1971 Chevy C10 SWB

[Chris98]

Me and my dad picked this up July 2012 as a frame off restoration project. Bought it some guy who was parting the truck out who bought it from someone else. The truck was originally from Texas and somehow ended up here in Colorado. One of the previous owners had built it for the 1/4 mile, use to have a 454 big block, roll cage and a thousand holes drilled all over the cab. The motor and pretty much most of the truck was gone when we got a hold of it.

Here's pics of the truck when we first went to look at it. Sorry for the small pics.




The guy had already sold the bed and front clip before we got a chance to buy the truck, so he threw in a 70s front clip and a step side bed. We pretty much sold the bed and front clip within a couple months of having the truck.

















Ac Condenser and HVAC Box was missing.



Firewall had been painted in the past with some ****ty paint that is now faded grey and flaking.






Old worn out suspension



Truck use to be raced


Last time it was registered was in 03'.


Passenger cab corner was rusted it,


The interior had defiantly seen better days. Glove box, sun visors, ac vents, cigar lighter, radio, gas tank, HVAC and drivers door panel was missing. The wiring was cut up and was just a mess, we ended up just ripping all the wiring from the truck and throwing it away. The base mounts for the roll cage was still welded to the floor, a million holes were drilled in the floor and firewall and some racing seats were installed.











Interior was stripped and all the holes in the firewall and floor were welded up. The body work was next on the list.


Cab was then pulled off the frame were we then stripped the frame and replaced all the bushings, tie rods, ball joints. Installed new lowering springs 2" drop in the front and a 4" drop in the rear. We replaced the center cross member with one that had the cut outs for the exhaust. We then painted the chassis is chassis saver.







The truck came with a dana 60 that was shortened 8 inches with 4.56 gears, spool and 40 spline axle shafts. We ended up selling the axle for almost as much as we paid for the truck and replaced it with a 12 bolt we pulled out of a truck we parted out.


It was now time to move onto the cab.




Gas filler hole was welded up.


The cab was then flipped onto its firewall so work on the cab floor could be done.


After the bottom of the cab was cleaned up it was painted with chassis saver and then we coated that with some undercoating.


The inside cab floor was also coated in chassis saver.


The cab corner was cut out and a new one was welded in place and body work was then being done to blend it in.


Work on cleaning up the firewall then started.







Doors, fenders and hood we got off a 72 long bed we parted out to get a lot of the parts that were needed to put this truck back together.






Getting ready for filler primer to fill in the imperfections and what not.


After the filler primer.




Starting to do more work after the filler primer.






We then finally found a fleet side bed for it but it turned out to need way to much work. Someone had welded up the tail light section and cut 4" holes in them and the body sides had 1/2" thick bondo in places and missing most of the cross members. So we sold that bed.




After Epoxy Primer




Painted the firewall and all the black accessories under the hood with Hot Rod Satin Black.




The 72' we parted out ended up having a 400 sbc with a 4 bolt rear main. We pulled it out and was going to rebuild but after tearing into it the motor defiantly had a hard life. Lots of sludge was built up in it and there was no hash marks left on the cylinder walls. We ended up finding a a rebuilt motor out of another truck we parted out. But used all the accessory brackets off the 400.





We parted out a 71 long bed that had a 350 in it with a rebuilt lower end, but they did nothing with the upper end and one of the heads had a valve that was stuck open. So we used the vodoo cam, vortec heads and all the other parts we had put away for the 400 on it.







Look at all that slack in the timing chain.


New parts on.











Full roller rockers.



In the meantime we picked up a 200r4 and gave it a refreshing up. Installed the new tv cable and spring from Bowtie Overdrives and gave it some paint.





Motor and transmission installed in truck.




Inner fenders, radiator support and radiator installed.




We did end up picking up another fleet side bed, this one being an original 67 with no marker lights. It was in much better shape than the last one but far from perfect, needed the driver side rear quarter replaced. And it use to be used to haul metal scrape so there was some body work needed.



While the body work on the bed was being done we got the HVAC box cleaned up. Painted it, got the dead rodents and their nests cleaned out and installed a new heater core with all new seals.





That's pretty much where the truck is sitting right now. We want to try and get the truck in paint by spring and driving by summer. We still need a gas tank, 2004r torque converter cover, 2004r dipstick and tube, 59 1/2" drive shaft, carpet, headliner, wiring harness for tach, wheels/tires and some misc stuff.

