Project "April"

[lolife99]

Your truck is SOOO nice!

[mcbassin]

Excellent work on your truck! It looks great.

[Maverick Q]

So I've been toying with the idea of new color for a while. I think I have finally decided on a basic paint scheme. This is a rendering done by my friend Austin. This is how I want to have my truck painted, also these wheels are photoshopped on and they are called "Dub Directa: Chrome" I would go 22"x10" all around.
Thoughts?

[Orangetonicclicc]

I like it. But all that matters is if you like it. I would paint my hood black although. But it don't matter what I would do!

[rwade]

I personally love the color scheme it is now, and wouldn't change anything. I for one couldn't stand that color you have and paint over some many of them and now I like many people would love to have one that color! But like the person before me said "it is your truck".

wade

[knomadd]

The color scheme looks good to me. I agree with the other guys, your opinion is the only one that really matters.

I want to caution you about trying to put 22x10's up front. I have 22x9.5 (5.75" B.S.) with 265/35R22 tires on all 4 corners and it works okay. But the fender needs to be barely below the tread, or higher at ride height to keep if from rubbing (roughly 29" from the ground). If you have custom inner fenders like slosh tubz, then it's probably not an issue. Also, with my setup, when I turn at full lock the back side of the tires and/or rims will rub on the suspension. The extra 0.5" you'd be running would make contact that much sooner.

I'm no expert, and I haven't tried it myself, so take it for what it's worth. I think you'll likely need to do a lot of mods to get the 10" wide fronts to work.

It's a cool idea though.

[Maverick Q]

Finally broke down and bought some new wheels! These are Dub Directa's, I went with 20"x8.5" up front and 22"x10" in the rear and I couldn't be more happy with the result. They look so good, I love the vibes of a classic truck with modern rims It also feels good that I was able to work and earn the money, and buy them all by myself. It may not be the nicest C10 out there, but I sure am proud of it!

[C10_ustacould]

You have a sweet truck young brother, it IS one of the coolest truck on the board! Now just keep post up pics from the exploits.

[knomadd]

You should be proud of it. April looks really good! And like Buck said, keep posting pics. We all love to see pics.

[Fw190d9]

Well, beloved April bit the bullet late 2015. She had a disagreement with a 10' diameter pecan tree in our driveway. Needless to say poor Maverick was crushed. He hit the tree in reverse right on the frame rail which bent the left rail into an A, pushing the bed into the cab. Insurance took one look and said the dreaded words, "Totalled"

I got him a cheap tacoma to drive to college and bought the remains from the insurance company. Everything from the rear cab wall forward was fine so I started the rebuild in 2017. I ordered a new Roadstershop Fast track chassis with coilovers and the brackets to weld onto the existing 12bolt rear. The chassis was sent to powdercoat and Maverick came home from his sophomore year to assemble the new front suspension.

It was at this point I went super secret and planned a full rebuild while he was away at college and unaware. Every time he asked about April, I would just shake my head and say Sorry Son, aint got time to work on it. So as far as he knew, the remains and the new frame were just sitting in the shop collecting dust. The plan was to rebuild it from the ashes and present it as a College Graduation present. The Kid graduated with Honors and I was pretty proud of him.

The big reveal happened this past thanksgiving and the Kid was blown away, He had no idea that I was rebuilding it for him.

So I will continue this thread to the second completion of the truck named "April". I will post pics I kept of the build a few at a time.

Proud Dad,
Evan Q.

[Fw190d9]

Damage photos

[Fw190d9]

New frame being assembled

[Fw190d9]

So from here on out, the Kid had no idea that I was doing the rebuild. Starting to work on the stripped down cab's rear wall. I found a cheap cab that wasnt too rusty on craigslist to cut the repair panel out of. Cleaned it up and TIG welded it in.

[Low Elco]

Wow!

[Fw190d9]

More rebuild pics

The back wall of the cab was smoothed and straightened. There was interior damage as well to the steel panel that goes around the inside of the window and behind the seat. The old parts cab gave up this panel as well.

[Fw190d9]

The doors were in pretty good shape so were stripped down to bare steel, epoxy coated and block sanded till super smooth and straight. I also added the new Trique door latches

[Fw190d9]

Doors in the booth getting stripes and clear. Paint is PPG epoxy, K38 primer, PPG base, 2020 clear

[Fw190d9]

The cab was given multiple coats of K38 and block sanded many times to get it smooth.

[Fw190d9]

A good quality sealer was sprayed before the color coats.

[Fw190d9]

Sealer on before color

[Fw190d9]

White on the roof and stripes on the sides. The clear laid down especially well on the cab. very little peel and not much buffing needed.

[TA_C10]

Subbed.

[MDPotter]

I'm sure you were both heartbroken to see it totaled. But awesome of you to rebuild it as a surprise! Can't wait to see it in its new form.

[tinydb84]

That is awesome. If my dad rebuilt my truck like that I think Id have to go to med school as a thank you!

[Fw190d9]

Thanks Guys, I must admit I had a bit o fun rebuilding her. Im not a big fan of vent windows so went with the Brother's one piece power window conversion. Spent alot of time getting this cab wall right so the doors would close properly.