TXTruck's 72 C20 Custom Camper

[TXTruck]

Hello, my name is Patrick and this is my truck. She's a 1972 Chevy C20 Custom Camper. I bought her back in March of 2011 and have enjoyed her as a daily driver ever since.



Here are some stats:

• 1972 Chevrolet Cheyenne 20
• Long bed, Fleet side
• 3/4 ton
• 350 cu in V8
• Edelbrock Performer 600 cfm carburetor
• HEI distributor
• TH350 Automatic transmission
• Dana 60 rear end
• Front disc/rear drum brakes
• Power steering
• Power brakes
• Factory air conditioning
• Tilt-steering
• Split rear window

The original ochre paint job was replaced some number of years ago with the turquoise and white you see here. Of course, the paint job has seen better days as evidenced by the peeling throughout. Looks to be a bit of bad prep-work before the re-paint.



The C20 Custom Camper package brings a 3/4 ton towing capacity thanks to big 8-lug wheels, heavier springs and stiffer shocks. A factory equipped front stabilizer bar helps to stiffen the suspension and help tame body roll.





The steering wheel appears to be from a late 80's or early 90's Chevy truck. It looks out of place in a classic truck and it was one of the first things I wanted to replace, but I have to admit that functionally it has grown on me and so it will stick around while I devote time and money to other parts of the truck. Almost all the gauges (speedo, tach, fuel, temp, oil pressure) work perfectly with the exception being the battery gauge, which always reads in the middle.



The original radio is long gone, replaced along the way by a Pioneer 25 watt x 2 (15x4) shaft-mounted AM/FM cassette deck. The center dash speaker is intact but not connected, and instead sound is delivered by 2 Kicker i690 Impulse 6"x9" speakers mounted in the doors (there is also a dual 6" truck box behind the bench seat).



The aluminum wheels look good on the truck, and the height of the tires really work well with the 3/4 ton suspension. The spare tire is still located under the bed, held in place with a heavy-duty ratchet strap (which the previous owner tells me is essential for lifting the tire into place without giving yourself a stroke). Aside from fairly new mufflers, the exhaust looks every bit of it's 40 years of age.



The heart of this beast is the venerable Chevy small-block 350 backed by a TH350 automatic transmission. At one point in the truck's life, the cab-mounted gas tank was removed and the fuel system was converted to propane. The gentleman I bought the truck from converted her back to gas with an Edelbrock Performer 600 cfm carburetor. The bed-mounted propane tank was replaced with a 17-gallon RCI aluminum fuel cell mounted in an aluminum truck box.

Well, that does it for the introductions. She's a great truck and I have already made some minor progress on her over the past year. As I get time, I'll post more on what I've done and what I plan to do.

- Patrick.

[TXTruck]

Remember the good'ol days when your truck didn't have to have a 3 point shoulder seat belt? Actually, I don't... my first car was a '77 Chevy Impala that of course had 'modern' safety equipment for the time.

This truck was the first thing I had ever driven (minus tractors on my granddad's farm) that didn't have a shoulder belt. Not wanting to find out the hard way if the dash-pad would save my teeth in an accident, I set out to correct this issue. Since I had just blown my entire budget on the purchase of the truck, I had to do the seatbelt upgrade on the cheap. I'd read a lot about putting in used S10 seatbelts found in junkyards, but this didn't appeal to me. So, I set out to find the bare-bones cheapest set of new seatbelts for the driver and passenger side (sorry middle seat rider, you better hold on to the dash!)

Everything I was looking at saw in the $220+ area. Also, I didn't like the way the LMC seat belt retractors looked (more on this later...) I eventually came upon The rebirth of El Scrocho where he used some seat belts from Wesco Performance. I went to their website and came up with a winning combination of parts for a grand total of only $149.70 ($174.53 after tax and shipping).

Here's what I ordered:

• 3 Point Retractable Seat Belt Bench Seat High Post (2 @ $69.95 ea.)
• Seat Belt Hardware: Angle Bracket - #A904L - Installation Foor Mount Seat Belt End (2 @ $2.95 ea.)
• Seat Belt Hardware: Shoulder Bolt (2 @ $1.95 ea.)

I could have bought the angle bracket nuts-bolts-and-washers from them, however to keep the initial sticker shock down from the CFO (love you baby!) I decided to get those at the local Home Depot instead.

Wesco does offer a '3 Point Retractable Seat Belt Mounting Hardware Kit' for $10.95 each (you need one for the passenger and one for the driver side) which include the angle bracket and shoulder bolt along with a lot of other stuff we don't need for our trucks (we have the all the mounting points in our 67-72 cabs already). So, just buying the hardware I needed saved about $12.

I noticed that El Scrocho used custom angle brackets and moved the mounting point for the driver's side forward to clear the cab-mounted fuel tank. My fuel tank is no longer located in the cab, so I was able to re-use the existing mounting holes. I did have a problem when mounting the retractor... the angle bracket from Wesco had the retractor housing rubbing up against the doorway rubber seal. This was much more prominent on the driver's side than on the passenger side. So much so that I decided to mount the retractor backwards so that it is facing the rear. This puts a 180 degree twist in the seat belt as it goes up to the shoulder sash end. I have not had any problems whatsoever with this.

Final words: The seat belts work great and they are certainly the cheapest new solution around. The ELR (emergency locking retractor) is a little touchy but you get used to it pretty quickly and learn just how fast you can pull on the seat belt before it locks up. The only thing I'm not in love with is the 'globe' image on the seat belt button.

Original Seat Belts:



The new stuff:

[Tinkermc]

lookin good, thanks 4 the info and pics

[TXTruck]

Thanks. I've really enjoyed the truck and I've gotten a lot of great information from these forums along the way.
Posted via Mobile Device

[mud.man.rj]

For a "daily" driver it is a nice clean truck and a 3/4 ton is a plus when needed too. I'm sure it will get nothing but better.

[TXTruck]

Parts Day!!!


Picked up a few parts from ClassicParts.com:

• Vent Window Weatherstrip
• Vent Assembly Rivets
• Vent Pivot Rivets
• Vent Assembly Retainer Screws
• Vent Rivet Setting Tool
• Full Color Wiring Diagram-HEI
• Accessory Vanity Mirror-Chevrolet
• Center Vent Plug Set
• A/C Diverter Ball Felts
• Heater Duct Hose-Factory A/C - OE Style
• Headliner Trim
• Headliner Trim Retainer Screws
• Universal Horn Assembly-Low Note
• Universal Horn Assembly-High Note

I just noticed that the Headliner Trim kit came with the retainer screws, so I didn't actually need to order that separate...

[72 Super]

Nice looking truck, looks to be very solid. You have a nice driver there

[Moto Moto]

Sweet truck. I'm right up the road of you ever need any help.

[70c10stepside]

Really cool truck! I love it. I'd love to have something like this to dd. Perfect! And propane? lol That'd be cool, but weird. Cheaper though I suppose. I'd have changed it back to though if I were selling it. Who wants to buy something that runs on propane lol Well, other than me

[spoon3210]

do you still have this truck? It used to be mine. Thanks Ron 817-988-5330

[cornerstone]

Pretty cool Ron! Did you sell the c20 to Patrick, or were there other owners in between y'all?

[spoon3210]

I sold it to a man named Baker. I drove it in to the fire station and his son worked there with me. He asked who owned the truck and said he was buying it. I said it was not for sale. I had just finished going through it and painting it. Well I was wrong it appears it was for sale and I had to get a ride home the next day. I put the propane on it and it worked great. My friend drove a propane truck and he would swing by and top me off regularly.