1965 C10 ... Project Name: Just Learnin'

[Alberta65]

Ok so I have been on the site now for a little while asking some rust repair questions and stuff. I read through 87 pages of BOMP's stretch cab and then Br3w City's project and sure was pretty inspired. Last March i bought my first 65 C10 SBW long box fleet side. The PO said it was a "solid california truck" which for us up on the other side of the 49th is kind of a rare gem to find!! I was extremely excited. I purchased the truck not only because of my love for the 60-66 body lines but i wanted a new low lying bike hauler to take me and the race stead to the track on those nice warm nights we get once or twice a year up here.

After doing a couple little repairs here and there I decided I was unhappy with the seat and wanted to at least get it recovered. Well when I pulled the seat, i realized I had to pull the carpet as well because they just wouldn't match, then all hell broke lose as I found just how "solid" my truck really was. It went from just a seat reupholster to what will probably be a full restoration. So I figured I would document everything. Give what little tips and tricks I have along the way and collect as much knowledge and insight as I possibly can!! This will be my first restoration so here we go!

[Alberta65]

Here is what I picked up that march day:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

So first things first, since I wanted this truck as a hauler, I figured I would tackle the bed... you know since the rest of the truck is so solid! oh ya and this truck has a small block 350 with a 4 speed smh465 behind it. everything else was basically stock except for some jeep springs i believe.

Stripped the bed out saved what I could for bed strips as I will use a few of them after.

[IMG][/IMG]

OK so my idea now is to basically prove that you can get a nice wooden bed from plywood... yes PLYWOOD! I am not rich so I was not spending a grand on a bed wood kit. Not only that but I like unique designs that look they they could have been stock. (If that makes any sense...)

So i started with 2 3/4" sheets of 8x4 maple plywood... ya ya i know thats exactly 1" too short for a long bed.. because why would it be that easy.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

got a set of dado blades for those cuts^^ never did take a cut after the second incision.

now onto a little stain

[IMG][/IMG]

yes yes I skipped a few steps there, I also took a few of the original bed strips blasted them and used some spray on bed liner to coat them.. Now there was that little issue of being 1" short... well i have seen plenty of people just leave the cut line there but I just couldn't stand to see that....

oh ya did i mention I have OCD.

[IMG][/IMG]

done. can you figure out what I did there... ok not that impressive but I am happy with how it turned out.

[Alberta65]

I should mention.. I did not just cover there 1" gap with the diamond plate... That would have bugged me haha. I cut down a strip of maple that I had left over and tried to line the grain up as best possible then continued to stain it and clear seal it three times like the rest of the bed... never did take a picture and then covered it up, so was it pointless... no because i can't rest easy knowing its done haha

[Alberta65]

[IMG][/IMG]

My girl can finally ride comfortably..

[Alberta65]

About this time the snow began to fly and it was time to rearrange the shop anyways. I had just finished the 36hp motor in my VW so i can tuck her away and wait for the interior to be done and then she will be all done for next spring!! I say rearrange because as you can see here the shop is a little crammed...

[IMG][/IMG]

...the worst part is that I have already moved all my bikes into the house (and the girlfriend is surprisingly cool with that!!) and the shop is still this crammed!

[Alberta65]

Now this was about the time that I got the truck setup on the proper side of the shop for the winter time and started to pick away at the little things like sloppy shift linkage.. I don't know if I have any pictures of that but I welded all the worn out pins in the 4spd and tapped some bolts into the shifter housing to tighten everything up but I will have to get pictures of that at a later date.

At this point I pulled the seat and then the carpet and ... as stated before... thats when all my nightmares came true!!

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]
The other side was just as bad too....

Luckingly i was taking a trip down to phoenix so I made a few stops along the way and grabbed some repair panels from LMC, at least everything at the time I thought i needed... oh and ya maybe I stopped at airslamit as well... but thats all so far away now...

[IMG][/IMG]

So that when I asked a few questions on here and began cutting and hacking away at my problems... this is about where I sit now as I realized I need some more panels for repairs I continue to find...

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Well thats a lie... I actually have the full rocker off of the drivers and passengers side now.. tomorrow I will hopefully find some time to brace up the cab and keep cutting out rust.

Just want to leave you with what in my opinion sums up the PO. at least i understood once I saw this why all the other patches her did were with rivets...

[IMG][/IMG]

[Grizz1963]

If you look at my build, you will see that many of us start with a "little touch up" and end up blowing the trucks apart.

Welcome to our world.

I like your progress so far, and having ridden various bikes the last 38 years, which included a 250cc Scorpa trials bike, I also know you have a rather great combination there, albeit a lot faster than trials.

Love the VW Beetle.

I restored a 1963 years ago, and also has a 1959 that had been restored when I got it.

[Alberta65]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

If you look at my build, you will see that many of us start with a "little touch up" and end up blowing the trucks apart.

Welcome to our world.

I like your progress so far, and having ridden various bikes the last 38 years, which included a 250cc Scorpa trials bike, I also know you have a rather great combination there, albeit a lot faster than trials.

Love the VW Beetle.

I restored a 1963 years ago, and also has a 1959 that had been restored when I got it.

Thanks grizz, I will take a look at your build when I'm on a computer tonight. I know what you mean, I bought the truck knowing I would eventually do a full year down on it but I inagine most of us are the same and if you are going to do it you may as well go all out!

I will find you a better pick of the beetle as well it's my grandpas old car so I'm trying to keep that one in the family
Posted via Mobile Device

[tinydb84]

That bed looks really good. I would have never guessed it was plywood.

[Alberta65]

ok so i found a few minutes to get the cab braced up tonight



my question is should i run a brace between the two sides?? I feel like i may start killing all the room I have to work inside and cut the floors up when it comes time.

