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

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

I really like the look of the chromed steel grill over the polished aluminum ones...looks better with the bumper....

I might try to paint the black stripe around it like the 71s are supposed to have. A touch that most wont notice but should look good.

[Mike Bradbury]

I would like to see a photo of that when you are done, I polished my aluminum grill and it is a pain to keep shiny.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Mike Bradbury

I would like to see a photo of that when you are done, I polished my aluminum grill and it is a pain to keep shiny.

Got the parts yesterday and they look great. Not sure I'll get them on this weekend, but I'll give it a shot and post the pics once its done. One surprise was that it came with headlight bezels attached. I bought new ones separate and now need to see if I can return those.

The bumper looks like a better quality one than what I had also. I have a new inner grill in the garage attic. New front end soon.

[VA72C10]

Looking good! That front end is going to look awesome when it's all together!

[crsweet91]

Great Work!

[tkeduk8r]

always a great read to catch up on....dont be afraiod to call again while y our up in these parts!!! I cant wait to check this thing out in person on of these days!!!
--Mike

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Looking good! That front end is going to look awesome when it's all together!

Yes it does, pics below.

Originally Posted by crsweet91

Great Work!

Thanks

Originally Posted by tkeduk8r

always a great read to catch up on....dont be afraiod to call again while y our up in these parts!!! I cant wait to check this thing out in person on of these days!!!
--Mike

That part of the state got shifted to another inspector so I won't get up that far north as much. I'll try and make time to visit again if I do. Why don't you buy my 2wd blazer project and come down here to get it, and check out my projects in person.

Was going to go to a swap meet up in St Paul today, but the weather was iffy at best, so we did some things closer to home. That gave me the time I needed to finish up this part of the project. I got the new headlights in, much easier to do with the grill off. Bolted in the nicely painted grill brackets. Mounted the inner grill into the outer.

A quick tip, the little plastic clips go through the holes on the tabs of the inner grill before they are pushed into the outer grill. Lucky for me I didn't break any of the clips removing them, because sometimes I'm a dummy.

Then the whole grill set up was set in place with one bolt in the hood latch support to hold it. I got the pop rivets in the passenger side first. The driver side on top lined up good, but the bottom needed some persuading to fit. I had to take out the bottom front bolt for the fender to radiator support, sit down in front of the truck, grab the frame rail and push the fender bottom out with my foot, then push the bottom of the grill in between there. Once that was done I finished riveting that side, made some adjustments and tightened it all down.

I found the hood bumpers in a parts box, cleaned them up, installed and adjusted.

Then I got the parking lights installed in the bumper. After about 30 years of working on these trucks and this one in particular, I finally figured out that the little bracket for the front bumper to the top of the frame rail needs to be bolted to the bumper first, then set it in position and put in the rest of the bolts. Getting the top bumper bolts tighted after the bumper is installed is a pain with the grill up kinda tight to that bolt if you try to do it the other way.

Enough rambling, time for pics...

[Palf70Step]

[Low Elco]

Looks fantastic. You should be very proud.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Exactly. Rock on.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Looks fantastic. You should be very proud.

Thank you, I am.

Found my old punch list from a few months ago. Time to cross a few things off. The worst of it is the exhaust and wheel polishing. Compared to where the Jimmy is at right now, this list is just frosting the cake.

Punch list:
Polish other wheels
fan/headlight wiring upgrade
adjust e-brake cable
horn
Cowl shims
Washer pump
finish exhaust
install closed loop sensor
upholstory recovered
alignment
air cleaner
touch up paint under hood
stereo (eventually)

[VA72C10]

The truck looks AWESOME! Love the work on the grill....especially the time to paint the outer black stripe which is pretty much never done anymore...

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

The truck looks AWESOME! Love the work on the grill....especially the time to paint the outer black stripe which is pretty much never done anymore...

I actually forgot about that stripe until it came up in another thread on here. I decided at that time I would try to get it back on there. My wife said it made it look meaner. idk, but I do like it.

