65 short bed, big window restoration, start June 17'

[ClOsEr15]

So I am 28 years old, living in central North Carolina. I currently work for a Mercedes Benz 190sl Restoration shop where we specialize in that 1 specific model. I am very fortunate to be there and i'll never take it for granted. So after going to school and working at the shop for 2 years now, I decided to take what I have learned and get my own truck to restore.

After going to the charlotte autofair, goodguys show in Raleigh, and a cruise-in in Oakboro, NC. I decided I really wanted a 60-66 C10, big window, short bed. I kept looking and looking and took me forever to find one. I didnt want to get a long bed, and do the conversion, UNLESS I had to. I may have paid a little more for this truck than it was worth, but at least its one that I really wanted and now I have it and theres no turning back.

Here is a list of parts the truck came with when I bought it... (may be missing some)

Original doors, both have holes added for the big mirrors (need welded up)
Brand new, in box, dynacorn short-bedsides.
Brand new front bed panel.
Tailgate w/ "Chevrolet". Not sure if its original, or A/M.
Front fenders look to be aftermarket since there is no rust, and holes are oblonged in order to fit properly.
Hood is original with holes that were drilled to pull out dents (needs welded), otherwise, its in great shape, no big dents or rust areas.
Inner fenders look to be original and have a few spots that need patching (you'll see in the pictures)
Came with front/rear chrome bumpers (dented/rusted up), i'll use for mock up.
Brand new radiator support in front.
Original grill support, minor rust.
350 motor, with rebuilt 700r4 tranny (previous owner says the tranny was "rebuilt" but I will find out once its taken apart).
Airbagit air ride system (I was planning on using it, but I am not too familiar with air-ride and was going to prolong my process longer than i wanted it to, so I have already sold the air bag kit, and looking into drop spindles/springs/5lug conversion)
Bunch of miscellaneous parts (headers, radiator, hoses, wiring, old driveshaft, beat up chome grille that headlights mount to, old side windows, inside brackets for windows, etc.)


Previous owner ALSO said the truck was ready for paint. HAHAHAHA. With me being a body man, it took me 2 minutes to look at this truck in primer, and realize, I need to completely sandblast/strip this cab and all the panels. Dont get me wrong, the cab and panels looked great in primer, but whats underneath it will make you sick knowing how people cover up rusted out panels, etc.

So here is some pics of my truck so far, and I'll hopefully be posting a lot more and being a part of this forum for a long time to come. Any suggestions/ideas/problems you see, please feel free to let me know!

[ClOsEr15]

For some reason this will only let me add 5 pictures at a time??

But here is the model car we restore at my job. This picture was taken a few months ago at the Pinehurst Concourse. This car was the first car I learned body work on, me and my buddy tag-teamed the body work, he did drivers side, I did passenger side and hood/trunk. Came out immaculate!

[ClOsEr15]

**

[allytle]

I'm drooling heavy on your truck. Good luck with you're project I'm sure you'll kill it.

[61K10]

Nice tk. Looking forward to your build, and welcome to the forum.

[Palf70Step]

[Ryan893]

Solid move getting rid of the airbag setup, not to knock air ride at all, i plan on doing it to my 66, but i have heard and read nothing but terrible things about airbagit and sister companies. Look forward to the build! Im jealous i wish i was out working on mine right now

[ClOsEr15]

Originally Posted by allytle

I'm drooling heavy on your truck. Good luck with you're project I'm sure you'll kill it.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Originally Posted by Ryan893

Solid move getting rid of the airbag setup, not to knock air ride at all, i plan on doing it to my 66, but i have heard and read nothing but terrible things about airbagit and sister companies. Look forward to the build! Im jealous i wish i was out working on mine right now

Originally Posted by 61K10

Nice tk. Looking forward to your build, and welcome to the forum.

Thanks guys. Ive been around different car forums in the past with my old rides, and totally forgot about photobucket and adding pictures through it. So here are the rest of the pictures I have taken.

[ClOsEr15]

Well, going through photobucket didnt work like it use to on other forums. Can someone else help me out adding pictures on here. I have about 20 more to upload, and if i just 'attach file' through a reply, it only allows 5 per reply.

