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

[mcbassin]

Awesome trip! thanks for sharing the story and pics.

[Low Elco]

Workin'! I like it!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Bomp

So nice to see a truck getting used as a truck.

Yep, just need to be careful and not do stupid stuff and it will stay nice.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Awesome trip! thanks for sharing the story and pics.

It was fun and I wish I could do another one now. Instead I will probably go fishing. Picked up the water pump impeller today and an anchor. Should have the boat running tomorrow night.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Workin'! I like it!

Absofreakinlutely

I'm working on fixing up my diningroom, and getting the boat ready, and need to fix my sons blazer again (something with the MAP sensor is off), and daughters softball twice this week, and oh yeah, working to pay the bills. Might still paint that Jimmy one of these days also.

[TennesseeZ]

I'm on pg 14 of this one. I did not realize how much work you were doing on this one as you were working on the Jimmy, somehow I thought it was basically done and you were having it painted. Had no idea you had 2 projects in this stage at the same time. I'm super impressed!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by TennesseeZ

I'm on pg 14 of this one. I did not realize how much work you were doing on this one as you were working on the Jimmy, somehow I thought it was basically done and you were having it painted. Had no idea you had 2 projects in this stage at the same time. I'm super impressed!

Thanks. I had the Jimmy as a side project when I got tired of staring at this one. This one actually gets done though. Happy ending!

[hgs_notes]

When I closed the garage up for the night and there was just 1 dim bulb shining down I thought it looked cool, so tried to take some pics with different lighting and some minor editing. No update on this, I was sanding the Jimmy

[hgs_notes]

Alright, major update coming. I've been working on this particular thing for a long time and it's finally done. These parts were bought long, long ago in a land far, far away. Well, ok, I got the one thing at a swap meet last year, but anyway, I found the part I bought to complete this project when I was cleaning out the Jimmy and figured I better do it before I forgot again. So here goes... I worked furiously (ok, I got off my ass and just did it) for like 10 minutes to install the new grommet in the valve cover so my new chevy bowtie breather would fit in the hole. And replaced the wingnut on the air cleaner lid with a fancy schmancy one. Why did it take 10 minutes you ask? Well it was dirty so I spent about 8 minutes wiping it off.



On zee engine...


As for other stuff going on, interior materials for everything except the door panels are in hand. The upholstery lady will be getting to it in the next week or 2 (maybe). And hopefully by then or while thats being done I will be spraying color on the Jimmy.

[hgs_notes]

I finally got the last part of my upholstery order delivered. New door panel skins.


Now its just waiting for my turn at the upholstery shop.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice to see you finally got your correct door panel skins!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice to see you finally got your correct door panel skins!

Yes it is. Ordered the materials on 4/19. The only reason I wasn't *****ing too much is that the upholstery lady has been too busy to get to mine anyway. Maybe next week, which is perfect timing for me cause I should be painting the jimmy this week.

I pulled my original door panels out of the garage attic and tore off the covers. I need to sandblast and primer them. Maybe I'll have the upholstery lady teach me how to do the door panel covers myself, so I can get a little credit for hands on with the interior. Diehard DIYer.

[Low Elco]

Scrub the hell out of the steel, primer, etc. Lay out where you want your skin to be on the panel and sharpie the back of the upholstery. Get some 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. Spray the steel and the back of your upholstery. Carefully line up your marks and moosh those dudes together. Slice your crank holes and wrap 'em over. Spray the inner edges and wrap them around and slice to fit the corners. Install and enjoy. Easy Peasy.

[Bomp]

Sweet door skins.

[hgs_notes]

I found this at a garage sale today. My wife and daughter just laughed and said it was perfect for me.

[Palf70Step]

[hgs_notes]

Finally got the call from the upholstery lady this morning. So I ran out (seriously) and pulled the seat, arm rests and dash pad out of the truck. Got the visors out of the parts pile and got it all delivered with the new materials. She will get the seat frames off and leave them for me to pick up so I can clean up the welds and paint them black. Spent about half an hour talking about the details and design. She said it was no problem if I wanted to do some things myself and would guide me as needed. Gotta love small towns and how people will take the time to work with you.

Can't wait to get this done. Been waiting a long time.
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[hgs_notes]

I got the new cable for the driver side seat bracket that releases the back when the bottom is folded forward. And I have most of my welds on the brackets cleaned up. Just about ready to spray them. I stopped by to check the seat progress and she was working on the center arm rest part. It's looking good. And the color is a brighter version of the turquoise I had, with a bit of gloss to it and it's gonna brighten up the interior a little I think. Probably won't be done until next week some time.

[Dieselwrencher]

Glad to hear you're getting it done! I'm really anxious to see how it turns out!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Glad to hear you're getting it done! I'm really anxious to see how it turns out!