[hgs_notes]

I started having electrical issues this past month. First it was draining the battery and I traced that to the starter circuit. But then it quit and I figured it was probably just a sticky wicket. But then I drove it the other day and the tach fried and it was blowing the main power fuse to the cab. It would start fine, but would not turn over after you shut it off and I'd find the fuse blown. Today I started trying to diagnose it, put the key to on with a new fuse, no problem. Had the wife turn it over while I watched the fuse, and it popped as soon as she let the key go back to on after it was running. I think there is something in the solenoid wrong and brough the starter to napa for testing. There was a problem with their tester, and they didn't have the part in stock anyway, so I pushed it back in the garage and will try again tomorrow.

Somethings missing...


One other thing, one of the other dads on my daughters softball team is a welder and has his own shop, with a nice big sheetmetal shear and a new (to him) sheetmetal brake. I talked to him at yesterdays game about bending up a nice radiator shroud for me. I just need to get the dimensions.

[hgs_notes]

I brought the starter back to napa for testing today and it was fine. The manager there is very good and an experienced mechanic, and another local mechanic was there also and listened to my tale of woo. I learned that the wire to the R terminal on the solenoid is not required when using an HEI dizzy. I had been running with it connected like that for probably 20 years. Anyway, the other mechanic said to install the starter like it was with both wires hooked up and then jump the battery hot to the switch terminal, bypassing the ignition switch and see if it fries the fuse. It did. So then I disconnected that wire from the R terminal and taped it over. Problem is gone. Must be a bad spot on that wire going to ground when the engine is running.

Anyway, problem solved, but my tach is still fried. Sucks.

Decided to start working on polishing another wheel. Crappy job but someones got to do it, and that someone is me. The first round of sanding is done with 220 grit to get rid of all the pits and machine cut grooves. That was the hard part. Now I just go back over it with finer grit until I get to about 1000 or 1500, then get the polish out. Another couple hours for this wheel, and the job is half way done. Pics tomorrow.

[hgs_notes]

Got out early this morning before the heat hit to continue sanding and finished the wheel. Two down, 2 to go.

After the 220 grit...


After polishing, with my 2 noise makers (the springer is my daughters, the ****zu is the wifes, both follow me around like I have meat in my pocket, should probably get the meat out of my pocket)...


Back on, one side looks pretty much finished...

[67cheby]

great work on the wheels, the truck looks GREAT !

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

great work on the wheels, the truck looks GREAT !

Thanks! Its the best I can do with what I have. I wouldn't mind nice new wheels, but then I would have to buy tires also, and the tires on it barely have any wear. So here's to racking up some miles on it soon to wear the tires down, so I can justify replacing it all.

On another note, I took some measurements of the radiator to have a local guy bend up a shroud for me. Maybe I can get that done this next week.

Planning on going to the all GM show/swap at the MN state fairgrounds tomorrow. Maybe find some goodies for my trucks. I won't be taking this truck there, it's about 100 miles each way, and I don't quite trust it that far yet. Besides, I get free gas in my company car.

[hgs_notes]

Not much luck at the swap meet today. Hardly anything there for 67-72 chevy trucks. At least nothing I needed. I came away with some misc hubcaps and a cool script I-6 valve cover to add to the wall collection. Finally found a bargain on one of those neat old tire ashtrays, and a nice script emblem. Walked through the show and most of the 67-72's that were there I have seen before. A couple are very nice, and then some nice drivers and a couple unrestored drivers.

My wife told me mine was ready enough for parking in the shows, that mine would have a chance to win. I appreciate her confidence, but know her bias. I will admit it would compare well with what we saw, but I never intended it to be for winning shows, or I would have done a better job. I just wanted it to be nice enough to not be embarrassed to park it in the shows, so I could have a cooler of beverages, lawn chairs and a place to hang out with others having similar rides. Mission accomplished.

Mostly I just love driving it, anywhere. I love the sound, the ride, the smell, the memories. A couple days ago we were coming home from my daughters softball game in another town. There was a 69-70 parked along the highway with a for sale sign, so I stopped to look (of course). Wife and daughter were not really interested in a close up view, they waited in the car. I'm looking it over and it looks like a very nice, unmolested original C-20 2wd long bed, fleetside, original wood floor (still there), olive green, just a small bit of rust starting in the rockers. I opened a door for a look inside and the smell was just that old truck smell. A combination of dust, steel, and old upholstory and whatever else it is that makes an old truck smell like that. It smelled exactly like mine did before I tore it down for the body work. I just said out loud, wooo. I called over to the car and told my wife to come here. She's exasparated and tired and not really interested. I just tell her she has to look at something. I open the door back up and just say, smell that. She takes a whiff and says "wooo, it's just like what your truck used to smell like". We walk back to the car and she tells me my daughter asked if she could have it. It's green, her favorite color and it's just like mine (close enough for a 15 year old, she's my youngest). I'm just proud of her for not saying something like "I'd rather have a camry" or "eww, it's old". BTW, No she can't have it, it costs too much ($5500) and she doesn't have the money. But isn't it great when you see that next generation at least have an interest, or an appreciation for the classic styles?