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

You can't use photobucket anymore to upload pics to a 3rd party such as a forum unless you want to pay them $400 a year. This just recently happened. Needless to say there are many, many threads on forums that no longer have pictures and lots of pissed off people.

[ClOsEr15]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Welcome to the forum

You can't use photobucket anymore to upload pics to a 3rd party such as a forum unless you want to pay them $400 a year. This just recently happened. Needless to say there are many, many threads on forums that no longer have pictures and lots of pissed off people.

ahhhh, that would explain the big popup I had appear once I signed back into photobucket that I Xed out of without reading lol.

Guess I'll be posting 5 attachments at a time starting now!

[ClOsEr15]

As you can see, I chemically stripped the hood down, its in GREAT shape. A few dings and 1 crease I have to straighten out as well as like 25 holes that the previous owner drilled to pull out dents in the front nose section, only to fill them in (ughhhh, going to be a lot of welding in holes)

Bottom side of hood is also in great shape, minus behind the support piece where the striker goes, its really rough to touch (due to rust) and I am going to put some POR15 over it and call it a day.

Brand new dynacorn bedsides
Brand new Triplus radiator support
Original (I think) tail gate with "chevrolet" letters.

I was so excited to buy the truck, the week before going to pick it up, I knew I needed the cross sills, so I decided to buy the rear cross sill for now.

[ClOsEr15]

**

[ClOsEr15]

Few more pics

[ClOsEr15]

After stripping the doors, there are 2 poorly patched panels at the bottom that need some attention. Probably going to order the bottom 1/2 of the door, and do a patch all the way across.

Also the rust/dirt/grime on the inside of the doors I am just going to put some POR-15 on it and probably call it a day. The access holes on the door make it almost impossible to get in the door and clean anything off.

[ClOsEr15]

Here are some pics of the holes previous owner drilled to pull the dents out. Roughly 20 of them!!

Also, the passenger side inner fender will need some patching. There are 3 places where there are supports on the backside, and where there are 2 pieces of metal meeting, they are completely rusted. Previous owner literally just bondo'd over it, as you can see!

[ClOsEr15]

Got things stripped down, and finally put in some epoxy. This week i'll be flipping the pieces over and putting epoxy on the backside, as well as finishing up sandblasting the edges/seams of the hood and putting it in epoxy as well.

After that, its onto the cab/frame getting sandblasted. I got a quote from 2 companies to sandblast them. One said $350-400, and another said $600. Does anyone know how much it costs do have a cab put into an 'acid bath' and in epoxy??? I have been looking into that as well!

[Homebuilt Hotrods]

Awesome project. Excited to see what you do with it!

[northern 85]

Nice truck ,great work!!

[ClOsEr15]

Originally Posted by Homebuilt Hotrods

Awesome project. Excited to see what you do with it!

Originally Posted by northern 85

Nice truck ,great work!!

Thanks!! I contacted a chemical strip place that does automobiles and they quoted me $850 for ONLY the cab. Thats putting it in a solvent tank and cleaning everything off, and then putting some type of "metal prep" on it. The guy said they dont do any sort of primer, its just a protectant I guess until I do something else with it. I would pay that price, if the company coated it in an e-coat or some primer at least, but they dont. So I believe I am leaning towards just getting it sandblasted and see how the cab corners/rockers/floors/ etc... look, then epoxy it myself.

After that i'll sit down and figure out which panels I need to order, and which I need to patch, and start some metal work. With the cab on a rolling cart/dollies, I'll have the frame sandblasted and epoxied at the same time and set aside on jack stands awaiting new front drop spindles, 5 lug conversion, as well as 5-6" rear drop springs. While all thats being done i'll also be researching on adding 700r4 transmission/crossmember issue and what is the best route to go with it.

Once the metal work is all finished on the rockers/cab corners/doors/fenders, i'll start assembling all the panels, including the new bed panels for the first time with ALL new hardware. When I brought the truck home I ATTEMPTED to put panels on and check fitment, but took me nearly 45 minutes to find the right door bolts and fender bolts. I said screw it, and ordered over $100 worth of new bolts from LMC for the entire front end lol.


