Run Away's '69 C10 LWB Project Log

[Run Away]

Hey all!
My name is Ben, I'm 28 years old and I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
I've always wanted an old Chevy truck ever since I was a kid, but it never really happened. January 2015 I went to look at a crashed '68 LWB at a local insurance auction, and really liked it. Unfortunately the bidding went over what I was prepared to pay. After losing the auction I spent a lot of time following eBay auctions and realized I probably should have bid higher on that crashed truck. I started throwing out last minute bids on trucks with reserves not met, in a sort of "I shouldn't buy this, but really want to" fashion. To my suprise, I ended up winning an auction for this '69 LWB in Arkansas. Here's some photos from the ebay auction:





It was advertised as a good running truck with a 305, factory A/C, a fresh clear coat of paint all over to preserve the patina, new springs and shocks, new carpet, dash pad, and seat upholstery.

After talking to the seller (a shop) on the phone he told me the truck drove nice and probably could make the 1000 mile trip straight north with minimal work. This sounded like a perfect "Roadkill" trip!


I bought a plane ticket, packed a checked bag full of tools and spare parts, and flew down on a friday morning. The plan was to pick up supplies and address any issues the truck had, then hit the road and cannonball it home. I was supposed to be at work Monday morning.

My first view of my new truck:


Here's a thread I started with some of the details of the trip:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=658918

A few highlights:
-brake master cylinder bad when I arrived, replaced in parking lot
-2 qts low on oil
-blew one tire 1hr into the drive, put the spare on and got a room for the night. Replaced all 4 tires the next morning
-couple hours after getting back on the road the heater core blew, looped the lines
-running hot and boiling the coolant is a consistant problem, limped it to LMC truck just outside Kansas City
-replaced heater core in truck stop parking lot in Kansas City
-cannonball'd the remaining 820 miles in 19.5 hrs, including a 2hr nap and customs.


Some pictures from the trip:

[Run Away]

The next Tuesday I brought it to work and gave it a good look over. Here's what I found:

Hanger bearing is shot


Did I just drive 1000 miles on an oil filter than was last replaced when the engine was painted? Yikes!


Rusty floors





There was only 1.5 bolts holding in the seat!


Rusty cowl



Yikes, time for new brakes too!



The whole heating system was just packed with these. I was getting blasted in the face with debris over every bump!


More than I bargained for



And so with the amount of rust I discovered, it wans't going to be able to pass a safety inspection so I parked it and started planning.

[Run Away]

It sat in my yard for a bit over a year, but now that spring is almost here in Winnipeg I'm starting the work on the truck. The plan is to pull the cab, have it sandblasted, order patch panels where I need them, weld them all in, epoxy primer, paint, and re-assemble. I'd like to keep the patina'd look of the truck so just the cab rust is being fixed. The doors and cowl will go back on as-is (they're in good shape actually).

This thread is just to help me document my progress.
This afternoon I started pulling the front clip off in one piece.



Once the cab is off, I'll put it on a dolly. When it comes back from blasting I'll wheel it into my tiny garage and start cutting and welding.
How did this thing make it 1000 miles again?



Can anyone help identify this Edelbrock carb? It needs a rebuild. I'm much more comfortable around fuel injection....




Worrisome bits




The firewall panel is separating from the floor panel




Is this an original column? The paint doesn't match


As I left it for the day.



The front clip is ready to come off in one piece. I just need to drain and remove the radiator, disconnect the trans cooler lines, disconnect the a/c lines, and pull the column. As it sits now I can lift each corner up a couple inches.

[Run Away]

Front clip off in one piece!


And some shots of the damage uncovered. I'm not sure if I should be looking at getting a new firewall or not, the bottom section is pretty gone. They only make non-a/c firewalls too. The goal is to have the rust all repaired by the time snow hits, pretty ambitious for a first timer. So whatever makes for a faster and easier repair will be worth it.

[Run Away]

May 1st:
Got the dash pad, brake pedal, wiring, ebrake assembly, wiper motor, heater box, ducting, heater controls, glove box, and gauges out. Basically almost completely stripped the cab, with the exception of a few little odds and ends and the gas tank.




I'm going to need a little bit from a doner cab, I don't think I can re-create this. Wiper motor mounting, viewed from below.



Daylight everywhere!

[Run Away]

May 6th, Friday evening. My dad came over to give me a hand.
Scribed the door hinge placement, pulled the doors off.



