"Midnight Rider" 1970 C10 SWB Fleetside

[omodified]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

I can appreciate (and also not be at all envious) of the amount of time it takes to get all of the gaps in that particular spot to look so good.

Lots of time for sure, but it will be so worth it.

Originally Posted by Chevys4life

That is going to be one nice truck!!!!!

Thanks Chevys4life. I am certainly hoping that you are right.

[omodified]

Got a little rear brake line work done tonight. Started with installing a 90° stainless fitting into each caliper. I used plumbers tape to get a good seal. Using a wrench, I tightened it as far as I could while keeping it facing the right direction.






Next I installed the tee for the rear lines. GM used a brass tee here. I wanted to replicate that but I decided to go 3/16 brake lines on the whole system. So, the factory tee size won't work here. I found a triple 3/16 tee and paired it with nickel plated 3/8-24 to -3an adapter. The only way I could make this work was to fasten it all together with a super narrow base weld nut. I found one that was stainless and ground it flat. I used red loctite on this nut and got it as tight as I could against the factory mounting tab.












Next, I installed the rear brake lines. I went with a stainless pre-bent set from CPP. Ill need to alter a few bends, but these are really close right out of the bag.








Next, I installed the the stainless brake hoses to the calipers.








I'm not sure where I got this brake hose mounting tab kit, but it is up next. Long ago, I had the tabs nickel plated along with the clips. The only thing I didn't care for is how flashy these stainless bands are. So, I found some nice black ones to replace them with. I will just need to trim the stud later. I used a nickel plated 3/8-24 to -3an adapter with the mounting tab.

[omodified]

Trying to wrap up the rear end stuff. Added the vent, vent tubing and the brake flex line that goes to the frame rail and brake line clip on the rear end cover.

[omodified]

The bedsides are nearly done now. It's getting close to bed assembly time. So, I brought the front bed panel to Hawk Restoration to get it prepared. I couldn't find an NOS front panel or even a good used one. so I got what I hear is the next best thing...Mar-K. Here are some pics of it and the progress I noticed while I was there.

[Chevys4life]

That is going to be one nice truck!!!!!

[Grip]

Your progress is looking GREAT!

[omodified]

Originally Posted by Grip

Your progress is looking GREAT!

Thanks for the compliment Eric and thanks for stopping to check out my build.

[omodified]

I realize I need to work on the frame in order to stay ahead of the body shop. I would hate for the cab to be ready before the frame. So, I need to concentrate on getting this thing rolling on wheels and tires. The rear is pretty much ready to roll, so I need to get going on the front. Next up is the front springs. I am using CPP 1" drop springs. The pancake crossmember should give me a 1.5" drop and the spindles will be an additional 2.5" drop. With these springs, I should end up a total of 5" dropped in the front.






Without any weight on the frame from the body or even a drivetrain, I needed something to jack against so I could get the spring seated and balljoint stem nuts tightened properly. So, I used the bucket on my tractor.




Here, I quickly realized that the spring was not seating correctly. I got the pigtail to sit in the lower control arm bucket correctly, but the top was misaligned. The crossmember spring mounting area is D-shaped and the top coil can really only sit one way. The way it is currently orientated, the spring was not sitting flush and would ultimately not yield a 1 inch drop. Looking at it here, it might even raise the truck.






At this point, I checked the forums here for anybody else that has encountered this issue. Not surprising, but it is common and it has to do with spring winding process. Most people say they just cut off a half coil and moved on. I decided to send the last two pics to CPP and ask for their opinion. CPP said that this looked okay and it would more than likely move into place when the truck gets driven. Well, this answer didn't sit well with me. I remember back to when I installed 3" drop springs on this truck years ago. I ended up cutting a half coil out to give it some rake. The truck just sat too level. So, I decided to cut just enough to get the spring to seat correctly on both ends. I ended up cutting off a 1/4 coil off of the bottom coil.




I didn't want to install the springs with bare metal so I used some POR-15 to coat the ends where I made the cut. It matches the powder coat finish on the springs pretty well. Now, I have to wait 48 hours for it to cure.

[omodified]

POR-15 has cured nicely and it's time to install the front springs. I used the tractor again for the assist, although it was a bit easier to install them with a 1/4 coil cut out. The spring seated correctly top and bottom this time. Once I jacked up the lower control arm, I was able to torque the balljoint stem nuts to the correct specs, 50 lb/ft and 90 lb/ft. No cotter pins for now because I will need to torque these again after the truck is finished due to adding more weight.

[omodified]

Next thing to do before I can get the frame off jack stands is install the front brakes. This will allow me to install the front wheels and tires. When I started unpacking everything for this step, I realized I couldn't find any information about the brake pads they sent me. I can only assume they are generic. I would feel much better if I installed front pads that I was confident matched the rear compound. So, I ordered new front pads.





