Birth of a C10

[derail]

Sorry to hear about your grandma. I have a question about the front sway bar. Does it sit perfectly even on both sides? I just did this same upgrade with basically the same parts (lowered brackets, etc..) and mine sits a little more to the passenger side than dead even. Hope this makes sense. Were the holes already in you lower control arms? Thanks

[samuellg1977]

LH, sorry to hear about your grandmother.

John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

[losthope]

Originally Posted by Rich 5150 69

Sorry for your loss Tim, my condolances to the family, your truck is coming along nicely.

Originally Posted by samuellg1977

LH, sorry to hear about your grandmother.

Originally Posted by derail

Sorry to hear about your grandma. I have a question about the front sway bar. Does it sit perfectly even on both sides? I just did this same upgrade with basically the same parts (lowered brackets, etc..) and mine sits a little more to the passenger side than dead even. Hope this makes sense. Were the holes already in you lower control arms? Thanks

Thank you guys she has been saying she wanted to go,since she lost the capability of walking last year she was very independent and hated people taking care of her,plus fighting congested heart failure and other things i think she was just tired and the stroke was the last straw she was a neat lady and was loved and will be missed.......

"Derail" as far as the sway bar goes mine did have the holes from factory, i ran into a problem when i tried mounting it to one a-arm then to the frame mounts when i tried to mount it to the other a-arm it wouldnt line up like it was to long, what i had to do was mount it to both a-arms first then to to frame mounts to get everything to bolt up, just eyeing it ,it looks to be center its dark out side now so i cant measure it but if you need me to let me know and when i get a chance in the day time i can tell you if it is exactly in the center or not.

[derail]

No need to measure it for me. I might just go and take mine off and then reinstall it the way you described. It's not off by much, maybe 3/4 inch. Thanks again.

[losthope]

Another update!

Didnt get alot done since the holidays are here but did remembered to grab my smoking pipe while i was at my dads house on Christmas and he also gave me one of his many dash compass's he has:



And i did make it out to the local pick-n-pull and while snooping around picked up some small stuff,the previous owner took the front clip apart but never put all the bolts back in so i snagged some off a couple diffrent 60-66's trucks, then i found a washer bottle and bracket on a gmc , then pulled some jeep door checks/stops, and last thing i grabbed was a window gun rack:


while the washer bottle bracket and gun rack paint was drying i installed the Jeep Cherokee door checks, i used the front door checks because they have a shorter throw then the rear ones, or the stock ones so they help from getting the door dents(smiley face's) and will hold the truck door open on a hill but the front jeep checks have the double postion bumps and i didnt want the first position at all so i ground the first bump off:

Here you can see how the front jeep checks hold the door back from getting a dent you can see the difference with the existing dent from when the stock ones were in:


when i was done with that i bolted the washer bottle on:


last thing i did was cut down the gun rack and drill new mounting holes and mounted it:


Since here in California i dont think its legal to drive around with my shotgun in the window i just put my trusty baseball bat in and will use the top of the rack for my fishing pole

[Rich 5150 69]

Tim...you might want to carry a ball and glove with that bat....!

[A.T. RockDriller]

Originally Posted by Rich 5150 69

Tim...you might want to carry a ball and glove with that bat....!

No kiddin'

[losthope]

Originally Posted by Rich 5150 69

Tim...you might want to carry a ball and glove with that bat....!

Originally Posted by A.T. RockDriller

No kiddin'

LOL I'm not going to actually drive with it i just needed something for the photo,its really the wifes baseball bat she keeps at the front door for when shes home alone(live in a rough area)...

[A.T. RockDriller]

[QUOTE=losthope;5084779]LOL I'm not going to actually drive with it i just needed something for the photo,its really the wifes baseball bat she keeps at the front door for when shes home alone(live in a rough area)..

All the respect to your wife.

My wife's favorite sport is " Target Shootin' .....
Kinda' scary the first 10 years or so.....but I've learned to deal with it.