Up and away!
[img]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f78/Ben_Lude/c10/IMG_20160506_195346.jpg


A little later we had a dolly built



Cab sits nicely on it, and there's room for the engine hoist to fit under. I may add some bracing at the bottom for transportation, but the bits that give it height are actually pretty stable.




Saturday the 7th I shuffled cars around



And rolled it into the garage



A tight fit, but it all fits



Next is to pull the glass, and call around for some media blasting quotes. I also want to swap out the two straight wheels on the dolly for another pair of locking swivel casters so it's easier to move around.

[Run Away]

Not too much work on this as I've been focusing on cleaning and organizing the garage for the past week or two. I've been treating it as a storage container for the past 3 years basically and just tossing stuff on the shelves and floor, there was no room to work. I'm pretty much done that now, so I've been working on the truck.


My girlfriend gave me a hand and we got the windows out. I also swapped the casters on the dolly so all four are swiveling and locking.


I also started taking the dash out as the A pillar rust extends up under the dash. This is a bit tricky as it's welded in all along the base of the windshield pinch weld.


The last spot weld holding on basically came apart by itself.



Dash out




The problem areas


I'm clearly in over my head now.
It's like the truck is rusting from the inside out at the seams. I really should be looking for a better cab but I'm fairly certain I don't find anything locally and shipping is a gamble. I've put a ad up on kijiji (what we use locally instead of craigslist).

It's only metal right? It's fixable, I'm just not sure I can successfully do that on my first attempt.

[junksaver]

If possible I think you should look for a better cab. Anything is fixable, but it may be more work than it is worth.
Keep your head up. You have to look at it as a long term project. It's a shame you went so far to pick that one up, but it is always a learning experience.
Good luck and keep posting your progress.

[Run Away]

Originally Posted by junksaver

If possible I think you should look for a better cab. Anything is fixable, but it may be more work than it is worth.
Keep your head up. You have to look at it as a long term project. It's a shame you went so far to pick that one up, but it is always a learning experience.
Good luck and keep posting your progress.

Thanks for the encouragement! I agree that a better cab would be the smart choice....

[Run Away]

I put out a wanted post on the local kijiji (think craigslist) and facebook groups for a cab or someone parting out a cab. I got a reply from a semi local guy with a cab for sale and after going to look at it, I bought it.

It's a '72 with no title, and it's been blasted and epoxy primered.
It was delivered Thursday night.



The plan is to use panels from this one to patch my cab. Before anyone gets mad at me for cutting up a good cab, here's some of the bad parts:




The whole passenger rear corner has been poorly grafted from another truck at some point, in addition to a couple cab corner patches.



Holes in the roof skin and windshield frame.




The floors and rockers have rotted out, patched, rotted again and patched again.



I got the dash out of the parts cab today though. Here's what I'm after:







I have many many many hours of drilling spot welds ahead of me....My poor cordless drill is taking a beating so I picked up my dad's corded drill. Probably won't be many updates until I've got the two cabs all apart.

I'll be measuring everything closely on my cab and likely creating a temporary cage/brace inside mine with bolt-on attachments points at fixed locations such as the brake master holes, the cab mount bolts/studs, etc to keep it square when it's all in pieces and to give a reference point for where I'll put the replacement panels as it goes back together. That's the plan anyways....

[junksaver]

Stay at it and keep posting your progress.

[swamp rat]

Resurrection from the dead at its finest, i love watching the seemingly impossible actually happen! Good luck it can be done! I have a couple bookmarked threads to prove it.

[raggedjim]

This reminds me of the first chevy truck I bought. A 69 in about the same shape.

Good luck and hang in there!

Rg

[Run Away]

Thank you for the comments, junksaver, swamp rat, and raggedjim!


Today I got the firewall out.


Lots of spot welds all around, then sawsall across the floor. Made sure to leave the firewall as intact as possible in case I re-use it, and only cut the braces that run under the floor, and not the little bits that extend up the firewall.

Inside

Outside


I also dug out all the bits I need to convert my welder from flux core to MIG. Going to check if the gas solenoid is already installed tomorrow (welder is at work) and get a tank.

[Run Away]

Slowly chipping away at the parts cab.

Went to the junkyard yesterday, explored the domestic yard. Never been there, I've always gone to the import side (same junkyard, two lots across the street from each other). Found an early GMC truck. Straight 3 and manual.
Not much left of it, but it has an uncut dash.



And all the bits I needed were intact on it. Oh well, I don't see how I would have got it all apart at the yard as power saws are not allowed.


Decent backup plan though.


