69 Longbed c10 restoration

[Sparky dave]

Hello all I'm going to write a thread about my journey through my first restoration of a veihcle. So far I'm just over a year into the project and have had to learn many skills as Iv never done anything like this before. Please bear with me as I settle into writing again as its been along time since I was at school ( I'm 35 now ) and always had manual labour jobs so my storytelling is as rusty as my truck.
Anyway here are the pictures of my dream truck just before I bought her for £5050 uk pounds which at the time I was really pleased with as a running, driving c10 is rarely found for under £6k at my side of the Atlantic

[Sparky dave]

Front

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Back

[Sparky dave]

The very same day I bought the truck I had a flight to Thailand for a holiday which I nearly missed because the truck kept flooding and would not drive onto the trailer. So with time running out we pushed the truck onto the trailer with another truck which slightly dented the tailgate. But at least I made my flight by the skin of my teeth!

[Sparky dave]

So after dreaming about the truck 2 months while in Thailand and researching all I could from the Internet and all you helpful guys on here. I was closer to understanding what I had bought so with out delay when I returned from holiday I pushed her into the workshop and began cleaning, sanding and painting using a water based satin which belive it or not I could apply over the existing paint work with a rag and it looked pretty good! I know I know I told you I didn't know what I was doing but don't go anywhere the proper paint job is to follow!

[Sparky dave]

So I mentioned before the truck barely ran and had a bad case of the old flooding. So after reading and reading and more reading about Chevy 350 engines I went to work trying to find the problem. I read about quadrajed carbs cracking in the float bowls and leaking so inspected and found no issue. Next checked the mechanical fuel pump as I had lots of fuel in the sump and read that the fuel pump could leak so I removed inspected and found it to be leaking! I ordered another pump thinking I was getting closer but obviously the thing still didn't run right.
Whilst scratching my head over the flooding issue I checked the spark plugs for spark and relaxed a couple of them not sparking so decided to order some ht leads. After accidentally setting fire the engine bay ( yes I cranked it over with a spark plug removed from the engine but still on the end of a ht lead with the fuel pump still pumping and created a flamethrower! Live and learn) I put new leads on and she ran awesome! However still flooded, grrrrr. Anyway turned out I needed a fuel pressure regulator as the fuel pump was forcing fuel past the float. So after new regulator fitted, adjusting timing and a set up of valve clearances the engine now runs amazing. Massive headache and ordeal but very a running engine!

[Sparky dave]

Next sandblasted the wheels as I didn't like them white. Painted in a 1 k acrylic paint and ordered £600 worth of coopra Cobras for the tyres

[Sparky dave]

This is my first ever attempt at doing a painting job the right way. I cleaned and sanded down the entire inside of the cab after welding the radio hole in the dash back to origional ( it had been cut out for a modern sized sterio) then 2k epoxy primed the whole thing and immediately sprayed 3 coats of 2k filler primer over the top

[Sparky dave]

Dash

[Sparky dave]

Epoxy primer

[Sparky dave]

3 coats of 2k sand able filler primer

[Sparky dave]

After the inside of the cab was primed I sanded and sanded and sanded with 400 wet and dry using blocks which took forever! Then masked off and sprayed with 3 coats of base coat and 3 clear coats!

[Sparky dave]

Here's the final result of my gloss black interior I was really happy with it for a first try however it did take me a very long time due to being a novice

[Sparky dave]

I made an infill panel to tidy up where the fuel tank had previously been removed. I cut and bent some thin aluminium sheet using shears, painted the aluminium in epoxy paint and used some sticky back Velcro strips to stick the aluminium back to some 2x2 timber which I stuck to the cab wall using epoxy glue. Then I bought some automotive carpet and stuck it to the aluminium using spray glue and trimmed round the edges. I was very happy with it against my new paint job

[Sparky dave]

Just found a pic of the interior before I got the truck for comparison

[Sparky dave]

Chequer plate stuck on the dash! Not sure if that's a thing in America but seems like a crime to cover such a beautifull dash. Is that what a ricer would do? I think that's what you guys call them.

[Sparky dave]

All finished now! Just kidding I wish. This pic gave me a bit of inspiration at the time as I really liked it so decided to copy the centre console design

[Sparky dave]

So here it is being built. I made it out of mdf, wood glued together.

[Sparky dave]

Sorry some pics are upside down I don't know why this happens I didn't take it upside down. Maybe it's downloaded using an Australian satalite or something, them guys are all upside down!

[Sparky dave]

Try again

[Sparky dave]

Fail argh

[Sparky dave]

All prepped and primed ready for high gloss black

[Sparky dave]

This is when things got serious when I decided to sand the cab down to bare metal to prep for paint I found bondo over holes and 1 inch deep bondo in dents! this is when I decided to buy a stud dent puller and I'll never look back if you not got one they are amazing. Mine is just the diy £ 179 version and trips out on thermal over load if you work it too fast but is more than enough for what I need

[Sparky dave]

More huge dents

[Sparky dave]

A previous owner had shaved the drip rails and door handles which I really like however some of the welding had not been finished and bondo had been wiped over it so the welder had to come out and some patch panels welded in. I must admit I'm a bit worried if the cab will allow rain in when there are no drop rails. If anyone has experience on this it would be nice to know