"Midnight Rider" 1970 C10 SWB Fleetside

[omodified]

Did some organizing at home tonight. This is what 11 years of receipts looks like. I'm still not ready to know how much $$$ is here.

[omodified]

Got the side trim taped on and outlined today. Will need to come back tomorrow and make swiss cheese.

[hewittca]

Lookin' great buddy! Your thread should be the go-to guide for resto-modding a C10. Immaculate work. You'd probably have a heart attack if you saw how I organized my bolts!

Did you end up doing the top trim straight, or arced like factory?

[omodified]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Lookin' great buddy! Your thread should be the go-to guide for resto-modding a C10. Immaculate work. You'd probably have a heart attack if you saw how I organized my bolts!

Did you end up doing the top trim straight, or arced like factory?

Hey Dr. Hewitt. Thanks for the compliments. I ended going straight on the upper trim. I can’t remember what the measurement ended up being but I had equal spacing front to rear between the upper and lower trim within a 1/16”. The driver side spacing ended up being within 1/8” of the passenger side, so I was pretty happy with that. We used string to check for straightness on each side, front to back.

[omodified]

Still working on trying to clear out as many boxes as possible from the corner of the shop. Let's work on the top of the engine.

This outing, I will install the valley pan cover plate. For this, I went with a Holley 241-369. I like this one for two reasons. One, it deletes the factory knock sensors, which I won't be needing for my setup. Second, it adds an oil filler cap. This eliminates the need for me to remove a valve cover when I need to fill the engine with oil. Before, I can install though, I have a few sensors to add. That would be the camshaft position sensor and the oil pressure sensor. The camshaft sensor is held in place by a small bolt. I torqued that bolt to GM spec of 18 lb/ft. The oil pressure sensor takes a special socket to tighten it down. This sensor gets torqued to GM spec of 26 lb/ft. Once I removed the engine lift plate (nice to see this thing gone after so long), I cleaned the mounting surface on the block and the plate with acetone. Using a new GM valley cover gasket and ARP bolts, I installed the new cover plate and torqued the bolts in two steps, with a criss-cross pattern to 18 lb/ft.

[omodified]

Next up was suppose to be installing the steam port kit. Originally, I bought an Earl's LS0036ERL kit. This is a nice stainless hardline kit. However, when I mocked it up, the front lines interfered with the oil fill cap on the valley cover. So, it looks like I need flexible lines. I ordered a kit that should work, just have to swap some parts. Follow up to come later...

[omodified]

More finishing touches going on with the body work. Along with just general smoothing, this is the also time to just keep looking at it from every angle to make sure nothing has been missed. During the last inspection, I found a high spot on the passenger side roof that didn't match the driver side. Also found an area inside the gap between the driver side front fender and the cowl panel. The fender had some extra metal on it that could easily be seen and it didn't match the passenger side. All of these items have been addressed and all the extra holes have been filled..

[rodstored-72]

....This is what 11 years of receipts looks like. I'm still not ready to know how much $$$ is here. that is too funny!.. I am sure that all of us here are with you on that! I am at the point where i just "kinda round up" & hope it is still within reason...

[RCbowtie69]

Just look at your build, Keep up the pics & Keep on Truckin''

[omodified]

The body is starting to be taken apart. Last bit of massaging before finish primer. Also, holes were drilled in the bed wood for the mounting bolts. Still need to open the tops of the holes a little more later, since the mounting bolts are the carriage type.


























Decided not to drill the hole in this location on both sides. I believe this hole is a provision for a spare tire carrier.

[mr.mud1]

this is going to be a very nice truck,love the detail work.i would have to check to see if it's same spot in my truck but i have the same undrilled hole in my original wood floor but a hole in the bedside lower inside flange.great work.

[omodified]

Originally Posted by mr.mud1

this is going to be a very nice truck,love the detail work.i would have to check to see if it's same spot in my truck but i have the same undrilled hole in my original wood floor but a hole in the bedside lower inside flange.great work.

Thanks Mr.Mud. It definitely has taken a course I never imagined. Keep checking back for more updates.

[omodified]

A few more things have been taken apart. Stuff is getting taped off for the first coat of finish primer.

[lolife99]

Looks great!

[omodified]

I have another project going on as of last night. I'm working way ahead of myself here, but I have learned to act now on these trucks before the price goes up 200% tomorrow. I've had this idea in my head of how I wanted to redo my bench seat. Bolsters, with cup holders but in factory scroll. The problem is, I can't find anybody willing to do it. This was my option after I decided I didn't want to expense for buckets and I wanted a third seat for a grandkid. Well, now I have two grandkids so I started thinking buckets again. Well, I just about got scammed on Facebook the other night. Good thing I'm not too old to know when something seems too good to be true. This deal here though was just good enough to seem legit. The guy was diligent and really good at what he does. (By the way, do not buy factory bucket seats from Frank's Pontiac Parts and Auto Dismantling. The real Frank is a great guy, but he does not sell Chevy truck parts. anything else is a scam!) Last night, I started to buy a set of buckets from the board here. I was going to have to ship them from California, and then restore them and the console once they got here. Before I pulled the trigger on those, just by chance, I found someone here in North Carolina that restores them. Now, I will have a show quality set in my hands in two weeks for cheaper than I could have shipped and restored some myself. Here is the start. More to come...

