Over 25 Years Later, Finally My 71 C-10 Truck Build

[VA72C10]

cool! Welcome back

[hgs_notes]

Just some cell phone pics for now, but the bed and tailgate are sprayed and wet sanded. They forgot to spray the hinge parts though. Should be getting it home in the next day or so. Cripes it's hot and humid out. Especially after spending the last several days in SE Idaho where the dew point is normally in the 40's or less. All I did so far was drop off parts with the sandblaster, and sprayed some undercoating on the bottom rear edge of the cab, then sprayed some black rustoleum on the frame to cover the primer overspray. If I can get the hood hinges, and battery tray, etc painted today, I'll be happy.

[Dieselwrencher]

Man that looks awesome! You're getting real close now! I was hoping to have mine drivable by the time you got yours done. Uh, that ain't happening.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Man that looks awesome! You're getting real close now! I was hoping to have mine drivable by the time you got yours done. Uh, that ain't happening.

Driveable? Sure. Done? It'll be a while. I'll be working on it through the fall I'd bet. Just ordered part of the exhaust.

I have 2 1/2" collectors from the headers, into this part:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PYE-XVA10/

Then see if the mufflers will fit directly into the x pipe, or if I need to get some tubing with bends, etc to fit it. Since I moved the gas tank under the bed, I'm thinking a suburban tail pipe set should work as a fairly direct replacement part. Approximately the same wheel base and axle, same gas tank in the same location. May need some modification for hangers.

Also ordered an adjustable vacuum set up for the HEI.
Amazon.com: Mr. Gasket 6010 HEI Adjustable Vacuum...
Once the exhaust is on and I can tune the EFI (without damaging my ear drums), I want the ignition to be tuned better than stock also. And I ordered new polished aluminum plug wire looms:
Amazon.com: R&M Specialties 1101P Polished...
I need to get over to the lumber yard and find a nice piece to use for mounting the ECU for the EFI so I can finish the right side of the dash assembly. Maybe my parts are done getting blasted too.

[Dieselwrencher]

Either way, I'm going to bet yours is a driver before mine. Mine keeps hiding parts on me.

[hgs_notes]

I found some 1/4" plastic board to use as support for the ECU to mount under the glove box. My parts were blasted. But the dew point was hovering around 80F and my daughter had a double header, so nothing else was done. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow will be a bit nicer for working outside.

[Dieselwrencher]

Good luck with the dew point going down.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Good luck with the dew point going down.

You laugh, but it did. It was much nicer today. So I started out gathering the parts that need sprayed black. I couldn't find the radiator hold downs. I looked for hours, no luck. I moved on without them. Made a hanger for everything to hang from, nothing fancy, but it worked and primer was sprayed.


A bit later, one of the body guys knocks on the door and asks me if they can bring the bed over. Hell Yeah! We figured out it would be easiest to just roll the truck to the shop, set it down, then they could polish the driver door also. And with a plan, we proceded...


I like the reflection with the Jimmy on this pic.


Nice and straight...



Door is polished...


I was able to stand and watch the door get buffed out and learn a bit, which was nice. But then it was time to get back to work and get those parts painted.


Then I had to move everything from one side of the garage to the other. I have a driveway that tapers together towards the street with a tree along side. In order to move the truck into the right side, it kind of rubs the cedar, so instead, it'll get parked on the left side for now. All of my neighbors with an interest in my project stopped by and told me how great it was looking, which is always appreciated.

And for some reason, I've always loved how a garage looks in the evening with the doors up and the lights on. It just seems so right to me.


Couple more shots of my mess...



The downside of having a nice fresh shiny paint job, is that it makes all the less shiny bits really stand out. My wife said I have to do something with those wheels and tires, even if it means replacing them. I think the tires will clean up fine. Just a few thousand miles on them. The wheels I'm thinking are powder coat candidates. Any opinions on that?

