'65 Chevy C10 Long Fleet Retrospective Build Thread

[blazer-k5]

WOW.....I think you might have shown up the factory with this build. If it came that nice off the line i wouldnt believe it. Great job man my mouth was just dropped open.

[joesscamaro]

As everybody already said, this truck is beautiful! I just read through for the first time and enjoyed seeing the work you did and the attention to the details. I do have a question for you. I noticed on your second set of pictures on page 1, you primed inside the cab support before welding in the new floor pans. What did you do to prep inside the supports? Rust converter then prime? What was your process?

[Dubnova]

BUMP for guys that have not read this thread! This build sets the bar way up HIGH!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by J.Cagle

One of these days Ill build a truck to this quality. I work in a body shop and we restore cars as well as do over-alls and insurance work. The know how and skill isnt the problem. Its the massive cost involved haha!

Yeah it's crazy what it cost just in parts and materials, not counting the cost of the truck itself!!

Originally Posted by malo66

That is truly amazing work. Great job! Congrats!

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by Delmo

I'm spechless. Amazing skills. love the mirror treatment.

Appreciate it Delmo!! I'm a huge fan of your work!!

Originally Posted by Bigru

Love the attention to detail in a resto project, awesome job. BTW I'm interested in getting a kick panel tag.

Thanks!! I'm not making tags anymore, not enough hours in the day.

Originally Posted by blazer-k5

WOW.....I think you might have shown up the factory with this build. If it came that nice off the line i wouldnt believe it. Great job man my mouth was just dropped open.

Thanks!! Yeah they never were this nice when new, they were just work trucks back then. Definitely nothing like new trucks today!!

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

As everybody already said, this truck is beautiful! I just read through for the first time and enjoyed seeing the work you did and the attention to the details. I do have a question for you. I noticed on your second set of pictures on page 1, you primed inside the cab support before welding in the new floor pans. What did you do to prep inside the supports? Rust converter then prime? What was your process?

Appreciate it!! I blast the inner channels first, then use epoxy or Chassis Saver to seal up the channel before it's closed up.

Originally Posted by Dubnova

BUMP for guys that have not read this thread! This build sets the bar way up HIGH!

Thanks for the bump!

[theastronaut]

Took the C10 and the F100 we just finished out to a local Father's Day show today. Wished we could have had the '55 International finished in time but it just didn't work out.

I checked the odometer and the owner's have put about 800 miles on the truck since it left the shop so they're definitely not afraid to drive it!

[markeb01]

Wow that F100 is beautiful too!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Wow that F100 is beautiful too!

Just finished it last night!! I posted a build thread in the "alternate Tinkerings section" for it. Hate to say it, but it's nicer and more detailed than the '65. I still like the C10 better though!!!

[1963c-10]

Nice trucks....be cool to see the International also. Saw an old John Deere flat bed truck the other day, but no phone so couldn't take any pics.

[Chapstr's65]

That is some serious attention to detail. How can I get a hold of one of those body tags

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Chapstr's65

That is some serious attention to detail. How can I get a hold of one of those body tags

I don't have any more of them but there were some in the classified section recently.

[mjs94080]

Great Restoration!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by mjs94080

Great Restoration!

Thanks!!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Wow, simply un-freaking believeable.

I read your thread in the F100 and was blown away by it. I'd never seen this thread before tonight. HUGE kudos to a master craftsman, and artist in metal.

[1962 Panel]

WOW! I wish I had the money to hire you to do that to my truck!!! You're not into volunteer work are you?

[theastronaut]

Took it to the local Father's Day show again. Doesn't seem like it's been finished for a little over five years now.

[duallyjams]

still looks amazing

[Bomp]

5 yr old restoration and still looks better than when it rolled of the line.

Great looking truck.

