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Old 01-07-2017, 12:29 AM   #1
moregrip
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 810
my C10 project....building a truck from a heap of parts

this is a long time coming, my goal is to finally finish a classic chevy truck build.....I have failed at every attempt since I was a teenager and I'm 45 yrs old now. The idea/borderline obsession with classic chevy's started when I was about 15 when I bought a good running 71 C20 longbed 350/4spd with the granny gear for $500. That little 350 screamed but the cab was a bondo farm! one of the worst I've ever seen.
I stripped that truck down to a frame sitting on jackstands in my parents 2 car garage and wire wheeled the entire thing to bare metal, primed and painted it with whatever rattle paint we had lying around; bought about $1200 worth in new suspension/drivetrain parts at the local mom & pop auto parts store(not as many chains back then); that was at a reduced price because I worked at the Texaco gas station and the owner(who became a good friend over the years) had a 3 bay garage he did repairs out of, so I got his account/pricing on all the Moog parts/etc......................that is probably when this whole Chevy truck obsession started for me............right about that same time my dad had had about enough with all the truck parts on the side of the house and this frame on jackstands in his garage.....mind you I was very clean about the whole thing and used the powdered shop soap to clean off the concrete every day and squeegee it dry but it just wasn't meant to be; on a side note, that soap probably wasn't the best thing to be flowing down the street gutters.....but things were different back then. So my dad pulled me aside and said he was getting rid of the truck, I reluctantly agreed...yeah I was pissed.....and maybe even a little relieved with the scope of what the project had become.......but I never let my dad know that part.....hehehe......for the next several months he cut the truck into managable pieces with a sawzall and took the parts his metal trash bin at work until it was just a memory.

Fast forward to 2012, bought a C20 roller for $600 bucks with plans to make it decent DD but nothing over the top. Then again in 2014 bought a running(although not very well) 1977 C10 inline 6 shortbed stepside for $1400 bucks. Neither of these projects panned out because I also decided to do a home renovation from 2012-2014 (which I did complete) and with my last sea tour just on the horizon(active duty Navy) and an out of state move in preparation for retirement, I boxed up what parts I could fit in the moving van and off we went. The C10 and C20 projects were no more. The next two years were so busy I barely had time to come home and see my newborn and wife, let alone start a project..............and then the day finally came! I retired from the Navy after 20yrs active duty!

So here I am....2017, 45yrs old, retired navy chief, full time contractor, happily married with 3 boys, 3 dogs and a turtle............and it's about damn time I finish one of these project trucks already! Don't get me wrong, I have completed other projects, but this one seems to be my nemesis..............

Essentially, what I have is a fairly decent parts pile I've managed to drag with me (new and used)(although some of my gems were forfeited in the move) along with a newly purchased parts truck(read rough canvas) I'm going to do my very best to transform it into the truck I've always wanted AND FINISH IT. It wont be a show stopper by any stretch....more like a nice DD with a few goodies.

If you've read all this and are still interested in the build, I kindly thank you.........I always feel like its nice to include a little back story so there it is! Thanks again and I'll be posting more soon!

Devin
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1983 Chevy C10 250/3spd (current project truck)
1976 Chevy C10 350/350 Heavy Half (future project truck)

Last edited by moregrip; 01-07-2017 at 12:32 AM. Reason: change title
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