My 70 Build

[mccollum007]

Hey guys, just wanted to go ahead and start this thread so I can show my progress and keep everyone updated as move farther along with it. I've grown up around old cars my entire life as both my dad and grandfather have restored cars since before most of these trucks rolled off the assembly line. This truck will be the first chance I've had to truly restore a vehicle of my own and it will be no small undertaking to say the least. I picked this truck up in the hills of Northern Arkansas last fall. It seems to have been a project someone either lost interest in or got overwhelmed with after disassembling and left it for dead. Both rockers and the floor pan had significant rust and the cab corners both needed attention as well but the frame was surprisingly clean as was the rest of the cab. The floor pan has now been replaced and the rockers and cab corners have been tacked in but not final welded yet. We've had a heck of a time getting these patch panels squared up and fitting just like they should. Anyways hopefully I can keep y'all updated as I move through bringing this old truck back to life!

[yuccales]

Looking forward to your build progress. Welcome aboard.

[cornerstone]

Clearly off to the correct start! I'll be watching.

[mccollum007]

Well not a lot to show so far but a little. Trying to clean up some of the mess from one of the previous owners. Sometime in the past someone decided it was a good idea to torch a bunch of holes in the back of frame and bolt up "adapter plates" and run a leaf rear end out of a later model truck. Got all the holes welded back up and smoothed out. Also got a correct coil spring 12 bolt from a 66 C10 and got it rebuilt at a local shop with new 5 lug axles, 3.73 gears and Detroit tru-trac diff.

[mccollum007]

Slowly but surely making progress. Got the back half of the frame cleaned along with the axle and got some paint on it. Nice to see something on this truck painted instead of rusty!

[MikeandCheryl]

Nice work. how are you getting the rust and goo off the frame and diffs? I'm thinking having a sand blaster at ones disposal would be nice, but a grinder and a six pack of different wire wheels and emery flap discs in a drill will work for me - many hours in the saddle for that. That's my next stage - taking something rusty and beat up and cleaning it up worthy of paint. any words of wisdom?

[mccollum007]

Originally Posted by MikeandCheryl

Nice work. how are you getting the rust and goo off the frame and diffs? I'm thinking having a sand blaster at ones disposal would be nice, but a grinder and a six pack of different wire wheels and emery flap discs in a drill will work for me - many hours in the saddle for that. That's my next stage - taking something rusty and beat up and cleaning it up worthy of paint. any words of wisdom?

A sand blaster would definitely be nice but it's just been a combination of various wire and abrasive wheels on my angle grinder and drill. A pressure washer took most of the initial crud off the frame/axle. For tight spots the grinder wheel couldn't reach I've just used some small wire brushes and they seem to work pretty well for getting the rust scale off in those tight spaces. Probably not the fastest or necessarily best method but so far it's turned out good enough for me. For paint I've done two coats of VHT roll bar & chassis epoxy spray paint in satin black and have liked the results so far.

[mccollum007]

Well been a while since I've updated. Been a busy summer and haven't made a ton of progress but have certainly made some. On the body work the drivers side is more or less done besides some final cleanup on a few welds. Passenger side patch panels on the cab corner and rocker are in place and ready to tack in. On the chassis I've got the rear completely buttoned up and got the drivers side of the front end done. Working on tearing down the passenger side now. I'll be glad when I'm done grinding and scraping the 50+ years of grime off!

[May70]

Corner looks good, nice you could patch it low. Ive never been that lucky

[mccollum007]

Made a little more progress lately. Got the heart of this truck fitted in, it's a 6.0 LS with modest cam, flat top pistons and some 799 heads to give it 11.9:1 compression mated to a fresh 4l80e. Should move this old truck plenty good, slowly but surely it's getting there!

[yuccales]

Lot of progress in a month. Looking good.

[May70]

Progress looks good! I love 69/70 but im bias

[mccollum007]

Well been a while since any updates. Haven't made a whole lot of progress lately but did get the cab in primer. Just seeing it all one solid color for the first time was exciting, can't wait to get some actual paint on it.

[Chevys4life]

Nice job on your cab...........it looks really nice!!!!

[Louisvillekytruck]

Looking nice

[68 C10 Driver]

You did a great job on your frame and cab. I hope my frame comes out that nice, I should be starting that soon. I need the weather to cooperate first Anyway, major kudos for the work you have done. I look forward to seeing how your truck turns out.