71 shortbed

[littlecents]

Here recently I have mounted the steering gear box, and mounted my seats. Also working on getting the rear brakes together before I do the rotors up front.

[frenchy51]

Great to see new blood in the hobby! I've set each of my 3 sons up with C10's or 20's. When their kids get old enough I hope they do the same.

[special-K]

Little Cents has been at it for 5 years now. Probably doesn't feel like new blood anymore . Young...ger, yes. New, no. Glad to see you playing with it.

[CC69Rat]

Treasure every opportunity you have to work on it with him, I would take anything for the time I've had with my Pops. So many memories.. good luck with your build !

[72 Super]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

Treasure every opportunity you have to work on it with him, I would take anything for the time I've had with my Pops. So many memories.. good luck with your build !

Well said

[littlecents]

Bringing my build thread back, now that I've started making actual progress on the truck.

I have honestly not made much notable progress in the past few years, as I've picked up a handful of other projects and the C10 has regrettably been on the back burner for the most part. Granddad retired and moved to Florida in about 2015-16 if I remember correctly. We were able to travel to see him at least once a year, and we talked on the phone fairly often and I'd send him pictures of cool street rods whenever I spotted them at car shows. He had some health issues and unfortunate passed away earlier this year. I regret that he never saw this truck finished, and have been spending a lot of late nights out in the garage kicking myself for not making progress sooner.

Right now, the truck is off of jackstands and back on the ground for the first time in about 8 years. I have had to undo a lot of things that I started now that I actually (sort of) know what I'm doing.
Rear brakes are finished minus the parking brake hardware. Front brakes are about half way done.
Fuel lines are done, radiator and coolant hoses are done, intake and carb are mounted with fresh gaskets. The interior is out of the truck while I am working on the wiring, but I have all new carpet and weatherstrips on standby until I'm ready for reassembly.
Ignition is a little odd compared to what I've seen done on others, but should work well when it's finished up. Running an HEI distributor with an Accel coil, but with an MSD p 6AL box which will hide behind the glovebox. Using 1982 Corvette spark plug wires which will work with the HEI cap, and are routed out of sight under rams horn manifolds.
My MSD box came with a 2-step module, which I plan to make functional if only for the novelty. It will be wired to a second wiper switch mounted where the choke knob would be, so the push button for the washer will trigger the 2-step.
Still need to decipher the EZ wiring to the alternator, I'm running a later style internally regulated alternator.
I'll try to update regularly as I make more progress.

[yuccales]

Looking forward to some more updates, and pics of course.

[special-K]

Sound like your are getting close to cranking it over. It's great to have that project there for when you can put your hands on it.

[littlecents]

I've spent the past half hour trying to attach images, one of them is sideways but you get the idea. Since my last post, I've just about finished the wiring, with the exception of a few grounds and the rear lighting. The interior is just about done, I just need to bolt the seats in the rest of the way and I should probably install the seat belts. I made a heater control filler panel that I'll have to show off once it's in, but I still need to figure out what to do for the radio. Tach dash cluster is cleaned up and installed. The windshield and rear window are in as well! The brakes are all together and the system is ready for fluid. I'll try and get some more pictures posted shortly but technology is not my friend this evening.

[littlecents]

Here's my "custom" cargo light. Took a step bit to an LMC cargo light after I removed the light bulb socket, making room for these 3/4" LED marker lights. The white one is wired to the cargo light switch just like it would be originally, but the red ones are on a circuit for the 3rd brake light. It's all hidden behind the factory style lens which I really like, I think it looks nicer than the aftermarket led lenses that you can buy in my opinion.

[littlecents]

Here's some better shots of the interior.

[littlecents]

For the last couple of nights, I've been doing some bodywork on the original bed. This thing is toast, so all I'm doing is faking it as best I can until I can build a new bed in a year or two. One picture shows some of the layers underneath the primer, but since then I have just about finished up with the passenger side. There's a couple spots where there were holes that I'll still need to throw more mud on, but overall it's coming along pretty good and should be ready for some paint this week. The drivers side is a different story as it's a lot worse, I'm going to fill the really rough spots, but otherwise I'll just hide most of it in primer.

[dagnabbitt]

Looks good man, keep chippin away, I think once you have it driving the rest will follow.

If it helps, I wish it were mine!

[littlecents]

More progress! The "good"side of the bed is painted, although the humidity made the paint dry flat in some spots. I should be able to polish it up a bit. On Saturday we got the truck around to my dad's garage out front so I can work on it there, that gives me electricity and air, not to mention much more room to work. The bed is mounted on the truck, battery is mounted in the bed, and battery cables are routed. Once I ground a couple things and finish wiring the taillights, I can connect the positive cable and see what I wired incorrectly.

[littlecents]

Since my last post, we tried to get the truck running but found that the gas tank was trashed. I wish I would have pointed a flashlight in it before I added fuel, but no biggie. A friend has a 70 ish C60 that he is working on, and donated his fuel tank to the cause. He is going to relocate his outside of the cab, so he wasn't going to use it anyway. I have the donor tank installed, and the interior is all back together; I even used the opportunity to dust the seats with some vinyl spray paint as the old dye was wearing through a bit. I even remembered to install the seat belts first this time, although they will only be temporary until I can get a more "correct" set as these are cheesy universal ones.

The engine is running, but I haven't got it to idle on it's own yet. Once I get the core support and radiator where they need to live, I can add coolant and let it run a little longer.

I also found a driveshaft in the garage, so that is a big purchase I no longer have to make. Next step will be getting the modulator, transmission lines, and shift linkage all together, then I can bleed brakes. After that, just gotta get it to idle, and see if it moves!

More later.

[tutone]

Nice job on the seats. Lets flip that one for you.

[yuccales]

Looking good!

[littlecents]

Originally Posted by yuccales

Looking good!

Thanks! Still have a ways to go, but I'm happy with how everything is going at the moment.

Originally Posted by tutone

Nice job on the seats. Lets flip that one for you.

Thank you! I've been having a heck of a time trying to attach pictures on my phone.

[special-K]

I'm glad to see you making progress on your short bed. Too bad about the gas tank, though.

On a side note, I see your mom's birthday was yesterday. Someone started a happy birthday thread in General Discussion and it doesn't look like she saw it