Everybody, meet Merle - '71 C10 longbed project

[JJorgensen52]

Bought another one

Picked this truck up over the weekend. It has been "on the road", but it was last serviced or had any work done in 2004 and I've no idea how old the tires are. So seemed like a good idea to drive 320 miles home

Side of the road:


And pulling it out of that field, the tire slid off the edge of the embankment and into the drainage ditch - WAY deeper than it looked. Figured this boded well for the rest of the trip.


It's a pretty plain jane truck, almost no options


As you can see from the photos, it was originally Olive, but the original owner (described to me as an "artist") decided at some point that painting it with house paint was a good idea. Working on getting that off quick!

So, we stopped at the local gas station and aired up the tires, cleaned out a whole pile of leaves and sticks etc, tossed on a CB so I could communicate with my support truck (the friend who drove up with me), fixed the choke and high idle linkage which was all aprt, lubricated the 3OTT so I could actually get it into first, and duct taped the tailgate shut (latch seized open), and away we went!




Sure drives nicely, though. Very pleased!

Made it almost home (less than 30 miles to go) when disaster struck

Which meant yours truly got to put on the spare, which was just as bad and goes flat about every other hour


Just glad this thing didn't come shooting off!


So there it is. The body is decent, needs the usual patches. So far all I've done is clean out all the crud that was in it, reset the timing (it was set to about 11*BTDC, and was pinging like crazy under load), fixed the tailgate latches.

This week, I'm getting the wheels cleaned up (my local tire place will blast and paint the wheels when they do tires for a small fee), new tires on, and then replacing a few bulbs and other things to put it back on the road so I can drive as I go. It's going to be a weekend chore type truck once I'm done.

Other than sheetmetal, paint and basic mechanicals, no fancy plans for this truck as yet. I do suspect there may be a diesel conversion in it's future, though. Stay tuned!

[CParnell]

It's a good story so far. I like it, good luck.

[JJorgensen52]

New tires and coated wheels!




I've got some other goodies sitting around for it, too, but haven't gotten a chance to do any work because it's sitting at my friend's house on jack stands waiting for these wheels.

I have made some effort at getting the brushed-on paint off - and in fact the passenger's side bedside is nearly clean. Turns out that bedside was repainted at some point, and had wax on it so the paint peeled right off. The rest of the truck, not so much.

[JJorgensen52]

Did a bunch of work today.
- Installed roof marker lamps (had to weld a few holes in the roof first) - no photos since it was dark and they aren't wired up yet

Squarebody SS hubcaps on my newly coated wheels!


LMC replica bumper guards on the original front bumper - I sprayed both the chrome guards and the painted bumper with grey Plastidip, I initially thought it was a little dark but it's growing on me, and this way eventually when I get a chrome bumper I can peel the coating off the guards.


**EDIT** Roof Lights Work!!

[JJorgensen52]

Quick update. Back in December I picked up a better bed for this truck, and today finally got a chance to work on it.




Please enjoy my super-duper taillights, since the bed has no lights and was 60 miles away from my house

[JJorgensen52]

Nothing much exciting with Merle - finally got around to installing the sweet vintage Kenwood I scored for peanuts at the junkyard. It's nice to not have a stereo sitting on the seat anymore! I do miss the OEM chrome faceplate in my dash, though.

[JJorgensen52]

Got a bug the other day to try and get the bedside toolbox in my new bed open... well that wasn't a good idea, broke the handle in the process

Started repairs tonight:




I cut access windows in the back of the door (I'm going to cover them with two 2" square plates and screws) on either side of the latch to allow me to remove the handle pivot pin - visible here. Also visible is my tacked back together latch


And I figured since I was already in here, I might as well fix the latch so this doesn't happen again - I "boxed" the handle so it's a LOT stiffer than before

[FRANKENSTEINC10]

nice. I don't see that breaking anytime soon.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Perfect name for that truck!

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Justin@EntropyRad

Perfect name for that truck!

Thanks! It just came to me when I was driving it home ... I had a Haggard song stuck in my head for about 170 miles, so it made sense

Finished my quick'n'dirty toolbox door restoration today:

I had to cut the door handle rivet to get the handle out, and since it's 7/32" diameter, I couldn't readily find a replacement. I took a 4" 1/4"-20 carriage bolt (stainless of course), "turned" it down with the angle grinder until the diameter was correct, then cut flats on the carriage head for a wrench and threaded the other end to take a #10-24 nylock nut:


Here it is in the door, before I put on the washer/nut and tightened it all up. You'd never know I changed it from the outside.


Bolt installed, access holes with sealant ready to install the cover plates


On a different note, the spring inside my latch had completely disintegrated due to rust, but I found a $4 assortment at Lowes which had a correctly sized spring, when used with a #10 washer to keep it from popping out of the latch housing:



While I was in there, I pulled out the box (and installed all SS hardware) to repair a couple soft spots and holes in the back. This was a quick job so the glass work is messy, but it's strong and more importantly, weathertight!


And all put back on the truck:


I found the weatherstrip at Lowes/HD as well, it's a EPDM foam "D", self adhesive with a 1/4"x5/16" profile. Pretty close to what was in there from the factory.

Those with sharp eyes may notice I have a chrome pop-in plug in the lock hole - I had to destroy the lock to get the door open and I haven't had a chance to order a replacement, yet.

My hinges are also pretty rough, I've found some piano hinge from McMaster-Carr that's the right dimensions to bend up to match these hinges (which I think is what GM did to make them in the first place), but that's for another day.

Also, I am aware that the rest of my truck bed is Ochre. I am going to paint the whole truck Red/White, two tone (non-deluxe) before I'm through. Promise!

[tommys72]

nice work so far

[JJorgensen52]

This was definitely worth the effort. I used the box about a dozen times today

[trac209]

Cool truck I really like it

[JJorgensen52]

Just another shot, Merle hard at work