1969 C10 4x4 Project

[Sven]

I always lusted after the 67-72 body shape trucks, even when I lived in England. I bought my truck a few years ago from a bloke in Arizona who did some work then flipped it. I probably over payed, but it's an amazing truck and they're hard to find in this condition.




If I remember what he told me, he was the 3rd owner during the renovation. It was originally a 4 speed converted to auto with a TH350 when the motor was rebuilt. Spec:

1969 Chevrolet C10 long bed (8') pickup
Rebuilt original GM/Chevy 350ci (5.7 liter) V8
Edelbrok performer series 500CFM carb
Tubular headers with dual exhaust
Warmed up cam
Turbo-Hydramatic 350 (TH350) 3 speed automatic transmission. Originally came with a 4 speed manual
Aftermarket Vintage-Air Air Conditioning
Drum brakes all around

Anyway, during the rebuild and changing of hands the tires got a little rotted and I'm not very happy with them, particularly after the guy at Discount Tire told me they hadn't sold that particular tire for 10 years. It's time for new so I'm also going to do some work on improving over what I have.

First is to get new tires and while I'm at it I'll lift it 4" so I can fit BFG AT 33x12.5" tires, replace the half rusted wheel studs, the shocks and clean/blast/powder coat the wheels.

Anyway, with this in mind I ordered a Rough Country 4" kit (springs front and rear as I dislike lift blocks) from National Tire & Wheel for $650 delivered. Delivery is supposed to be within 10 days, but I don't care as it's hot as hell here now and I'm not in the mood for all the work in the heat.

Rough Country 4" Lift

But it won't be hot forever ... and I'll update here when I make progress.

-Steve

[Sven]

Rushed into the order a little. Tomorrow I'll call and change it out to this for $100 less:

4" Suspension Lift Special

A guy on another thread told me this is a Superlift kit and if one buys shock boots to get the order over $500 the shipping is still $50.

-Steve

[propanemudtruck]

Originally Posted by Sven

(springs front and rear as I dislike lift blocks)
-Steve

Welcome to the board! I'm not a block lover either, good choice. Nice truck, thanks for the info! As always, more pics please!

[Sven]

Thanks man!

The lift special is on backorder, they said they haven't had them in stock for 6 months. I guess my Rough Country order stands.

I'm suspicious from your username you might be running propane? Sherlock ain't I? That is on the project list for my truck too.

I'll add another post with a lot more pics. Hang fire ...

-Steve

[Sven]

Picture heavy posting:

Just to prove it works for a living:


Business in front:



Party in back:




Love these shots:



Seat is a bit saggy. The interior is basic, but very complete:




I hate the radio, but I can't bring myself to cut the dash:




Steering wheel is cracked. Need a new one at some point:





-Steve

[Sven]

One question I have regarding coolant use. I fill her up, doesn't seem to leak at all, the exhaust isn't an unusual color and there's no coolant in the oil but the coolant level drops a lot during use. I've replaced the hoses, rad cap and thermostat and she runs pretty cool.

What do you think? Anything I should be looking at? I know she's an old lady and deserves to be a little demanding at times, but I don't want her to hurt herself.

-Steve

[Sven]

Here's my answer from another thread:

1969 C10 8/350 coolant usage

Basically, I'm overfilling it ... must stop that ...

-Steve

[Sven]

The Rough Country 4" lift springs and shocks arrived today from National Tire & Wheel. Pretty good speed and service I think. Might be tempted to sweat a little and get the truck in the air to take the wheels off so the tires can be removed. Then I can get the wheels blasted and powder coated. Hard part now will be choosing the color.

Black is an easy/default choice, but some colorful color might also be appealing. Maybe match the green interior paint that is on the inside of the roof? Similar to the door panel color.

-Steve

[Sven]

I must be nuts, it's hot as hell outside and a little humid but I couldn't resist. I cleaned out the truck bed, put the truck on axle stands and pulled off the wheels. I pulled off three of the brake drums (one is sticky) before my heart rate was in the red zone and I was sweating my a$$ off. I'll tackle the other drum when I've had a nap ...

I want to replace the wheel studs while I'm in there as a few are rusty and one snapped recently. Also, the ones in there are a little short. I'll run down to O'Reilly and rent a tool to remove/install them.

-Steve

[Sven]

Originally Posted by Sven

I'll run down to O'Reilly and rent a tool to remove/install them.

No one seems to have one. I'll have to use a Chinese G clamp and a big socket.

-Steve

[Sven]

The last drum is off. Used a pry bar and mallet to loosen it then worked it off.

The G clamp deal didn't work, so I used my air hammer for the front studs which worked, but had to go old school (redneck) style on the rears. Put the lugnuts back on and went after it with the BFH. They're all out now. I'll get new lug nuts when I get the new studs anyway.

Started removing the shocks. Got the lower bolt out, but the upper shock mount is torture with tubular headers. Managed to get a wrench on the nut and get them off but I lost a nut someplace in the frame. I got too hot trying to pull the upper shock bolt out so I left it hanging for now. I'll grab the head of the bolt with locking pliers to give me some leverage tomorrow.

I'll replace the shock nuts and bolts as they're corroded a little. No idea how I'll get the nut back on the upper bolt though ...

-Steve

[Sven]

Got to it ... pulled the bolts out of the front shackles, but the bolts in the front spring eyes were rusted into the bush sleeves so I had to use my sawsall to cut through the bolts. No big deal as I planned on replacing all the bolts with new grade 8 anyway. 42 year old bolts are rarely good.

Now it looks like the flex brake lines from the frame to drums are too short. I'm leaning towards pulling them off, capping the hard lines to the frame then completing the suspension before working out how long I'll need them to be then having them made up. The rear brake line will be easy to lengthen using a bracket.

Also, looking for a later model front axle so I can use disk brakes, the 1969 has closed knuckles so disk brake conversions are impossible.

-Steve

[Sven]

Deleted double Posting

[mjensen]

That's a very nice looking ride you have there. I'm also going to be looking into a newer model swap for the front on mine. I did see a kit that someone offers, but I don't think I want to mess

[Sven]

Originally Posted by mjensen

That's a very nice looking ride you have there. I'm also going to be looking into a newer model swap for the front on mine. I did see a kit that someone offers, but I don't think I want to mess

By the time I've done some weird swap and got it working well I'd think I might as well rebuild a later model axle. Plus, making parts work together should be easy and the parts will be easy to get if I break it.

-Steve