1969 C10 Stepside

[SRT8-X]

​Lots to catch up on my 1969 C10 stepper build. I've been on before but haven't shared much.

Here's the back story and specs. There has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears in this one over the last 8 years. More to come soon.

My 1969 C10 was purchased by my father in 1992 with 43k original miles, had a rebuilt original 250 CID I6, 3-spd on column, was repainted maroon by the previous owner. Original color was medium olive. It was his daily driver in Houston from 1992-1998. Frame off restoration began in 2000 and has progressed very slowly while it sat in his home shop. Unfortunately my dad passed away in 2016 so I have been on the journey to finish in his memory. I took possession in early 2017 as a painted shell with the core of the drivetrain present. All work below has been conquered since....4200 miles since the build was street worthy.

EXTERIOR:

PPG Persimmon (1957-62 International Harvester OEM color), Dad selected the color inspired by a Mac Tools calendar from 1992, all original factory sheet metal, complete original body with no patches or replacement panels, never any rust or wrecks, original side mount spare fender replaced with full factory fender, Billet Specialties 20”x8.5” Dagger G wheels with staggered offsets, BFG g-Force SportComp-2 T/A tires, 255/50/20 rear and 245/40/20 front, custom aluminum tail-light brackets, LED headlights, parking lamp, side markers, tail / back-up lights, 3rd brake light LED strip with signals and reverse, polished bow tie bedside end caps, new reproduction grille, adjustable billet hood hinges, Mar-K steel rear roll pan, Billet Specialties LED polished license plate frame, custom steel bed floor. About to order the Smokey Road Shop Barnwood aluminum bed floor in gray.

INTERIOR:

Electric Life power windows with billet switches, Electric Life power door lock actuators for RFID keyless proximity entry, Billet Specialties interior door handles, Stock Interiors Silver #527 80/20 loop pile carpet, tank cover and floor mats, Lokar billet gas and brake pedals, 2013 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab power heated bucket seats and 2018 jump seat console with USB power and wireless phone charging in titanium leather, 2013 OEM titanium 3-point seatbelts, matching custom leather door panels with integrated armrest based on 1972 profile panels, custom leather dash pad with 1969 Camaro profile detail, Classic Instruments Silver Gray (SG) series panel with LED backlighting and body color matched billet panel, matching air pressure and trans temp gauges in Offenhauser polished cast aluminum under dash panel, IDIDIT satin gray tilt steering column with billet accessories, Billet Specialties polished steering wheel with gray leather half wrap, JL Audio Stealthbox in center jump seat base. Custom AutoSound OEM appearance Bluetooth head unit with JL Audio 6-channel amplifier, JL Audio C2 components in custom leather kick panels and additional matching JL Audio tweeters in armrest staged at driver / passenger. Vintage air billet electronic AC controls installed, full kit coming soon.

DRIVETRAIN:

‘65 GM (F42) virgin 327 CID with double hump heads, CompCams big mutha thumpr cam, dual beehive valve springs, 1.6 roller rockers, polished Edelbrock Performer EPS intake, black powder coated Edelbrock Performer 600 CFM with electric choke currently tuned to start with an RFID push button, idle through the choke circuit, ready to drive without additional user input, Edelbrock 1721 polished fuel pump, Billet Specialties triangle polished air cleaner with lifelong filter element, Billet Specialties Chevrolet Script cast aluminum valve covers in matte black finish, Billet Specialties matching bowtie round breathers and PCV, Billet Specialties TruTrac front drive system with black anodized components and polished equipment / accessories, polished pump mount power steering reservoir with braided stainless steel fluid lines and anodized AN fittings, Power Master 170 amp alternator, Lokar throttle & kickdown cables, trans and oil dipsticks, Performance Distributors DUI HEI distributor, cap, rotor, dynamodule and high energy coil, Accel 9000-series black ceramic boot plug wires, matte black Billet Specialties wire looms, Autolite AP86 platinum plugs, Derale dual fans and under cab mounted trans cooler, TH350 with Summit 3200 stall, shift kit and Derale cooling trans pan. Optima Red Top battery with custom polished terminals, machined aluminum matte silver ring terminals throughout, power distribution center with terminal strips for hot and ground mounted on the core support under the battery, 0-gauge cabling throughout, all cables and wiring wrapped in black braided loom with shrink wrap and tesa fabric tape on terminations under hood and undercarriage. LG Billet custom modified black anodized fan surround retainers, Mishimoto performance aluminum radiator, Billet Specialties polished plumbing hose ends, high voltage circuit breaker for electrical system. Marshall instruments gauges under hood for oil pressure & vacuum. Slosh tubs or Vannatta Fabrications under hood sheet metal enclosure panels coming soon.

SUSPENSION:

Air bag suspension with Slam Specialties manifold and MC.1 controller, Air Lift Dominator 2600 bags, 3/8 DOT air lines with interior gauges off 1/8” feeders, Belltech Street Performance shocks, Viair 444c compressor, Viair 3 gallon tank, Energy Suspension bump stops, CPP 1-1/8” front and rear sway bars with polyurethane end links and bushings, CPP adjustable rear track bar, CPP drop spindles, lowering blocks, all new MOOG ball joints and tie rod ends, new adjustable tie rod sleeves, all suspension powder coated.

MISC:

All new Painless Performance Chassis Wiring Harness and fan controllers, Digital Guard Dawg RFID keyless entry / push-button start with factory look button in original key bezel, CPP power steering, power brakes with Wilwood burnished tandem master cylinder, low profile custom firewall bracket and booster, CompCams vacuum reservoir, Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve, BAER slotted and drilled zinc plated front rotors, Wilwood D52 black front calipers, powder coated rear drum brakes (Wilwood disc conversion upcoming), Moser Engineering 5-lug axles, Lokar throttle cable conversion, IDIDIT polished steering shaft with Borgeson U-Joint and rag joint, IDIDIT automatic shift cable conversion, heater delete with firewall block-off plate. (again, Vintage Air on the way!)

I'm sure I'm missing something, just sharing! I drive her as much as possible, at least once a week for errands and trying to make time to attend more shows and street meets!

[raggedjim]

Nice stepper! Unique color.

Rg

[cornerstone]

Wow! Looks Great.

[PM Garage]

That truck is incredible. Your dad would be proud.

[Ol Blue K20]

Nice truck!

[loudchevy]

Truck looks great. Nice job putting it together.

[68 C10 Driver]

Very nice build, that color looks fantastic.