1968 C10 Stepside Restoration Project

[68 C10 Driver]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

nice...I picked up a set of those new in box for $200....some kind of mix up in shipping and the guy got 2 sets for the price of 1....

Sweet!

[68 C10 Driver]

So I bought new hinges for the driver's side, the old ones were worn after 54 years. Unfortunately I had to go through the gyrations of re-aligning the door again. Fortunately, it lined up extremely well.

[68 C10 Driver]

So after lots of tinkering with the door and making a plethora of adjustments, I think I got it as good as it will get. I know this much, the original doors did not fit this good.

[68 C10 Driver]

Working diligently when time allows. At least the driver's side is all one color!

[68 C10 Driver]

Well, I got the new hood and front fenders I ordered, they look pretty good quality, I am happy about that. I guess we will see when the time comes to fit them on the cab after I clean and paint the frame. I plan on using the Eastwood rust encapsulator and 2 part frame paint. But the frame is waiting for me to finish aligning the passenger door and doing whatever bodywork that entails.

[68 C10 Driver]

So I have the passenger door aligned and it is sitting really well for an aftermarket door. I highly recommend the Triplex doors!

[68 C10 Driver]

Sorry for the long delay in posting. Life sometimes get in the mix and keeps you from the fun things.

I was able to prime the interior of the cab. Seeing how I am going to paint over the Lizard Skin, I primed it to promote better paint adhesion. At least it is getting to be one color.

[68 C10 Driver]

So the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to convert the old mechanical clutch to a hydraulic clutch. I like the feel of the cable clutch, makes it feel like a truck. But being 60 years old, my crawling under a truck to adjust clutch cables will be numbered.

There were a lot of good products on the market, and several systems to choose from...hydraulic throw-out bearing, or the classic slave cylinder. I am more familiar with the latter than the hydraulic throw-out bearing, but both seem easy enough to work with. To me, having a slave cylinder would keep any potential leak external to the clutch and easier to see.

So I got the 67-72 Hydraulic Clutch system from Speedway. Today I had to prep the firewall by sanding the area being covered by the reinforcing plate and cut a 1.5 in. hole in the firewall where the clutch master cylinder will go. Here are a couple pics...as you can see, I have the plate bolted on and clamped to better bond the firewall and plate together (this is why I sanded the firewall to bare metal as I did the back side of the plate. Yeah, this will be a permanent mod.

[68 C10 Driver]

I like the construction of the Speedway clutch mater cylinder, very similar to the Wilwood 3/4 in masters I have seen online and it is made of aluminum. The Heim joint is ok, but I may replace with one that is higher quality. The one provided looks to have like a plastic insert in the joint itself...easy enough to remedy. If I can find a bullet aluminum cap to replace the plastic one I would be even happier!

[68 C10 Driver]

Decided I would do a little bit of test fitting of the brake booster and hydraulic clutch master cylinder.

Here is how they fit...

[68 C10 Driver]

So after many weeks of life handing me more important issues to deal with, I finally got a chance to paint the interior of the truck. I went with Light Green as a contrast to the Medium Green that will go on the exterior. I will paint the dash in Old English White from the dashpad down, the area of the dash between the dashpad and windshield will be Medium Green. The door panels will also be Old English White as will be that raised area in the roof.

Here are some pictures...

[68 C10 Driver]

I ran out of paint to finish the floor board, but will get that this week.

Just for FYI, this is the Medium Green I am going to use on the exterior.

[A1971Blazer]

your attention to detail is beyond reproach
that looks amazing!

[68 C10 Driver]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

your attention to detail is beyond reproach
that looks amazing!

Thanks, I appreciate the compliment. I try to do the best I can. I tend to be OCD when it comes to projects, especially automotive projects.

[68 C10 Driver]

So I was able to grab more Light Green paint and paint the floorboard of the truck, looks pretty good I think.

I also installed the speakers to 1) see how they look, 2) safe place to store them so they don't get damaged.

[68 C10 Driver]

I thought I would mount the vintage Fyr Fighter extinguisher to see how it looks. Yeah, it is a little off kilter but I purposely angled it to align with the door opening...however it is angled a bit too much.

Oh well, I'm going to live with it for now.

[68 C10 Driver]

I was able to steal away some time to work on the dash. surprisingly I was able to get that squared away in an hour. I will get this installed back into the cab tomorrow. I plan on using panel bond adhesive along the window pinch weld and clamp the dickens out of it.
Of course, I will also use the 6 bolts on the sides.

[68 C10 Driver]

I was sharing photos of the truck with my neighbor, who was very kind and complemented me on the paint job. He was kind enough to offer his assistance in getting the dash reinstalled into the cab. Never looking a gift horse in the mouth, I said thanks!

So this morning I called him and asked if he was available and like a trooper he came over and we got the dash in with no problems. We installed (loosely) the lower bolts and tipped the dash back so I could lay down the 3M Panel Bond Adhesive, then proceeded to clamp it all down. My neighbor was also kind enough to let me use 3 pairs of his Vice-Grips too.

Thanks Jerry for being a great neighbor!

And yes, the top part of the dash is Meadow Green (Medium Green), to match the exterior color I will be painting the truck.

[darkhorse970]

Very nice work!

[68 C10 Driver]

Originally Posted by darkhorse970

Very nice work!

Thank you. I am trying to take my time and not get too eager to where I rush things. BTW, here is a photo without the clamps.

[68 C10 Driver]

So my next part of this project is to get the interior heater box modified to allow a better mounting solution of the under dash A/C unit. This is that NOS unit I was able to grab for $125. I think it will be a great period accessory for the truck.

[68 C10 Driver]

Air conditioner is now mounted. This is just temporary as I need to see how much room this unit takes up so I can modify the interior heater box.

I had room for the CB Radio. I am going to install an E-Stop electric parking brake, so the old parking brake handle will not be going in for now.

[68 C10 Driver]

Well, today I was able to get the ashtray and glove box door painted and installed. It is starting to actually look like a truck now.

[68 C10 Driver]

So, I was looking for a way to personalize the truck and add a little bling (but tastefully). Soooo, I did this. I thought it gave a bit of a tribute to past Chevrolets.

[68 C10 Driver]

With the fuel tank being relocated to under the bed, I am going to utilize the space behind the seat for a few goodies...an amp for the radio, a ham radio, and as an area for mounting future goodies. Because I do NOT want to drill holes in the cab if I can avoid it, I came up with this option. I simply cut a 1/2 in sheet of plywood to mount where the tank was and finished the edges with aluminum U channel. It turned out to be a cool place to mount the vintage Ray-O-Vac flaslight..

I am also starting to run the wires up under the dash so I can begin installing the switches.