"BUILD: 1970 C10 LWB--->SWB “Jumping Cholla”

[loudchevy]

Honda door seals get here yesterday so I threw them on the passenger side, clamped/screwed in the outer rocker and hung the door to check all the fit and gaps. I had to trim and modify the rocker a little bit, but I expected that to the be the case. These Honda door seals are a perfect fit. The gaps and door sill looked good.

I ended up getting new cab corners and a high hump trans cover so those will be next on the list. I want to get the cab corners in place before I burn in the outer rockers.

[loudchevy]

Progress update from the last couple of weeks.
Got the outer rocker on the drivers side complete. I really had to modify the replacement panel to get everything to line up and the door to close correctly.
I also replaced the driver rear cab corner. There was a small bit of rust I wanted to get rid of and I had already bought the panel. This was the most challenging replacement panel to date. Rode the struggle bus getting the radius corner to meet up correctly. End result looks good and I'm happy with how both sides turned out. I just need to burn in the outers on both sides, right now I just have them held in place with some self tapping screws.

I also finished the last of the firewall shave. Filled in the AC holes and any other random holes that won't be used for putting the truck back together.

[loudchevy]

I cut out the low hump trans tunnel and got the holes drilled for the high hump replacement. I'll probably throw some rivnuts in to make it removable.

I was hoping to be done with replacing rusted sheetmetal, but the boy and I pulled the windshield and rear sliding widow and found more rust at the bottom of the rear window channel. I had a feeling there was some rust behind the drivers bottom corner just from the rust stain when the window was on the truck. I'm not finding any after market replacement channel so I'm going to have to bend some up. If anyone knows a vendor that makes some, please let me know. I already messed around with a couple of scraps, I can get a good radius but getting the 90* bend for the channel in the right spot is difficult. Luckily there is only a few spots that need to be cut out and replaced. Most of it it surface rust that will get cleaned up with a wirewheel.

I really wanted to get this cab sand blasted and sprayed with some epoxy, but I need to get this last bit of rust out first. I'm not sure if I want to put the slider back in or go with a solid piece of glass. I haven't really found any rebuild kits for the sliders, they currently slide but with too much effort. I think it's original based on a lot of comments I've read about the OG's being aluminum frames and not black.

[jumpsoffrock]

You did more rust repair in 4 months than I got done in 2 years. We have so far had exactly the same issues. I also thought I finished my rust repair and decided to remove the rear window to find the channels rusted. I did a very poor job but I didn't know where to get the metal in a rush.

I wish I had your skill, fantastic work.

[LT7A]

You had me at LWB. Don't get me wrong, I like a well built short bed, but not everybody can date the short, cute little sister, haha. For some of us, the long bed is much more easily sought and found. They have their own charm.

The build plan sounds cool. I certainly get the 454 plan. But discovering the 400 would have me thinking about big block cubes in a small block package and weight. Can't go wrong either way.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by jumpsoffrock

You did more rust repair in 4 months than I got done in 2 years. We have so far had exactly the same issues. I also thought I finished my rust repair and decided to remove the rear window to find the channels rusted. I did a very poor job but I didn't know where to get the metal in a rush.

I wish I had your skill, fantastic work.

Thanks for the compliment!

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by LT7A

You had me at LWB. Don't get me wrong, I like a well built short bed, but not everybody can date the short, cute little sister, haha. For some of us, the long bed is much more easily sought and found. They have their own charm.

The build plan sounds cool. I certainly get the 454 plan. But discovering the 400 would have me thinking about big block cubes in a small block package and weight. Can't go wrong either way.

Not to disappoint you....but I've been leaning toward doing a SWB conversion The sheet metal skills I've learned from the rust repairs has given me the confidence to tackle shortening the bedsides. I always wanted a SWB from the beginning, they're just harder to find and way more money upfront, so I settled for the taller sister with hopes of ditching her for the shorter sister with the better butt

As for the 454, if I didn't already have the complete ready to run motor in my garage, I probably would've done something with the 400SBC. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a 400 when looking up the casting number. The boy and I will do something with it after this project is done (or close to it).

[loudchevy]

After watching the Dbacks beat up on the Phillies in Game 6, I went out to the garage to see about making some new window channel. Looking forward to Game 7 of NLCS tonight.

