his '55. So we now have our next restoration project in the shop due to word of mouth "advertising".

Btw, I'll have the truck back at our shop soon to detail it for an upcoming show and I'll try to take some more/better overall shots of it. I've also talked to the owners to see if they'd let us have a professional photographer do a photo shoot of the truck to really capture the details and quality of work.

[LeftCoast32]

Just went through your entire thread. What a great way to showcase your shops ability to perform a detailed (High Quality) restoration! Hat is off to you and your crew!

[forcedinduction]

Stunning!!! I am in awe.

[chevyrestoguy]

I'm blown away, absolutely blown away. Your level of detail is incredible. I've done restorations in the past, and many people do not understand the time and effort that it takes to build something to that high of a standard.

I love everything about this truck. As I've said before, I love hot rods, but there's a special place in my heart for bringing something back to a better-than-factory condition. This truck is a GREAT business card for your shop. It'll bring you more work than you can handle!

Keep posting pictures. This thread should be a sticky for anyone wanting to do a correct resto.

[theastronaut]

Again, thanks for the kind words!

Getting close to getting the rest of the pics uploaded. Here's some of the final assembly. One of my pet peeves with these trucks is the panel fitment from the factory, its terrible! I already have a few pics of the rough body work showing a little of the work I did getting the panels flush with each other and all the gaps to match but I didn't explain the whole process. I used 1/8 inch welding rods to weld onto the edges of the panels that needed the gaps closed up. I also made a "feeler guage" from nylon to check the gaps with; if the guage was loose, I welded the edge. If it was tight, I ground the edge down. The inner fender braces were sliced horizontally every 3 or so inches to reshape the fender to the shape of the door. The edges of the fender extensions were relief cut to match the shape of the door, hood, and cowl. The hood had to be narrowed 1/4 inch to make the back edge flush with the sides of the fender extensions and doors. I cut the back of the cab loose in the doorjambs and pulled the opening in or out to match the shape of the rear of the doors. The inner door bottom patch panels didn't fit the shape of the rockers so the lip was cut off and a new one made with a shrinker/stretcher to better match the curve of the rockers. The rear inner door post were relief cut and leaned in to match the shape of the rear of the cab. The fender bottoms were pie cut and reshaped to flow into the rockers better. The cab corners were cut and reshaped to match the rockers. Once all the metal work was finished and fine-tuned and the panels in their final alignment with all the latches in place and adjusted, I skim coated across the seams and long-block sanded across the panels as if they were all one panel. This got the final shape and flushness dead-on. At that point, I could take a straight edge and lay it across any seam and there would be no gap between the straight edge and the body. Here's the results of all that work.

Door to cab gap.


The reflection of the florescent light bulbs stay level one panel to the next. Another of my pet peeve's is reflections that don't carry over evenly to the next panel.


The inside edges of the fender extensions were bodyworked just like the rest of the truck. Never would know that it had about a dozen cuts in it! Also re-dimpled the edges to mimick the factory spot welds.


Top of the passenger side door/fender extension.




Cowl to fender extension and base of A pillar.




Driver's side door to fender gap.


Right fender to door.


Left fender to door.


I saved this shot for last as I think this is one of the best shots I have that show off the panel flushness. The reflections stop at the edge of the door and pick up again nearly seamlessly again on the fender. The angle of the reflection doesn't change from panel to panel.

[Revoh]

Wow. Yeah, these trucks are pretty bad. That's a lot of very nice work!

[jocko]

How have i missed this thread in the past!! This is absolutely beautiful work.
Love it that you did the original white surround with black background for the grille - that seems to be missed so often or half-done (i.e. just the white surround, with body color background), which is just fine for a custom truck, looks good - but I prefer the "floating grille" look you get by doing it the factory way (that's just me though). One quick question - I noticed the way you painted the wheels with a dark center (under the hubcaps) - was that done that way from the factory? I've never seen that done before - looks good, just curious if original, and if not (or, actually, if so too) what was the purpose?

BEAUTIFUL truck, holy frijoles.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by jocko

How have i missed this thread in the past!! This is absolutely beautiful work.
Love it that you did the original white surround with black background for the grille - that seems to be missed so often or half-done (i.e. just the white surround, with body color background), which is just fine for a custom truck, looks good - but I prefer the "floating grille" look you get by doing it the factory way (that's just me though). One quick question - I noticed the way you painted the wheels with a dark center (under the hubcaps) - was that done that way from the factory? I've never seen that done before - looks good, just curious if original, and if not (or, actually, if so too) what was the purpose?

BEAUTIFUL truck, holy frijoles.

After I had the wheels blasted and epoxy primed them, I masked out the centers to keep the high build primer and paint from building up where the lug nuts seat. Didn't want thick paint/primer chipping out and loosening up the lug nuts over time... like the powdercoated wheels on my '64 VW did, leaving me stranded 50 miles from home! So the darker center is just the color of the epoxy primer.

I can understand why alot of guys don't paint the grill shell and fenders tri-tone, its alot of work! And if you don't mock up the front clip when you mask it (or mark where to mask) the tape edges won't line up when you put it back together. The "floating grill" look is the best though!

While we're on the subject, does anybody know if gloss black, or satin, or flat black is correct for the grill background? I went ahead and cleared everything but I wasn't sure... so I left it gloss.

[collins10672]

semi gloss (satin) black was used behind the grill,frame,suspension components,inner front fenders.this is one nice truck i must say you have done a wonderful job of restoring it.