'69 C10 - Black on Black

[MDPotter]

With the completion (or as complete as they will ever be) of my dad's 64 C10 and my 68, it's time to start another build. I came across this truck locally - the previous owner indicated that he had bought the truck in Arizona and he had put a lot of time and money into it but for one reason or another hasn't really worked on it in a couple years and finally decided to offload it. It's a pretty low-option 69 C10 LWB and it's got very little rust compared to most of these trucks.

This project is going to take longer than my 68 though. I was so motivated to get my 68 done that I probably neglected some things. But now that we both have our trucks, we can go a little slower on this one and go the extra mile on a few aspects. And with the wedding coming up in October, I've been spending time getting ready for that.

Here is a list of the work that has been done to it:
-Original 350 has been rebuilt to 383 and a rebuilt TH400 put behind it
-Front disc brake conversion with 2.5" drop spindles
-Rear disc brake conversion
-New grille
-Repop outer fenders
-New carpet
-Aftermarket seats
-Intellitronix gauges
-Stock replacement radiator with dual electric fans
-Side fill rear-mount tank
-Power windows (not installed)

In the beginning, we had talked about keeping this one low-budget and converting it to SWB but quickly decided to tear it apart and make a really nice truck. Our tentative plans for it:
-SWB conversion (we were able to find a factory shortbed assembly locally)
-Rear drop springs
-5 lug conversion
-Replace 383/TH400 with Gen V LT powertrain
-Boyd's tank
-Vintage Air
-Black paint job
-Install rear sport bumper
-Dakota Digital gauges
-Install factory outer fenders (already have a set from Dennis)

And a few ideas we've been kicking around:
-Do something about the seats. They provide good legroom, but the color is terrible and they just don't look good.
-Smooth the bumpers and paint them black
-Smooth the firewall
-Repair the factory radio opening or install a double DIN unit
-Altman door latches
-Paint the engine bay and cab interior a satin black, exterior gloss black

Here it is the day we brought it home:

[MDPotter]

We scored a factory shortbed that is in great shape locally and got a couple factory fenders from Dennis.

[MDPotter]

The truck has mostly been sitting since we picked it up in February, but last weekend we officially started the teardown.

Looking at the pictures from the previous owner, the bed looked to be in good shape and for a minute I considered cutting it down. But upon closer inspection, it's pretty rough. The bed floor has a lot of rust, the front panel is bowed, the tailgate is bowed and dented, both sides have a big dent or two, there is a huge hole cut in the floor and side for the side fill, and someone committed some sort of crime welding something on at the stake pockets. So we took the bed off and sent it to scrap, but kept a few small parts.

A few things I've noticed about the truck so far:
-It's got a 12 bolt and coils/trailing arms so I'm happy about that.
-There is some weird bracket on the passenger side trailing arm and it looks like maybe there was one on the driver side but like it's been cut off. What would this have been?
-It appears that there are two sets of holes for the bumper brackets so I was glad to see that as well.
-The rear upper shock brackets are not very secure. In fact, the passenger side bracket is loose (the rivets are wollered out in the holes) and the driver side has been welded on. Good thing we have shock relocation brackets to clean this up.

[1971Stepside]

Gonna be fun to watch you do another one.

[1stchevy]

Cool project and a nice truck to start with

[68Gold/white]

That bracket could have been for factory load springs. THey were 1/2 leaf springs bolted to the frame. the other end came in contact with that pad when enough of a load was put in the bed. Someone had a set for sale here. Someone beat me to the punch buying them, though...

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

That bracket could have been for factory load springs. THey were 1/2 leaf springs bolted to the frame. the other end came in contact with that pad when enough of a load was put in the bed. Someone had a set for sale here. Someone beat me to the punch buying them, though...

The SPID does have an option for HD rear springs and I was curious how that worked on coil trucks.

[68Gold/white]

Go to the parts for sale section. THe overload I'm talking about, just sold a couple of days ago. There are pictures.
The end of the 1/2 leaf normally rides about 3-4 inches above that pad on your bracket.
My knowledge of having heavy duty springs on any of these pickups, is the coil springs themselves being heavy duty. My 67 and 68 both have the Heavy Duty rear springs on the SPID, neither have the overload pad, like yours.
THe SPID code for the heavy duty springs on my 67 and 68 is 4G50BA

The SPID code on yours is 4G50AA. i wonder what the difference is???

