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

[Palf70Step]

Looks close to the same wheel I may be using. I don't think mine has the Chevy horn button. I got mine willed to me from Gman69 when he got a Corvette style wood wheel.

[hgs_notes]

I've had this one picked out for a few years, just been waiting for the right time and money to buy it. I was going to order it today, but then thought about how much farther I have to go on this and all that sanding, overspray, etc. it will be exposed to and decided to wait.

You can get a bunch of different horn buttons for it.

Looks like I still have some time today so I guess I can finish cleaning/polishing the headers and get them in yet.

[alexxwing]

looks like that trucks coming together great

[hgs_notes]

Two new things today, one truck related, one not. I'll start with the not.

I got a new bike:


Pretty tame I know, but significant none the less. I'm turning 42 this saturday and this is my gift. You see, this is the first new bike I have had since I was about 3 and got a trike. I still remember it. It was green. Some kids took it and broke off the handlebars. I was devastated. Every bike I have had since then was used. I don't think it really bothered me much except when my cousins came over when I was about 10 or 11 and they both had brand new huffy BMX bikes. Maybe you remember those black ones with the cool short oval shaped seat. Other than that time, I was always satisfied with my rebuilt bikes. All of them except the first 20" bike I did myself. Dad did the first one for me. It was cool. A schwinn with a mag tire and a huge front sprocket. That thing could fly. I mean that literally. I ended up with many scraped knees and digging dirt out of my palms.

Oh those sweet memories. May we never loose them.

I really like this one. Aluminum frame, comfortable seat, dual suspension, 7 speeds, rides smooth. $99 at walmart site to store.

Sorry about that. Anywho, got the new gas tank straps today and installed them. They are heavier than what I had. Both ends have nuts on threaded studs, so adjustable. I made a little step off piece for the driver side, so the strap installs more in line with the passenger side (remember that cross brace has an angle to it). I think it needs more adjustment. I might have to make some spacers to get it up high enough to snug it up to the bed. I have to remember to do the front ones first, because there will be no way to tighten those once the bed is on.

Hmm, just realized you can't see how I did that in the pic. The felt is in the way.

[hgs_notes]

I am seriously back to considering painting this thing myself. I'm going to tackle some body work and spray the primer. If that fails, then pay someone to do it. If I succeed, who knows, a new profession...j/k. I'm going to start with some training DVD's. I've read plenty over the years. I need to see it happening. Wish me luck.

[nuke1]

painting is not that bad, i did my first paint job however many years ago and that is what i do as a profession now, but the best thing to do is to take your time and go slow. it all works out in the end.

[hgs_notes]

It's not really the spraying that bothers me. I plan on buying a decent gun. Like a devilbis finish line or the new eastwood concours.

What I'm apprehensive about is the prep work. The big question is "will it be smooth flat and straight?" If I can do that, I'll be happy. I've seen good paint put on bad bodies...Ick, I don't want that.

I'll have questions, no doubt, but I'll go to the paint and body board for help on these issues.

[Palf70Step]

Good luck for a quick healing. Yeah, we always seem to get hooked up with something that slows our truck progress down.

[tdave00]

Any info on your "adjustable track bar"? Did you just cut the factory one in two and thread it on each side? Got a part number or place where you bought the thing that joins them together?

Pretty good idea btw. After seeing what you did I am thinking of cutting the rivets out of the frame mount and adding a spacer so it drops down more and use your idea on the track bar.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by tdave00

Any info on your "adjustable track bar"? Did you just cut the factory one in two and thread it on each side? Got a part number or place where you bought the thing that joins them together?

Pretty good idea btw. After seeing what you did I am thinking of cutting the rivets out of the frame mount and adding a spacer so it drops down more and use your idea on the track bar.

There is more info on it here:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=347169

I took about 2" out of the bar. Had it threaded about 3" on each end. I bought the part through summitracing.com and they come in packs of 2. You can by the OEM style as singles and it should work just fine. The tie rod adjusters for our trucks will work, they are a fairly common size for many cars. When I didn't see my truck as an application for the edelbrock adjuster, I looked up the vehicles that the cheapest set did fit, then went to the napa site and looked up the OEM style part for that vehicle and found the specs there were the same diameter and thread count, just a fraction of an inch different in length.