Anyway, thanks for reading along. Take your kids for a ride. Here's some of what I picked up today...


Where it will end up, if I can squeeze it in...

[VA72C10]

So if she finds one needing work....will you start another one (if she helps)? Or is the blazer a possible future ride for her?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

So if she finds one needing work....will you start another one (if she helps)? Or is the blazer a possible future ride for her?

It's funny what our kids end up driving. I drive a company car, which my wife can also drive but the kids can't. My wife drives a 2003 yukon XL denali. All 3 kids learned to drive in that and all 3 were nervous about it and don't really like to drive it. It's huge, heavy, powerful and handles like a huge heavy powerful truck should on a soft suspension. All 3 prefer to drive my oldest girls 93 tempo. That thing is like a go cart compared to the denali.

My youngest will have to decide what she wants when she gets to that point. She'll have to pay for it herself and I'll help keep it running, just like the other 2 kids. It won't be the Jimmy because I have more into it than she'll be able to afford, and I have plans for it later on anyway. And I kinda doubt she'll like how it drives. Big, heavy and powerful. I've offered to let her just move my truck in the driveway and she won't do it. I'm thinking she'll get something like an older cherokee or other small SUV, but you just can't tell with kids. Classics just cost too much to buy and maintain for most kids. She wants to drive, not repair.

[hgs_notes]

Couple updates, but no pics. First, I got a local guy doing a fan mount/shroud for me. He bent up a narrow sample to check the fit and we are making a couple adjustments. So I should get the real deal back soon. That will fix my fan mounting issue.

Second, I ordered up a set of new seat belts from seatbeltplanet.com to match my interior color. Getting the 3 point retractable with lift buckle style, and a regular matching lap belt for the middle. I know I earlier wanted to do something with mid 80's truck belts and have them re-webbed and old style buckles installed, but it was too much a of a PITA. Not that it can't be done. Sometimes the simple solution is the best choice. Total order with shipping was about $180.

Here's pics of one of my side projects to keep the pic addicts happy...

[mcbassin]

Sorry to hear of all the wiring gremlins. Sucks you fried the tach. too. I dig your trailer. Nice fabrication. Looks like you have entirely too much free time on your hands

[67cheby]

That trailer is AWESOME !! are you going to fiberglass over it ?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Sorry to hear of all the wiring gremlins. Sucks you fried the tach. too. I dig your trailer. Nice fabrication. Looks like you have entirely too much free time on your hands

I figured the first year would bring out several gremlins, electrically and mechanically. I'm plugging away at them. As for my spare time, Not as much as you'd think. Came up with the idea last year, got bored with what needed done on my Jimmy, so started out to see what I could build. It's pretty much a half scale model of a shortbed, except narrower or it would have been to square. I did not intend to do a full working suspension, but during my thousands of miles on the road (for work) I kept thinking about it and this is the result. My favorite parts of the build were making the trailing arms and the adjustable track bar. I was grinning as much from that as I was when I saw the first paint go on my truck.

Originally Posted by 67cheby

That trailer is AWESOME !! are you going to fiberglass over it ?

I was planning on sealing it up with epoxy, then just do normal bodywork over it, but the fiberglass may be the way to go. I actually have an idea I want to try for my Jimmy and this might give me the chance to practice a bit first. Plan on painting it to match my truck. I was going to leave the wood on the floor, stain it and put some bed strips on it. But I'm also thinking I could put beveled strips on it and glass over them to make it look like a steel floor, like my truck. Decisions decisions.

[VA72C10]

that's a cool looking trailer! and super cool that it's got a "nascar" rear suspension (our trailing arm setup )