Oh and wouldn't you know it. the raditor hold downs showed up while I was moving stuff around, about an hour after I cleaned up the gun, and dumped the left over paint.

[hgs_notes]

Another note, the body shop forgot to paint the tailgate hinge parts, so I should be getting those in the next couple days and can mount it up. If the hood hinges are dry enough tomorrow I'll mount the hood.

[VA72C10]

Looks FANTASTIC!!! Love it!!! Congrats!!!

What color powder are you thinking of for the wheels? A silver or maybe an anthracite?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Looks FANTASTIC!!! Love it!!! Congrats!!!

What color powder are you thinking of for the wheels? A silver or maybe an anthracite?

Thanks. As close to the bright aluminum color as I can get, or maybe more chrome or polished looking. I'd like to see what it would look like first. I might end up buying a coating gun and cheap oven to try it on a used wheel myself. I've seen similar wheels in the junkyards to test on.

Tailgate brackets getting painted this morning. I think I'm going to pull out the old seat, get the ECU mounted and lay in some more sound fatmat today. I really should bleed the brakes so I can maybe test drive it.

[67cheby]

all of your long hours blocking paid off ...NICELY DONE !!

[lowdown72]

truck looks awesome great work

[Steve-W]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

all of your long hours blocking paid off ...NICELY DONE !!

it sure did..the truck looks immaculate!! gawd damn what a great looking paint job.. congrats!

I keep going over the pictures trying to spot something..but it's perfect,, just perfect!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

all of your long hours blocking paid off ...NICELY DONE !!

Originally Posted by lowdown72

truck looks awesome great work

Originally Posted by Steve-W

it sure did..the truck looks immaculate!! gawd damn what a great looking paint job.. congrats!

I keep going over the pictures trying to spot something..but it's perfect,, just perfect!

Thanks a lot. Even people driving by are stopping to say nice truck. One of the body guys was leaving work early today. He stopped by my place just to see what I was doing and check my progress. He's the one that did all of the buffing on the bed, and a lot of the sanding. His brother did the painting. They both said they were impressed with how straight I got it. He told me if I lost my job I could be a bodyman. I said I'll think I'll stay where I'm at.

Anyway, todays progress. I started the day wanting to get the ECU mounted. I cut a cardboard template of the bottom of the glove box, then used it to cut a piece of 1/4" sheet plastic. Then marked the mount holes from the ECU and drilled 1/4" holes. I tried to get fancy with tapered head screws that would be flush when counter sunk in the plastic, but that didn't work so well. The bit would grab the plastic and in less than a second, a 1/2" hole would appear. So I just used regular 1/4" bolts and mounted the ECU under the glove box. It can only be seen when you get low enough to look up at the glove box, but I can still reach the knobs for adjustment.


Now you see it...


Now you don't...


I got a different rattle can black for spraying the bolt heads. The rustoleum just takes too long to dry. And I finally got the battery tray mounted. And started routing the wire harness for the EFI. I used a grommet from a newer car floor drain hole. I might re-route the harness behind the engine for a cleaner look.


I also got the e-brake assembly mounted, but the cable isn't connected yet and I need another painted bolt for where it bolts to the dash bottom.

The UPS guy dropped off a couple boxes today...



Then I decided to get the door seals in and the latch catches mounted. I have new stock replacement seals, but didn't care for how loose they were in the frame and having to glue them in. While I was at the body shop one day they were replacing the driver side of a 2009 ford truck, quad cab. The door seals were still like new and they let me try them on my truck. They fit great, hang right on the rail no problem, have a double squish area for a good seal, and they were free.




The latch catches took a little trial and error to get right, but I eventually got both doors to shut tight. While Marv (the bodyman) was available, he helped me get the hood mounted. I think it turned out great. It used to have a fairly significant dip in the middle, but you can hardly see it now. And the way the shop caulked up the skin under the bracing made it much more solid. I love the reflection of the cab roof on the hood.




