70 short bed: All in the family

[Mrrilla]

Here is the story of my daily driver that like most of the projects on here, it evolves into its own creation. The initial goal was to build a reliable daily driver.
Purchased on 2/4/2007 in Longview, Washington as a 1970 Chevrolet C10 Short Wide Bed 2 wheel drive with a 292 In-line six and four speed on the floor. The sale price was $1500. This was a running truck that had been sitting in a storage unit for more than 10 years.

This project will have parts done all over the country with the help of a few members of my family.

I hope you all enjoy!

[Mrrilla]

The first step was to start disassembling the front end truck so work on the chassis and body could begin.
The doors and cab where then removed so the restoration of the chassis could begin.

Isold the original motor, mostly because the 292 had power steering and I guess that bracket is pretty valuable. I thought about rebuilding the straight six and 4 speed but I wanted something a little more modern that would get better gas mileage, after all this truck was supposed to be a daily driver.

[Mrrilla]

From there the sheet metal was stripped down so work could begin on the frame

[Mrrilla]

The box was then disassembled and since my dad is a wood craftsman, I thought it would be fun to convert the truck to a wood floor and have him plane the boards.

[Mrrilla]

The chassis was stripped to bare metal and prepared for paint. A gloss black finish was applied to the frame, rear end and all front end components. An ECE 3-5 drop was installed along with a front disk brake conversion kit. Both front and rear was also converted to 5 lug. The 3.73 rear was not rebuilt but new axles and a complete brake overhaul was performed. A set of 5-lug rally wheels was found so the chassis could be rolled around.

[Mrrilla]

Here are a few more pictures of the rear axle and front end going together

[Mrrilla]

The motor and transmission where purchased and overhauled in Fort Worth, Texas which is where I was living at the time.

The 1992 Firebird TPI was purchased from a salvage yard for $300. The motor was rebuilt to increase the compression to a respectable 9.5:1. A comp cams Xtreme Engergy Cam. This is a mild cam but should add some performance without sacrifing mpg's. Small diameter pulleys on the serpentine system help to increase performance. The Dynomax headers were designed for a 1965 chevelle but this application nicely. The ECM chip was reprogrammed to change the fuel and spark mapping along with eliminated the VATS. New spark plug wires, accel distributor, and other common parts were replaced with new items.

Take at a look at the inside of the motor after I pulled it apart. That is what happens when you don't change your oil people!

The 700R4 was given a Mr.Gasket stage I shift kit. This transmission was purchased from the same Texas salvage yard from $150. It is cooled by a 1.5 quart cooler mounted on the frame rail.

[Mrrilla]

The motor and transmission were shipped to Washington State to meet up with their new home between the frame rails. The fuel tank was built by Fuel Cell Guy and was relocated to the rear. The fuel pump installed was a 190 gph unit which fit this motor combination perfectly. Flowmaster 40 series mufflers where installed in the 2.5 exhaust. The exhaust ran together to make an X-pipe which should flow better than an H-Pipe. Holes were cut in the cross member and the pipes were run through it. Larger stainless steel supply and return fuel lines were bent and installed.

[Mrrilla]

My father being the wood craftsman that he is, suggested converting the bed to wood since a few years earlier had cut down a black walnut tree on his property near Mount Rainier and cut it into slab boards. The Mar-K conversion kit and stainless bed rails were purchased to complement the black walnut. As soon as this decision was made, the truck would snowball and not become a daily driver anymore.

[Mrrilla]

There was some typical rust on the inner fenders and the grille was damaged so I found a complete 70 front clip for a heck of a price. Well not too long after that, I decided to make the conversion to a 68 front clip which I also got for a steal.

I sold the 70 front clip and made some money.

[Mrrilla]

Here are some pictures of the rust that we found. Typical cab corners and rockers so we sent the sheetmetal to be stripped.

[Mrrilla]

The truck was sent to western Montana for body and paint. The bodywork was done by my cousin who believes in using filler only when a hammer and dolly won't work. New cab corners, rockers, and floor pieces were replaced. Cab seam sealer was used.

[Mrrilla]

I decided to run Vintage Air A/C and smooth out the firewall. The EFI wiring harness comes through on the right side and the heater/AC hoses pass through the firewall via a bulkhead fitting. The last picture shows the color matched rhino lining that was sprayed on the underside of the cab.

[Mrrilla]

The truck was then put into primer. The cowl vents were all filled as was the upper seam across the cab. The sidemarker lights were also filled since I wanted that 67 look. Every body panel was block sanded including the underside of the fenders, inside the box and even the back of the cab

[Mrrilla]

The fuel tank filler neck was moved behind the tail light. I know a lot of guys have done this mod so I had to follow. My only compliant is that I went to one pump where the plastic shield was so large that I could not get the nozzle in and I had to drive to the next station to fill up.

[burbguy]

thats a hell of a build you got goin on there....!!! keep us posted with everything your doin...!!! NICE WORK

[Mrrilla]

The truck was sprayed in 2007 Mercedes Crystal Laurite Silver. Had I known it was $400 a gallon, I would have chosen a cheaper paint. This paint is nice though because everything was sprayed at different times and it matches unlike many metal flake paints. The "tiger stripe" effect is also reduced which is nice.

[Mrrilla]

I went with a Gaylords bed cover and this thing fit like crap! There was about an inch overhang on the tailgate when the hinges were up tight against the cab. Plus the arch side to side left a huge gap at the front of the bed. For $1500 I was very dissappointed. After talking to Gaylords people several times, I quickly figured out that they gave me a screw you attitude and offered very little help. They even suggested to me that something was wrong with my bed and not thier cover.

So I cut the heck out of thier piece of crap cover and made it work. I know a lot of guys are running thier lids, just be aware of the major issue I had with them.

[71blksuper4x4]

That wood type looks sweet with the silver paint. Trevor

[Mrrilla]

I went with a 1979 chevy van tilt column and did the mod of moving the neutral safety switch which cna be found in other write-ups in this forum

[Mrrilla]

Now I am starting to get around to wiring up the TPI. I had to learn how to program the ECM since I am not running VATS or any emissions stuff.

[Mrrilla]

After sectioning the gaylords lid in both the front and rear, it was painted and put on the truck

[Mrrilla]

On the inside, I originally bought an avalanche seat but I didn't like how it fit so I went with a Ford seat.......I know I know, I am sorry I put a ford part in a chevy but the seat is really comfortable and it fits perfectly.

I also went with white faced AC controls because.......

[Mrrilla]

I went with Classic Instruments Hot White Series Gages. What do you guys think? They are expensive but oh are they nice. They came with all the sensorss and I got a SN75 converter since I get my speedo signals from my ECM.

[Mrrilla]

I put some Dynamat Extreme sound deadoner down and then some ACC carpet over that. I drove the truck about 50 miles before installing the dynamat and wow what a different it made afterwards. Don't get me wrong, the truck is still loud but if the windows are up, its pretty nice. I'd still hate to be the car behind me having to listen to the truck rumble.