I stopped and looked through the window again and the driver seat is coming along pretty nice. But I'm not going to post any pics until its installed. So you're just gonna have to wait.

I got the seat mounts painted satin black yesterday. If I get home from work in time today I will drop them off for her to mount the cushions back onto when she's ready.

[hgs_notes]

Sneak peak of my own upholstery work. Gail showed me how to do it and get the corners right. Not bad if I do say so my self.





Driver side of the seat is about done. I don't know if she'll get the other side done before the weekend.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! Sure beats plain old steel huh?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Very nice! Sure beats plain old steel huh?

The Jimmy will have plain steel for the time being, but this truck never has. It was one of those fancy schmancy "Custom Deluxe" models. These door panels are actually the original ones from my truck. I pulled off the 71 style covers, sandblasted and primed them, then recovered them myself. I just wanted some hands on when it came to the upholstery and I wanted to be able to use those original parts. The visors and arm rests are also my originals and being recovered. My new floor mats are also here now (at da-burbs still til I pick them up).

The other day I stuffed pillow fiber fill into the cab corners behind the speakers. I've been told it helps the sound. We'll see if I can notice it. Eventually I will add more power to the sound system.

[nuke1]

i personally like the shirt!!! good choice. and the panels look good also!

[WIDESIDE72]

Beautiful truck! I lobe the color. I have a 70 longhorn thats medium green. It will be a short step soon like the one in the first of this thread that you saw at the body shop. Just curious how you got the collector ring back on the reducer over the o2 bung!

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I'm still thinking about taking my truck on a road trip to St. Louis pretty soon. I took the time off, got the invite from my friends, my son is willing, but I need to do something about the exhaust before I take this for that many hours on the road. I have most of the parts on hand, and should be able to get it done in time. So today I dove in and got started. The truck is up on jack stands, almost as high as the Jimmy now, maybe higher.
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The only thing I had to do to get the existing exhaust out was unbolt the reducer from the header collectors. One of the problems to deal with is that one of my blemished headers I bought for cheap has a crooked collector flange. I took a couple pics, but it's kind of hard to see. The driver side is about 1/4" off straight.



So to fix it I cut and sectioned one of the reducers, then welded it back up.


That put it close enough to matching the other side and will get the exhaust up about 1/2" or more from where it was.

The next thing was to add the oxygen sensor bung into the reducer for the other side. I set it on the reducer where I wanted it, tapped a centering hole, and drilled it out. It took a 7/8" drill bit and when you have a bit that big in a pretty potent 1/2" drill, hold on tight cause that thing is gonna want to take you for a ride.


Before I took the exhaust out I was kinda planning how I wanted to route it compared to where it was. As of now I wanted the crossover section back about 6" from where it is. That gives me a little more room to work around the tranny pan. So I cut a couple sections of tube for that.

BTW, if you dont have a chop saw or something like it and you want something to cut steel nice and easy, I highly recommend a horizontal band saw. I got mine used at an estate auction for about $50 and the blades are cheap. I think harbor freight sells them too.

In this last pic, the top end goes to the header reducers. The bottom end will have tube added to widen it out to outboard the frame rails.


From there I go straight back then up a bit and into the mufflers. Then out of the mufflers and over the axle. I plan on removing the riveted bracket for the bump stop and routing the exhaust pipe right there, then down and out the side behind the tire.

I'm almost out of weld gas, so I need to get some of that soon. And my cheapo tubing expander doesn't quite have the power to stretch this tube, so I will take it to a guy I know that has a better one, so I can get the front tubing onto the header reducers.

Anyone interested in some barely used flowmasters can PM me.

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[WIDESIDE72]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

The next thing was to add the oxygen sensor bung into the reducer for the other side. I set it on the reducer where I wanted it, tapped a centering hole, and drilled it out. It took a 7/8" drill bit and when you have a bit that big in a pretty potent 1/2" drill, hold on tight cause that thing is gonna want to take you for a ride.


Before I took the exhaust out I was kinda planning how I wanted to route it compared to where it was. As of now I wanted the crossover section back about 6" from where it is. That gives me a little more room to work around the tranny pan. So I cut a couple sections of tube for that.


From there I go straight back then up a bit and into the mufflers. Then out of the mufflers and over the axle. I plan on removing the riveted bracket for the bump stop and routing the exhaust pipe right there, then down and out the side behind the tire.

I'm almost out of weld gas, so I need to get some of that soon. And my cheapo tubing expander doesn't quite have the power to stretch this tube, so I will take it to a guy I know that has a better one, so I can get the front tubing onto the header reducers.

Anyone interested in some barely used flowmasters can PM me.

Beautiful truck! I love the color. I have a 70 longhorn thats medium green. It will be a short step soon like the one in the first of this thread that you saw at the body shop. Just curious how you got the collector ring back on over the O2 bung!
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[mcbassin]

Awesome work on the door panels. They turned out great!