68 C-10 operation road ready

[twangismythang]

This will not be a big frame up rebuild, my plan is to get it road ready for daily driving purposes.

History as I know it.....The truck was bought by my step son out of Texas with the story being that it was a project that was well underway. After sitting in my garage for several years and never really making any progress I decided to buy the truck just to either get it running or just get it gone.

The pictures below are of the truck prior to me buying it, then as we go I will post progress pictures with details.

[twangismythang]

So we know we have a pretty decent looking truck as far as the body goes and it was supposed to have a rebuilt engine as well, bonus right? well just stay tuned as the drama unfolds..........

The above pictures were from 2008 when the truck first came to Tennessee from Texas. Since then we moved to Arlington. Tn. where the truck took up garage space for another three years while I tinkered with several mopar projects.

I finally decided to part ways with mopar at least for the time being and get to work on this C-10.

Below are pictures of the truck as it sat when I bought it in October 2012.

[twangismythang]

So once I committed to buy this truck I tore into the so called rebuilt engine and found that it would not turn over, it was locked up. Checked the oil and found that there was plenty of coolant mixed with it.

Nothing to do now but tear it down and find out whats going on with it. I started taking pictures as I tore the engine down to help once I started putting it back together.


Now that its out, its time to see whats going on......


Well I be danged, I don't think the oil pick up tube belongs in the crank, no wonder it was locked up. Also all of the head bolts were loose, which I am guessing is why I have coolant in the oil.

[twangismythang]

To add to all the excitement of having a big block truck I discovered this in the #1 cylinder.



That kinda really took the wind out of my sails.....

So the block is standard bore with new pistons, guess it was just cleaned up and honed???
Also one of the valves was bent, bonus!

[twangismythang]

To change gears for a minute and evaluate what I have to work with, here are some pictures of the extra parts that came with the deal.

[twangismythang]

Ok so I have decided to go ahead with the project and see what happens. There is not a big budget at the time to rebuild the 396, so the plan is to find a used small block and get the truck running and get rid of the GMC wheels with the hopes of finding some steelies and hubcaps.

Here are some pictures of what I found from a trip to the junkyard>>



The engine was in a truck running when I bought it, I got to drive it around a bit and found that it had plenty of life left in it. I thought it was a 350, being new to GM stuff and I did not check the numbers only to later find that it was a 305.


Here is the 305 after a bit of cleaning.

[twangismythang]

The tires I got from the junkyard are 31x10.5x15 with about 50% tread. I did not find any steel wheels on this trip but did score a decent bumper and a jacked up tailgate.


I also found this 1968 Tennessee license plate on ebay for less than 10 bucks.

[twangismythang]

Time to get some new parts and start making something happen!!!!

Not much, but it will get me started, Below are some pictures of the 305 after a good cleaning and some paint.

[twangismythang]

Updates to my unpopular post, I have the engine in and everything connected. Tomorrow I plan to start it and make sure all is well. Then it will be time to pull the bed for the camaro gas tank. Heres a few pics, I put the stock steering wheel on it, but I am missing some of the parts, looks like another junkyard trip is in order.

[jjhare]

Thats too bad about the big block, would love to have a big block myself...someday maybe. Same thing happened to me with the 350/305...guy swore it was a 350 and a few weeks after buying the truck I ran numbers and it was a 305...runs good though. Good luck with your build, gotta good looking truck there.

JJ

[twangismythang]

BOOM! it now runs, time to pull the bed for the gas tank conversion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwKgHvr_QtE

[twangismythang]

Not much progress, but I did find my 6 lug steelies, kinda hard to find these days. Gave 75 for 4 of them and scored the caps for free, now have to figure out how wide of a tire I can put on the rear. I am thinking about 235/75/15's for the front.

Would be nice if someone would offer advise on the tire sizes......

[gdavis]

Originally Posted by twangismythang

To add to all the excitement of having a big block truck I discovered this in the #1 cylinder.



That kinda really took the wind out of my sails.....

So the block is standard bore with new pistons, guess it was just cleaned up and honed???
Also one of the valves was bent, bonus!

Well youcan kiss that block good bye. But the truck looks solid. The front grill and fenders are in good shape as far as i can see.

[gdavis]

You got a lot of parts with the truck. The motor turned out real clean. Good luck my friend.

[jjhare]

Engine looks and sounds great!! Running 255/60-15 on my sons 72, but my son picked those out because he wants to do a 2/4 or 3/5 drop, so right now they don't fill the wells out.

JJ

[twangismythang]

Any progress is good so heres some new pics.

[twangismythang]

A little bit of work went on today, rattle canned the top white and will flat black the rest.



Also working with these steel wheels I bought, I have three that are the same size and 1 that is smaller and a 5th that has a tire on it, so I am not sure what it is yet.


I will post more pics tomorrow of the finished roof, turned out ok, the goal was to just touch it up and make it all white again. I was using some cheap crap paint and it was cold outside...........

[cubber]

Subscribed!

[Rusbuilt]

^x2

[twangismythang]

a few more pics of my bed.
and more of my fancy paintwork

[67c10rustbuket]

cool project, the 305 sounds great! You know the wheels are measured from inside to inside of the bead? also most GM wheels will have the size stamped on the inside that you can check with the tire on, the side that bolts to the axle there will be a stamping like 15x7JJ. Keep the pics comin' I like it

[67chevy1series]

Looking good! Love the steel rims your gonna put on and the paint work!
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[67cheby]

nice work !

[thelonerife]

Maybe you can find a couple 8'' rims for the rear? I like the progress too.

[twangismythang]

Looks like theres gonna be a change of plans, I scored a 68 SWB step side frame and bed for 400 bucks, so once I get it here I will be swapping over my cab front cap and engine. Lots of extra work but I think I will like the end result much better.

Sold the long bed and looking forward to pulling the engine and trans again..

Meanwhile while I was working this deal I cleaned up and painted a couple of my steel wheels that will be going on the front.

Heres a pic of my not so major progress......