1969 C10 LWB - "The Green Truck" - Miranda

[voxnor]

*Disclaimer: This build is being done by a shop - not by me. I know some folks here much-prefer the do-it-yourself jobs, so I thought it prudent to be clear from the start*

Back in the early 80's, by Father purchased a used 1969 Custom/10 LWB from a family friend. He used the truck for his daily commute and for the many home improvement projects he was always tackling.

(My Dad and Grandfather in the mid-80's, with the truck; Mom and my older sister)



As the 90's rolled in, my dad was faced with two kids and a third on the way, and so switched to a vehicle with more seating. Luckily, my Grandfather was in need of a truck and bought it from my Dad.

Born in 1987 (the second child of three mentioned above), I was infatuated with the truck from as early as I can remember. Each summer, I would go and spend a week with my Grandparents - and we would take "The Green Truck", as my family has always referred to it, on camping trips with a cab-over. On other occasions where I found myself around my grandparents, I would go for rides with my Grandpa in the truck. The truck even made it into the Danville July 4th Parade one year, as my sister was a cheer-leader and the her schools primary color was green

My Grandpa is a very practical guy - and very frugal. I think he has always appreciated "The Green Truck" as a living family memory - but a full restoration was something he never seemed interested in tackling. He seemed to enjoy just keeping it running, which of course has merit.

It became apparent pretty early that I wanted the truck. Patiently, I waited in line. I'd playfully pester my Grandpa at family gatherings over the years; "Almost done with the Green Truck, Grandpa?". "Can I pick up the Green Truck yet?". etc.

Finally, a little over a year and a half ago, in the summer of 2012, my Grandpa was ready to part ways with the truck. I cleaned out the garage, bribed my Wife to give up her car's garage spot for room to work, and brought home "The Green Truck".







I had some grand ideas about doing an entire restoration myself. It didn't matter to me that I was a software developer, who had never even changed the oil in a car much less torn one apart and restored it.

For a few months I tinkered - began dissassembling. I even got the bed off:

(I know - there are so many horrible things you could say about this photo... just keep reading and you'll feel better)



Then - work got busy again. California's implementation of Obama-care fired up here in Sacramento, I joined the project as an Independent Contractor and was back to my 60+ hour weeks that is all-too common in project-based I.T. work.

The truck sat... and sat... and sat some more. I'd pass it each day on the way out to my MDX to drive to work, getting more upset each time I walked by it that it was just sitting there. I wanted to drive it - I wanted to start adding memories to the figurative book my Dad and Grandpa had started over 30 years ago.

Finally, about three months ago, I decided enough was enough. Works not getting any easier, i'm not getting younger, and the truck wasn't getting any closer to being restored. I decided that as much as I wanted to do it myself, I wanted to drive and enjoy the truck more.

So - the Wife and I sat down, restructured ourselves financially a bit, and began shop-hunting. After visiting several, we settled on California Collision and Customs. Mostly because the guys there are great - very realistic, down-to-earth guys who didn't balk at the idea of me wanting a full-restore for a daily driver.

[voxnor]

After hashing out some details with the shop - D-day (drop-off day) came:

Me Watching nervously as the tow truck picked her up


Dropping off at the shop!


After we pushed her into the shop!



I'll be visiting the shop quite often to take in-progress pictures and i'll keep the thread here up-to date. The shop wants to get the build done in 4-6 months, so that's the time-frame we're looking at.

I have some progress photo's already from late last week - i'll get those up there soon.

More to follow...

[robozride]

That's a cool story and truck. I look forward to seeing its progress. Not everyone has the time or ability to restore a truck and I think you and the truck will both benefit from you realizing this early into the project. Good luck!

[voxnor]

Originally Posted by robozride

That's a cool story and truck. I look forward to seeing its progress. Not everyone has the time or ability to restore a truck and I think you and the truck will both benefit from you realizing this early into the project. Good luck!

Thanks! I think you are 100% spot-on that the truck will benefit from me realizing my limitations


Also - here are the in-progress shots that I took just a few days ago. Truck has been at the shop about a week now. They re-assembled (one side was only attached by some welds) and stripped the bed, de-trimmed her, and started disassembling the front end.

[voxnor]

Dissassembly continues ... bed lifted off, skin coming off as well

[voxnor]

Cab is off. Frame is getting ready to go out to a stripper/powdercoater.

The rear end is also about to be sent out to be rebuilt. Going with 3.08 / Limited Slip as this is a driver.

[voxnor]

Last update for today (photos from yesterday - swung by the shop after work).

Body work continues. The bed is prematurely in the booth to get some rust protection put on it.

[voxnor]

Stopped by this morning... The large powder coating batch is back! Frame is looking great!

[sduckworth13]

Very nice! Parts look great

[SS Tim]

Major Visual Progress.... it makes the payments easier to swallow. :-)

[voxnor]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Very nice! Parts look great

Thanks! I thought so too. Very exciting to begin to see the build back up (as opposed to the tear down).

