Charlotte - A Stock 1970 K10 Build

[Love 70 Chevys]

Bench bled the cylinder and then installed in the truck. Left the new stainless steel brake lines not hooked up and temporarily plugged the master with some wood screws until I could get the rest of the new brake lines installed.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Before and after. I'm glad I take pictures. Sometimes when I get done with something, I forget how crummy it looked before I started! The kit also included new brass fittings and check valves. Everything is brand new.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Installed new brake lines (front only for now) although I bought the whole new set from LMC. All the lines fit very well and all the fittings were the right threads. Installed new flex lines to the front wheels and installed new brake cylinders. The brake line set did not come with unions. There is a three way tee with a banjo bolt that goes to the front left wheel. No longer available anywhere, but I was able to clean up and reuse the existing. All others are common and can be found at any auto parts store. Have the "crummy" picture, but forgot to take one after it was all cleaned up. It still worked fine.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Bought all new drum brake parts and rebuild kit from LMC. Could not find any pictures on this site or anywhere (including 1970 service manual) of how the drum brake parts went together on the front wheels of a 1970 K10. Since my front end was all apart when I bought the truck, I had no existing parts to learn from. Some experienced friends of mine came to my house on a Saturday morning and we figured it out. Took some pictures when done, in the hope they may save someone some time someday who has to do the same thing!

[Love 70 Chevys]

Next posts will be of the carb linkage parts and solenoids that I have cleaned up and painted. Next big step is to make her run and drive around the neighborhood a little now that she steers and stops! It has been many many years since she moved under her own power. Carb has been rebuilt, and I know the motor is not locked up. Have a temp gas tank and a new radiator. Will put in new plugs, plug wires, points and a coil. As soon as I have news and pictures from this next little adventure I will share them!

[72 tigger]

Nice work- looking forward to your first drive

[Love 70 Chevys]

Installed carb and cleaned-up/repainted solenoids. All the steel vacuum lines were still good and present. I am very lucky.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Before and after of gas pedal linkage. Truck has the cool throttle control knob option on the dash. There is a cable that is secured to this linkage and the control can be used to tweak up the idle speed a little, or control speed of the truck when it is in granny gear. I have not connected it yet, and you can see it dangling in the second picture.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Restored original alternator and power steering pump reinstalled.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Installed radiator core support with fresh rubber mounts and a new aluminum radiator with new mounting brackets. (One of my non-stock concessions, but I got a deal I could not refuse on it and it does look pretty sweet!)

[Love 70 Chevys]

Since my goal is to make Charlotte drive-able enough to take a few illegal laps around the neighborhood and then take the motor out, I rigged up a temporary gas tank. Although the tank in the cab still looks really good externally, it is full of nasty stuff that used to be gas a long time ago. A friend of mine gave me a really nice plastic tank from some farm equipment that has an internal siphon tube and and an external line that mated right up to the fuel pump.

[Love 70 Chevys]

When I take a few laps around the cul-de-sac, I don't want the radiator flopping around, so I mounted some temporary supports to the cab. My rat rod friends in my car club like the old school hot rod look, but this is only TEMPORARY! This old girl deserves to go back to her factory-like days.

[Love 70 Chevys]

When I rebuilt the front axle, I never took the time to restore the plastic dials. I hate leaving anything not 100% done before I move on to the next thing, so it has been bugging me. Was a fun little couple hour project to make them look like new again! The ones I picked up in Canada were better than the ones that were on the truck. It looked like they might have been tough to turn at some point and someone used channel locks on them and tore them up. My white wheels still look pretty crummy, but the day has yet to come when I work on them.

[zicc1835]

Lookin good

[Love 70 Chevys]

The air cleaner was a lot of work, but was very satisfying. Hours and hours of wire wheel work to get the old paint off and then I soaked it in Evaporust as there was lots of rust in the nooks and crannies. Did some bondo work on most of the little dings and dents, then primered and painted. In another departure from "pure stock" I put a 250 Turbo Thrift decal on it that only came on Novas, Chevelles, Camaros and El Caminos, but I like the look. Even though the cleaner was a wreck when I started, everything was 100 per cent there and sometimes I pinch myself as to how lucky I am to have so many things that are old, but not butchered! I even have all the original clamps and hoses and was able to make them look decent again.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Installed it on the carb. Covers up my pretty carb, but that's the way it goes! She looks more like a real truck every day. Wish I had more time to work on her, but I plug away.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Bought some new gas-adjust shocks and installed them. So easy to do when the front clip is off! Wish every job was so quick and pain free! Just a little jacking and wrenching and they were in. All these little jobs keep adding up.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Time for some ignition work. Amazing how inexpensive it is to tune up these trucks. Put in new points, condenser, rotor, distributor cap, plug wires, spark plugs, vacuum advance, plug wires and coil. Wish I had taken more pictures, but I was having so much fun, I didn't stop to do so very often!

[Love 70 Chevys]

Unfortunately, winter has set in here in Upstate NY and it will probably slow me down a bit. Need to get some fan belts installed. (Seems simple, but will be on my third set ordered as I can't quite seem to get the lengths right!) Also have a brand new fuel pump sitting on my bench that needs to be installed. Should be able to get her running as soon as the spring thaw comes. Can't wait. Am now moving into "warm basement" projects for the winter. I have the instrument cluster out and am looking forward to restoring it where I can sit down and take my time with some good lighting. Also am going to take the steering column out and restore/repaint and rewire it. The steering wheel is shot (cracked like they all do) and I am going to take one more non-stock departure there. I like the stock look, but smaller diameter one available from Brothers. Charlotte has power steering and I am 6' 2" which forces my left leg to be in an awkward position to miss the wheel and depress the clutch, so for me smaller will be better. Have to admit, I love the look of the big wheel though. Will post pictures of these two mini projects as they get completed! For now...Go Bills! (It has been a very, very long time since the Jim Kelly days.)

[68bowtie]

I really appreciate your attention to detail, and also taking the time to picture and post about it. I also think it's pretty neat you're rebuilding parts instead of replacing them. I didn't know you could even do some of the things you've done. Keep up the good work.

I'm subscribed to your thread and will be watching for future posts even if it takes a while.

[53 292]

Sub’d for updates! One of my favorite trucks on the board for sure.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Thank you for the encouragement 68bowtie and 53 292. You guys have put together some very nice trucks! A great aspect of this hobby is the fantastic people you meet on line and in person. Just met a really nice guy today here in Orlando, FL. Our kids live here now, and whenever I visit, I like to scout out parts that have not seen road salt. If you are ever in the area, key in "67-72 Sanford" into Clist or Fbook marketplace and you will find him. He has lots of parts trucks and had two things I need that are totally impossible to find where I live. My wife scratches her head, but this steering column support bracket and leaf spring hanger are total treasures to me!!! Taking the bracket in my suitcase, and he will have the rear leaf spring hangers off for me when I come back in the spring.

[53 292]

Any updates on the truck?

[IronCanine]

Late to the party. Bad miss on my part. Love the truck. Love the plan. Love me some 70s too. Keep the pics coming.

[Ptjsk]

Incredible build! Congratulations on this truck!