Once the panels are aligned and body gaps are grinded/welded up to my standards, I am planning on ordering the trique/altman easy door latches, as well as the hidden tailgate latch kit. On top of that, one HUGE pet peeve of mine with these trucks is the side moulding/trim. Almost every car show I have been to, everyones is crooked, and isnt in line from the door to the cab, and then back to the bed. With that being said, I plan on going ahead and ordering the entire set from Mar-k and test fitting it, and welding holes if needed to make sure the side trim is completely straight from front to back.

CANT WAIT FOR THE WINTER TIME! A lot more progress will be done. It really sucks working in a shop thats 90 plus degrees inside every day, only to come to my buddies shop afterwards in the same situation lol.

[Captainfab]

I would not acid dip any body parts. It is too difficult to get the acid out from all the joints and crevasses. Around here all the car builders have everything abrasive blasted. Just be sure that the media used by whomever you choose does not cause any bonding issues with the epoxy you will be using. It is mainly silica sand that you need to be concerned with.

[ClOsEr15]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I would not acid dip any body parts. It is too difficult to get the acid out from all the joints and crevasses. Around here all the car builders have everything abrasive blasted. Just be sure that the media used by whomever you choose does not cause any bonding issues with the epoxy you will be using. It is mainly silica sand that you need to be concerned with.

Yeaaaa when I was reading up on the company, and read reviews about the process, I heard multiple people saying its hard to get it all completely removed from small areas. I just wanted an estimate on how much, and to see if they epoxied their work.

[61K10]

Great work! Just a note with epoxy, mine that i used had a 7 day window to spray primer on it. Don't know what brand you are using? I went over my window a few days and everything seems ok after a year. Don't know what the results would be if you let sit for 6 months? Sure wish they had new bed sides when i did mine. Anyway great work.

[ClOsEr15]

Originally Posted by 61K10

Great work! Just a note with epoxy, mine that i used had a 7 day window to spray primer on it. Don't know what brand you are using? I went over my window a few days and everything seems ok after a year. Don't know what the results would be if you let sit for 6 months? Sure wish they had new bed sides when i did mine. Anyway great work.

Yea im not too worried about the window period of putting something else on it. Im going to be doing metal work for a few months at least anyways, so its just for protection for now. Once im done with metal work and setting gaps and body lines, i'll DA everything and every single inch of my truck will be wiped with filler.

When I say "every inch", I literally mean, every inch haha. I'll identify my low spots first, hammer and dolly them, apply filler, block them smooth, then apply filler to an entire panel, and block smooth, find more low spots, fix them, and then wipe the entire panel again until all the guide coats comes off evenly and stop blocking once I start seeing metal. Every panel of my truck will probably be wiped 2-3 times completely, and blocked over before priming.

^^^ thats the only way to get a car/truck "laser "straight! You can just fix little dings/dents and expect to have a laser straight vehicle. My truck will NOT be your everyday truck you see at a car show thats wavy down the side. I am the annoying guy at car shows that goes around, and isnt WOW'd about all the chrome or the big engines. I immediately look at the body work and identify low spots and how much time was put into DA'ing a car, instead of block sanding. The ONLY time I will use a DA sander, is to knock down filler with #80 for my intial wipe, and then DA again with #3000 on a trizac pad before buffing lol.

[aotte1]

Welcome to the forum. We love the pictures.
See you are doing great job on fixing your truck.
On your question on dipping the cab, where I use, charges 700 to clean the cab.
They do not use acid, a caustic solution is used, then electrolices is used to remove any rust. The final process leaves the cab just like when new, minus any rusted areas. Metal is bright, like new stamped metal. I and others have used this company for many years with great results on many trucks/cars. It removes
All the rust, even in areas you can not see. Then have it power coated, as it gets in areas where regular paint spraying can not cover. The powder costing is an epoxy paint. Also use a fawn colored powder coat, then cab interior is finished. A satin clear coat in sprayed on exposed surfaces, the powder coat over time tends to get a dirty film on it, which is hard to clean off.

Also have a 65' short bed fleet side truck project that is being started. It is at the dippers now.

Les