[hgs_notes]

A pic of my itty bit of progress

[hgs_notes]

Kind of sad seeing that my last update was mid-July. I was really making some great progress for a while to that point. Then I tore a biceps tendon and the next several months were a mess. I tore the muscle loading a heater for my garage into my car. I spent some time this fall finishing the insulating in the garage, and getting my heater installed. That was delayed almost 2 months waiting for a LP conversion kit from the mfr, then another week for the contractor to install it. I finally got the heater in and running just before Christmas. Then I was further distracted when I had to go pick up another parts blazer, which is sitting in my neighbors driveway. I needed to get a larger LP tank to really run it, and I finally got that yesterday. I let it run overnight at the lowest setting the thermostat will go, then turned it up this morning, got my work reports completed and headed out to my cozy garage. I've lived most of my life in MN and this is the first time I had a heated garage.

Anyway, the garage was kind of a mess, so some time was spent straightening things out and making room to work. Then I went to the parts store to get some supplies. My wife got me a nice set of sanding blocks for Christmas, but no paper. I needed some filler. I tried the stuff that is a non-mix, sun activated from bondo, but didn't like it. So I picked up some regular stuff and got to work. The first problem was I didn't mix enough hardener in it, so I scraped it off and tried again. The second try went alright. I sanded it down and needed to do a little more. I put another coat on and sanded it down with the 36 grit and I think I did ok. I would have tried spraying some primer, but didn't buy any yet.

I got a set of spray guns this summer and haven't tried them yet. One for primer, one for paint and a detail gun. I'm not even sure which primer to start with to tell the truth. Since the cab has some paint and primer on it, would I use an etching primer, an epoxy primer, or some kind of hybrid. Any tips are appreciated.

I'll post a pic later. I plan on working on this as much as I can this winter, with the hope that I can afford paint this summer and finally get it back together. I've already been set back half a year.

[hgs_notes]

Started up the heater when I got home from work and laid some putty on the driver side rear of the cab. I was going to get the cab corner on the other day when I was working on it, but didn't have enough panel adhesive for the job. I'll be getting that in the morning. I want to get the cab corner on and the patch for the gas filler. I should be able to get the rough in work done on the back side of the cab and get it ready for primer over the weekend. Not sure what I'll do next though. Either work on the firewall, or start sanding the inside of the cab to prep it for primer.

It's about -15F outside right now. I shut off the heater at 7:00 and it was about 55F, now its at 35F. So a 20F drop in 4 hours under the worst of conditions. I'm good with that. I love my heater.

Pics:
This is the garage kind of cleaned up, a bit.


Passenger side, looks ok, took me about 4 times to get it "roughed" in.


First coat on driver side, my skills are improving.

[wancosc356]

Subscribed! Keep that heater blasting and get that thing on the road!

[hgs_notes]

Not quite ready for primer, but getting there. I could really spray it and do all the body work after, but I feel more comfortable going this way. Anyway, I got my gas filler patch in and the cab corner on. The adhesive is taking a while to cure, so I decided to call it a day. I did some more shop clean up, trying to make it as easy as possible to set up for spraying. I got a couple rolls of plastic sheet to contain the overspray. I also bought my epoxy primer and mixers today, hoping to use it. The local Napa is the supplier, been working with these guys for years. They gave me about a 40% discount and all the extras I'll need to get started. Maybe next weekend I'll give it a shot. Won't be able to do much this week because of work, but who knows, I might get lucky.

[hgs_notes]

Started doing more work yesterday and got the back of the cab pretty much roughed in for body work. The filler patch and cab corner are in with a layer of filler to smooth things out a bit. I started sanding or scuffing hte inside of the cab getting it ready for primer also. Don't think I'll do it this weekend, but it's coming along. It's nice that the weather is warmer than usual, the garage heats faster and uses less gas.

