Project Derail

[Mazoh77]

I started my C10 journey about three weeks ago when i bought Gertude. Gertrude is a slow, rusted out rusted out work truck and is exactly the kind of project i wanted.

https://imgur.com/vkoQSVA

as i dug into it it became clear that she needed a whole new cab in a big way. i'm a welder, i can fix it, but as i joined various facebook C10 groups i came across a very nice cab for sale.

https://imgur.com/a/HK4lq

i took a look at it and decided to buy it on the spot because the 450 i spent on the green cab was WAY cheaper than all the panels and shipping i would have to cough up to properly fix my blue one, and that's before all the welding supplies and extra electrical cost it would take to weld mine back up proper.

the guy i bought it from (a solid guy who i would call a friend now) had the rest of the truck and was going to make a trailer out of the bed and frame. after doing a ton of reading about the legality of a cab swap i offered to trade him my enclosed 5x8 trailer for the rest of what was left of the green truck, and just rebuild that whole thing instead. so here i am three weeks into C10's and i have two trucks. the plan right now is to drive and use the blue one all winter as is and work on the green one as i have time. it has been quite a trip already just getting everything to the house.

https://imgur.com/cfI4FUd

https://imgur.com/gVkuH2R

i had to take my only other car (a 1977 chevy nova hatchback) to lowes and pick up some lumber and hardware to rig up a quick gantry to try and get the thing outta my bed. i don't own an engine hoist and this made better financial sense (money is gonna be tight with this build)

https://imgur.com/Y2RcIcb

i had to weld some chain to the cab to get a solid lift point

https://imgur.com/ddGp2HT

it worked, but just by the skin on our teeth. turns out i need more supports for my sketchy home made gantry. that bar across the top was straight when we started.

https://imgur.com/1SyZf06

https://imgur.com/DG8TRt0

https://imgur.com/HlDVHUU

https://imgur.com/6KHDWoh

i also got a running driving straight 6 and three speed in the deal too! i want the green truck to be more of a commuter so an inline is just fine with me for now.

https://imgur.com/NyXVDfM


a couple days later with some convincing i got my dad and brother to come out with a flatbed and get the frame,parts, and bed. we forgot to grab a come-along so the shop owner was awesome and helped push it on with a forklift

https://imgur.com/HcqzaT6

after all that i fabbed up a quick cart to set the cab on so i could roll it into my tiny little garage. i didn't realize the cab frame was wider in back so i had to add that extra wide piece. it ended up working great!

https://imgur.com/emXn1Za

https://imgur.com/3xG8EN0

now that the cab is in my shop i can start doing the little bit of metalwork it needs before it's ready to be re-attached to the frame (which is now in my yard, i'm THAT neighbor now, haha)

and one last shot of how crammed my space is for the time being.

https://imgur.com/6vMop0K

i call this project derail because i'm not even working on the truck i originally intended to. funny how things turn out sometimes, right? once the green one is in decent driving shape i'm gonna either fix up or sell the blue one. haven't decided yet.

i didn't grow up working on cars, i only really started about a year ago and there is a LOT that i don't know. i'm going to have a lot of questions and i know the old threads on this site are a goldmine of great information about these awesome old trucks, i promise to try and find that info before wasting anyone's time asking things that have been answered 6000 times. i'm really excited to get started.

[Orange67]

Sounds like a cool adventure. Good luck, be patient with yourself, and have as much fun as humanly possible.

[Zeroman]

Welcome to the club....My name is "Orange67", and I am a C10 addict".

[Mazoh77]

Progress! had a couple buddies help me get the bed off and then we got the front bit back on! the frame appears to be in great shape overall so i'm pretty happy about that.

https://imgur.com/a/zCcMx

[Mazoh77]

mooore progress! it was raining today so i turned my attention to the cab i got sitting in my garage. the floor is in much better shape than the blue truck and probably would have been fine for a good while i decided to tear into it anyways. took a grinder to the passenger side and found some holes, then got to work cutting and welding. i don't have the money for those awesome pre-made floor patches so i'm working with what i got lying around.

the forum picture uploader doesn't wanna cooperate with me so here's an imgur album with the pictures i took today:

https://imgur.com/a/s7Kar

[Hotcorner]

[mud.man.rj]

Keep posting your work, like the sound of the project and good to have bud's to help.
Mudman.

[Mazoh77]

thanks guys! i'll probably have more to post saturday or sunday!

[FRCvette]

Great work so far. Keep posting your progress I will keep watching.

[Mazoh77]

did some more floor work this last saturday. i didn't take enough time to properly fit the new piece in so i ended up having to fill the gap with already too thick for small sheet metal .035 wire so it looks bad. plenty strong though, and once the carpet is in i won't care anyways, i'm definitely not out to make this thing a show truck. i also did some work to the drivers side floor as well but it wasn't nearly as much so no picture. i'm kinda at a full stop until i can spare the money to buy a whole cab+core support mount set from LMC. the pile of parts i got didn't include those! after that i can scour junkyards for missing stuff and make more progress faster.

[Mazoh77]

slow progress, but progress nonetheless!

