1967 Stepside small window

[pbjsammich]

About a year ago I purchased a 1971 C10 stepside that I planned to build into a little weekend cruiser. About a month into it (getting it running and driving and a little clean up) my wife and I decided to purchase a foreclosure. Fast forward to now, old greenie hadn't gotten any attention short of a few drives here and there.

After finally getting the house in order, I got back in my garage. I decided to check out craigslist for some local parts and low and behold I stumble on this 67 stepside. Truck already had been bagged and appeared to be pretty clean in the photos. My wife approved the color, so off I went. 2 weeks later the owner accepted my offer.






Truck runs, but barely. Still the straight six (250). I have a sbc standing by and just placed a summit order for the parts I need for the swap. For the time being I'll keep the 3 speed.

Appears it was "restored" a few years back. Previous owner had moved about 1.5 years ago and it had sat outside since then. Paint is still in OK shape but sunbaked/hazy. I claybarred it this past weekend and went to work on the paint correction. I'll post up pics when I'm finished. Pics above are from the CL ad. Not sure if they were taken long ago or they just didn't capture the paint flaws.

Swapped out my wheels/tires from the 71 (steelies w/poverty caps). Plan to paint the wheels black and throw on some white wall tires.

Priority is to get it running and driving. Front end feels a little loose so I think some new bushings and ball joints are in order. From there I'll start to attack getting it lower (notch and spindles).

Plan to go on the Hot Rod Power Tour this year. Gotta make my decision by end of September if this or my 72 Monte will take the trip.

[David67]

Looks awesome!

Just noticed you're from Spring. I'm also working on a '67 small window stepper! I'd love to see yours in person.

[pbjsammich]

Originally Posted by David67

Looks awesome!

Just noticed you're from Spring. I'm also working on a '67 small window stepper! I'd love to see yours in person.

Crap, I need to update that. We now live in Willis (note the "foreclosure" in the original post). I plan to bring it to both Cars & Coffee and Nifty 50's when it's running and driving. Ever make it out to those events?

[David67]

Originally Posted by pbjsammich

Crap, I need to update that. We now live in Willis (note the "foreclosure" in the original post). I plan to bring it to both Cars & Coffee and Nifty 50's when it's running and driving. Ever make it out to those events?

Ah gotcha. Yeah I go to Nifty 50's all the time and still need to make it out to Cars & Coffee.

[Tinkermc]

in the pics that is 1 very nice lookin truck.

[pbjsammich]

Update on my progress:

Paint/Body:

Meguiars and myself went to town on "Minty." Initial treatment was a heavy dose and overnight soak in Show Car Glaze. Onto some light cutter to get rid of the water spots and hazy spots. Few more rounds of the Show Car Glaze and finished in Synthetic Sealant. Must say it's a pretty significant difference from when she first got home. Hazy spots are pretty much gone and she's shining again. I need to give it one more good afternoon and some lovin from the buffer. I'm putting that off until we get some cooler temps down here in TX!!

Engine:

I've ordered a new Goodwrench 350 (free shipping from Summit right now FYI). Couldn't pass up that kind of deal on a brand new engine!! Other parts ordered are intake and carb, serpentine belt set-up from a late 80's truck, and some ram horn manifolds. All the misc parts will get some paint this weekend. Maybe have it all put together in 2-3 weeks??

Misc:
Found a guy selling an Old Air dual efan setup locally off craigslist, so that's currently awaiting install. Ordered some new grille hoops (topbanana offered a discount code and very fair shipping rates). Rattle canned the wheels black and have been ebaying some poverty caps to replace 2 of my caps that were a bit beat up. Have some black dye standing by to try to restore my bench seat. Probably won't do that until I order some carpet.


Hope to have an engine swap update late September. I'm sure I'll have dug it out of the garage by then and snap some pics.

PT 2013 here I come!!

[Bennett68C10]

Nice stepper, good luck with the build
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[pbjsammich]

Quick update. Made some good progress this past weekend. Pulled the sixxer/trans and started to get things together on the Goodwrench 350. Mostly painting parts here and there and making my list of "things remaining" for the engine build. Small chance I'll get it all back in this upcoming weekend. Weather has been cooling off a bit in TX so it's time to get crackin!!

[pbjsammich]

Finally getting a chance to update my build. Got the engine and trans back in and making progress with getting all the last bits and pieces together. Serpentine set-up was a bit more of a headache than anticipated. Can't say it was complicated, just more $$ out of pocket as I needed all new accessories. FYI, if someone is doing a similar build, CarCraft did a nice write-up that can be found online (google "junkyard serpentine").

Bought a nice new 4 core radiator online via ebay. Fabbed up some upper "mounts" for my dual fan set-up. The rest you're all familiar with....just bolting things in place and checking for leaks.

