Project "Love Affair"... 5.3/Wilwood/c10

[smokinstang70]

Well after about a year and a half of reading build threads and acquiring parts... its time to start my own thread... I would first like to say that I absolutely love this forum and have become somewhat addicted to it!!! My wife constantly tells me I'm nuts., but I can't help myself... besides my wife and little girl (and one on the way)... there is nothing I love more than classic cars and trucks.

Here's my story.... I have ben in love with classic cars for a long time... in fact I bought a 1970 mach 1 mustang when i was in high school (1998)... and worked my A$$ off to fix it up. I still have it ... you will see it in some of the pictures later. Its all original 81K miles... 351C + 4 speed = fun!!!! after playing with it for several years, I wanted another project.

I have ALWAYS thought 67 - 72 chevy trucks are the best looking truck ever made... I started looking and eventually found one in NC (Ebay). Drove up to get it and was terribly disappointed... although the guy did take a lot of pictures... the pictures were of the "Good" stuff... not the "BAD". Truck was a lot rougher that I had hoped... but was still what I wanted. I got the truck for a little less than we originially aggreed on, put it on the trailer and headed back to Savannah. I did a little work to the truck and drove it as a daily drive for about a year... thats were it went down hill.

I had a friend who totaled a 2005 silverado w/ only liability insurance... (alcohol was involved)... although the body was trashed... the motor and trans were perfect. I gave him $500 for everything... and so it began.

Original plan was yank out the old 350 and shove in the 5.3 / 4l60e, but as I started getting everything ready i kept telling myself... "well a few more bolts and you can be down to bare frame" and I ended up talking myself into a full frame off restoration... I'm in over my head!!!!

The wife is very supportive, which is a HUGE help.

The new plan is "nothing major"... basic frame rebuild, 5.3 / 4l60e, Wilwood master cylinder and D52 calipers, wood bed kit, tilt column, rear mounted tank, repair rust, and fresh paint.

I want to thank everyone that I have talked to, bought parts from, and gotten inspiration from... I look forward to leveraging your experience, expertise, and opinions to make this a successful project.

here are a few pictures of my progress (it ain't much)