LMC didn't have what i needed in stock so i ordered a set of whole truck mounts from GMCPAULS. they seem to be pretty nice but i have no frame of reference otherwise. got the core support installed, not sure how tight to make the mounts.

https://imgur.com/T2gHyPt

speaking of mounts this truck came with two sets of motor mounts, and looking at the frame there are two different places to install them? anyone know off the top of their head what configuration works for what engine? i'm not sure what used to be in this thing last time it actually ran and drove.

https://imgur.com/QpVcMTM

that's really all i can do right now though because i gotta get the drive train figured out. i got a straight 6 that supposedly runs fine along with a three speed manual transmission with the sale, the cab for this truck was set up for an automatic so i don't really want to use the manual transmission with all the extra work that would be. my other truck is a 4 speed and it's fun everywhere but the city with traffic where i live. i was all for it until finding out that those 6's don't really get mileage all that great compared to a 350 anyways so i'm debating saving up for a used 350. i got a line to a turbo 350 long shaft transmission too once i pick an engine.

https://imgur.com/4hPoGRh

also, this truck came with AC. looking at it i think i have maybe half of the complete system so i think i'd like to just convert it to heat only, it's washington so i don't really need AC and i don't want to hunt down all the odds and ends for it. does the heater core and fan box directly swap on these trucks or is there a big difference in the firewall from standard to AC?

[Barnfind46]

There are differences in the firewall between a heat only and a factory A/C truck. You can do a search on here and you should come up with the info. On the core support, you can snug them up for the time but when you reinstall your cab and sheet metal it may need to be loose to get your fenders and hood set right. Good luck!

[Mazoh77]

awesome, i'll do some digging through these forums then. thanks!

[Mazoh77]

what a great day it has been! earlier this week i was cruising CL and noticed a 350/350 combo for sale for $500. emailed the guy and he took forever to get back to me to say that he had someone already on the way to buy it. didn't really see anything else on CL that i could actually afford so i posted a quick "hey i'm looking for an engine, as complete as possible" on the facebook page Northwest C10s. that blew way up and i got an engine the very next day! (literally last night!) got a sweet looking 60's 327 (as far as i can tell from google and the numbers on the block) and a turbo 350 for $500!

https://imgur.com/znkfw20

AND another guy had a nice cammed short block for free because he thought it was complete when he initially went to sell it to me so i came home with 2 engines!

https://imgur.com/tcWWgqs

https://imgur.com/c9Jo00c

i got up early this morning and hit the local NAPA/westbay and got engine mounts and some hardware (and great advice from the counter dude, love that place) and got straight to work. i built a very quick and honestly really sketchy gantry when i started this project, before i could do anything this morning i had to bust out my welder and make some reinforcements for one side. luckily i had some scraps laying around that fit the bill perfectly

https://imgur.com/BMok8Xf

https://imgur.com/nbSIDTM

that done i lifted the block up, and installed the started from the other block on it, since the 327 didn't come with one. then removed the manual bell housing and clutch plate and got the automatic flex plate installed. then i put the new motor mounts on which required me to take the header off on the driver side to get to it. that also meant removing the strange looking cobbled together alternator set up on there, so i gotta go buy another one of those soon.

https://imgur.com/JNqS0q7

https://imgur.com/jQy6rTO

https://imgur.com/to2D59G

got the block installed on the frame, never done that before so that was a real adventure for me

https://imgur.com/ZWpBN14

the transmission went on pretty well too. i did have to drill a hole for the mount though, it was slightly off, i think i may not have the right transmission cross-member. anyone got a clear picture of the one meant for the turbo350?

https://imgur.com/Csh1uYY

that didn't take too long to type out, but man this was a whole day for me. lotta firsts for me. i'm really happy with how it went.

https://imgur.com/cdIvmGn

https://imgur.com/Vbws2Pv

https://imgur.com/cg6c0Pt


here's the whole image album if you want!

https://imgur.com/a/z6Q16

[Mazoh77]

today was the day! finally got the cab on the frame! took a couple tries with my sketchy gantry, but it worked! next step is finding some headers for this thing, then trying to hook up whatever i gotta to try and start the engine. i've never heard it run.

[Mazoh77]

also, i got lucky and one of the former owners of this thing that i had not met commented on my post to Northwest C10's and he had some pictures of when this truck was in one piece! i'm definitely missing a few things that used to be there but it is really cool to know what it used to look like. this truck has had quite a few owners in the last few years.

[ratty69]

Looking good! It always amazes me what some people consider to be parts trucks. Even your blue one looks way better than what I'm working with.

[Mazoh77]

Originally Posted by ratty69

Looking good! It always amazes me what some people consider to be parts trucks. Even your blue one looks way better than what I'm working with.

thanks! the blue one has a basically destroyed cab, whole floor is rotted out and the ceiling is missing large chunks of metal too. the front clip has a ton of cancer level rust, but nothing a new set of fenders can't fix. i did get a donor top half of a cab for the blue truck so once i'm done with the green one i can take the blue one down for some overhauling and rust repair. it's been pretty reliable for me so far and it's growing on me.

[Mazoh77]

got a few more things done! needed some headers and didn't have the cash for new ones so i went and found some long tubes from a junkyard and did a little rust repair. i know this isn't ideal but it's what i have to work with right now. drivers side went in no problem, passenger side needed a little convincing with a die grinder on the frame.

i also learned about how carbs have different bores on intakes and how to make things work that don't match up. went and got an adapter from my local westbay/napa and she's in! now i gotta figure out what hoses go where. i'm pretty happy with the progress! with a few more odds and ends i should be able to actually try to start this thing soon!

[Mazoh77]

well, i stopped posting here because i ended up finding facebook to just be easier, but the truck runs and drives now! i took a ton of pictures during the process. i can post more pictures if anyone wants them, anyways here's as it sits today.

[ratty69]

I like it. What drop did you end up going with? And by all means post more pics...