C10 Fever (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

finally starting my first build thread! not sure if it will qualify as a "build" for a while, but i have big plans for this one. it's in really good mechanical condition (reliable driver), but really needs a complete restoration.

The story of how I found this truck:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=683389

factory options:
- 1968 shortbed fleetside
- custom cab
- 530 black/white two tone
- 396 big block
- turbo hydra-matic
- air conditioning
- full wheel covers
- wood floor
- power steering
- tinted windows
- front and rear chrome bumpers
- front sway bar

SPID:
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i've got a few things planned for the near term, and lots of ideas for long term. might just play it by ear and see what happens, but one thing for sure, BIG BLOCK. also, whatever i do i'm not going to make any mods that can't be undone. as time goes by i seem to have more appreciation for the factory aspects of these trucks, so who knows when i'm old and cranky i may decide to do a factory resto. :lol:

work completed so far (updated7/25/20):
- powdercoated 15x10 (custom bs) and 15x8 steelies & oem dog dish caps
- 295/50r15 and 245/60r15 m/t sportsmans
- 4/5 static drop
- front suspension rebuild and disk brakes
- buddy buckets!
- replaced interior parts with original fawn color parts (dyed to match)
- rebuilt tilt column
- restored dash and glove box door
- all new door & window hardware
- swapped the steel bed floor for a new black wood floor, powdercoated strips & polished hardware
- cleaned up the engine bay, custom firewall a/c delete plates
- wilwood master cylinder
- elec wp, elec fans, 1-wire alt, relocated battery under bed
- 396 hi-perf, dome pistons, 049 heads, XE274H cam, roller rockers, edelbrock performer, demon 625, BB8 headers
- 700r4 trans
- 3.42 gears

on our way home...
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first drive, first gas stop, and first compliment from a stranger...
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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Good luck. Can't wait to see the progress. :burnout:

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Good looking truck!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

thanks! hey did i get that floor shift tilt column from you? i plan on installing it in this truck eventually...


the more i explore this truck the more i find. some good... and some bad...

some good ones... even though the PO swapped in a small block, the original high hump trans cover, 4-core radiator, engine stands, mounts, and radiator shroud are all still there.

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

on the bad side... the "carpet" turned out to be cut out pieces of felt GLUED to the floor and lower door panels. after peeling it out and scraping the silicon off, it looks kind of sorry. that's easy to fix at least. the felt on the passenger door was covering up a carefully cut speaker hole. :lol: only on that door luckily, the driver side is not cut...

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

pulled the 73 buckets out and dropped in my buddy buckets. they need to be overhauled, but for now this works for me...

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pulled out the 60-66 steering wheel and after a good scrubbing put a fawn one in from a 67 cst i had laying around.

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got some drop spindles in a trade, cleaned them up and painted them last night. one piece of the 4/6 puzzle...

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so i have a question for you guys here. i have a pair of parchment door panels from a 50th anniversary truck. i put them in to see what they would look like. this truck was originally black and white, so i was thinking of doing a black & white interior/exterior. but it seems like too much contrast to me. i'd love some opinions.

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Do the black and white. It will be a lot of contrast but it will really pop. My 68 interior is blue with red door panels and red dash. Keep it interesting. Plus it's your truck and your build don't make it look like everyother truck out there, make it look like yours.

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Just my opinion, I like the factory black combo, but I would go with the black interior and do fawn vinyl. Now I agree the parchment looks nice but the fawn will look cleaner with actually driving the truck and fawn is a combo that will look really 60's and factory but it's something most people don't do anymore as they go to red/blue/parchment (white). Pretty cool to have one of the first 1/2 ton trucks Chevy ever put a Big Block in.

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

You sure did! Are you gonna put it in your truck? Anyways good looking truck man glad you found one!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

thanks neighbor. i actually already started buying some original fawn pieces. i liked the idea of white vinyl, but seeing it installed didn't seem right. my truck came as you described from the factory so i can't go wrong.

yep! gonna keep it auto, but with a floor shifter.

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

fawn visors, door panels, seat belts, dash pad, and wheel installed. i like it a lot better. now i just need to find some a/c bezels, arm rests, and a center seat belt.

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had to put my 6-year old to work of course... :lol:

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Cool build, I'm in.

