My Red '70 Chevy Stepside

[dmw319]

Hello all! My name is David and I just recenlty purchased my first classic truck. It's a red 1970 Chevy Stepside C10. Has a 350 V8 with a TH-350. Original 12 bolt rear-end. Truck has 263,000 miles on it with a recently rebuilt motor. Tranmission was converted from 3-on-the-tree manual to an automatic on the floor. Nice bench seat in the cab and body work kept up to date minus some rust in the sides of the bed and the front inner fenders. Not a perfect paint job but looks clean! LED converted brake lights. Power drum brakes all around. Power Steering. Originally was a medium olive "pea green" color. Bought it from a really nice retired firefighter in Indiana who owned it for 31 years and took good care of her and named her "Ol' Betsy". It even has an old siren and whistle hooked up and a coke bottle opener on the tailgate! I drove it all the way home to NC and it was a nice 12 hour cruise with no problems at all. Only plans for the truck so far is to move the floor shifter up to the column, fix the rust areas and a small transmission leak (think its the rear seal), maybe paint the center caps silver, and just enjoy driving it!

Here is a picture of me and the previous owner. I will post more pictures later!

[hopped up]

congrats! looks like a well cared for truck. i like your plans. dont take it apart and just enjoy an old truck
Posted via Mobile Device

[dmw319]

Originally Posted by hopped up

congrats! looks like a well cared for truck. i like your plans. dont take it apart and just enjoy an old truck
Posted via Mobile Device

thanks i appreciate it! Here are some more photos:

[lolife99]

Nice truck.
Congrats!

[N2TRUX]

Clean her up and enjoy it. You got a nice truck.

[zellway]

Good looking truck! I like the monochromatic black interior.

[dmw319]

Thanks yall. I'll definitely have to clean up the bay a little bit and respray some things. Also am considering a disc conversion on the front brakes. I thought about dropping it an inch or so but right now I'm happy with it!

[72BlckButy]

Great looking truck, congrats!

[Tinkermc]

nice lookin truck

[litew8]

Sweet ride. PO did good, you fixing /preventive maint. etc... sounds like an excellent plan.

[raull]

really nice truck , congrats !!!!

[dmw319]

This past week I have done a few little things:

-Painted center caps from red to silver
-Painted radiator supports from orange to black
-Relocated coolant overflow tank from driver to passenger side
-Painted gauge cluster needles orange (they were faded pretty bad)
-Installed a new Pioneer cd player in the dash
-Enjoyed a nice cruise with my trusty dog Jack


^ My buddy Eric came over to help. he's got a 68 sea foam green mustang that's real nice.

[dmw319]

Oh, and I replaced 2 5/16" transmissions hoses that leaked!

[JRANGER]

Nice...an i like the Mustang too!

[Tinkermc]

looks better than b-4

[dmw319]

Well I just got back from a local shop that quoted me anywhere from 6-7k to do all the body work for the truck not including paint. The guy said the rust wasn't "bad" at all but thought that I should just drive the truck as is because it isn't affecting its dirveability or anything and that the truck is solid and rust shouldn't get any worse here in NC. The main areas that have rust are inner fenders, inner/outer rockers, cab corners, small areas in roof of cab and floor boards, and the bedsides. If this were something I wanted to fully restore I wouldn't mind dumping 7 grand into it, but I really just wanted it as a fun weekend cruiser that I could tinker on and do light/medium work to. I feel kinda down though cause I was wanting to keep this truck a long time and slowly do some bodywork to restore it, but he basically told me once you get in doing that kind of work you put in way more than you'll ever get back. The doors also need a little work cause they don't line up quite perfect. He is also getting me quotes for front disc conversion and moving my auto floor shifter to the column. Some of that I could do myself but can't hurt to get an estimate!

But what do yall think? Should I do little parts of the bodywork at a time? A grand here, a grand there or should I save up and do it all down the road? Not worry about it and just drive it as is?

[JRANGER]

My truck isnt as pretty but i took a slow route but fun....I decided to do it myself.... Im not a mechanic, Never replaced metal before, and just bought a Angle Grinder, Grinder Blade, Diamond Blade, and Wire Wheel. I cut out and installed replacement panels from TABCO and GoodMark...Its a nice learning experience..Jsut need to take your time and wear protective goggles. You will need a welder or friend to weld them in eventually... The key is bending the points of the cuts to get them flush....Thats the hard part, you can buy a hand flange tool to do that....Its still hard though, especially on rockers

[green72s]

Your situation sounds very familiar. A couple of years ago I went ahead and turned my truck over to a restoration shop that quoted me about the same cost to do all the body work on my cab. My plan was to do the cab, then the front clip, then the bed, and finally the paint. Once the shop disassembled the entire truck to have the cab media blasted, they discovered much more work that needed to be done and the cost began creeping up. By the time they were done and had the truck back together, the budget was WAY OVER the original quoted amount. To this day that’s still the only body work that has been completed, and I’m super skeptical of having any body work and paint done. If I could do it again, I would have disassembled the truck, had the cab media blasted, then taken the cab to different shops to get estimates and to hear their approach on how the cab can be fixed. That’s what I’ll do with my hood and fenders, and then my bed and tailgate.