My Dad had a 68 C10. It had the overlaod leafs on it, EXCEPT the leafs contacted the top of the axle tube when loaded. It road like it had NO suspension when it had a heavy load....

[Camaroguy]

Awesome!

[sprint_9]

Black paint job caught my eye, I would someday like to try my hand at one as well. You going single stage or BC/CC?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by sprint_9

Black paint job caught my eye, I would someday like to try my hand at one as well. You going single stage or BC/CC?

Probably BC/CC. I'm just not a single stage guy.

[rodstored-72]

MDPotter, well!! .. it's about time you got busy again!!! man! that is a nice base. I look foward to following along ...

[cornerstone]

So glad you're starting another truck build! Black will be more challenging (or so they say) but I bet it'll be as sweet a ride as the others!

[Low Elco]

In for the ride!

[MDPotter]

The truck is torn down about as far as we are taking it. Every body panel, with the exception of the fenders and the tailgate, is at the blaster right now. One of the previous owners had butchered a hole in the trans hump for a shifter so we'll have to patch that up.

We've changed our approach on this one. After listing the 383/TH400 for sale for some time we just couldn't get the money out of it to make an LS swap feasible so we're going to keep the truck more original and try to cut the cost a little bit and make it more affordable for the eventual buyer but still make a nice truck. So that means a few things:
-Keep the 383/TH400
-No LED lighting
-Clean (pressure wash) and wire wheel the chassis in preparation for Chassis Saver (front portion has already been repainted)
-Full Vintage Air system (compressor that came with it is compatible)
-Repair the dash so an Autosound radio can be installed
-Cab rust repair
-Install a thicker radiator and aluminum shroud and fans
-Convert to top fill tank
-Re-integrate the side marker lights in the bedsides (someone had made an attempt at shaving them previously)

Other ideas we're undecided on:
-Paint the seats that came with it or use the bench seat frame from my 68, get new foam and a cover
-Keep the Intellitronix digital gauges or restore the cluster from my 68
-Single stage or base/clear paint
-Keep the floor shifter or convert to column shift

Next steps: frame shortening, rear suspension drop, frame cleanup and paint.

[Scurry67]

Looking forward to the build!

[Low Elco]

Wow, as beat as that truck is, and it's got that crazy front drive on it. Who knew? I would recommend an OD trans. Makes the highway much nicer.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Wow, as beat as that truck is, and it's got that crazy front drive on it. Who knew? I would recommend an OD trans. Makes the highway much nicer.

We have all the receipts from the previous owner and it's sad that after all that expense it's still only half done. That serpentine drive cost as much as the rebuilt 4L80E I put in my 68.

[68Gold/white]

Did they throw in the chain saw, that they used to cut the hole in the trans hump???

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

Did they throw in the chain saw, that they used to cut the hole in the trans hump???

Sure sign of a struggle. I didn't take a picture of the patch that was over it - some kind of shiny tin riveted on.

[MDPotter]

Progress on this truck has been slow - getting ready for the wedding and the rear end swap on my 68 has been taking up time the past few weekends. We got the cab back from the blaster and dove into rust repair. I've kind of been dreading it, but once we got going it wasn't bad. This truck has less rust than my 68 and with the experience on that one we got a lot done in a day. Also got the frame shortened.

[1971Stepside]

Good progress. Tell me it is better the second time around? I about pulled the trigger on a short 4x4 this weekend, but space is my issue.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

Good progress. Tell me it is better the second time around? I about pulled the trigger on a short 4x4 this weekend, but space is my issue.

Oh yeah, the project in general goes much faster and easier with all of the lessons learned. To be specific, I can do the rust repair on these trucks at least twice as fast this time around. The quickest/easiest way to do the cab is to use a cutoff wheel to take off the outer rocker, then you can see what you're working with underneath. Then cut everything out of the way (as little as needed) and start attaching the new sheetmetal.

[Low Elco]

Looks good!

[MDPotter]

Spent some time on the chassis on Saturday. C-notch is ready to go in - cuts are made and holes are drilled. Also installed the 5" drop springs, new u-bolts, new upper and lower spring retainers, and removed the old upper shock mounts. After all that, gave it a pressure wash and degreaser outside and getting ready to paint the frame. Still need to do some more degreasing and a little wire wheel work, but it's close.