New here and new to older trucks..

[Elchopperfreak]

Hi
Just purchased a 1970 stepside C10 and of course I have some questions..

The previous owner had some aluminum wheels, would like to change them to steel wheels, have been checking local but have not found a six bolt set yet
1) What other wheels/ makes should I be looking at?

I have a donor 1977 Nova,
2) could I swap the front end with the truck?
Also have access to a front set of 1957 chevy 210 disc brakes conversion, if its possible to use on the truck ( fitment) (3) could be a feasible conversion?

(4) Could the rears on the Nova be swapped as well? That would convert to 5 lug all around making it easy since I have a few wheel sets available.

The previous owner went crazy with safety yellow all over the truck, just drove it aprox 100 miles across the island from his place, so mechanical, etc is fine.

So a quick paint coat will be coming up soon..

Thanks in advance for the answers..

[68bowtie]

Nice truck. It has a few interesting mods. Whats that thingy under the c10 emblem off of? That would look great with a 4/6 drop.

Not sure i can answer any questions about swapping parts, but there are tons of 6x5.5 bolt pattern wheel options out there that im sure would be cheaper than what you're talking about doing.
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[Elchopperfreak]

No idea, the previous owner added some gadgets that will be coming off soon, ( like the rig lights on the roof)

Will be looking for the wheels and will be dropping the truck as well. While this is the first older chevy truck I work with, Im not new around bikes or cars, so Im no hesitant on putting the work hours.

The bumper (or whatever the PO did to it) is coming off ASAP, at least he saved the real bumper, although I will need to purchase ( or fabricate) the tail light brackets ( and lights)



Thanks for the reply.

[Elchopperfreak]

So we started the "get all that stuff out of there deal"
The bumper was a flat piece of steel with sheetmetal corners bondoed into the fender contour and welded..



Heres how it looks as off today


Ill need the metal strips for the bed ( can they be fabricated or is it easier to purchase them?) and the wood, so I can get that bed sheetmetal out.
Interior is being stripped as we speak in order to get the parts and cab painted, the PO went crazy with a can of white rust oleum and a paint brush.



Im leaning towards baby blue with white roof, black seat and panels inside

By removing the dash I found a copper kind of color, bit the outside was blue previous to the big bird yellow
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[502ms]

Thanks for saving that truck from Pep Boys hell.
The bed floor can be done with wood if you are so inclined. You can buy a kit from one of the vendors here, or build it yourself, like I did.





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[Elchopperfreak]

Cool truck..very cool...

Yeah, been ripping pep boys "chrome" krap left and right..
Buying the wood kit would be impossible on shipping, so no choice but to make it.

Engine was covered in yellow plastic stuff too.. Puke.
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[Elchopperfreak]

Well, met this guy driving down the road on a 65 GMC, asked him about the wheels and he said he had a few, would seel me a set for $15.00 each..(!!!!????!!!!) he said he had some other parts scattered around, I need the brake lights and mounts for the 70, so I gave him a call back..

Drove to his place today to pick them up and this is what I found...( although no tail lights, nor brackets)





46 Chevy truck ( yes, did ask him if he would consider selling...) seems like its in a newer 60's chassis, but its all there...

BTW, this is his daily driver..(1965 GMC)


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[Elchopperfreak]

Update.
Well the guy had only 3 wheels available ( in 15") By the way, are these trucks 16" or 15"???

So he called me yesterday about a friend who called him about a truck..
Went over to get the wheels and maybe the tail lights and brackets, well, ended up buying this..



5 oem wheels, the spare has an original tire, two hubcaps, spare tire mount, tail lights and reverse, both bumpers in good condition (chrome) and to top ot off, it runs!!!!







Interior is mostly there..
By VIN seems to be a green and white 71 c10

If you are wondering.. A mere $275.00
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[69GWC]

Man that hood is ate up !! Looks like a good deal for that price though.
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[chevytruckluver]

welcome to the board
Glad to see you got that bumper off the rear of the yellow truck so quick, that would have been my first move also
looks like you came across a great deal for a parts truck too

[OldCreek]

Nice hood!

It's amazing how every truck has its own wear pattern...

[Elchopperfreak]

Yeah.. My kid calls it Mater...
The bumper had to come off, did not know what I would find.. Was not that bad underneath the tons of crappy metal..

Have not decided on paint, maybe Ill just scuff it up and spray flattening agent, maybe re-spray in light blue or green.. For sure its going to be a white roof.
Since I got extra springs will cut a whole coil out of them (for now), will also try to score some white walls..
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[Elchopperfreak]

Originally Posted by OldCreek

That hood has "chiclets" for teeth!

Yep, nasty
But the various wasp nests were included!!!!
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[dan42]

I would think that being in Puerto Rico you would have access to some pretty cool tropical hardwoods that would work well in your bed - I would contact Mar-K and see if you can get the dimensions and have someone mill the wood for you. Mar-K has all the hardware, and I wouldn't think it would be much to get it there. Great to see someone going through one of these old trucks where it's very difficult to do so. We take a lot for granted here stateside in terms of access to parts and part trucks. There is constantly stuff on Craigslist. Good luck with your new toy and keep us posted!

[Elchopperfreak]

Dan.
Thanks.
Wood wise (exotic) its kind of difficult since almost everything is imported, unless I find someone chopping down some good mahogany.
Finding parts is a pain for these cars since theres no biz here that is dedicaed to old cars, still word of mouth and enthusiasts will get you specific parts, the rest you can go to any of the thousands of parts stores and buy.. Although every year is harder to find points, or 6 volt coils and such..
You would be amazed, but the vintage car following here is insane, theres a show in Feb with thousands of cars ( not kidding)

But you are right, no swap meets, craiglist here sucks, but long live the web and USPS!!!