Got the cowl off


The little brackets and channels they have underneath aren't very well thought out IMO. Don't drain very well and any larger debris gets trapped. They came off next.




Little bit of a patch will be needed here, it's a nice and easy flat spot though.



Then the inner cowl



Then the scoop things under the kick panel vents.

[Run Away]

Then the passenger side wing





And that's where I left it for the night as dinner was ready. Just need to get the drivers side wing off and I'm pretty much done with this cab.


I've switched from drilling a pilot hole and the fancy spot weld bits to just a carbide burr. The drilling takes forever, have limited access to some areas, and I was chewing through bits at a record pace. The grinding bit doesn't leave as nice panels, but it's twice as fast and far cheaper.


I'd be out there now grinding away on it but it's raining pretty hard. Building a brace for my cab is next. I'll recycle a bunch from the parts cab.

[swamp rat]

The plot thickens... or, the cutting gets deeper..

[raggedjim]

You're in deep water! I did some really shady work on the first one I had, but it looked good after it was painted. Sold it to a buddy in the Navy.

Keep after it, Rg

[Sicksty8]

And I thought I had lots of rust! Glad to see another Winnipegger on the net. I've picked a few parts off of that truck at bucks this last year too I've got a parts truck 69 here in the city if your looking for something give me a pm. Good luck on the truck I'd like to see how it works out for ya.

[Run Away]

Thanks guys!

I finished scavenging what I needed from the parts cab. The last wing is out, along with the bracing I'll be re-using for mine. Just need to get some shielding gas for my welder, load some wire and change out the liner and I'll be ready to start bracing.

Originally Posted by Sicksty8

And I thought I had lots of rust! Glad to see another Winnipegger on the net. I've picked a few parts off of that truck at bucks this last year too I've got a parts truck 69 here in the city if your looking for something give me a pm. Good luck on the truck I'd like to see how it works out for ya.

Sweet! I just read your full thread, it pretty much mirrors what I've been planning. Knowing what you know now, would you do the full floor again or patch? I keep flip flopping as to what direction I want take. Patch or replace the whole thing.

[Sicksty8]

Originally Posted by Run Away

Sweet! I just read your full thread, it pretty much mirrors what I've been planning. Knowing what you know now, would you do the full floor again or patch? I keep flip flopping as to what direction I want take. Patch or replace the whole thing.

I think I'd do the full floor because it meant less spot welds to cut out but at the point that you are at, I dont think it would make much of a difference. When I bought the floor it was also cheaper than buying all the patches, braces, and supports individually. The only bad part was getting it to fit right because I didn't take enough measurements. Kinda biased because I havent done the patch panel method but for me it made more sense.

[Run Away]

I haven't updated in a while, but I've been working on it!

First up was welding in some braces. Got a tank of argon/CO2 mix and converter my welder. Found the regulator was stripped so that was taken care of.
New threads

Fixed


Though I was losing my marbles when I couldn't thread on the new tip. Turns out I grabbed one that was machine wrong, no threads just bands.....


Once I figured out I had to flip the wire feed roller and a couple practice I was able to make this:

I won't lie, I was very impressed with myself after that. Welding with gas is fantastic! I've never made welds so nice. Remember, I'm a complete beginner....

Put some bracing in

Welder is turned all the way up, wish it went a little hotter for the 1" square tubes


Yikes!


Drilled out the outer cowl


Then the inner wings/kick panels. I'm going to have to graft bits of the a pillars from the parts cab.

[Run Away]

Separated completely here



Cut the rockers off

The remains


Added some more bracing


I should have done this before separating the cowl from the A pillars. All that's left to lift the cab off the floor is the spot welds along the back of the cab and the rear bolts. I can lift the front corners up right now, no need to unbolt them as the A pillars have rotted in two.

The plan is to roll the dolly out this weekend and separate them, and maybe buy a little utility trailer so I can tow the cab to get sandblasted. I also placed an order with GMC Paul's today for:
-new cowl
-new firewall
-complete low hump floor with braces
-outer rockers
-cab corners
-a pillar patches
-kick panel patches
-rad support, cab, and bed mounting kit
-full truck weatherstripping
-a few other odds and ends
Once it arrives at the border I'll make the 3hr round trip to go pick everything up.

[swamp rat]

My eyes are glued! This is gonna be a fun build to watch!

[t300]

Yikes thats a lot of repair there! Did you price out the body parts @ Walker in Winnipeg? I was going to order inner fenders from the US / to the border and Walker's price was better and they have them in stock as well. Tri-Plus brand I believe.