Pics:

[nuke1]

Hey bud, how is it going, so far, i know all about the torn muscles, been there myself, i am gonna try to help you some with that mud work of yourself. give me a bit ok. Are you alright with criticism. I just wanna help. ok.

[nuke1]

OK, first off i want to say this to you, you are doing a great job so far. What you have done so far is the perfect ground coat. You now know where your high spots are and your low spots are. You can not tap down your high spots with your body hammer slightly ( in RED) and add another coat of fiilling over top of the whole thing. the blue is in the green and that green patch is a near perfect featheredge of the filler. now get out to that shop and finish that filler. And i will start to get my work done also. Make sure you do not see any jsharp edges in the filler, this will cause you to have shadows in the paint. I hope you did not take this in a bad way, I just want to help you out. From one truck guy to another, good luck and struggle on, i still do!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by nuke1

the blue is in the green and that green patch is a near perfect featheredge of the filler.

Thanks for the tip, and all comments regarding my work, good or bad, are appreciated. I've been hoping for some feedback here. I did not quite understand the statement above. Does that mean the blue areas you marked look ok or not.

I was thinking about spraying primer and then finishing the filler on top of that, is that wrong? I can learn patience, especially if there is someone saying, hold on there fella, do this first.

I planned to mix up more filler and cover all the previous work, but was wondering if I should use a different kind of filler, something that is a thinner mix that would go on thinner.

[nuke1]

Hey bud, glad you did not take it the wrong way, thank you. ok, as for the blue areas in the pic, that is where the mud is llow, you need to apply the complete area with mud once again, and not just spots, it is easier to apply to the entire are and then sand it off. Tap down your high spots that are there, red arrows, but not too much, by the looks of it maybe a 1/32nd to a 1/16th". this will be fine, once that is done cove the whole area and start sanding. you see where the green area is, that is near perfectly feathered out, you will want all of the edges of the mud to look like this, if you apply primer yet, you are just wasting money, as it will all get sanded off and then you have to start again, never, i repeat never rely on primer to get rid of your mistakes, it will remove imperfections but not craters. It is meant to cover 180 grit sand scratches and that is it. You are in a cold climate, your truck shrinks and stretches with the weather resulting in shrinkage and expansion of the mud, you need to get it as close as possible and then prime. We can not get away with what the guys in cali can do, where they have nice weather all the time. Start sanding with 40, just knock off the roughness of the mud , then 80, and 120 and finish with 180 grit, this will make you a sore and tired and grumpy man, but patience will pervail in the end to a nice looking truck. I will be here for you along the way do not worry. if you need the help. later. I have a wedding to go to and the wife is gettin all dolled up in front of me, i will answerr more tomorw

[hgs_notes]

Thanks for the tips Nuke. Once I take the next steps as you explained, I'll post the pics and we'll see if if got better. I'm already done sanding for the next couple days at least. My shoulders and arms are not in shape yet, but getting there.

[hgs_notes]

OK Nuke1 or anyone else that actually knows what they are doing, am I doing better? This is just sanded down with 36 grit. I haven't gone to the lighter stuff yet. My shoulders and back are a bit stiff tonight.

[lyrikz]

Yes, that looks REALLY good. See that one area were the metal is coming through a TINY bit. That would be a bit of a high spot, but without being there i couldnt tell you if you would want to touch that. If your at 36 grit now, by the time you got to 180 you may need to...

Looks really good.

[p_rubottom]

I agree its looking great. Just make sure you feather all the edges out and use a block, its easy once you get the hang of what to feel for. Also make sure to clean up your egdes, like the rocker seam and door jamb lip. Thats the little stuff that pops out after your prime! Keep up the good work!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by p_rubottom

I agree its looking great. Just make sure you feather all the edges out and use a block, its easy once you get the hang of what to feel for. Also make sure to clean up your egdes, like the rocker seam and door jamb lip. Thats the little stuff that pops out after your prime! Keep up the good work!

I hear ya. The wife bought me a nice set of blocks for xmas I'm using. There never seems to be end to the details that need just a little more toughing up.