For now, I will just install the rotors. This will still allow me to install the front wheels temporarily. That will get it off jack stands and enable me to do a few other things on the rear. The CPP front brake kit I bought came with raw iron rotors. I attempted to paint them black a while back, but I kept having issues getting the paint to stick. I ended up finding identical rotors that Performance Online offered except they were plated with Black Oxide. Obviously, I'm trying to prevent rust, so this was a much better option for me than paint that won't stick.






The bearings and seals that came with the kit were also unmarked. So, I bought replacement Timken bearings and seals. Quality parts just make me feel better.








I used Mobil 1 synthetic grease to pack the bearings and installed them in the rotor. Then I gently tapped the seals in place with a block of wood.
Than I installed the rotors and tightened the castle nuts to just hand tight.








Wheels are installed front and rear and just like that, it's sitting on the ground!!!




Last thing I wanted to do was stand the front wheels with a camber reading that is more representative of what it will be like when things are final. This will allow me to check the ride height now to make sure I'm not way far off. For camber shims, I wanted to find something cleaner and more like what you would find on a race car. I found this anodized aluminum set on EBAY from AfterDarkSpeed. They advertise them for a 73-87 C10 but I can tell you that they work just fine for 67-72. Once I installed them, I jounced the front end about 20 times. Then I measured to the floor from the core support mounts. Each side was within a 1/16" I'm very happy with this!!!

[Old_Truck_Fan]

Nice work! I'm enjoying all the great pictures. I feel your pain on the NOS body panels in particular. I had a similar experience with an NOS tailgate and fender. I think body parts that were actually installed on a truck had a higher level of quality control. It almost seems like parts that didn't make the grade to get sent to the factory were then put in the service parts network and left to the body shop to correct.

[omodified]

The biggest reason that I needed to get the frame on the ground was for the next step...the gas tank. I'm going with a 19 gallon EFI Boyd Welding tank. This thing is a piece of art! Since I will have a wood bed, I decided to go with the flush floor option. I also opted for their mounting kit, which will make for a easy clean install. For safety sake, I had them install a rollover vent. No in tank fuel pump though, we will go a different route for that.








First thing to do is note that I fixed the two spots of rust that were left on the frame rails where I had forgotten to remove a brace in earlier steps. I taped off the area and sanded the rust to bare metal with a Dremel and a flap wheel. Then I coated the area with POR-15 Chassis Black. This was done a few days ago, but I forgot to mention it and forgot to take a photo.




Next thing to do was test fit. The tank is fairly light when it's empty, but a floor jack makes it easy to maneuver it around once it's in place. Being able to move it around is important so you can square up the tank in the space. It's kind of a tight fit, but there is plenty of room to center it up. Once I got it where I wanted it, I used tape to outline the mounts on the bottom of the frame rails. This will help me relocate it later. Once it was outlined I removed the tank for the next step.






Next, I measured exactly where I needed to drill the mounting holes in the tank. I had to be careful here so the existing holes in the frame didn't interfere. I also needed to make sure I was using a flat part of the frame rail and not where it starts to curve up toward the shock crossmember. I used the mounting brace as my template for all of this. When I had the brace where I wanted it, I used and automatic punch to locate the starting point for my drill bit. This should eliminate the chance of the bit walking and messing something up. Once I drilled the holes in the tank, I used my reference tape to reinstall the tank onto the frame. Here I transferred the hole pattern onto the bottom of the rail and repeated my drilling process. When all of the drilling was complete, I installed the tank one last time and tested fitted the mounts and hardware. Everything fit great! Now I have to send the braces to be painted so they blend in with the frame.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Great build thread thanks for the detailed write up..

[omodified]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Great build thread thanks for the detailed write up..

Thank you French!

[omodified]

So the next few things I'm going to work on made me realize something. The front crossmember I received back is actually from a 71-72 C10. I'm not sure what all the differences are, but the big one I see right now is how the front brake lines install. On the crossmember that I removed, the lines installed on the back side. Here it is during the teardown




The lines on this 1972 install on the front side. Hard to see but here is the bracket for the fitting.




I originally ordered a stainless CPP front brake line set for a 67-70. These obviously will not work now. So I needed to find a 71-72 set. I have zero experience making stainless brake lines so, I'm trying to make it easy on myself by getting pre-bent. Inline Tube had kit #SCTB72F2.




Here is the RF line just laid on the crossmember. You can see how they will route under the engine stand and toward the front bracket.

[omodified]

I just want to document a few things. I need to come up with a few more parts to get painted hot rod black along with the gas tank mounts. I've had a few things put away for this exact occasion. I'm dropping off these parts off tomorrow.

Part of what I had nickel plated was the brake assembly. I used my original for this. I disassembled it and stripped the rust. After nickel plating, it needs to have the factory black painted on the arm.












Next is the emergency brake assembly. My original wasn't in good enough shape to keep. The arm was bent in two direction and was a little weak from straightening. I found and NOS assembly a few years back on EBAY. In order to nickel plate, it needed stripped too. After plating, now the arm needs painted factory black too.








