68 c10 2wd in Sacramento, CA

[no1udknow]

hey guys, I joined this forum for another project I was going to do. I had a 58 swb step, but it had a lot of issues including back fees. I had paid 1000 for it and it was something my dad and I were going to do together. My dad passed away the day before easter and when I was a child, he had a 71 lwb fleet side from the time I was 2 till I turned 25 and it caught fire. It is probably kicking around in a junk yard or someones garage by now so I found this 68. I find it funny looking back now because as a teenager, I had 4 of these trucks including a 67 lwb with factory air. After my dad passed, I really wanted another so I traded my 58 project for this 68 project. The 68 is running, titled, and currently registered. I had many good memories in my dad's old truck and opening the door to my 68 brought them all rushing back. I am very excited about this project and although I will not make it look exactly like his old truck, I know with my son, it will be a memory maker. It has been in an accident. It was parked on the side of the road in the snow where it was broad sided and sent into a ditch. Mostly sheet metal damage and the front left steering knuckle which I am replacing anyways.


plans:

Short bed conversion
lower 2-4 inches in the front
disk brake upgrade
transmission swap (current th350)
rear end gears or rear end swap (current 4.11's and the truck comes with a 3 mile long hose to tether it to a gas pump)
sheet metal repair
and paint inside and out. (it is currently a blueberry color and I hate it)




i know, i know pics right ;-)

[Hardesty454]

Good start. I see some panel replacement in the future.

[67chevy1series]

Wow! Man you got lucky that they missed the cab! To bad though 67 besides and fenders are getting harder to come by with each passing year...

[Saclandman]

Glad to see another Sac-area member. Good luck with your project.

[no1udknow]

Originally Posted by 67chevy1series

Wow! Man you got lucky that they missed the cab! To bad though 67 besides and fenders are getting harder to come by with each passing year...

I actually have a 67 at the house with good fenders and bedsides. It has a little cancer in places, but I am going to cut some of the panels from the cab and use them to repair my 68.

[jimbosprint]

Nice! I bought my truck in Orangevale a week ago. It also needs a little body work. (Links in my sig below if you want to check it out.)

[no1udknow]

Originally Posted by jimbosprint

Nice! I bought my truck in Orangevale a week ago. It also needs a little body work. (Links in my sig below if you want to check it out.)

Have you talked to the guy in citrus heights with the c10 wrecking yard? He has ads all over craigslist for c10 parts. I've talked to him a few times, pretty nice guy and pretty knowledgeable. He specializes in old c10s from the 60s through the square bodys

[jimbosprint]

Originally Posted by no1udknow

Have you talked to the guy in citrus heights with the c10 wrecking yard? He has ads all over craigslist for c10 parts. I've talked to him a few times, pretty nice guy and pretty knowledgeable. He specializes in old c10s from the 60s through the square bodys

No, I'm a hundred miles north of there. (and mine's a c20)

[no1udknow]

so I got the bed and front end pulled off today. I'm picking up the replacement front suspension this weekend.

[Hardesty454]

Citrus Heights is right out of sac? You area says you live in sac. Also the only difference between a c10 and 20 is the heavier suspension and they are all long beds. Just an FYI.

[no1udknow]

Yes, I am I'm the Sacramento area, but he is in Chico, that's quite a ways away.

[no1udknow]

Woot. Got me new front suspension. I was given an 86 c10 heavy half when I was starting my58 project. I was going to use it as a frame donor but since I'm not doing that truck I no longer needed it in tact. It only has 79k miles on it, so today a friend and I to the front clip, pulled the motor and trans to go in his 86 4x4 and then pulled the front suspension and full brake system to be swapped into the 68. And as A bonus, I found a local guy that has a set of 6 lug CPP rotors for $40.

[no1udknow]

Got the cab off yesterday. Getting ready to do the suspension/crossmember swap and the frame chop. Picked up some oven cleaner, that plus the steam cleaner we have at work should take off most of the road grime then I will touch up with some black paint.

[no1udknow]

[no1udknow]

On Wednesday I used some oven cleaner, and the diesel steam cleaner we have work to clean up the chassis and engine on my lunch break. Then after work I pulled the engine and trans to prepare for the frame shortening and the front suspension swap.

[no1udknow]

Thursday I laid out the cuts for the shortbed conversion.

I measured 4" forward from the front rivet of the rear cab mount. That's where I made my 1st line. I then measured 12" forward and made my 2nd line. then I measured 12" forward from the 2nd line to make my 3rd line.

I then measured 3" down from the top of the frame rail,(since it is a 6" tall rail) and made marks about every 6" and connected them with a straight edge.

I then used a Teflon tape roll to radius the corners of the cuts (learned that from Stacy David's Gearz), and marked out the pieces that I was going to cut out.




