Ol' Blue 1970 - It's Quite a Story

[olblue1970]

Greetings from Southeast Texas! Well, it is good to be on here. I look forward to learning much from the collective experience of you all.

My road to get here was quite interesting. You see, all of my life I have wanted to own a truck. But for some reason, it just never worked out. The reasons varied, but the outcome was the same - I was truckless.

Then suddenly last year, I finally got a break. I had been looking for trucks on Craigslist for some time. Since my budget was very small, I began to look farther and farther back until eventually I was zoning in on the 67-72 era. Since I was born in 1968 and my sister in 1970, those two years were special to me. Then one day, low and behold, I saw an ad from a man who was selling a 1970 Chevy C10, and he lived about 10 minutes from my house! I immediately went over and bought her on the spot. So here I was, 43 years old and finally I owned a truck! I couldn't have been happier.

On the down side, the previous owner wasn't exactly forthcoming about the condition of the vehicle. He said the engine had been recently rebuilt, but closer inspection revealed otherwise. Actually, most of the information he gave me on what the truck needed proved to be inaccurate. He said the carburetor needed rebuilt, but actually only the timing needed to be adjusted. He said the carburetor would cut out on you, but that proved to be a clogged fuel filter. Simple fix. Likewise, the wheel cylinders which he thought were leaking proved to be just fine. It was the master cylinder that was defective. It was so bad that braking was a real challenge. But those problems are all behind me now.


It is amazing what you can learn in a year. I plan to post pics of the project. Since my budget is rediculously low, the goal has been to prevent further deterioration, rather than the full restore I wish I could do. Also, I have a friend who has been a mechanic for almost as long as I have been alive. He helps me out on the really challenging mechanical stuff, and thankfully, he doesn't charge me an arm and a leg.

The first drive was memorable. The truck did die on me just as the previous owner predicted. Not having any idea why, and having no tools with me, I had to be towed home the last 3/4 of a mile. Ouch! But, I'm a quick learner, and we haven't repeated that again since. :-)

Here is what has been done in the last year and in chronological order to the best of my memory.

1. Engine throughly checked out. Cylinder #1 has a compression issue. The engine is a candidate for rebuild, but that will have to wait until later.

2. Engine timing is adjusted, and the 305 runs remarkably well considering her issues.

3. We found two fuel filters on this truck. At some point, someone added a second one near the gas tank. This suggests there is likely a lot of crud in the gas tank. When we examined that fuel filter, you barely could push air through it. We changed it out, and the engine hasn't cut out on us since. We also changed out the fuel pump, just to be on the safe side.

4. The truck continued to have issues cranking. No, the battery was in pretty good shape. It turned out to be the positive wire that connects to the battery. It was hanging on literally by a thread. A friend helped me clean up the battery terminals and properly connect the wires. Again, no serious problems cranking up ever since.

5. The next issue was braking. It was rediculous. The brakes were manual true enough. But, my first vehicle had manual brakes, and it braked a heck of a lot better that this. The culprit turned out to be the master cylinder. The rod in the cylinder was actually bent, making it very hard to function when the brakes were applied. So, we changed out the master cylinder and also added a power booster. Even though it has drum brakes, the truck brakes just fine now.

6. After this, I decided to give some attention to the body of the truck. It was rust city. I wish I had the original pictures that I took when I first got her. The doors and bed were rusted completely through in numerous areas. You could flake off the metal like a potato chip. The whole summer of 2012 was spend in researching and then repairing the rusted areas on the exterior of the truck. I am pleased with the results. Even though there are a few rust issues on the underside of the truck, as a whole, she is protected now. That's what I was shooting for, and that will have to do for now.

7. Up next? Painting. Well, when you are on a shoe string budget, you have to be creative. So, since I don't have painting equipment, I did the next best thing. The paint job is Rustoleum paint that is a mixture of rattle can and roll on application. Again, since the goal was to stop deterioration, I feel I have suceeded at this point. Perhaps I'll be able to do more in the future.
Most of the interior components I was able to clean up, paint and reuse. That saved me a lot of money. I did replace the rear view mirror, the dome light and the dash pad. Other than that, it's all painted and reused!

8. I noticed antifreeze dripping out of the truck. It turned out the be the heater core leaking. For now, I have bypassed it and simply returned the water back into the engine. Later, when the engine is rebuilt, I plan to replace the heater core.

9. Several months ago, the altenator went out. I was proud that I successfully fixed this problem myself by installing a new one.

The next big hurdle involves stopping fluid leaks. Motor oil leaks from the timing chain cover and the rear main seal. Additionally, the transmission leaks fluid from a seal and from the pan gasket. We changed out the gasket and yet it leaks. The pan has a slight dent in it, so perhaps that is the reason. I will get a new pan if needed. Probably, I will change out all the seals when we rebuild the engine. Oh, btw, the transmission is a T350 and it's one of the smoothest shifting transmissions I have ever experienced. If we can get the fluid leaks stopped, she will function just fine.

Oh, one last story and then I will post as many pictures of the project as possible. Last fall when I was painting, I began to notice spider webs on the underside of the truck on a daily basis. At first I ignored them. Since the truck was stationary, I expected a few to be there. But as the number of webs grew, I became concerned. One evening, my son and I decided to investigate. When we shined the flashlight under the truck, we spotted a Black Widow as plain as day. We quickly killed it. Then, I spotted another, and then another. That night, we killed a total of 16, and I was a little worried. In subsequent evenings, we would go out on what we could call "Spider Patrol", and we would always kill several each evening. We found them under the truck, in the bed area, inside the cab and in the engine area. There were even two different kinds of Widows -black and brown ones. Until then, I didn't even know there were Brown Widows. We made lots of jokes about it, but I wasn't happy at all. Let's just say spiders and I don't get along. By the time we erradicated them all, we had killed upwards of 100 Black and Brown Widows and dozens upon dozens of egg sacks. Hopefully they are all gone. Every time I see a web in the bed of the truck, I get a little nervous. :-) So, sometimes we affectionately call the truck the "Blue Widow".

I hope you enjoy the pictures of the project, and I look forward to posting more information along the line. Attached are early pictures of the project. Ol' Blue 1970 looks a lot different now. More pictures to come soon! I also look forward to learning much from you all. It's been a fun and interesting experience thus far, but I well know there is much more to learn.

Warm Regards,


OlBlue1970
Texas Gulf Coast