Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10

[slowcpe]

Not sure how I missed this one, but as stated before, great metal skills. Watching closely as I have all that and then more ahead of me with none of the skills.

[mcbassin]

Nice work as always on this build.

[kingstrider]

Wow this is a cool thread, I wish rust repairs were as easy as you make them look. Subscribed to see the long haul.

[Old_Truck_Fan]

Thanks again for the encouraging comments. I fabricated a mock up transmission based on the critical dimensions of the T56 Magnum transmission. This allowed me to install the mock up engine and begin making progress on the drive train. I’m still experimenting with things at the moment but I plan to make a decision soon on the overall direction I want to take. As always, more pictures…

[Old_Truck_Fan]

I am far enough along on the cab to place it back on the frame and get a rough idea of panel fitment before tearing things back apart for media blasting. So far so good. It sure is looking like a truck again instead of a wagon! Seeing things start to take shape certainly helps my motivation.

[69short]

I like those dollies that you are using. Great progress btw!

[erichevy]

Awesome progress so far. I need to bookmark this for metal work tips when I start working on my truck

[Old_Truck_Fan]

The original color of the truck has really grown on me while doing all of the rust repairs so I've decided to stick with it on the new paint scheme. I'm going with a really simple stripped down look but all modern mechanicals. The external look will be similar to how the truck left the assembly plant based on its glove box option list. I put together a couple of renderings using House of Kolor's "Digital Paint Booth 3D." I've got a few more tweaks I plan on doing that are not represented in the images but it should be pretty close. I’m working on getting everything ready for media blasting so hopefully the next images I share the truck will be wearing some new primer!

[1stchevy]

That a cool rendering. Nice work on everything.

[cericd]

Renderings look great! Love the direction.

[Hart_Rod]

Nice job.

[Advanced Design]

Old Truck Fan, I just came across your build and really enjoyed the quality work you are doing along with the great explanations you provided. The rendering looks really nice and I love how clean and organized your shop is. Will continue to tag along. Thanks for sharing!

[71C10SWB]

Looks great, man!

[Old_Truck_Fan]

The truck is now in new primer! As always I’ll catch you up with pictures. Media blasting went well with no surprises.

[Old_Truck_Fan]

Following media blasting I was able to test out my own version of a mobile paint booth. I’ll post more about the paint booth later since I still have a few things to work out. My wife was the only one to take a picture of the paint booth in use. I was so focused on getting the truck in primer (since this was the last good day that was in the forecast for quite some time) that I didn’t take a single picture on my own. I also included a picture of my pre-painting workbench to give you an idea of the products I used.

[Old_Truck_Fan]

Now some pictures of everything put back together with a fresh coat of epoxy primer on all of the blasted metal. It sure feels nice to reach this point. My goal was to have things at this stage before the weather was too cold to paint. With a lot of hard work and no time to spare I was able to pull it off. I’m going to take a break from body work until the spring and focus on the mechanicals over the winter.

[Old_Truck_Fan]

Speaking of mechanical items… I was able to complete the installation of my front engine accessory drive. It is a Cadillac CTS-V setup from Chevrolet Performance. The water pump is an LSA unit. I also installed an Aeromotive Phantom Fuel System into a Blazer tank I purchased from LMC truck with a bed fill provision. Lastly, I installed an aircraft style fuel filler from Eddie Motorsports mounted flush with the bed floor.

Look for more pictures after the Holidays!

[Old_Truck_Fan]

I decided to go with the Flowmaster exhaust kit for 67-72 Chevy trucks. I plan on tucking the exhaust up into the frame but I figured the kit would get me pretty close rather than starting with a box of bends.

I started with the tail pipes first. I really like how the exhaust exits the rear on my Dodge Ram so I decided to run the exhaust rearward and merge the Ram bumper reliefs into the stock bumper.

[Old_Truck_Fan]

Santa also left these boxes under the Christmas tree.

[flashed]

I just saw your back bumper mod ,man that is nice ,you should market that or at least the parts to do it .Carry on ,Im still watching .

[aboyer]

Very Nice Build so far. Good to see someone else from Indiana building these trucks as well.

Adam

[slowcpe]

Nice progress

[darkhorse970]

Very nice work, I love what you did with the rear bumper! I had that same bought when I saw the Dodge bumper, I'm glad to see someone has actually done it.

[nds1968]

Your truck is coming along nicely. Your work is top notch... I want my truck to look like your rendering but mine will be 507 blue. I have white wheels now but thinking about going back to black...

Also what wheels and size do you plan on running?

[Old_Truck_Fan]

Originally Posted by flashed

I just saw your back bumper mod ,man that is nice ,you should market that or at least the parts to do it .Carry on ,Im still watching .

Originally Posted by darkhorse970

Very nice work, I love what you did with the rear bumper! I had that same bought when I saw the Dodge bumper, I'm glad to see someone has actually done it.

Thanks. The curve of the RAM bumper matches pretty well with the stock one at the top but the RAM bumper is more squared off towards the bottom. This picture shows what I'm talking about. The RAM bumper is only about 18 gauge so I was able to shape it to the contour of the stock bumper which is about twice the thickness. The only other tricky part is making sure you have it aligned with the exhaust tips.