1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

This is my newly inherited 1976 C-10. My Dad bought this new in late '75 & has had it ever since. He daily drove it for many years then about 10 years ago he did a resto & used it more for shows & cruise nights.
He recently came down with a medical condition that doesn’t allow him to drive anymore so I have inherited it a little early.
I am very excited about getting the truck since I have grown up in & around the truck… (he’s had this truck longer than I’ve been around).
I have been trying to talk my Dad out of the truck since I was about 14.

Below is how the truck was when he quit showing it a year or so ago.
He did a full resto of the truck himself about 10 years ago. He did everything (including paint & body) except the interior himself.

It has all original sheet metal, original trim (polished out), original motor & trans (350 w/ 350 turbo) & still has just 83K miles on it.
The motor was gone thru when he restored it & has a later model surpentine setup on it.

It's lowered down about 6/8 with Western Chassis parts.

I am planning on giving the truck a quick update so I can enjoy it & take it to some show & cruise nights this year.
I am going to change the interior, side mirrors, & wheels. I also am going to do something different under the hood.

Then I plan to do a full build in the future.


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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Here is the bed & the relocated gas filler for the blazer gas tank.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

The original invoice... (with a few things blocked out :lol:)

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

that is a mighty fine looking truck right there! I'm going to stay tuned see what comes of it!! Just wow, gorgeous truck, sorry to hear with what happened with your dad but at least it's staying in the family, and you'll know it's taken care of and won't be bashed out or anything like that. The engine bay is just beautiful! You can tell there's been hours, hours, and hours of work put into the truck!

I hope I can get my 77 cleaned up that way!

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

I like the restuarant food pan for the filler, it's cool to see people use non-traditional things that can be purchased to finish little details like that.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

A shot I took with the phone the other day of it sitting in my Dad's shop...
I didnt notice til now you can see some of the trophies he's won with it in the background...

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Holy smoke!!! That's a lot of trophies!! Did your dad take it locally only or did he travel to other states for shows?
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Just local shows... he never took it out of state or to any big name shows.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Oh okay, well y'all hav quite the trophy collection man looking forward to seeing more!!
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Interior tear out from the weekend...

The black stuff above the windshield is a black glue of some sort looked almost like rust on the computer...

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Dash pad installed...

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Door panel test fit...

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Sneak preview of where the interior is headed....

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

I know you stated that you were going to freshen it up, and put possibly a different motor in it, but what's your plans for it?

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Motor wise all I will be doing this go round is just some cosmetic changes & possibly a new carb.

It runs too good to mess with right now plus I will be keeping the motor & tranny in it since it is the original stuff.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Wow that's awesome!! Well I'm staying tuned into this one and see what it looks like when your done!

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Just the simple interior changes will make it look totally different. Looks good with the way your Dad finished it out.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Dang you move quick! I had already formulated a plan for you when I looked at the first pic...then I read down to your plan and you're in luck because I now approve so you may move forward!

That truck with the tweed interior and the father/son connection reminds me of a sad story unfortunately, I hope you don't mind if I share. A friend of mine and his Dad built several trucks. One was a square body in the pastel color and tweed interior time period. Their body shop has several magazine cover builds, to give you an idea. Anyway, Jason passed away in a tragic accident when we were in college and I keep in touch with his family. His dad couldn't stand the sight of the square body but couldn't bear the thought of getting rid of it either so he decided to have it literally built into the barn. It been sitting inside of 4 walls with no doors or light, under cover for probably 10 years now. A teal '78-ish swb with grey tweed interior.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Thanks Leevon! Glad you are on board.

Sad story... I definitely have an emotional attachment to this truck.
Despite my current trend of buying & selling trucks this one will not be going anywhere.

It's going to be a cool truck after the update (not that it isn't pretty cool now) & it will be bad ass in the future when I do a full build on it.
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Got a set of sport mirrors yesterday from Classic Parts.
I think they are going to work out to cover the existing mirror holes.

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

I'm in :metal:
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

GREAT looking truck.
You have "the touch",... when it comes to updating a truck!

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

First, sorry to hear about your dad. It is nice of him to hand it down to you though. That was a pretty nice truck to start with and you are taking it to a new level now. Can't wait to see what is next.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Thanks!

Thank you. I appreciate that!

Thank you!
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

What a great looking truck!

Can't wait to see this thing come together. Keep the pictures and updates coming.

Give our best to your dad.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Got a little done yesterday. I got the new mirrors installed. They may not be in the exact factory location but the look better and used or covered the exsisting holes.

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Got a few of the interior pieces from the old interior that I am going to reuse painted black....

The cover for the panel below back glass...

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The storage shelf for behind the seat...

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Keeps getting better!
Side mirrors are a huge improvement.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Great updates!

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Thanks guys!

I need to paint the interior plastics next weekend & then I can put it all together.

The truck is probably going to be on rally's for this year.
The 17's tires are shot & I don't want to run those wheels anyways.
I have the original factory rally's for this truck so I plan putting tires on them soon.
The budget probably won't allow cool big wheels at this time.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Cool truck and neat story! Sorry to hear about your dad's health. Do you have any more pics or details on the fuel full setup? That's a nice alternative to exterior body work.
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Is that a re purposed pan your using to cover you fill on the gas tank?

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

It looks like one of these that you might find at a restaurant.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

It is a restaurant supply pan. Correct.

It has a blazer tank between the rear frame rails with a custom built filler neck.
The pan was added because the neck needed more height to be able to fill the gas tank with fast flowing gas pumps.
Before he raised it you could only pump gas very slowly.
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Got a little done yesterday...

Got the carpet all installed, the rear shelf installed, door panels installed, & some new speakers in the door that are a little more flush & better looking grille.

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Also, snapped a pic of the original paper tag & the front dealer tag...

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Got the new steering wheel from Summit yesterday...

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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Cool! We almost got the exact same wheel for my son's truck. He decided on one from Fover Sharp that we got on eBay.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Any pics of the rally's on it yet
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

No. Haven't gotten tires yet.
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Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Love that original documentation... :D

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Wow! I'm liking this one. The interior and the mirrors really change the look of the truck. The rallies will look really nice.

Re: 1 Owner 1976 SWB
 

Thanks... It's pretty cool to have all that stuff.

Thank you