I had bought (2) extra Inner Rocker Panels LMC PN 38-9041 when I first started on the Rocker replacement and didn't end up using them on the rockers. I actually cut 1-1/4" strips off them to use on the firewall top wire channel cap. Anyways, I still had them laying around and they already had a much larger "Z" channel bent in them so I started with that and made some cuts and bends. After a couple of scrap test on some 20ga, I got a good idea of where to clamp the metal in the vice and beat it to the shape I needed. I cut up some the LMC panels since it already had a near perfect match to the radius on the rear window and bent a single 90* to make the smaller Z to match the window channel. On my second adjustment on the thicker 18ga LMC metal, I nail it down and repeated the 90* bends on some more pieces. I think it turned out pretty good and should work for the couple of places I need to remove rust on.

[clay68c10]

I'd say you got the contour right. Nice work using scraps.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

I'd say you got the contour right. Nice work using scraps.

Thanks, I'm reading your build thread now, pretty cool history to it's start.

[loudchevy]

I've been working on replacing sections of the window channel this past week and finally finished it yesterday. It wasn't too difficult and glad to have it checked off the rust list. Other parts of the channel have some minor surface rust that I will get cleaned off too. I got all the rust holes and missing metal (mostly on the vertical channel lip) removed and replaced on the bottom rail.

[loudchevy]

After I got the bottom channel done, I moved on to the passenger bottom corner. These were a little bit more tricky since they had radius/dished corner.
Once I nailed down the process on the passenger side, I hit the repeat button for the drivers side. It took me a bit to figure out how to do the radius dish in the corner and settled on welding in a small piece and filling the edges with spot welds. Once I had the general shape, I took a carbide burr to it and got the final shape.

[loudchevy]

Lastly, I got the gas filler neck opening shaved as well. I used the passenger side to help shape the contour of the patch. As an old trim carpenter I knew once said "Little caulk, little paint, make it what it ain't". Some body filler should help smooth all these patches out.

Passenger cab corner is the last piece to replace before sand blasting and epoxy. I cut took much off when I did the drivers side a few weeks ago. It probably doesn't need to be cut out, but there is some rusty edges, I already have the patch panel, and might as well at this point. Definitely only gonna cut out as little as possible. The drivers side gave me a bit of frustration getting it lined up correctly.

[nicklear36]

Great idea with the inner rockers

[loudchevy]

I had mentioned in an earlier post about converting this LWB to a SWB. I moved the C10 into the garage on Thursday night and I started the middle frame surgery on Friday and finished it up on Saturday. The whole process went very well and I'm happy with how it turned out. I watched plenty of videos on YT and looked at threads here on how to do it and I thought this was the best way I saw it done. I took my time laying out the cut lines and cut short of the lines to give me plenty of metal to remove to get a perfect fit. After about 8 mock ups, I was happy with the fit. The boy and I spent a lot of time measuring the frame to make sure it was straight, level, square. Once all our diagonal frame measurements were good, I burned in the welds on the outer frame, alternating between sides and only doing 3-4 inch sections at a time. I sanded down all the welds on the outer frame and repeated the same process on the inner sides. I was pretty happy with the penetration from the inner welds that came through on the freshly cleaned outer. While those welds were cooling down, I cut up some fish plates to weld on the inside. I sanded down the inner frame welds and clamped on the fish plate and burned them in.

[loudchevy]

I also go the rear cab body mount removed and the holes drilled in the new location 12" back. I love removing rivets, they're so much fun! The rest of the frame will get painted to match the front. Then I need to pick up some fasteners and bolt the mounts into place.

Aftermath of the process.....Nice little pile of frame crud/dirt, wire wheel wires, and cut off wheel and sanding disc material. Miller Lite can gave it perspective.

[rodstored-72]

nice work... look forward to seeing it closer to finish as are you!! so did the miller can give you a better perspective?...LOL!!!! Also any build info on the '85 LS swap truck?? I have a build page on here of my '86 LS swap

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by rodstored-72

nice work... look forward to seeing it closer to finish as are you!! so did the miller can give you a better perspective?...LOL!!!! Also any build info on the '85 LS swap truck?? I have a build page on here of my '86 LS swap

Thanks! Miller Lite cans always bring the perspective. I'll have to check out your build thread. Do you have a link to it?

As for the K5 LS swap, I had the build on a couple of different websites, but they're no longer up. The 85 K5 started out with a bone stock 305 that drank an entire radiator of coolant every time I drove it. I scored the 454 (same motor going in this C10) and swapped that BBC in some where around 2006 or 2007. The Blazer didn't deserve that 454, I mainly used it offroad and was looking to get something fuel injected to swap in its place. It's a go fast motor and belongs in a C10/Camaro/Nova/Chevelle. I picked up the LS from a cousin in 2008ish and swapped it in the K5. It already had the wiring harness modified and was ready to run with 5 wires. I picked up a 4L60E and used a spacer that changed the 6 bolt rear 4L60E to the 4 bolt 700R4 output and made the 4L60E the same length as a 700R4. The spacer also had a port for a VSS for the LS ECM to read. The spacer let me re-use the 700R4/NP208 transfer case adapter.