[omodified]

Doors and fenders have another coat of primer. Hood and tailgate is getting some more sanding. Still working on the body lines at the rear of the cab. Drip rail has a nice shape now.

[omodified]

Working on the bed sides now. Also added some color to the back of the cab and the drip rails so we can see what we're working with.

[omodified]

More work being down everywhere on the cab. Body lines are really close to being finished. More smoothing was done in the door jambs. Drip rail areas are finished.





















Doors, hood, fenders, tailgate, splash shields, transmission cover and rear wheel housings are all caught up to the same phase. This primer coat will sit for a few weeks to allow time to shrink. Looking straight and smooth.

















The bed is receiving more focus now. Need to get the bed (and cab) caught up with the rest of the parts. Everything has been sanded with 120 grit. Did some trimming at the back where the bed wood tucks under the bedsides. It was a bit tight when everything was assembled. Now there is enough room for the wood to go back in safely, allowing extra space for finish build on the bed wood. More work done where the rear brace was welded in place.

[lolife99]

Beautiful job on the door panels.

[Danyo492]

Awesome job! Your attention to detail on this build is killer! Definitely going to be stealing some of your ideas for my build.

[omodified]

Inside of hood and fenders are being worked on now. They won't need much attention before they are ready to go. Found a spot at the back of the stake pockets that didn't match the other side. Needed to add some metal to one side. I located the cab divider trim that I plan to use. I have an NOS LH piece, but the RH side is impossible to find. Good thing I have an original was in perfect shape. They will both need to be polished later. Used them to check fit on the cab. Found a low spot on the right side of the cab. Trying to work out that area now.

[omodified]

The seats and console are close to being finished now. All metal was dipped in acid bath first. Then etched with epoxy primer. Then coated with satin black. New skirts were cut and formed and plug welded to match the look of originals. New seats springs installed. The console was stripped and repainted with SEM black. It also received a billet aluminum cupholder from K5Blazer_Guy . The trim ring and blue bow tie are restored originals. Everything should be finished in a few days.

[omodified]

Trying to make some more space in my shop. Now is a good time to install some of the fuel system. I mapped everything out a while back and I've been sitting on all these parts for some time. Sorry for the chicken scratch.




I started out by installing fittings #1 and #2 into the fuel tank. These are both NPT threads so I needed to use pipe sealant. I decided to use swivel fittings for the entire system to keep things from binding up. I installed the fittings hand tight and then tightened them two to three turns with an adjustable AN wrench.








Next, I had to decide where I wanted to mount the fuel pump. It is recommended to keep the pump close to the tank and lower than the bottom of the tank. Well, the tank is the lowest point at the back on the truck, so I just needed to find something close, low and away from heat and moving parts. Before I could mount the pump, I had to prepare the pre-filter. For this, I used a 100 micron filter. I installed the mounting brackets onto the filter and installed the #3 and #4 fittings.










To connect the fuel tank to the pre-filter, I used black nylon braided hose. I decided on how I wanted to route the hose and measured for how much hose I needed. I was sure to add 2% extra hose to allow for expansion under pressure. I used an angle grinder to carefully cut the hose square. I trimmed the frayed nylon on the ends and blew the hose out with compressed air. Using assembly lube and AN wrenches, I installed -8AN hose to the fittings on the tank and pre-filter. I protected the hose with 3/4 ID silicone flame guard. To finish it off, I used shrink tubing to seal off the ends.












Next I had to mate the fuel pump with the pre-filter. Before I could do that, I had to install fitting #5 and #6 into the pump. These two fittings are both o-ring port fittings so I had to use assembly lube and be super careful not to overtighten. With the fittings in place, I connected the pump to the pre-filter.
Next, I drilled the mounting holes in the frame and touched up the bare metal with Chassis Black. Then I mounted the assembly to the frame with stainless bolts and locknuts.






Last, I ran -6AN hose to a 10 micron post-filter. Since the cab isn't on, I don't know how much more hose I will need from here, so this will be a good stopping point.

[omodified]

The fenders and the doors are just about finished. From here they will receive one more coat of primer. Then they will get wet sanded and be ready for color.






The underside of the hood is in primer now and the front bed panel is getting some work too. The tailgate was reinstalled this week to check for clearance and gaps. This was necessary in the stake pocket area where the metal was fixed. That area is looking much better now. The bedsides are getting sanded.












The back of the cab is back in primer. For the inside of the cab, I got some new parts in. Since I decided to use bucket seats, I thought something was gonna have to be done with the original fuel tank area. I found these precut rear wall panels from Vannatta Fabrication. Planning to weld in some weldnut tabs along the side and bottom of this thing so it mounts tight and doesn't rattle. I think with everything painted black, this will be a subtle but nice way to finish off this area.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

really looking good....