[Alberta65]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Love the VW Beetle.

I restored a 1963 years ago, and also has a 1959 that had been restored when I got it.

oh ya and here is that beetle grizz

[Palf70Step]

I like what you did with the bed. Looking forward to future updates.

[tinydb84]

Originally Posted by Alberta65

my question is should i run a brace between the two sides?? I feel like i may start killing all the room I have to work inside and cut the floors up when it comes time.

Do you mean driver to passenger side? I wouldn't bother.

I would triangulate the horizontal brace you already have or add an addition horizontal brace at an angle.

[Alberta65]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Do you mean driver to passenger side? I wouldn't bother.

I would triangulate the horizontal brace you already have or add an addition horizontal brace at an angle.

will do thanks!

[Ta2Don]

and welcome aboard… X2 on Grizz's comment about blowing these trucks apart…

Diggin, the bed treatment...

Sub'd and along for the ride…

[Alberta65]

Alright so two steps forward and a few back but oh well. I have put an order in for lmc parts for a pillars and inner rockers so i figured I would begin by getting some practice on my fender patches. Starting with this one in the rear:



The whole underside of the lip was rusted so I decided to just replace the whole thing... unfortunately the lmc patches I ordered had a shorter curve than the factory wheel arches so it took a whole bunch of hammering and a couple patch repairs I think I got it to follow the lines. PS don't make too much fun of my welds this is my first ever body work job so I am trying to figure things out as I go. Lesson number 1 I have learned is penetration is numero uno!!








Next i was able to recruit my brother to get the hood off and up on the rafters and start pulling apart the front clip. Cannot wait to re-wire this thing the more I pull it apart the more scare I am of the hack job the PO did.

so this was how it looks when the lights went down today:

[Alberta65]

Anyone have and tips or tricks on the welding game for me? I feel like if I take my time I can get proper penetration however when I take a flapper wheel to clean the final weld up there are a few little pinholes... when trying to touch one up I had a blowout as it must have thinned the metal too much and you know how fun that is too fix...

Also I am now accepting all advice on wiring harnesses from painless to EZ wire and anything else out there let me know please and thanks

[Ronzo]

Hello from Lethbridge, hope to see you some day.

[Alberta65]

Originally Posted by Ronzo

Hello from Lethbridge, hope to see you some day.

Howdy friend! I actually bought the truck down by there in Granum. Once she is done we will tour some shows down there.

[Captainfab]

There are some body panel welding tips in this thread.

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...d.php?t=688673

[tinydb84]

Originally Posted by Alberta65

Anyone have and tips or tricks on the welding game for me? I feel like if I take my time I can get proper penetration however when I take a flapper wheel to clean the final weld up there are a few little pinholes... when trying to touch one up I had a blowout as it must have thinned the metal too much and you know how fun that is too fix...

Also I am now accepting all advice on wiring harnesses from painless to EZ wire and anything else out there let me know please and thanks

I like this thread: http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...d.php?t=609991

My advice would be to get some sheet of the same thickness and mock up a bunch of butt gaps. Then figure out your settings for each gap since your fit up will never be perfect.

You can also using a piece of aluminum or copper as a backing which would allow more heat without blowing through.

Dont use a flap wheel. I prefer a die grinder with 40-80 grit disc. If I really need to take something down I will use a cut off wheel and slowly nip away at it.

[Alberta65]

Thanks tinyd I went out today and purchased a small CP die grinder. Just need to find the proper grinding heads tomorrow and I will keep working on it. I am still in the hunter for some copper backing plates to work with, and on the research trail for some filler and blocking how to's.

Pictures will come sooner than later.

[Bomp]

Happened to be skimming through and saw the 'Just Learnin'.
Welcome to the forum and thanks for taking the time to read through the Steiner build.
Helpful tips on welding. Looks like you have a good handle on it.
I use a copper spoon for backing or preventing blow outs from Harbor Freight Tools. Their cheap and work really good.

I also use a cut off disc to knock down the spot welds.

I follow along on tons of builds but learned a TON of helpful stuff from MP&C
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=564201
Dig the bugs too.
Like what you've done so far.
I'll follow along, Now get to writing another 80 or so pages.

[Alberta65]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Happened to be skimming through and saw the 'Just Learnin'.
Welcome to the forum and thanks for taking the time to read through the Steiner build.
Helpful tips on welding. Looks like you have a good handle on it.
I use a copper spoon for backing or preventing blow outs from Harbor Freight Tools. Their cheap and work really good.

I also use a cut off disc to knock down the spot welds.

I follow along on tons of builds but learned a TON of helpful stuff from MP&C
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=564201
Dig the bugs too.
Like what you've done so far.
I'll follow along, Now get to writing another 80 or so pages.

I have been looking for a copper spoon around here forever!! Stupid Canada.

Thanks for looking bomp I'll try not to let everyone down haha

[Alberta65]

STUPID QUESTION WARNING AHEAD!!

Ok I always try and do as much research as possible before I go asking dumb questions like this but I simply cannot find an answer. So I am looking at the Blocking and sanding procedure and collecting materials and tools I need as I go. But every write up I see or read skips like the first two steps or possibly just I'm generally more stupid in terms of body work than I ever imagine.

I have read in every write up that on top of bare metal should be an epoxy primer, then filler, then epoxy primer again. So my question is what the hell is epoxy primer exactly? Keep in mind our auto store around here kind of suck and since I am just learning I was hoping to find an aerosol form in order to just do some small pieces before diving in. Yet there is not a single damn can at napa that just says epoxy primer. Can I use self etching primer under the filler instead??..... (was that another dumb question? again apologies)

PS. please don't think Im making a bondo bucket here I will be doing all my metal work first before a mere skim coat of filler but I am just looking for clarification on the process.

Thanks guys!!