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Just wondered how long your 6 year old has been smoking?:) Cool build!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Subscribed!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

That truck has very good bones and be a real winner when you get done. A 396 swb with factory AC are key. :cong:

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Cool truck!!! I'm in

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

well i don't have any good updates, i've been working on selling some parts to build up my truck fund. i did get my custom backspace 15x10's on order a few weeks ago. and i bought an ac dash in pretty good shape. can't decide if i'll replace the whole dash or try to just repair the radio section.

i wanted to share this pic i took the other morning. it had just rained and my ugly primer looked pretty darn good. made me think i need some maaco in the near future. it's gonna be a LONG time before i can afford a quality paint job, and i want some color bad.

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Good looking truck there. I'll follow along

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

I like it ,Im in.

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Nice Truck!!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

thanks guys. i got some parts sold and out of the way so the truck made it into the shop finally. ordered a bunch of suspension parts. the tires and front wheels should be here tomorrow. it will be a month more for the rear wheels from wheel vintiques. once those arrive i'm gonna tear into the suspension.

i'm still trying to decide between POL and ECE for 5" drop springs, adjustable track bar, and shock relocator kit. i can save a few bucks going POL but i don't have any info on the quality. any feedback would be appreciated...

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

295's. yeehaw. so i have all the tires and the front wheels. it will still be a few weeks for the rear wheels. still trying to decide what track bar and shock parts i want (overthinking it for sure). once i get everything here i'll tear into it.

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in the mean time i took apart the gauge cluster. doing some cleaning and touchup, and replacing a few parts from spares laying around.

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

i tried some argent silver (or so i thought) on the bezel trim trying to imitate a 67 bezel. i bought some textured black to do the center next. but for some reason the silver doesn't look right to me. too dull. it has no shine at all. going to have to try some more options...

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Sub'd. We have been waiting a long time for this haha

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Watchin

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

I'll follow along.

If you like the silver color on the gauge panel, you can just get some clear coat and spray that over the silver. Either way, looks like you'll be buying more paint.

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

What wheel off set did you get? Is there a special offset needed for 10" wheels?

Where did you order your tires from?

Keep up the good work!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

thanks! haven't really done much yet but hopefully soon... :)

the standard BS for the 15x10's i ordered is 4.5". i had it changed to 5.25". essentially that will put the outside edge of the tire in the same location as the 275/60's that were on the truck in the photos earlier in this thread. the extra tire width will move inward. if i measured correctly, the space between the tires and the inner wheel tub should be about 1.25".

i got the tires from summit. free shipping...

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

that's a good idea. i already re-sprayed it with some "aluminum" color i had laying around. if i don't like the look if it i will retry that argent with some clear.

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

well most of the parts for the suspension rebuild are now in hand, so i tore into the front. i stripped a brake line fitting, but otherwise everything came off pretty easily. the brake rotors have some pretty major grooves, so i think i'm going to buy a complete disc brake kit.

next is some cleaning and then i need to find some por15. the wheels are off being powdercoated. i'm still fiddling with the gauge bezel and glove box door paint. getting a little frustrated, but i think i'm getting close.

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Looks like some good progress

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

I believe the factory rotor had one deep groove somewhere near the center of the brake surface. If that's the groove you're talking about, no worries. But if you want to go with a big brake setup, now's a great time to do so!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

interesting. i didn't even think about the fact that it was on both sides of the rotor, and may have been on both rotors now that you mention it. i'm going to replace them anyway so it's all new, but not enough $$$ at this time for the big brakes... :smoke:

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Very nice looking truck to start with, I'm really going to enjoy following along with your build.
Subscribed....

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

how about a glove box door makeover? 67 style.

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

There's a lot of options on brakes.

The stock front disc/rear drum setup on 71 and newer, are a pretty good way to go (73 and newer are same as 71 and 72's), especially when compared to the 4 wheel drum stuff previous.

Just my POV, I'll be installing factory type front disc on my 67 and 68, and not look back.

You can use D153 on calipers that use D52 pads. They were light duty 3/4 ton pads on pickups in the 70's and 80's. They have a little more surface area than the D52's.

Keep up the great work!!!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

thanks, that's where i'm leaning too. i'll look into the D153's, i am intrigued.

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

Nice work on the glovebox door!

Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

thanks!

finally wrapped up the gauge bezel...

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Re: project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb)
 

I've always liked he look of the painted bezel vs the chrome aftermarket