Fashionable Fever! - 1969 Chevy C10 Build

[ryans69chevy]

Found a little better pic of the garage soon after I got it almost done... And it still is "almost" done haha still need to trim out my windows... It's I believe 24' by 32' with a 20' by 15' add-on on the back. It starts where I installed that header. It's quite a big garage but you know how it goes... I'm already in need of more space! Lol

[ryans69chevy]

I've been tight on money lately since I'm getting married in late April and trying to remodel the house and put money towards my truck as much as I can. It's hard to keep moving forward when you need more expensive parts! But I'm doing odds and ends that don't cost much like trying to redo my aluminum trim pieces. Also prepping to start redoing my front fenders and radiator support and all that.

I've been saving up for awhile and can now start making payments to get that tremec 6 speed magnum I've wanted for so many years. Just made my first payment yesterday! Hopefully mid summer I can have the whole kit and can start moving forward and keep posting to this build thread!

[ryans69chevy]

Finally got around to restoring the front sway bar that I bought a couple years ago from the parts board. I took off all the gunk with my angle grinder, primed it, and then sprayed POR 15 top coat on top. Turned out pretty good! I did that with the frame brackets as well. Then for the clamps I just went to GM and bought new ones - boy are those spendy! I went to the local o Reilly's and purchased the moog rubber bushings - those are also getting spendy.

[ryans69chevy]

From that to this...

[ryans69chevy]

Side view

[ryans69chevy]

Next in line is the rear end which includes a brand new rear assembly, new springs, shocks, panhard bar, and disc brakes. Hopefully I'll have some progress in the next couple months... Have to finish off the basement.

[ryans69chevy]

Started prepping for my new rear end assembly by taking out the 12 bolt. Boy were those u bolts a pain!! Actually had to cut one of them to get it out.

[ryans69chevy]

There is the culprit! Prob should have just done that right away with both of them since I was spraying penetrating oil for awhile and using a BFH for an hour or so.

[ryans69chevy]

This is prob why they were a big pain in the butt! All rusted under the helper spring plates. I also noticed it looks like a hair line crack at the back end of the trailing arms. This is the same on both, in the same spot which makes me think it could have been factory, but I'm kinda doubting it. I think I'm gonna just weld them together while I have them out of the truck.

[ryans69chevy]

Gotta wait until Monday to grab my saw zal from work with my diablo blade to cut the bolts of the upper cup of the coil spring. I can't for the life of me get them out! Stuck my impact wrench up there, but had to have a long extension with a deep socket, so I think I lost quite a bit of torque. Still couldn't get the bolt to budge. Thought I had it since the socket started turning, but when I pulled the wrench out the bolt was rounded... Happened to both sides. Only thing I can think of to get inside the frame rail below a bed rail support is the saw zal.

[68Gold/white]

Look'n Good!!!

[ryans69chevy]

Got my new rear end! Decided on the Dana 60 with 3.73 gears and 5 lug bolt pattern for a bigger variety of wheel choices. Came with a nice new panhard bar as well. Sadly the powder coating got damaged in shipping which means it's gotta go back to get re-done. Haven't had much time to work on it anyways as the wife and I just had a baby.

[ryans69chevy]

Weather is getting nice finally! Been able to spend a little time here and there on body work. Sanded the fender and put a new lower fender patch panel on that was rusted out from the battery acid as most of these are. Turned out pretty well! Still trying to get all the rust and paint sanded from those tight areas and then I can bondo and get the panel sent to the body shop for primer!

[ryans69chevy]

Decided to finally make one of these stands while I'm doing all this body work so I don't ruin my knees and back. Made it out of 1" emt and jack chain. Turned out pretty nice and especially useful for my needs! Cheaper than buying one too!

[Orange67]

Congratulations on the house, wife, and baby! Nice work so far. Keep it up!

[raggedjim]

Nice work so far. I like the stand idea...

Good luck, Rg

[ryans69chevy]

Finally got the passenger fender ready for bondo. Sanded with 80 grit on my random orbital sander and then cleaned with laqauer thinner.

[ryans69chevy]

I also drilled out the passenger fender cup for the trim. Put bondo on. Haven't done this in years so I am trying to learn again. After putting all this bondo on and went to sand I realized I went over my head on it. Lol I should have just put bondo on the low spots and where I welded the patch. Instead I was smearing it all over doing the "skim" coat. I got a little carried away. Next one I do, I'm only doing the low spots and then bringing it to the body shop to do the rest! Lol

What do you guys do with bondo? And then do you guys apply the glaze after you sand the bondo the way you want it? It's suppose to be a lot more runny and fill all the little pin holes.

[ryans69chevy]

Well I did more research after I messed up on my bondo job yesterday. Read through martinsr's "basics of bondo" AGAIN to refresh my memory. Found out where I went wrong...

I was treating my bondo as my skim coat! Instead of just using it to fill the visual low spots! Lol I went to work on my panel thinking I read enough and knew exactly what to do but must not have. Oh well, live and learn. Now I'll have to go back and sand with my random orbital to basically take it all off and start over. Fill my low spots with the bondo then take my metal glaze filler over the whole panel as my skim coat! This will be fun!

[ryans69chevy]

Getting closer... This body work thing takes forever!!! Hopefully I can get this panel ready for primer by the end of the month. Still need to sand more and a little more bondo and then apply the metal glaze.

How much of a low spot would the metal glaze cover? Or do I want the panel basically perfect with bondo before I apply the metal glaze?

[ryans69chevy]

While I was waiting for the bondo to dry on the passenger fender I started to weld up some holes on the drivers side.

[ryans69chevy]

Couldn't get it all welded before I had to clean up... Moving forward though.

[webberjames95]

subd. nice garage

[ryans69chevy]

This is what I've been occupied with for the last couple months. Wife and I's project. She wanted a swing for our daughter and then a bench swing for us. Bench swing is made from a Chevy tailgate, angle iron, square tubing, and the wood from the Chevy box.

[ryans69chevy]

A lot of man hours went into welding the seat frame, getting the armrests built out of square tubing and then welding it all to the tailgate. A lot of time also spent on cutting the wood and sanding it down enough to ready for a varnish. I also used stainless steel hardware to bolt the wood to the steel frame. Used a spade bit to recess the bolt and washer down so the person wouldn't feel it on their legs. The whole swing set frame was built out of 4x4 cedar. Now hopefully I can get back to my fenders!