[losthope]

I had one wheel locking up when i would step on the brakes so i tried driving in reverse for quite a while to get the brakes to self adjust but had no luck?? one wheel kept locking up and skidding when i hit the brakes so i jacked to truck up and tore into the drum brakes.....the previous owner said he got the truck out of a field and the old man he got it from used it as his farm truck, from little signs here and there i believed him, but when i opened the drums up it was confirmed with all the dirt and straw/hay caked in side them, there was no way the self adjusters would ever work and the two front wheel cylinders leaking brake fluid was the culprit of the wheel locking up....So i scrubbed and cleaned everything and replaced the worn out shoes and some of the springs on all four wheel's and the two front wheel cylinders....wanted to replace everything from drums to brake hose's but money didnt allow for that at the moment just did enough to get it driving:

[Rafael505]

Originally Posted by losthope

Hell ya!

well my birthday was oct-29th and i always ask for car parts or tools for holidays so my girl and some family members got me some wheel accessories:
\

i went to the hardware store and picked up some tools to clearence the stock wheel hole to except the bullet push-thur cap:


The stacked cut off wheels on a drill arbor worked the best and i suggest using this if your going to do it yourself;


and what the wheels look like now,I might get the smaller chrome beauty ring that pops onto the nubs near the lug nuts like a dogdish hubcap would do:

nice truck,,, was wondering what size are the lug nuts

[losthope]

Originally Posted by Rafael505

nice truck,,, was wondering what size are the lug nuts

7/16-20 stock size lugnuts..........

heres a ebay link to the ones i used but i bought mine straight thur lugnutking.com and also bought some from them at the turlock swap meet for 1.00 a piece so you pay $24 thur them instead of $39 thur ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-BULLET-AC...item2eb9929e19

[Rafael505]

Originally Posted by losthope

7/16-20 stock size lugnuts..........

heres a ebay link to the ones i used but i bought mine straight thur lugnutking.com and also bought some from them at the turlock swap meet for 1.00 a piece so you pay $24 thur them instead of $39 thur ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-BULLET-AC...item2eb9929e19

NICE!! thanks,,,

[hewlett2002000]

Hey man trucks looking great!!! I dont get on very often but i saw the post with your wreck a while back, and was amazed to see you are already getting all this amazing work done. Keep up the great work.
John

[LostMy65]

That is real close to the look I want on my 8 lug 16" steelies I recently acquired - except my wheels will be black.

Originally Posted by losthope

[LostMy65]

Look what I found:

[jbgroby]

Losthope,

You a pipe smoker too? I have several but i hav a favorite briar rouge finish that I use most. What leaves do you smoke. I like tinder box Vanilla Black Cavendish. Smell good enough for othe wife to not complain when I'm in the shop.

[losthope]

Originally Posted by hewlett2002000

Hey man trucks looking great!!! I dont get on very often but i saw the post with your wreck a while back, and was amazed to see you are already getting all this amazing work done. Keep up the great work.
John

Thanks progress has slowed of lately on the truck,since ive been working on my car and lack of funds due to hoildays and birthdays but should be at it again real soon,Im amazed i made it through that wreck also makes me kinda sick in the stomach when i see the pictures but it was a life changing experience,I actually walk pretty good now except alot of pain and most likely need the surgery the doctor has been putting off,I cant complain im alive and walking...hope to see you posting more hows your truck anything new?

Originally Posted by LostMy65

That is real close to the look I want on my 8 lug 16" steelies I recently acquired - except my wheels will be black.

I like this look alot not to overdone but a little more then just dog dish caps.

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Look what I found:

Nice! i love the color!

Originally Posted by jbgroby

Losthope,

You a pipe smoker too? I have several but i hav a favorite briar rouge finish that I use most. What leaves do you smoke. I like tinder box Vanilla Black Cavendish. Smell good enough for othe wife to not complain when I'm in the shop.

I havent smoked since my accident since the doctor said i cant smoke anything because the foot surgery is high risk to loosing my foot if i smoke, but I mainly smoke my pipe only at my pops house and usually smoke what he has which mainly from the "tinder box" store that went out of buisness here and he bought a mass quantity of different tobaccos before they did same vanilla you do,cherry almond, anniversary blend, amaretto,and some others..i have a couple pipes the one in the truck pictures is just a cheap one, i have a real expensive one (cant think of the name of hand) that i mainly smoke fro that i bought for $5 from a antique store somkes real nice...I also like to smoke cigar's , acid's, lars tetens, and theres a old cuban guy that owns a little shop where he hand rolls his own ,has a picture as a 13 year old kid in cuba rolling them with a cigar in his mouth, must be 80 by now and still rolls them, he even has a indentation in his lip where he holds his cigars in his mouth.........talking about smoking i almost cant wait for surgery just so i can smoke!