The last thing I will be taking are the wiper transmission arms. My originals were in terrible shape. I found a really nice used one and an NOS. I disassembled both of them and then the raw metal to be nickel plated. Before I reassemble, the transmission arms will need to be painted black.

[omodified]

Dropped the parts off to be painted. While I was here, I grabbed some updated photos. I decided to have the seams shaved where the cab metal overlaps in the windshield area and the door jambs. Added some metal to the seam area and now it's getting smoothed out.










Also had some metal work done on the doors. I've never like the radius on the bottom corners. Since so much time was spent on the gaps, I decided to fix the radius on the corners to better match the gaps.

before





after

[Captain X]

Apologies if you already went over this and I missed it, but I'm curious about the disc brake conversion you did here. Is this one of those kits which will move your wheels outward slightly, or are these new parts you were able to order and don't move the stock location of the wheels? I see the rear ones are like the newer ones Chevy had for a while, with a parking brake that was still a drum brake that used the disc rotor as the drum. Did you have to replace the entire axle to do this or were you able to use the original?

[omodified]

Originally Posted by Captain X

Apologies if you already went over this and I missed it, but I'm curious about the disc brake conversion you did here. Is this one of those kits which will move your wheels outward slightly, or are these new parts you were able to order and don't move the stock location of the wheels? I see the rear ones are like the newer ones Chevy had for a while, with a parking brake that was still a drum brake that used the disc rotor as the drum. Did you have to replace the entire axle to do this or were you able to use the original?

Hey Captain. I believe you are correct about the front kit. From what I read, this kit will more than likely move the front wheels out a bit. The newer kits, otherwise knows as modular, are suppose to keep that from happening. My issue with the modular kits is that it forces you to either convert to 5 lug and/or use a bigger wheel. In my case, I wanted to keep my 6-lug wheels, so this was the best route at the time. So, if there ends up being a noticeable difference in track width later, I will have to figure out some rear wheel spacers.

As for my rear setup, I did replace my axles. I didn't do it because of fitment though. I think the original axles would have worked just fine. I replaced mine with stronger axles that were the same dimensions as the ones I removed from the truck.

Hope this helps you out. Thanks for the interest.

[omodified]

Well, my hopes for pre-bent brake lines making my life easier are over. The LF brake line has the wrong size nut on it as do a few other lines. So, I decided to throw all of the lines I have into a pile and use what's there to make what I need. Also, no kit that I was able to find includes an intermediate line, so I have to make one of those anyways. So, I ordered the only tool that you can use to make double flares in stainless tubing. I also order about 10 feet of stainless tubing. Brakes lines are on hold...

[omodified]

Starting to mock up the trim so the mounting holes can be drilled before paint. While doing my research, I found there are two ways to mount this upper trim. The factory way, causes the trim to have a bowed look to it. The other way is to just make it straight all the way across on your own. I'm going with straight across. Have to be careful with this one...

[omodified]

I received the brake line flaring tool today, so it's time to work on the brake lines. I started with the LF line with the wrong sized nut. I used a tubing cutter to cut the end off. I took off the least amount of material that I could so the line was reusable. Next, I used a brake line deburring tool to deburr the inside and outside of the tubing. This will help with making an easy and clean double flare. The flaring tool is heavy duty and makes easy work of the stainless material. I have to say, I hope the rest of the lines are this easy.



















Next up are the two lines that will come from the proportioning valve. Since the cab isn't on, I don't know exactly where the valve will rest. I should have enough adjustability in the lines to get everything tight later.







Last thing for today is the intermediate line. I wanted to finish everything up but I realized I was missing a union. So, I ordered a pack of unions and another tee that matched the rear. For the intermediate line, 10 feet ended up being the perfect length. I hade to bend a 90° at the rear and a slight bend in the center to follow the frame rail. I installed two nuts and double flared both ends. Here it is installed. More to come in a few days.

[rodstored-72]

man!!.. this is becoming a really cool build.. I envy the detail & notes! the hood and tailgate really do look very very nice!! .. wow!
...nice job!!

[omodified]

Originally Posted by rodstored-72

man!!.. this is becoming a really cool build.. I envy the detail & notes! the hood and tailgate really do look very very nice!! .. wow!
...nice job!!

Thanks for checking in Rod and thanks for the compliments. I have some more cool stuff planned. Stay tuned!

[omodified]

The hood and tailgate are in black epoxy now. I said two months ago we would start to mock up the trim. This week, that will finally happen. Need to get all of the holes drilled before paint. The plan is to tape the trim in place and then draw an outline of the trim. The holes will get drilled somewhere in the middle of the outline, in the factory locations. I decided when I ordered the Mar-K trim that I would use 71-72 trim. There is no difference in the trim itself from the 69-70, but it requires less holes to be drilled. In 1971, the factory used less push in metal clips and more double sided tape. We had lots of disruptions today, so there was only enough time to place the tailgate trim. More work to be done tomorrow.