My 70 barn find build. TONS of pics

[grayharville]

Hey yall, i havent posted much, but it is officially summertime, and i finally have time to work on my 70. I thought i would start a build thread, and talk about my trucks history. thanks for your time.

It all started in 1970, my great grandfather, Luke, had decided to buy a new pickup, so he and his grand-daughter (my mom) went to pick one up. There it was, a brand new 70 chevy, white exterior, red interior, a 350, auto, air conditioning, 3.73 gears, everything that he wanted. He then purchased the pickup and drove it home with my mom. The truck was his one and only transportation for the next 13 years, racking up about 51,000 miles. Then, in 1983, he had to go to the hospital, and wound up passing away. After his death, the truck sat exactly where he had parked it, in the barn with the windows down for over 20 years until May 2009, when i enheireted the truck.

Wheni went to pull the truck from the barn, sooo many memories came back to me. When i was little, all us kids would go visit grandma, I would go look at that truck; I would sit in the seat and pretend to drive, I always told myself it would be mine one day, I would fix up that old truck and drive it everywhere. hah, well, after wrestling my newly acquired 70 onto the trailer, my heart began to race; i couldnt believe it was finally mine!

After bringing it home, i pulled the rat infested interior out, thouroughly cleaned the entire truck, cleaned out the gas tank, pulled the old points distributor and replaced with an HEI, and started it right up. That old 350 purred like a kitten, it was in really great shape.

well, enough of the talking, ill move on to some pictures

where it sat



motor



interior



ps side



dr side



after getting it running









ill post more pics of the progress following

[grayharville]

I plan to build this truck as a semi nostalgic hot rod, that can still go to work if it needs to. ive done a ton of work to get my truck to where it is today. Ill just let the pictures do the talking. Please feel free to ask me anything about it, thanks.

Edelbrock Intake, 600 double pumper, HEI, other mods to follow


Current interior. Yes that is a PROBOX and yes it slams! hahah, also notice i have a stock radio in the dash... hmmm...


Heres the trick, sony radio mounted under the seat, controlled by remote!

[grayharville]

Now onto the bodywork, My plan is to shave all the trim (except badges), shave mirrors, and paint the truck back white, i have a set of 15x10 stock style steelies i plan on running on the rear, along with some 295/50/15 rubber!

Here it is before much work...


Whited out Bowtie, i think its cool


Letting one of my buddies weld up the trim holes


heres the worst of the rust, passenger side cab corner

[T/C]

Any pictures of the welding? Keep trying to talk my self in to it but dont want to get over my head..

At least a good before and after picture before primer?

[grayharville]

These are pics I took today, its taken a TOOON of work to get the body to this stage, all of the trim holes have been MIG welded up, theres something like 50 per side, including top and bottom.

note the side pipes, this thing is straight piped and sounds like a race car!







shaved mirrors


tailgate before (thanks Ronnie)


after partially stripping


Oh and here was the temperature in the shade today, where I was doing the work!


Thanks for looking, please comment!

[grayharville]

What kind of pictures would you like? and the truck isnt in primer yet, i havent completely finished the work. Ive been using some rattle can filler primer to covr all the bare metal for now.

[T/C]

Originally Posted by grayharville

What kind of pictures would you like? and the truck isnt in primer yet, i havent completely finished the work. Ive been using some rattle can filler primer to covr all the bare metal for now.

Do you have any close ups of while he was doing it or just that one you posted? Sorry for posting in the middle of your pictures lol

[grayharville]

oh its cool, yeah i have some more welding pics, i still have yet to weld up the taillight trim holes, so i can take some then. are you wanting a basic tutorial of how to do it yourself? i can accomplish that... i think.... lol

[VA72C10]

nice project and cool story to go with it. Don't throw away the trim....there's a lot of people that look for that...

[QKENUF4U]

good luck with it......

[T/C]

Originally Posted by grayharville

oh its cool, yeah i have some more welding pics, i still have yet to weld up the taillight trim holes, so i can take some then. are you wanting a basic tutorial of how to do it yourself? i can accomplish that... i think.... lol

I know how Lol i just wana see it done before i attempt it

[oldblue1968chevy]

it aint bad crum practice on junk metal first

[grayharville]

oh okay, ill get some pics of the welds, next time i weld. And all the trim got sold, im broke! lol thanks for all the comments guys, tonight i got the rust taken care of on mt tailgate, now it needs a little bondo!

[SOON2BLAZE]

Great story! Good luck on your build.

[grayharville]

thanks alot, I havent been able to work on it today, Ive been spraying pastures today lol

[my67chevytruck]

nice progress.

[grayharville]

Bondo spreading and sanding is whats up today! One step closer to paint!

[Vega_67C10]

97 in the shade? I'd be ready for a glass of ice tea then a nap. Nice work, keep at it.

[grayharville]

yeah the heat really sucks, a couple days ago I was sanding on my tailgate and almost passed out, i started feeling dizzy and collapsed, got myself up, and went and sat in the truck with the air conditioning on full blast, then I went home and drank 2 quarts of Gatorade (no kidding) lol so a lesson learned, always stay hydrated and cool and be safe!

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice story and good score! That hads to be a great feeling driving a vehicle you used to dream about driving. That is how it was with my 40 ford.

[grayharville]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice story and good score! That hads to be a great feeling driving a vehicle you used to dream about driving. That is how it was with my 40 ford.

Its really something special to be honest, knowing that it was my great grandpas and the fact that I never got to meet him, really makes driving this truck special. I feel connected to it, and I seem to have better luck with things when I drive it, like someones watchin out for me!

[Dieselwrencher]

There very well could be. Good luck with the build!

[grayharville]

Thanks! i cant work on it today, we got about 6 feet of rain last night, or thats what it seemed like! lol

[bigguy69]

lookin good!!!!!!!!

[grayharville]

thanks!