[jbgroby]

Timmy, The pipe holder you have on the dash, is that something you made or can buy. I'd be interested in one.

Jake

[losthope]

Originally Posted by jbgroby

Timmy, The pipe holder you have on the dash, is that something you made or can buy. I'd be interested in one.

Jake

you can get them at so-cal speed shop or on ebay just type in "dash pipe holder"..

been working on my 54 ford and not much is has been going on with the truck besides going to turlock swap meet and picking up a gauge cluster with the o.g tach and air gauge in it and two 64-66 grills:

I also picked up a rebuilt 9inch tail shaft turbo 350 and converter with a shift kit and 6 month warranty for $500.... since this truck is going to be my daily driver and the used $75 craigslist trans i installed was just to get the truck drivable up and down the driveway and is starting to make some funky noises, so i decided i needed something more reliable! This will be going in ,in the next couple days:

And here is a sneak peek at the rear floating floating grill i started mocking up to resemble the front grill i made:


I need to get another grill and cut and splice and weld them together this was just to get a idea of what it will look like,it'll take alot of body work with this bent up grill and how these grills angle in the middle to get two grills straight across the rear of the truck......i still dont know how i really feel about it??? , I wanted to run my exhaust tips at the ends and have door/drawer knobs in the middle like the front grill ( no bullets )...what do you guys think? I wanted something diffrent then a regular rear roll pan..

[gofastnut]

I just got done reading this thread and first let me offer my condolences. I understand and am sorry for your loss. I also understand working on the truck to keep your mind off of life's "stuff". Glad you're doing better after the wreck. You're doin an awesome job on this truck, just keepin at it. It's a real motivator for me.

[losthope]

Originally Posted by gofastnut

I just got done reading this thread and first let me offer my condolences. I understand and am sorry for your loss. I also understand working on the truck to keep your mind off of life's "stuff". Glad you're doing better after the wreck. You're doin an awesome job on this truck, just keepin at it. It's a real motivator for me.

Thank you gofastnut ! Tell you the truth getting another truck so fast to work on and all of you guys in this site has been my motivation to get past all the crap ive delt with this last year, I think i would have had more of a negative attitude about everything if i didnt have something to take my mind off of everything and dedicate my time too...

Well the latest update besides mocking up a rear grill that most of you probably saw on my poll i posted is that i bought a Rebuilt th350 and today i got the old one out and the rebuilt one in....Every car battery i own seems to be dead so i didnt fire the truck up yet and take it for a spin < I put a battery on the charger and will see how everything goes tomorrow heres some pic's:

Getting the old one out:



swapping shifting lever over and comparing tran's:



new one in:

[losthope]

So while I had the truck in the air after the trans swap I decided to pull out the box of ball joints and a-arm bushings the previous owner gave me with the truck he had started the power steering conversion and and replaced the joints on the tie-rod ends but didnt finish and never got to the rest....

taking it apart:


got the ball joints out and cut off the bumpstop stands:

rented a ball joint press from autozone so i pressed new joints in real quick and returned the press:

Scrapped off the crud and grease the best i could and started puting everything back together,Im a renter so i just try do do what i have to and get my cars put back together so the landlord doesnt give me grief if your wondering why i dont sand and paint everything..id love to but dont got a garage or time:

one side down:

Then the wife grabbed the camrea and took some pictures of me working:

this on you can see my ugly mug

And if you have read my thread all the way through you'll know that my grandma passed away,so i did a memorial tattoo:

then I put it back together with the new trans and as you can see i got crazy when i had it apart and cut the front springs some more


and received these short energy suspension bump stops today that i got to still install:


Until next time gang!

[likaroc13]

looking good man! mad props to you for doing all you do in the driveway...i too rent (apartment), and it sucks trying to get anything done to my daily driver myself...keep up the good work...btw, the drop looks nice!

[losthope]

Well my notch and trac bar showed up from CPP, And i got started on working on the rear of the truck:

After quite awhile of cutting,drilling,and pounding rivets out i got the c-notch bolted in:

Then painted them with some black paint just to keep them from surface rusting:

Got dark out side before i could get the trac bar on and still need to relocate the shocks when they show up in the mail, This was done to give me more travel with the truck lowered with the rear camero sway bar bolted to top of the rearend so the stance isnt going to change....until i purchase the basic bags setup for the front and rear! Will post pics when its back together with the relocated shocks and trac bar....