70 C10 One Piece at a Time

[rowdy11]

Excited to see how you do! Sadly, those pillars and floor look very typical for most of these trucks. One day and one step at a time!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by rowdy11

Excited to see how you do! Sadly, those pillars and floor look very typical for most of these trucks. One day and one step at a time!

I have a friend that works in a restoration shop that usually does a couple of these trucks a year, he figures he's done 9 of them. He came over for a look and said it was in much better shape than most of the recent ones he's done so that made me feel better about the amount of metal work it needs.

[68Gold/white]

Job well done, so far!!!
I’m with you, concerning keeping it road worthy, and working on it when possible!!!
My welding skills and yours are similar! Tell me some time what you have your welder settings on, and type of welder, if possible!
Thanks!
Jeff

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

Job well done, so far!!!
I’m with you, concerning keeping it road worthy, and working on it when possible!!!
My welding skills and yours are similar! Tell me some time what you have your welder settings on, and type of welder, if possible!
Thanks!
Jeff

Hi Jeff I'm using a Miller 180 Autoset with .023 wire. I had it set for .023 wire and on 20 gauge for most of that but noticed some porosity when grinding the welds so turned it up to 18 gauge for a bit more heat.

[bnorth]

Not much progress to report. Pics look about the same as last time but there is a lot more weld and grind filling all the pinholes which are pretty much taken care of now. Been working on planishing the weld joint to get the grinding smoother without thinning the surrounding metal too much. Getting a bit repetitive so will move on to fitting up some of the other repairs.

[bnorth]

Hmm truck has become a bit of a junk collector in the garage.

[bnorth]

But the family was out of town for a week so I decided to turn some attention back towards it. Finished up welding the cab mount as well as fitting and welding the lower A-pillar and inner rocker. Didn't really want to lap the inner rocker but the metal was really thin at the cut a previous owner had made, I didn't have a great patch panel, and I wanted to leave as much original metal as possible. I will seam seal joints and let it drain out the bottom.

[Low Elco]

Solid start, good progress!

[bnorth]

Well that fell apart. Life happened and I didn't touch the truck for about a year and a half so I decided it was time to get back to it.

Fit the outer rocker.

[bnorth]

View of the cab support I replaced.
Also replaced nearly every brake line in the truck after having one fail while I was troubleshooting the brake lights so it has all new hoses and hard lines under the truck. I'm stubborn so I hand bent them rather than buying a pre bent kit. I also picked up a vacuum bleeder and wow I have been wasting so much time not using one over the years.

[bnorth]

Then I basically got the truck back to road worthiness without taking a single pic, oops. I have been daily driving it for a few weeks and waiting for a new radiator as this one leaks about a liter per day.

[bnorth]

Added some 1" front drop springs. Youuuu don't need to worry about that banjo tight brake line. No after pic of the actual new springs installed but the stockers were so tired that it sat at about the same height.

[bnorth]

Pulled the wood bed out and then got the longbox off the truck and sold the bedsides.

[bnorth]

Started cutting up the frame using the Longshot Fabrication kit and got the inner C-channel supports in.

[bnorth]

Got it bolted back together using the kit and then all trued up.
Had a buddy that is much more experienced at welding come over and weld up the joints for me.

[bnorth]

Slapped some DOM15 (Dominion Sure Seal's version of POR15 but much less expensive and made up here north of the border) on the frame after giving it a good wire wheel treatment. In the pic it is in process I did do the complete inside of the frame as well up to the back of the cab. I had bought a previously cut down shortbox for it last summer. It's very rough but the color is close and the price was right. I will run that until I have enough of the rest of the truck done that I have a budget to do a nice replacement bed on it.

[bnorth]

Next steps are finishing the box install as far as wiring and lights and getting the bumper back on. Then I'll give the box the same paint treatment as the cab: barkeepers friend on a white scotchbrite pad and a DA to buff off the oxidation, then a heavy cut polish with an aggressive pad on the DA. I'll get in a few weeks of driving before it goes back into the garage for the next big steps.

Those will be the drivers front cab support and then a suspension make over. I have most of it on the shelf already as far as drop springs, spindles, C notch, rear shock relocate, and rear drop blocks. I need some wheel bearings, front calipers, and convert the front brake lines to the disc location. I've got some transport wheels to throw on but need some smaller tires for them. Thinking 265/35R22.

[Eddie70]

Keep the updates coming. I've been looking through some of the build threads and some of them are very impressive and way beyond what want. I just want to build one that I can drive and work on similar to what you are doing.

[yuccales]

Good work! Looking forward to see how the bed turns out.

[bnorth]

Had a few minutes and was going to see how my existing wheels looked with 1.5" wheel spacers and it was an improvement but I squirreled and wanted to see it with the transport wheels on it. Snapped a couple quick pics.

[yuccales]

Wheels looking good.

[68Gold/white]

Your friends welding skills are VERY good!!!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

Your friends welding skills are VERY good!!!

I agree and all it cost me was a ribeye and a 6 pack! Plus I got to visit with a buddy I don't see too often.