I ended the day getting the tailgate installed. I was happy with how straight it can out. That gate has seen a lot of abuse and I probably spent more time on that than just about any other panel for sanding.





And so, there it is. A truck again. I was going to bleed the brakes, but the first bleeder I tried broke off. I've got more work to do. But I need a break. It's been an awesome few days, and sometimes I just sit and stare at it, wishing my dad was still here to see what I did with his old truck. He never saw it the same way I did, but I know he would have loved it.

PS, I cleaned up the tires, there's a bit of overspray on one, but the wife still says I need new ones. It'll have to wait for funds though.

[Dieselwrencher]

It's looking great! I'm loving the color and I think the wheels look good on it. If you could get them polished, I think it would make them pop. That is a nice johnny popper in the first pics as well.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by spike38

It's looking good!
It wont be long.

Spike

P.S. Isn't it great, Even as grown men,
How excited we get when we see that UPS,
Or FEDEX truck pull up.

Cardboard wrapped presents, and it's always just what I wanted.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

It's looking great! I'm loving the color and I think the wheels look good on it. If you could get them polished, I think it would make them pop. That is a nice johnny popper in the first pics as well.

Yeah the wheels will need some work, or replaced. It's pretty low on my priority list right now. The neighbor grew up on a local farm and about a half dozen of the old tractors are still out there. A few years ago he started restoring them. That's his little A, and they have a 60 and 80 I think done also. They take them to local pulls in the summer. Great neighbors too. Their son was into snowmobile racing (still does) and just bought a 68 chevelle for his first car project. My old 350 from my Jimmy will be it's next engine. They don't mind the sound of my open headers.

It's too damn hot today, I just cleaned up some of the disaster area I call a garage and called it a day. Probably won't get back to the truck til next weekend. I apologize to those who think I can do this everyday.

[litew8]

no excuses!
punch a hole in the garage wall to the living-room to get the central air moving and get back to work!

[VA72C10]

On the rims....what about just cleaning them up and spraying them with anthracite wheel paint and clear for a quick and cheap way to make them look up to par with the rest of the truck

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by litew8

no excuses!
punch a hole in the garage wall to the living-room to get the central air moving and get back to work!

Umm, detached garage. It's more than the hi temps though.

Originally Posted by VA72C10

On the rims....what about just cleaning them up and spraying them with anthracite wheel paint and clear for a quick and cheap way to make them look up to par with the rest of the truck

I'll look into it.

[litew8]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Umm, detached garage. It's more than the hi temps though.

yeah, it was a joke.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Nice work on the exhaust! And Quite the transformation! Hope I can transform my new one like that

Thanks! Just a few thousand dollars, a couple years, several hundred man hours and it'll turn out great!

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Thanks

Originally Posted by litew8

yeah, it was a joke.

Ya, I got it.

This was one of those days where you muddle through and spend countless hours getting little actually completed and ending with enough frustration that it's hard to remember the successes.

Hows that for a run on sentence?

I wanted to do a couple things today in an attempt to take a quick drive. Also wanted to finish up the gas filler install. That was really my lone success of the day, and it didn't come as easy as I had hoped. No huge problems, just having to fight it here and there, cut and trim, and finally got it together.

First off, when I cut the holes in the bed floor, I had the vent line to the wrong side for the filler assembly, correct side for the lines out of the tank. I wrongly decided to bend the tube on the filler assembly when it would have been much easier to just route the hose under the bed where it needed to go. I made it work, but wouldn't do it the same way again. Now because of that, the offset of the cover put one side over the gasket and hold down plate to seal the floor. So then I had to cut the end off after drilling a couple new screw holes to hold down that side. The other difficulty was the filler hose I got from my cousin was re-inforced with a steel wire wrapped through the hose, in the rubber. Not a big problem to cut, but very stiff to try and push over the nipple ends. Softer normal filler hose would have been much easier, but hey, it was free and should last forever.






