Sleeper 1970

[7071lwb]

About a year ago I was on my way to work and saw this truck. It was titled as a 1970 C10 but had the 71-72 grille and front disc brakes. I was told it came off a farm in North Carolina so I am not sure when the conversion happened.

I also had this rendering done.

Then I found this truck for sale for $1200, and 500 of that was just for the drivetrain. It already had a high hump from the 3 speed that used to be in it and the cab was in much better shape, especially around the windshield.

Truck currently has a mostly stock 350 and a turbo 350. It barely runs and the wiring is hacked but it moves. Since I bought this stepside I have been buying all the parts I can find off craigslist. A mint front clip, a bed, another hood, various pieces of sheetmetal, wheels and some other drivetrain related parts.

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My plans with this truck is to lower it the right way with drop spindles and lowering springs instead of the heated ones it has now. I also want four wheel disc brakes to help stop it. For the drivetrain I'm planning on a standard 350 but with a B&M 144. Transmission will be a T-56. I already have a used blower and transmission. I'm hoping somebody giving the truck a passing glance wont notice some of these parts and will just assume I have another old, slow truck. It will be fun to surprise people at an autocross track and at red lights.

My only hold up so far is the rear frame. I recently sold the bed that came off the truck and saw that its pretty much shot so I'm trying to decide whether or not to go with a Nolimit frame rail set or get a used frame and swap/weld where needed. I'm not sure where to go on this since the front half of my frame is in real good shape and I hate to see any parts from these trucks just get scrapped.
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[GR8-68]

Looks like a great start to a cool project. You can dix that frame, that is a common place for them to rust, drill out those rivets and see the underlying damage.

[7071lwb]

The frame is rusted through from the first bed mount back. I've tried searching on the forum but could not find very much about repairing this much of the frame.

[7071lwb]

Finally had time to do some work to the truck this weekend so I pulled the old front clip off and put my other one on.
Hood off

Everything off

New fenders, radiator support,etc

Finished product



I'm thinking I will put the 1970 grille back on but I'm still not sure yet. I have decided to go with a No Limit rear rail kit though to fix the rear frame. Hoping to either fix the cab this winter or get the suspension done.

[7071lwb]

Time for an overdue update.
NoLimit Frame Rails fresh out of the box:


Disassembly:


No turning back now:



Here's where things start to go downhill. Got the frame rails on and realized they are made to fit over a straight section of frame, not a curved section like on a stock short bed frame. Also had some issues with holes lining up on the crossmembers. After modifying the frame I got it mostly together and will just make my own crossmember.
Truck also got new trailing arms and the rear bags mounted.

Got it rolled outside eventually and threw a bed I had laying around to see how everything looked. The front is sitting on the bumpstops(PO's work, not mine.) The bed floor also needs to be raised 4 inches still.


A couple weeks ago the cab came off. Its a little worse than I thought but still workable, although I am going to keep an eye out for a better one. Apparently I forgot to get pictures of the cab on the dolly but I will tomorrow. I'm hoping to get it sandblasted soon and to get the frame squared up and welded so that I can get that blasted too. I also need to find a gas tank since the blazer tank I bought won't fit in between the frame rails anymore.