69 C-10 SWB. The Beast Returns

[69C10@16]

Alright guys, the 69 has been in its graveyard for too long. It's time she return to the pavement.

This is the truck before it got ripped apart. Nothing to look at I know. It was my first truck and it cost me a massive $800. it got me from A to B. Til i blew it up.

After the motor screwed me I bought my dads 99 GMC and he bought him an 06 Chevy. The 69 kinda snowballed on me. What started as a motor swap ended up as a bare frame in my backyard and absolutely NO money to work on it. But my manager at work got promoted and now I have a fulltime job. So I've decided to continue living exactly as I did at part time and spend the rest of my money on the truck. Haha.

Current plans are to do a 2/4 drop. It's also gonna be a victim of a frame chop. Lowered longbeds look good when they are done right. But I've always been a fan of the shortbed so it's gettin cut. I've got a 67 Big Window cab in the backyard to replace the decrepid excuse of a cab that was on the truck. Can't decide on a color and it doesn't matter because I'm a LONG ways from that anyways. Putting a 76 front end on it to go 5-lug and disc all at once. Gave a hundred dollar bill for the front end cut off at the cab and loaded it onto a trailer.

Here's what the beast looked like before it got totally ripped down.





I will post pictures of the frame in my garage soon. Having POR-15 sprayed on it by a friend at his shop with a chassis black top coat. Cannot wait to be driving around in this truck again. Im sick of my 99. It's too fancy.

[72BlckButy]

Good luck with the build!

[69C10@16]

Here's a couple of pictures of the teardown that took place months ago.










And now here's where we are at. Finally got the garage clean enough to get the frame into it.





Nothing Exciting YET. The Frame Rail inserts for stiffening the frame and adding rigidity after a frame chop that Early Classic Enterprises offers were ordered today. Gotta do a lil grindin and a lil sweatin to get rid of some old exhaust hangers and pull the rear cab supports off next. then it'll get POR's Marine Clean Degreaser and Metal Ready and it's off to Casey Boyd's shop to get cut and painted. He does excellent work. I mean the man extended a quad cab late model Chevy Pickup and made it a 6 Door Limo he can cut 20" out of a frame.

Anyways, thats today's update. Going to try to update nightly so stay tuned.

[69C10@16]

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

Good luck with the build!

Thanks! I'm probably gonna need it!

[72BlckButy]

You're lookin' good so far, keep at it!

BTW... you have a lot of great board members in your area (Springfield to be exact). Be sure to look up some of the meets they have during the year.

[vegaschevy]

looks like the start of a great build.

what are all the plans?

[69C10@16]

Unsure of ALL the plans as of yet. Right now I know this much:

2/4 Drop
76 Front End for 5 Lug and Disk Brakes in one shot
5 Lug conversion for the rear axle
Frame chop because SWB is just that much cooler (in MY opinion, no offense intended to all of the long bed lovers on the site.)
And one BAD-A paint job of unknown color

Well didn't make a TON of progress tonight but not all too bad either. Finished grinding / cutting off the rest of the years worth of welded on exhaust brackets and pulled the rear cab supports and the front bed mounts to get ready for the frame cut. Should get my ECE Frame Stiffeners next week sometime and the Ball Joints and Control Arm Shafts are sitting at work ready to be billed to my account. Already picked up the front Disks, Calipers, Bearings, and Seals. I work at O'Reilly's. (Yes I know you just got jealous because I get EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT!!! hahaha. I know, I suck.)

Anyways that's tonights update. Time to hit the sack. Gotta talk to Casey tomorrow and see if he can swing by and give me some pointers on the frame prep. for the POR-15.

Stay tuned, more soon to come.

Just wanna add one more thing; Thanks to all my friends involved in the project. Whether it be moral support or hands on grinding off rivets......(side note, factory rivets SSSUUUCCCKKK) I do appreciate all the help. Not that any of you are reading this but I felt like sayin' it anyways.

[69C10@16]

Well not much got done tonight. Had to run into Springfield to pick up some Kerosine for the ole' heater. Did get the 76 Front End drug in to finish tearing it down though. Also have all the nuts soaking in PB Blaster so that maybe tomorrow I can get it torn apart a little easier. Here a few pics. Also posting a few pics of the frame without the rear cab mount and the front bed mount.

I have decided to have the frame sandblasted to remove all the old paint and rust and then spray it down with POR's etching spray so the POR will adhere to it. Can't decide if I want to take the Carrier Bearing Mount out of the center cross member or not. I want to go one piece driveshaft. And if I do so after spratying the POR I will have bare metal spots and I don't like the thought of that. Too many decisions....

[69C10@16]

I have officially decided that I hate control arm bushings. The 76 front end is completely stripped and ready for the sandblaster. Also got the carrier bearing mount removed. She's coming along nicely

[69C10@16]

Well I've decided to "pre-assemble" the entire rolling chassis. I have to many questions about how the drive line will align with the drop and if my tranny cross member will work to the 700r4 and what not. I think it will be best to cut the frame and then assemble the chassis before I por15 the frame so that if I need to modify it, it is done before the paint and the paint isn't all messed up from redoing things.

The rear axle is torn down and ready for 72 axle stubs. Some previous owner was really nice to me. It had brand new spider, ring, and pinion gears in it yay me! Unfortunately, it WAS a posi unit and had the normal clutches behind the spider gears BUT the inside spring cage that puts pressure on them was GONE. So its basically an open carrier with clutches in it.

[69C10@16]

Figured out my paint codes today. Going to two tone the truck similar to this one below. The colors are a touch darker with metal flakes in them. Look sharp together in my opinion. Going to paint the A-Arms the same silver as the lower part of the body. possibly the rear axle too, but I can't decide how that will look. A-Arms are blasted and are scheduled for paint next weekend. 35 for the blasting and 75 for the paint. And it is expensive freakin paint too. They are GM Color Codes 218M and 402N/04U. Laser Blue Effect and Urban Grey Effect. I can't wait until this truck is done!