Just need to put a bead of silicone underneath and mount a clamp for the other tank vent line.

I took a few minutes to replace the tailgate latch bolts with the painted ones and installed the rubber pads. Tailgate install complete.

Then I moved onto the brakes and bleeding. Now I don't have any fancy bleeder tool and rely on the wife or a kid to push the peddle when told, etc. But before I even got that far I needed to get bleeders open. I was 50% successful. Drivers side opened, passenger side busted off. Now a wheel cylinder is cheap and easy enough to replace, calipers are easy, but a bit more expensive. Anyway, I bled the back and the peddle feel was good and firm, but the brake isn't grabbing, so I'll try to adjust it a notch or 2 and see if it'll grab. I got a lot of air and some pretty foul old fluid out of there. I think I'll adjust and bleed it again and replace the other wheel cylinder to wrap up the rear end.

The front bled out pretty easy on the driver side, I could hear it working and really had no air come out of it. The passenger side might just be ok as is, but I'll jack it up and check it out better later, before I try and drive it.

So only being partially satisfied with that, I decided to try and start it up again, see how it sounded through my mocked up exhaust. It was a no go. I had reconnected some of the wiring, and thought maybe the ground was bad. Cleaned that up and retried, no go. I checked the main relay and it was working fine, then checked the voltage to the fuel pump, which was fine. So I checked the voltage at the pump and it was fine. So I guess my pump has somehow failed since I last ran it. The only thing I did to it was heat the shrink wrap tubing on the wire harness. There appears to be no damage from overheating or anything else, but it just won't run. So I'll probably pull it out this week and see if it'll run direct off a battery or if it's just toast.

Wanting to finish the day on a positive note, I set the seat in place to get a feel for what will need to be done for permanent mounting. It looks good, but only one original bolt hole lines up on the front outside corners. I have some steel flat stock to make some new seat mounts. I'll have to make a couple spacers also for the middle mounts. I sat in it and it felt good.



And here is just a parting shot of my typical view the past few days.

[hgs_notes]

Took a little time this evening to fix my brakes. Picked up a new rear brake cylinder and got it installed. Also opened up the adjuster a bit so it should have some grab. I'll do the same to the other side. Bled the rear again and the peddle is real firm now.

While I had the wheel off, I decided to see what some steel wool would do to it. The machined surfaces cleaned up pretty well but you can stille see the spots where it oxidized. I think some wet sanding with some fine grit paper might clean that up pretty nice. The cast areas between the spokes also cleaned up pretty good. In the pic you can see the difference in those areas with the upper left side being scrubbed, the rest not. While I was doing it I remembered SOS or brillo pads and figure the soap will help clean the dirt out of the rougher casting areas.


I'm not sure what I would do to protect the aluminum if I can get them to look good again. Any ideas are welcome. Some new center caps and lug nuts should help too.

I put the last body color bolts in tonight. The ones that hold the cowl panel. I took a couple pics of the hood alignment and would like some opinions. I have the rear of the cowl lined up pretty even with the rear of the fender. I have the front of the hood lined up with the front of the fender. But I think the gap between the hood and cowl is a smidge to wide. Should I move the hood back about 1/8" or leave it?



I didn't want to smell like gas tonight so I left the fuel pump alone. Replacement (if needed) is about $140-150 so I want to make sure it's something I really need.

BTW, there is a show and swap meet in St Peter, MN coming up on Sep 18th. I'm hoping I could bring my truck to it. Thats about 40 days, wish me luck.
http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/...s/car-show.htm

[Dieselwrencher]

Man, I don't blame you for not wanting to work on it in the heat either. It's getting old lately.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Man, I don't blame you for not wanting to work on it in the heat either. It's getting old lately.

Just when it's supposed to cool off I have to hit the road again for work. Heading down towards you I think, Waterloo, then across through Dubuque and past Beloit, WI. Putting some miles on this week, glad it's a company car.