[coueshunter]

Great start and looks great so far! Any idea on color?

[69sinker]

Great build! Keep us up to date.

[Jayschevy]

Nice work...

[RustyVolks]

Motivating!! You guys are getting busy on that thing..

[Chris98]

Originally Posted by coueshunter

Great start and looks great so far! Any idea on color?

Originally Posted by 69sinker

Great build! Keep us up to date.

Originally Posted by Jayschevy

Nice work...

Originally Posted by RustyVolks

Motivating!! You guys are getting busy on that thing..

Thanks guys, it's been a lot of work. But it will be well worth it in the end.

He's planning on painting it a dark metallic forest green.

Over the last 2 weeks he got a lot more of the body work done on the bed and the body work on the fenders is almost complete. We're hoping to get the last of the body panels besides the tail gate in primer within the next two weeks. Truck should be going into paint by the end of March. Then that's when a lot of progress on the truck will begin. As we have most of the parts to put it back together.

This week I got a drive shaft for it. Installed new u joints and got her in paint and installed.

[Chris98]

It's been a long time since an update, but progress has been slow until now. We got the body work on the bed and front clip finished and got it into primer. Got everything mocked up and fitted before paint. Truck left on Sunday to the body shop where the body work will be fine tuned and the truck will be painted. Hoping to have it driving by the end of May.

[Chris98]

Another small update. The trucks at the painters house now. Got the inside of the hood, door jams, fenders and cowl area painted. The color of the truck is a dark candy green. Heater box is bolted in and the front clip is assembled for the last time. Next weekend were renting a paint booth and will have the inside of the cab and the rest of the truck in paint.

[Chris98]

Just got sent some photo from the painter. He got the inside of the cab all painted up.

[mcbassin]

Cool project. Looks like you have covered a bunch of ground in a short period of time.

[Chris98]

Spent the day with the painter today. Got the rest of the truck painted, and cleared. Later this week he's going to cut and buff the truck and it should be headed back home next weekend if all goes well.


Here's the truck in the black base coat.


Where the gas cap use to be.



Look at how straight the hood is.


The roof.


The fender shaved and all straight.


The tailgate.



Laying the first coat of green.


After the green was painted he added a gold coat of pearl over it and layed multiple layers of clear coat.

[Chris98]

I guess this is a little over due for an update. Been real busy on it since it got back from the painters. Got all the glass installed, new wheels, tires, brakes all the way around, buffed the paint, wire harnesses are installed, HEI installed, tach cluster is in, new edelbrock carb. Waiting on some more funds to get some big items ordered (wood floor kit for bed, gas tank, interior upholstery).

Here are some pictures, a little bit old but better then nothing.

[Chris98]

I should probably give you guys a little bit of an update. There really hasn't been to much going on with the truck lately as there's been other projects getting in the way. Just been gathering up more parts to go on it. Ordered up a tach harness for it, just need to get a drill bit to drill the hole in the firewall. Still need to get a engine harness, then the truck will be completely wired up. Got most of the dash put back together and done some small things to it. Having issues with the ebrake cable as it seems to be about 1" to short. Anyways on to pictures.










Purchased a headlight harness upgrade kit and installed the relays behind the battery.

[Chris98]

I'll do a little update to this thread even though it doesn't seem to be getting much attention.


In the last few weeks we got the interior put back together, fuel tank installed and exhaust installed.

[nlped]

Looks really good. I like the interior color choice alot. I'm sub'd...

[RCbowtie69]

Looking good,keep the pictures coming & keep on truckin''

[Tropical Snowstorm]

Looking really good, great job getting it all straight for paint. Pays to be patient before laying down dark colors like that. Keep up the good work!

[Chris98]

Alright it's been almost 2 years since I've posted an update. Life's been busy and there just hasn't been a whole lot done to the truck. We got it running a couple months back, got most of the interior installed, we are currently working on the speaker boxes and radio, my dad refinished the steering wheel and got it looking new again. Found a grill on craigslist for it. I have some mixed feeling about it, but my dad likes it and wants to have it painted the same color as the truck. Got a rear roll pan for it, just need to install it. But other than that it's just been a lot of minor details that have been done. Still need to get a front roll pan, finish the wiring for the radio, find a OEM AM radio in good condition to install in the dash, install front turn signals, and install the wood in the bed and it should be just about done and ready to hit the shows this summer.

On to the pictures and video of it running.

https://youtu.be/EP5nScVBQIc