1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project

[68 C10 Driver]

So after lots of tinkering with the door and making a plethora of adjustments, I think I got it as good as it will get. I know this much, the original doors did not fit this good.

[68 C10 Driver]

Working diligently when time allows. At least the driver's side is all one color!

[68 C10 Driver]

Well, I got the new hood and front fenders I ordered, they look pretty good quality, I am happy about that. I guess we will see when the time comes to fit them on the cab after I clean and paint the frame. I plan on using the Eastwood rust encapsulator and 2 part frame paint. But the frame is waiting for me to finish aligning the passenger door and doing whatever bodywork that entails.

[68 C10 Driver]

So I have the passenger door aligned and it is sitting really well for an aftermarket door. I highly recommend the Triplex doors!

[68 C10 Driver]

Sorry for the long delay in posting. Life sometimes get in the mix and keeps you from the fun things.

I was able to prime the interior of the cab. Seeing how I am going to paint over the Lizard Skin, I primed it to promote better paint adhesion. At least it is getting to be one color.

[68 C10 Driver]

So the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to convert the old mechanical clutch to a hydraulic clutch. I like the feel of the cable clutch, makes it feel like a truck. But being 60 years old, my crawling under a truck to adjust clutch cables will be numbered.

There were a lot of good products on the market, and several systems to choose from...hydraulic throw-out bearing, or the classic slave cylinder. I am more familiar with the latter than the hydraulic throw-out bearing, but both seem easy enough to work with. To me, having a slave cylinder would keep any potential leak external to the clutch and easier to see.

So I got the 67-72 Hydraulic Clutch system from Speedway. Today I had to prep the firewall by sanding the area being covered by the reinforcing plate and cut a 1.5 in. hole in the firewall where the clutch master cylinder will go. Here are a couple pics...as you can see, I have the plate bolted on and clamped to better bond the firewall and plate together (this is why I sanded the firewall to bare metal as I did the back side of the plate. Yeah, this will be a permanent mod.

[68 C10 Driver]

I like the construction of the Speedway clutch mater cylinder, very similar to the Wilwood 3/4 in masters I have seen online and it is made of aluminum. The Heim joint is ok, but I may replace with one that is higher quality. The one provided looks to have like a plastic insert in the joint itself...easy enough to remedy. If I can find a bullet aluminum cap to replace the plastic one I would be even happier!