Project Cannonball C10

[mikentosh]

Background
I've been watching the forums for a while but now its time to share my build. First a little background...my departed 78 Blazer. This was my first truck and was in the family for 9 years when I took it over. I spent another 7 years fixing, painting, and putting enough miles to roll the odometer over a few times



It stuck with me through a move from BC to California, and a year later back to Canada. I ended up selling it back in 2001 when I got into Corvettes and eventually BMWs. Still, 12 years later, every time I see a nice squarebody passing by I still give a long look. I've reached the stage in my life where I now have the garage space, tools and (some) financial backing to go through with my ultimate squarebody build.

The motivation for this build
All I wanted 12 years ago was a great stance and lots of power. A few years back I got into track/high performance driving and have become hooked. I've owned a couple of M3s and a track-focused MINI, and what I like about these cars is they are equally happy puttering the family to the grocery store or tearing around Laguna Seca. I want to build out a truck with the same kind of "swiss army knife" utility to it. I'm planning to drive it to work at least a couple of times per week, use it to haul my bikes, take it on the occasional family trip (pulling a small trailer), and take it out to Laguna Seca or Thunderhill once or twice a year. I'd also like to do the Hot Rod power tour in it.

A few days ago I stumbled onto a thread asking about a fantasy build and that's when I came up with the project name. I'm setting out to build a truck that is fast, good handling and reliable enough to do the Cannonball Run in: Project Cannonball C10.

I'm hoping to do a lot of the work myself, however I'm not a fabricator, so I've got a buddy who owns a custom shop (One Off Customs in Santa Clara, CA) to help out with body mods, paint, and some assembly.

[mikentosh]

I'd been trolling the Bay Area craigslist, classifieds and eBay for quite a few months looking for a suitable candidate to start the build on. With what I have in mind my main concern was to find a 73-75 shortwide with a good body. I'm not interested in any of the mechanicals or chassis with what I have planned

There are a lot of rough candidates up on CL for a lot more money then I was expecting, but I'd seen a particular black truck come up a few times



I texted the owner and found the truck was a 3 hour drive north from me. With cash in hand I set off at 4am on a weekday morning to check this thing out in person. One drive around the block and I was sold The truck looks to be completely rust free with proper GM replacement doors, and fenders.









First fuel stop with its garage partner:

[mikentosh]

After walking through the vendor displays at a few Good Guys shows I knew I needed to consider at least a subframe swap. Spindles and springs weren't going to do it for me this time. The quality of components has definitely improved in the 12 years I've been away, but I have noticed that most of the stuff is geared towards bagged drops now. I'm more interested in a performance static drop. I saw that Porterbuilt offers a coilover setup, but I wanted something a little more dedicated. Around this same time I was flipping through an issue of PHR magazine and came across their Muscle Car of the Year 2012 article. That's where I first heard about The Roadster Shop, and their '70 C-10 shop truck The moment I saw that I knew this is the direction I wanted to take my build.

After a few calls and emails back and forth with the guys I have an order placed for a fast track chassis! Its going to have double-adjustable Penske coilovers all around with a 4-bar setup in the rear. I'm planning to run a square setup for wheels with an "aggressive" tire size, which should make it handle like a giant go-kart.

Build time is 8-12 weeks so I'm hoping to see it sometime before Christmas. Until then I'll have to resort to watching their other C-10 build thread

While I'm waiting its time to gather all the other parts for this resto-mod...

[mikentosh]

Right off the top I knew this thing will need to be LS powered to give me the reliability and power I'm looking for. I had tossed around everything from an LS1 to an LSA, then this beauty popped up on eBay:



That would be a 2013 Camaro SS 1LE with only 3500 miles on it before a "small" rollover totaled it Its amazing what you can buy on the Internet...

And on Monday this fine crate showed up in San Jose:


So the plan is to drop in the complete LS3/TR6060 assembly. I might put in a GM hot cam a little later down the line if I'm finding a lack of power

[darkhorse970]

I like the concept and will follow along.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Sweet. Didn't know they still had the cannonball run.

[Jonboy]

Can't wait to see this. Should be interesting!

[Flatlandsurfer]

Sounds like a cool project... greetings from Saskatchewan

[Low Elco]

Well... this oughta be fun! Can't wait to see more! have you been following the Roadster Shop Craftsman '70 c-10 Build? Nice piece.

[SLOW POKE]

Subscribed!!

[Mater/10]

Thats Awesome !

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by INSIDIOUS '86

Sweet. Didn't know they still had the cannonball run.

Cannonball Run has been dead for a while, but a few years back Alex Roy spent a lot of time and effort to break the record. Some great reading and video on his attempts.

I'm definitely NOT planning to run for the record...just going to build it in case I ever wanted to try

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

Can't wait to see this. Should be interesting!

I've taken a lot of inspiration from your "Clifford" build. I'm trying not to duplicate it too much but right now I'm looking at a similar color scheme for both interior and exterior

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Well... this oughta be fun! Can't wait to see more! have you been following the Roadster Shop Craftsman '70 c-10 Build? Nice piece.

I've definitely been following their build. We are going to aim for the stance on mine to match both the craftsman build and their other Orange/White truck.

[rusty76]

Roadster Shop guys are really cool. They can build you anything....! Wish I could go that route with my old truck. I'd went with a full on chassis but it's all good. Keep us updated.

[WarBeard]

Subscribed.

[tinydb84]

I have seen that truck on CL. Where in SJ are you? Im over on the Campbell boarder

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

I have seen that truck on CL. Where in SJ are you? Im over on the Campbell boarder

I'm in South SJ near 85/101. Lots of good driving roads heading south from here

[mikentosh]

Since I've got some time to kill while waiting for the chassis to show up, I've been hitting up the pick & pulls to search for all the missing small stuff. Made a couple of good finds on the weekend.

Sadly I'm missing the SPID sticker in the glove box (well actually its a different glove box door) so I'm not sure what trim level this one had originally. If I had to guess I'd say it was a stripped down model (Custom?). That gave me some flexibility in finding emblems...and it will be a deluxe custom truck after all



Also found an upscale bench seat sitting in the bed. The one in the truck now doesn't have the tilt release. It works out nicely as I can drop this bench off at the upholstery shop and still have a drivable truck for the next few weeks before tear down.



The upholstery shop is going to add some bolster and redo in black/houndstooth.

[Low Elco]

Speaking of which-

http://jalopnik.com/meet-the-guy-who...8-h-1454092837

New Record. The fun part is, look at the 2 current record squabblers arguing in the comments. Vedddy Eeenteresting!

PS- Not really that kinda guy, but I like your bimmer!

[mikentosh]

Spent a couple of hours sanding, masking and painting the fender emblems today. I did these and the headlight buckets in Rustoleum satin black over a self etching primer.

[Jonboy]

Originally Posted by mikentosh

I've taken a lot of inspiration from your "Clifford" build. I'm trying not to duplicate it too much but right now I'm looking at a similar color scheme for both interior and exterior

Thanks for the kind words. When I had my seat at the upholstery shop, we found the original covers under another cover. The insert pattern was laid out using the measurements of the original Custom Deluxe cover. I also see they are reproducing the door panel inserts; I painted mine gloss black instead.

[07XCSBZ71]

Cool build! I'll be following along!


Side note: I want the pick on you wall of the exposed Comp Yellow C4 Corvette. LOL

[68Timber]

Subscribing.

[jhama78]

Sub'd