JRANGERS approach is another alternative that I would highly consider.

[dmw319]

Originally Posted by JRANGER

My truck isnt as pretty but i took a slow route but fun....I decided to do it myself.... Im not a mechanic, Never replaced metal before, and just bought a Angle Grinder, Grinder Blade, Diamond Blade, and Wire Wheel. I cut out and installed replacement panels from TABCO and GoodMark...Its a nice learning experience..Jsut need to take your time and wear protective goggles. You will need a welder or friend to weld them in eventually... The key is bending the points of the cuts to get them flush....Thats the hard part, you can buy a hand flange tool to do that....Its still hard though, especially on rockers

If I had the time to research the tools and learn how to weld by practicing and tear it all down myself for a nice project in the garage I would do it but most of my mechanical knowledge/skillset is for basic maintenance and upgrades. I've replaced motors, transmissions, done brake jobs, fluid changes, rear end swaps, etc. but body and paint work is pretty foreign to me and is very time consuming. It sounds like fun to learn but I don't know if I'd have the time and patience for it.

Originally Posted by green72s

Your situation sounds very familiar. A couple of years ago I went ahead and turned my truck over to a restoration shop that quoted me about the same cost to do all the body work on my cab. My plan was to do the cab, then the front clip, then the bed, and finally the paint. Once the shop disassembled the entire truck to have the cab media blasted, they discovered much more work that needed to be done and the cost began creeping up. By the time they were done and had the truck back together, the budget was WAY OVER the original quoted amount. To this day that’s still the only body work that has been completed, and I’m super skeptical of having any body work and paint done. If I could do it again, I would have disassembled the truck, had the cab media blasted, then taken the cab to different shops to get estimates and to hear their approach on how the cab can be fixed. That’s what I’ll do with my hood and fenders, and then my bed and tailgate.

JRANGERS approach is another alternative that I would highly consider.

Yea and I trust the shop. I don't think they would intentionally charge me more or anything. They are a great shop that has done some really quality work but it's just pricey stuff. Hmm

[68Stepbed]

I would personally just drive it as-is for as long as you can. Take care of everything mechanical first. It sounds like you have a well maintained truck to start with, so you shouldn't have too many mechanical "bugs" to work out. I would start out with stuff like disc brakes, and other upgrades first. If you want to lower it, do it while doing the disc swap. After you get all the mechanical and suspension upgrades done, then start looking to paint it. Start saving some cash, while also buying what body panels you know you will have to replace. Go ahead and buy cab corners and rockers. You may not have to replace the whole pieces, but the new parts are cheap enough, that they will have the right curves, dimensions for what places need to be fixed. When you get to the point of paint, set a goal and stick to it. When you start saying "While I'm at it......" that's when the snowball effect comes into play and you start spending until you're over your head and you end up with more into it than you planned, and it turns out nicer than you wanted.


Also, for disc conversions and suspension, the only place I recommend is ECE. They sell the highest quality parts and have the best customer service hands down.

Good luck with the project. You did good by buying a good one to start with.

[dmw319]

Originally Posted by 68Stepbed

I would personally just drive it as-is for as long as you can. Take care of everything mechanical first. It sounds like you have a well maintained truck to start with, so you shouldn't have too many mechanical "bugs" to work out. I would start out with stuff like disc brakes, and other upgrades first. If you want to lower it, do it while doing the disc swap. After you get all the mechanical and suspension upgrades done, then start looking to paint it. Start saving some cash, while also buying what body panels you know you will have to replace. Go ahead and buy cab corners and rockers. You may not have to replace the whole pieces, but the new parts are cheap enough, that they will have the right curves, dimensions for what places need to be fixed. When you get to the point of paint, set a goal and stick to it. When you start saying "While I'm at it......" that's when the snowball effect comes into play and you start spending until you're over your head and you end up with more into it than you planned, and it turns out nicer than you wanted.


Also, for disc conversions and suspension, the only place I recommend is ECE. They sell the highest quality parts and have the best customer service hands down.

Good luck with the project. You did good by buying a good one to start with.

thanks man, this is helpful! that is most likely what i plan to do. right now my first two projects are moving the shifter from the floor to the column (its an auto) and also converting the fronts to disk brakes. QUESTION though, will that ECE kit work with my rally wheels? (6 lug)

[zellway]

Originally Posted by dmw319

thanks man, this is helpful! that is most likely what i plan to do. right now my first two projects are moving the shifter from the floor to the column (its an auto) and also converting the fronts to disk brakes. QUESTION though, will that ECE kit work with my rally wheels? (6 lug)

I have the 8" wide rallys on my burb and have 11" rotors with no broblems. You might have a problem if you went with a bigger rotor.

[dmw319]

Originally Posted by zellway

I have the 8" wide rallys on my burb and have 11" rotors with no broblems. You might have a problem if you went with a bigger rotor.

ok thanks!

[Gus350]

Drop it and Drive it wish thats what i would have done

[dmw319]

Originally Posted by Gus350

Drop it and Drive it wish thats what i would have done

Nice. I actually like the stance its got though.