Ive worked on older cars and trucks, but mostly metal, wiring and such ( not detailed)
Been putting together my wifes 52' chevy for a couple years..
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[Elchopperfreak]

Some local trucks..


This 65 might be my next purchase...


This Apache is very cherry..


Went to check this one out a few months ago, I believe its still for sale..



A friends Dodge


Another Dodge (48) being restored


Nice De Soto..

Sorry about the non chevy, but they are cool trucks ..
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[Elchopperfreak]

Update
Today I changed wheels from the parts truck into "big bird" although I checked the VIN and parts truck shows as a 71, I noticed it has leaf springs as rear suspension, not coil springs like the yellow one ( which is a 1970) Could there be a mixup with the numbers? Maybe an older chassis??
Inquiring minds wanna know..

Anyway, took the rear bumper, tail lights, spare tire mount and a few other things off to start the build.. Will have photos tomorrow..

The parts truck has chrome bumpers, 16" tires and leaf springs, is it an upgraded kind of model or simply stuff you could order with???

Paint is coming soon..
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[Elchopperfreak]

Save Big Bird from Pep Boys hell saga continues...

On the PO's obsession with being a trucker ( remember rear bumper and lights) I knew there was a lot of bondo filler to "blend" the bumper into the fenders and such, I did some grinding today, looking for the tail light bracket holes and such, also noticed the beam across the bottom of the tailgate had over an inch thick bondo, so the diggin' began..



After doing some bondo removal, noticed there was some swiss cheese and some crappy metal as you see above, the parts truck has all that rear section in pretty good condition, I thought about cutting and welding a piece from back almost two inches into the fender, but by looking closely at the parts truck, most of the inner bed panels were fine, all metal, and what little was bad can be easily patched..i dont want to get into another project, so I looked around and studied the scenario...

After a half hour or so




Now I got to take the fenders off and deal with the pesky phillips 40 year old bolts, so..



Only had to cut off 4 bolts, but the fenders are off..

Now got to do the same with big birds bed, take care of the patches and get it ready to paint.

I did swap the wheels yesterday and big bird dropped a couple inches, as soon as I get the bed out i'll change the shocks ( the PO provided new ones) and cut a full coil from the springs.

We are aiming for the cab and front end of big bird to be sanded and primed tomorrow ( hoping for no surprises!!!)
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[Elchopperfreak]

Did not have much time to tinker with Big bird since the real builds got in the way..
Although was able to put an hour or so, starting to remove the bed, got quite some fiberglass off the edges and kept digging until I found metal ( should I say rust) got a big sheet of metal out, only to find another one underneath looking like swiss cheese x 10 ( at least the swiss cheese sheet metal seems to be bolted)

Plan for tomorrow is removing the rest of the bed, sanding the cab and hoping for being able to spray the cab with primer.
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[Elchopperfreak]

Start the day sanding, although I had started removing the bed last night could not finish until today, what seems like half a ton of metal was holding that bed kinda together, L beams, sheetmetal of 1/4" or more, welding, rusted solid bolts..you name it..



If you look closely you can see two of the metal sheets, one on the bed still and one on the ground already cut off..
But, heres the third one.. Swiss cheese..



One of the guys figuring out how to get rid of all the rusted stuff, deep in bondo



There we go..


Tomorrow spray the cab with primer and keep on working with the bed
Im trying to piece it together and get the best bed parts from each truck, there will be a bit of fabricating, no big deal, just a bit more time that we can afford..
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[weever82]

You are going to town on that baby! Love reading the story and including the pics. Thanks for sharing.

Weev-

[Elchopperfreak]

Thanks..
Hating the mixture of rust, bondo and fiberglass, tell you some people should not be alowed near a welder either ( talking about PO)
Most of the nuts and bolts are plastered in bondo.

Lucky I bought the donor truck which has a lot of the stuff big bird does not, like all the "cross beams" on the bed ( the PO tack welded the bed to the mounts, badly)

Im in kind off a hurry, we are doing a job and have the painters there so its crunch time in order to get the truck painted asap, then Ill worry about patching the metal and re-spray
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[Elchopperfreak]

Kinda eerie, with the light, but dig the "flat" yellow..
Bumper and grill got to be removed...(mental note)



Was thinking of flat yellow white roof, white bumpers...
Maybe sky blue, white roof...light green..???
Opinions??? Sample Pics????
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[Elchopperfreak]

Originally Posted by weever82

You are going to town on that baby! Love reading the story and including the pics. Thanks for sharing.

Weev-

Cool truck you got man!!!!

Liking the color for this build... Any info??
Thanks
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[Elchopperfreak]

Update for today, Friday 14th

Photobucket is acting up so pics will come later...

Last night before leaving I tried to remove the parts truck passenger door, the bottom hinge bolts came out quick, but the top seemed funky, as it was pretty dark I let it be, well, this morning ( after removing the grill and bumper) noticed that someone had done a hack job and there were nuts holding the door instead of the threaded pieces/bracket.
Since I had found copiuos amounts of bondo/fiberglass/ soda can tin combo at the bottom of big birds passenger door, I was in between taking the skin off the parts truck door and weld it to big bird's or cut big birds upper bolt plate and weld it to the parts truck door.
( anyone has a good tip for removing spot welds??)
Anyway, after looking at everything fifty times, and one, decided to weld the plate to the donor door.
Well, I was in for a surprise, sice the plates are held by a metal strenghtening plate...so I had to split open the door..


Was also working in the front part of the bed, I was planning on making one out of the two, but a closer inspection showed that big birds was again a pile of rust encrusted bondo and fiberglass..
The center part was good, so I cut strips out of it in order to make patches, Im not working at my shop right now so tools are limited..making some primitive patching for sure..
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