The NP208 is the only original part left in the K5. The rear 14B has a locker and 4:56 gears, the front has a newer 10B with 8 lug outers, 4:56 gears and an ARB locker. I have a D60 front with 5:13 gears (plus 5:13 gears sitting in a box for the 14B) installed on a spool sitting on my garage floor as well. It was DRW and I had the hubs machined down to SRW. I also have a NP205 sitting in my garage cabinet that I put twin stick rails in that I was going to use in a doubler transfer case. I just never got around to rebuilding the rest of the D60 axle and "FINISHING" the K5. Life got busy with a career and family and the K5 got ignored. Some day I'll get back to the K5 OR I'll take all the goodies off and swap them over to a 67-72 K truck once this C10 is finished

[loudchevy]

Yesterday afternoon I build a new trackbar for the rear suspension. The OG isn't adjustable and I didn't want to buy new bushings for it.

I've had a set of Rod Ends from Ruff Stuff https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/58REPARTS.html for years sitting in my garage. I was gonna use them for a front Panhard bar for the Blazer but never got around to it so I decided to put them to use in the C10. I already had a stick of 1-1/4" DOM .120" wall tubing as well. I had to shave down the misalignment spacer on the frame side to fit into the existing opening from the old piece. Once I could get the rod ends bolted in the frame pocket and on the differential stud, i was able to measure for the tube length and cut it to size. I just threw a couple of tack welds on the bung inserts for the time being and installed the new trackbar. I was able to adjust the bar to get equal measurements on each side of the frame to tire. Before putting the bar in, I had about a 1/2" difference between each side. I'm pretty excited how it came out even for something so small in the large scope of the project. I know it's way overkill/built for this application but it was basically free since I bought the parts with 2010 money

I'm not a huge fan of single sheer connections for suspension components, but the stud on the 12B will have to do since it's pretty beefy. I'll be adding some plate to the bottom axel u-bolts plates for the bottom of the shocks to get double sheer connections. I'll do the same for the front shocks on the top connection to the frame as well at some point (I think I've seen a kit somewhere so that should be an easy mod).

[rodstored-72]

NICE WORK Scott!! hope you have a good thanksgiving weekend

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by rodstored-72

NICE WORK Scott!! hope you have a good thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving was good and it was nice to have some time off work. Hope yours was good as well.

I spent a lot of the weekend cleaning the middle of the frame. I had already cleaned up the front and rear frame when we did the suspensions. I had only painted the front rails at that time. So after the last of the 50 year crud was wired wheeled off, I got the middle and rear frame primed and painted in all black. I still need to cut off the last 8" of the rear frame and will do that once I get to shorting the bed.

I'm pretty happy with how the frame came out and ready to start putting clean parts back together in the coming weeks/months. The monster 700R4 is going to the builder today to get converted to 2WD. I want to get the engine and trans sitting on the frame so we can start laying out the exhaust, fuel, brake lines with the cab off to make it easy access to everything.

[yote1234]

just found this and am following your build. love the work and the name. i just cleared 15 acres of cholla cactus and it does jump when being mowed down with a loader. lol . im in Gold canyon az keep up the good work my AZ friend

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by yote1234

just found this and am following your build. love the work and the name. i just cleared 15 acres of cholla cactus and it does jump when being mowed down with a loader. lol . I'm in Gold canyon az keep up the good work my AZ friend

Thanks for following along!

For those non-desert dwellers, this is Jumping Cholla cactus. Pronounced 'choy' 'a'. In Spanish a double 'll' is a 'y' sound. When I cleaned out the cab and under the hood, there was cholla everywhere. It's pretty nasty stuff, it gets stuck to you just by looking at it.

[Shifty One]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Thanks for following along!

For those non-desert dwellers, this is Jumping Cholla cactus. Pronounced 'choy' 'a'. In Spanish a double 'll' is a 'y' sound. When I cleaned out the cab and under the hood, there was cholla everywhere. It's pretty nasty stuff, it gets stuck to you just by looking at it.

They just want a hug....

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by Shifty One

They just want a hug....

And never let go! Needle nose pliers work best to remove them.