Hoping to get some time to fire up the welder this weekend and fab up the exhaust. I plan to route it outside the frame rails, dumping before the rear wheels. Small chance I'll get creative and do some low profile side pipes.





For grins, here's my other project in the works. Just finished up with installing an entire new suspension on my 72 monte carlo along with a few other goodies. Handles like a new car now:

[pbjsammich]

Just another update on the "build." She's finally running and driving now. Working out a few little bugs here and there, but putting some miles on her and breaking things in.

Still need to do a lot of cleaning up under here. Want to do some more painting and start rerouting some of the wiring done by the previous owner.


Not totally sold on the spare tire mount but do like the fact it's a bit different.




Fabbed up my own side exit exhaust. Really like the look of it but functionality might win and I'll likely go back to routing it underneath and dump it before the axle. Not only am I losing ground clearance, a lot of the exhaust makes it into the cab when cruising with the windows open.


Next step is going to be rebuilding the front suspension. Have new bushings and some 3" drop spindles coming to me this week. Truck is currently bagged. I'll eventually notch the rear as well.

Standing by are some new rear drums that I'll throw on one of these weekends. Also have a carpet kit, stick on sound deadener/insulation, and some vinyl dye to liven up the interior. I'm still shopping AC kits, so I won't be touching the interior until I pull the trigger on that.

I'm slated to take this on the first couple stops of Power Tour this year, so my goal is to have this wrapped up by the end of April and do some driving in May to further work out all the little issues. If I hit a road block I'll be taking the Monte Carlo instead. Can't wait!

[mattfranklin]

Nice clean lines. I like it.

[1lo67]

Very nice...

[pbjsammich]

Some good updates on my progress. The truck got a little lower the last few months along with some appearance mods. Lowering spindles for the front and notched the rear. I have some 2" blocks to lower the rear a bit more but still need to address raising the bed floor. Hoping over the next few weeks I can work on that a bit.

The interior was stripped out and I installed some insulation below a new carpet. Cleaned up my gauges a bit and also re-dyed the bench seat. Looks nice and sanitary now. Was a bit of a wreck before.

Lastly, she got some new shoes. 20" Eagle 225's. An aggressive fit for a stepside but ended up coming out just right IMO. The rears required a bit of clearancing (grinder to the lip on the fender). Front inner fenders required some "massaging" as well. Wheels tires fit great on a stock stepside, but aired out required the modifications. I'm a bit suspect if the stepside fenders will allow for another 2" drop in the back. We shall see soon enough.

Onto the pics:

[jus2qwk]

The new wheels and stance look killer!

[Low Elco]

Clean 'lil truck! If you don't mind, what sizes wheels/tires and how much and where from? Considering something similar for my 87.

[pbjsammich]

Bought the wheels from Summit, although they're sold in a bunch of different places. Eagle 225. 20x10 & 275/40/20 in the rear, 20x8.5 & 245/45/20 in the front. Tires are a common size off the new Camaros. Picked them up pretty cheap and almost a perfect fit for me. I've noticed there are quite a few fleetside trucks running a much wider tire in the rear....I had to go narrow as that's all the room I had.

Do a search on the board for "Eagle 225"....there's some pics of them on square bodies here and there.

They aren't particularly cheap but they are a damn nice wheel for the money.

[Low Elco]

Thanks for the info!

[GAc10boy]

Originally Posted by pbjsammich

Some good updates on my progress. The truck got a little lower the last few months along with some appearance mods. Lowering spindles for the front and notched the rear. I have some 2" blocks to lower the rear a bit more but still need to address raising the bed floor. Hoping over the next few weeks I can work on that a bit.

The interior was stripped out and I installed some insulation below a new carpet. Cleaned up my gauges a bit and also re-dyed the bench seat. Looks nice and sanitary now. Was a bit of a wreck before.

Lastly, she got some new shoes. 20" Eagle 225's. An aggressive fit for a stepside but ended up coming out just right IMO. The rears required a bit of clearancing (grinder to the lip on the fender). Front inner fenders required some "massaging" as well. Wheels tires fit great on a stock stepside, but aired out required the modifications. I'm a bit suspect if the stepside fenders will allow for another 2" drop in the back. We shall see soon enough.

Onto the pics:

Killer truck! Love the stance and wheels! Eagle 225s were my very first set of aftermarkets in high school. Super quality wheel for the $$$.

[markiemark]

Beautiful truck!! Those wheels are awesome but unfortunately sold out. I've checked all over the net. If anyone knows where 20" are available send them my way!!

[mx289]

I'am usually not a big stepper fan but,your truck looks great.I really like the 20' wheels..Great job on it.

[hot trux]

Love it!!( I may be partial to steppers though lol)

[knomadd]

I like the new wheels!

[faribran]

I can relate.. Nice truck. I have basically THAT same truck

[slowcpe]

Good looking truck

[jmedero]

Such a clean truck man.