[GMDad]

Truly amazing restoration. Just found it tonight and read thru it. We did our 65 back in 2000 and then at Christmas time we pulled it apart to freshen it up. Identical color (except for a white roof) and I am using a 292 six cylinder. Has to be a dozen pictures that look like they were taken of my truck as we did the frame and skirts same as you did and under the hood and rad support but just not the detail you have done. Have it bookmarked for reference. Any new projects on the go?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

still looks amazing

Originally Posted by Bomp

5 yr old restoration and still looks better than when it rolled of the line.

Great looking truck.

Thanks dudes!

Originally Posted by GMDad

Truly amazing restoration. Just found it tonight and read thru it. We did our 65 back in 2000 and then at Christmas time we pulled it apart to freshen it up. Identical color (except for a white roof) and I am using a 292 six cylinder. Has to be a dozen pictures that look like they were taken of my truck as we did the frame and skirts same as you did and under the hood and rad support but just not the detail you have done. Have it bookmarked for reference. Any new projects on the go?

Thanks for commenting! I'm currently throwing together my '63 VW convertible, then I'll start back on my '66 C10.

[GMDad]

Not sure if I missed it but what do you put on your bare steel brake lines so they stay looking good?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by GMDad

Not sure if I missed it but what do you put on your bare steel brake lines so they stay looking good?

We almost always use stainless hard lines for brakes, but we have used zinc plated steel lines for fuel lines and haven't had problems with them rusting.

[theastronaut]

If you've been keeping up with my current F100 build in the off topic section you might've noticed that the '65 is back in the shop. The truck was passed down to family member a few years ago who has decided to sell it. They brought it back to let us check it over, detail it, and handle listing it for them. It has been accepted to be listed on Bring A Trailer and will be up for auction soon.





The first thing that needed addressing was new tires. The set on it were 16 years old and had deep cracks.




I picked out a set of Power King 7.00-15 tires, highway tread for the front and high traction tread for the rear to copy the look the truck had when the truck was being driven by the grandfather that bought it back in '66. I scrubbed the waxy mold release coating off the tires after they were mounted and balanced, then soaked the sidewalls with 303 Protectant.






The hubcaps had spots that I polished out. The orange paint had dulled out so I used 3M Finesse-It polish and Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze to bring them back to better than new.










The paint shows no signs of aging, it's just a little dusty from being stored. The weather should be dry tomorrow so I'll wash it, then go over it with Griot's Garage Perfecting Cream and Liquid Gloss Poly Wax. These pics were taken of the truck exactly as it was delivered to me, they've done a great job of keeping the truck in good condition since the restoration.










The heater core seems to be the only big problem so far. At some point it started leaking which stripped the paint off. I'll pull the entire box to strip and repaint it, and install a new heater core.





A couple smaller details that need addressing to make the truck 100%:


The door seals are still very stiff which makes the doors hard to close; we thought they would settle in over time but they haven't. I'll try the Honda seals that others have posted about that are softer.

The reproduction inner door latch handles have never fit correctly and are a little loose. I'm pretty sure I have a NOS pair, if so I'll swap them on.

The outer door handles have similar spotting as the hubcaps, I'll polish those out.




The exhaust manifold needs touching up; I've ordered a fresh package of Calyx dressing for that.

[joesscamaro]

Such a clean truck! Also, if you haven't checked out his thread on the F-100 he's doing...you need to! Insane attention to detail.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

Such a clean truck! Also, if you haven't checked out his thread on the F-100 he's doing...you need to! Insane attention to detail.

Thanks!


I needed fresh pics for Bring A Trailer so I took these today.



















The bias plies weren't the smoothest riding on the way to the farm to take pics, I'll check them for excessive runout tomorrow. After a few years of searching I finally found and bought an Amermac tire truer and tire warmer back in March so I'll be able to shave down any high spots if needed. The tire warmer uses driven rollers and an air cylinder to load the sidewalls so any flat spots are worked out before loading the tire into the truer. The process is from way before my time but from reading forums it was common practice shave out of round new bias ply tires before radials were commonplace.

[cwcarpenter98]

Those are some great pictures!