Originally Posted by SS Tim

Major Visual Progress.... it makes the payments easier to swallow. :-)

That it does. This whole project is a surprise for my Dad and G-Pa as well, as they think the truck is still just sitting around. Really looking forward to revealing it in a few more months.

[Mr Chevorlet]

Great story and cant want to hear about there reaction when they see it finished. Keep us updated.

[mcbassin]

Wow, a bunch of progress in short order. Looks like the shop you chose is moving right along. subscribed.....

[voxnor]

Thanks all!

Small update here - especially cool for California guys:

We have a license plate program here in CA called the "Year of Manufacturer" program (often just called "YOM"). It allows for certain years of vehicles (up to 1972 for commercial, so our trucks just squeak in) to be re-assigned an era-correct license plate.

This lets those of us with the interest go out and find a set of correct plates. So that's what I did.

Trouble is - you end up with an extra sticker. The yellow/black California license plates are, for the most part, stamped with the '63' in the upper right. If this is the case (as it is with mine) you have to have the base year sticker in the upper left (see photo below - its the tan sticker on the left side of the bottom plate).

DMV sends you these 'sticker wells' that you are supposed to put on the upper right of the plate - but they are really flippin' ugly (top right of top plate, red arrow pointing at it).

Some internet searching lead me to this guy:

http://www.oldplateguy.com/

He has this frame, that can go on either direction, with two built in wells. Price was fair and shipping was fast. It's likely other places make something like this - but I didn't find any in my searches so thought I would share this for the CA guys on here.

[voxnor]

Stopped by the shop today - lots of cool body work progress. Several pieces (fenders, doors, hood, box) are just about done with body work and in first primer (hood needs a bit more work).

They also almost wrapped up rust repair work in the cab. It's smelling nice and strongly of POR-15 which they just laid ontop of most of the welding work today.

Bench is about to be sent out to the interior guy - not too much happening to it - chopping the foam down just a hair and putting on the beautiful seat cover I got from Southwest Classics here on the boards (will have pictures once it's on the bench - black vinyl with green houndstooth inserts).

Probably still about 8 weeks away at this point, but we'll see.

Went to lunch with my Dad earlier this week - was nice catching up but boy - I am bad at lying! I managed to not spill the beans, but it was real hard for me. I am used to telling my Dad about everything going on in our lives.

Bonus picture... lunch was at "Squeeze In" here in Sacramento. Had never tried it - they make a mean burger! You're practically guaranteed to have a Heart Attack before leaving... Yes, that is a 'cheese skirt' all the way around....

[voxnor]

[voxnor]

[voxnor]

Been quite a while without an update - pretty busy around the office.

We are nearing completion, probably a few weeks left. I have tried to stick with my plan throughout the build, which has been mostly to keep a stock truck with improvements where it makes sense (safety, cost, etc).

Suspension is all back together, motor is mounted (just shy of running, probably later this week/early next week for first fire up).

Shot of the bed in paint is pre a few clear's and buffing, so a lil rough.

Color is 506 Dark Olive Metallic (as others on the board told me, and I am now seeing for myself, this color is the master of changing itself in photos. It's an extremely volatile color when sprayed in BC/CC like I had done - but I really like it).

More to come...

[mcbassin]

Paint looks EXCELLENT!

[voxnor]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Paint looks EXCELLENT!

Thanks! They do some crazy good work.

She's coming along nicely.. Stopped by this morning to test fit a rim before sending it to powder coating.

Looking like a truck again ( although a bit naked on rollers with no trim yet )

[70shortstep]

Truck looks great. I debated on going with the dark olive. I really like that color.

[voxnor]

Originally Posted by 70shortstep

Truck looks great. I debated on going with the dark olive. I really like that color.

Thanks. Your build is looking good - the dark green came out real nice on the painted parts thus far. 505 Dark Green is what this truck was originally - and we're leaving the inside of the glove box door untouched so that the original color and SPID remain there.

Got my wheels last week, then took them by the powdercoater. Picked them up last week from there, and got them mounted. Wheel Vintiques 16" Smoothies with '52 chevy caps, powdercoated white, with goodyear wrangler st 235/75/16's in blackwall. I think this tire has a real nice look to it - not too modern.

[voxnor]

Been a bit since an update.

Things are wrapping up - most likely will be driving her in just a couple weeks!

Just needs a few finishing touches (hood to go on, bed liner to be sprayed, a little interior finishing, exterior emblems, and a trip to the exhaust shop.

[voxnor]

Well -

It's been a quick journey, just about 8 months. But she's all wrapped up and I am several weeks into driving her around town. Absolute Joy.

My Grandfather was ecstatic - had no idea I was doing this and is just over the moon about it. I of course plopped him in the drivers seat and he drove for a while with a big ol' grin on his face.

Here are a slew of pictures. The first is from just this morning, took it out to the dentist. A little rain never hurt a good truck anyhow. The rest of the photos are done by a friend of mine, just last week. Took it out to his offices, was nice with the leaves.

[voxnor]