69 C20 Daily Driver build

[MAC71]

I have been in the process of rebuilding my 71 C10 which has been my driver for years. I needed something else to drive and wanted to find a truck with a wood bed to use on the 71. Well I found this 1969 C20 396 cid with a TH400 that needed a lot of work on the cab, but the PO had also bought a solid cab to replace the rusted out one. I paid $1000 for the truck and cab last week. My plan is to do a quick build and use this to get to work until the 71 is finished. During the week after work I welded up holes in the fire wall that some one added and painted the fire wall. I had tried 3 different colors and ended up with the dark olive green paint code 506.
This weekend I pulled the truck apart, cleaned it, built 1/2 the exhaust system and got the cab on.

[MAC71]

Old spare

[MAC71]

2nd fuel tank

[MAC71]

Working on paint and body work. On a iPad so just going to add some photos

[MAC71]

[MAC71]

What color should I paint the wheels. I am leaning towards semi gloss black.

[mjensen]

Wow! You don't screw around! That is looking great. I like the idea of black on the wheels.

[MAC71]

Originally Posted by mjensen

Wow! You don't screw around! That is looking great. I like the idea of black on the wheels.

I dont have time to screw around on this one. I need it out of the garage and on the road. I need to use it to drive to work and need the room in the garage for working on the other truck. But it is not going as fast as I wish it would as I have only had a little bit of time to work on it.
Thank you for the compliment.

[MAC71]

I cleaned up the front inner wheel wells. I had to weld a few patches and take a large dent out of one. Not to worried about getting them to bare mettle as its a daily driver and I am hoping that the KBS rust seal paint works well on them.



worked a bit more on the finders and I am ready to prime them and final block sand, and started working on welding in patches on the doors.



I had soaked the emblems in paint stripper and cleaned them up. My 12 year old daughter just finished painting them.

[MAC71]

Worked for about 4 hours today on the truck. Replaced the intake manifold and exhaust gaskets, painted a few parts and cleaned a bunch of parts. I had a 1 1/16 sway bar with poly bushings that I had left over from the other truck that I installed and put new cab mounts on.

[65standard]

It's coming out great. Thanks for sharing.

[MAC71]

Just looked up the numbers that are stamped on the block. It is a 1970 350 hp 396 from a chevelle.

Painted a few more parts




Also went to the parts store and they don't have a gasket for the intake to carb or the o rings for the power steering pump.

['68 Newtricks]

nice progress!!!

[MAC71]

Originally Posted by '68 Newtricks

nice progress!!!

Thank you

[MAC71]

Have family from out of state so only worked on it a little early this morning. Installed the heater Box, and the front and rear glass and rebuilt the hinges. Out of paint thinner for my spray gun so just painted the door hinges black. Thinking about taking them apart and painting them green later but because of being in a big hurry with this build may just leave them black. Finished cleaning the engine brackets and painting them and did a few little things like installing valve covers and thermostat.

[MAC71]

I started making this for my 71 c10 but I had the gaps to tight and the metal strip expanded causing it to bow a bit. I am going to get it looking decent and use it on this truck.

[MAC71]

The cab I am using is from a 68 and has the hand lever parking brake. I want to use the foot pedal parking brake but discovered that there are more modifications than just drilling the mounting holes and a hole fore the cable. It turns out that I need a 1/4 in recessed area in the fire wall and would have to move the hole for the fuse box. Easy if I did it before painting the fire wall but not now as I would have to reaping the fire wall. Will use the hand lever park brake.

[mjensen]

That is turning out awesome!

[MAC71]

Worked on the truck for an hour today, finished the hinges, cleaned up a old air cleaner and cleaned up and painted a few other small parts.

Also did a little bit more research on the engine and but the engine stamping it is a 396 350 HP for a camaro or chevelle but the heads are from a 366. Only drove the truck one time and it seemed to have lots of torque but wonder how its going to run with those heads.

[MAC71]

Got a little bit more finished yesterday after work. Most of the engine stuff is finished. Just needs to be wired and fluids.
I am going with a 10si alternator and getting rid of the mechanical voltage regulator one. Also added a 7 blade fan and clutch.
I bought a fuel tank from a forum member today and tomorrow I am going to get back to the body work.

[mjensen]

I must say, I hope my 10 year project turns out half as nice as your daily driver build!

[Sicklajoie]

Looking good!

[MAC71]

Originally Posted by mjensen

I must say, I hope my 10 year project turns out half as nice as your daily driver build!

My C20 is just being assembled as quick as I can, trying to make it nice but not perfect. I sure yours will be way nicer. We should meet up some time, I would like to see your truck.

[MAC71]

Originally Posted by Sicklajoie

Looking good!

Thank you

[MAC71]

Finished the metal work on the doors. Need to get some more filler tomorrow to cover my welds. As this is a quick build I used flange and did lap joints and not but joints, means more to fill. I also primed the fenders and a few other parts.