Next I took the Teflon tape roll over to my hole saw kit and found a hole saw that matched the outer diameter. (in my case I believe it was a 2") Note: you could always use the hole saw of your choice to mark the radius cuts in the corners. I cut out my radius cuts first by removing the pilot bit from my hole saw, lining it up with the lines, and sliding a small punch down the pilot bit hole to make a centered mark.





then I simply cut out the rest with a sawzall. I made my cuts flipped from each other to increase strength, but it makes it harder to line up.

[no1udknow]

Next I lined it all back up... which was not as easy as it looked on the episode of Gears Note: if you are attempting to line up a frame for welding, ensure all of your tires are the same size and have equal air pressure! For the life of me I could not figure out why it would not line up to the point I was worried the frame was bent. Then I remembered I had to put a different tire up front due to a flat I got while loading it on the trailer. it was causing the front portion of the frame to torque to one side.

finally with the use of clamps, and vice grips, I was able to get it lined up. I measured length on both sides from specific points, and diagonally from the same points. It took some grinding and adjusting, but I got the lengths within less than a 1/16th of an inch and my diagonal measurements right at 1/16th difference. Note: as I said, it will not line up as easy as you think. unless the cuts are being made by a robotic arm, it is near impossible to get it perfect but take your time and grind a little at a time to make things line up. measure twice, cut once is a good idea, but I measured about 30 times. no one wants a truck that goes down the road crooked or eats up tires. Also, think about the tool or pen you will use to mark out your lines. I used a paint pen and it was a little fat, so I cut to the side of the line that was the throw away piece and the ground it to where I wanted it.

I got it all lined up and welded it back together. I welded short 1 inch spots so as to not over heat the metal and warp it. So I would weld an inch, skip 2 inches, weld another inch, skip 2 etc. I was able to weld the whole seam in 2 or 3 passes like this.



in this picture you can clearly see where I started each 1 inch pass.



More to come.....

[no1udknow]

Originally Posted by Saclandman

Glad to see another Sac-area member. Good luck with your project.

Saclandman, where are you located. I am down in Galt, but i work in Rancho.

[no1udknow]

Big score this weekend. Craigslist has been good to me. I picked up a set of early classic 6 lug rotors for $40 and a set of centerline knockoffs with 3 brand new and 1 used 275/60/15's for $50

[no1udknow]

Out with the old, in with the new. Did the front suspension and disk brake swap. Very easy. The 85 cross member nearly bolted right in. I had to Willow out the holes in the side of the frame a bit and drill one of the holes.
Here's the old drum kit


Here's the cleaned up, rattle canned, disk brake setup from the 85 c10 donor along with the freshly installed 6 lug rotors from early classic.

[Saclandman]

Originally Posted by no1udknow

Saclandman, where are you located. I am down in Galt, but i work in Rancho.

I'm in Natomas, and the truck's in W. Sac. Nice work on the frame. I'm keeping mine long.

[no1udknow]

Originally Posted by Saclandman

I'm in Natomas, and the truck's in W. Sac. Nice work on the frame. I'm keeping mine long.

I might have a passenger bed panel for you if your interested. It is the one in the first set of pictures that is sanded/primered. It has a slight dent in the body line over the wheel well, but other than that its fairly straight. I have another bed that has better panels that I am going to utilize. But I saw yours was pretty munched. After I am done plucking the parts from my 67 parts truck I will be putting the leftovers up for grabs and then junking the rest or giving it away.

[Saclandman]

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

[jimbosprint]

Originally Posted by no1udknow

I might have a passenger bed panel for you if your interested. It is the one in the first set of pictures that is sanded/primered. It has a slight dent in the body line over the wheel well, but other than that its fairly straight. I have another bed that has better panels that I am going to utilize. But I saw yours was pretty munched. After I am done plucking the parts from my 67 parts truck I will be putting the leftovers up for grabs and then junking the rest or giving it away.

I might be interested in that passenger bed panel too. Please let me know.

[no1udknow]

Originally Posted by jimbosprint

I might be interested in that passenger bed panel too. Please let me know.

oh... my bad saclandman, it was jimbo sprints truck I was looking at with the munched passenger bedside.

yah, jimbo sprint, I have a passenger bedside that is in a little better shape than yours, it does have a mild crease through the body line going over the rear wheel. If you want it, I will let you know when I pull it.

I also have a complete drum brake front suspension left over from my 68, it has a bent drivers side steering knuckle and needs bearings, but if someone needs it, they are welcome to it. it has the cross member, a-arms, springs, all steering arms and pitman arm, drums, and brake lines. first come first serve, pick up only not gonna ship it. if not I'll take it to the scrap yard or the c10 recycler guy here in sac.