1970 C10 2wd SWB budget daily driver

[Farm Shop]

After years and years of wanting one, I finally picked up a 67-72 2wd SWB C10. On valenties day a few weeks ago my wife (who was 9 months pregnant with our first child at the time) gave the the ok to drive 5.5 hours one way to Kentucy and pick up a 1970 C10 I found on CL. It was rough around the edges, but the price was right and I loved the patina'd original paint look.

The truck is a VERY base level C10 with the 250 I6, manual drum brakes, manual steering, and no corner lights. I believe the only options it has are the powerglide automatic, and the AM radio. The truck has a lot of rust, but its different from what we see here in the salt belt, and it is solid in all the right places.


Couple pics from the ad:











Getting it home pulled by the trusty Dirtymax





Unloaded sitting in my yard:







I bought it knowing that the I6 did run and had new plugs, cap, points, condensor, and rebuilt carb, but they were too lazy to clean or replace the crusty fuel tank. The seller and I ended up using a 5 gal gas can under the hood to pull fuel from long enough to drive the truck onto the trailer.

Now that it was home, I wanted to get it running correctly. I bought a replacement gas tank, but first tried to get it running as-is as a sanity check. Turns out, I think the engine is junk. The oil was good when I bought the truck, but after a few min of cranking, it looks like chocolate milk and was high on the dipstick.

I was hoping to address the suspension issues (lowered on heated stock springs), wheels/tires, bring the interior back to life, and drive it with the I6 for a while, but it looks like the LS swap is going to happen sooner than planned.

Another decision was wheels/tires. I have a set of 5x5 17x9.5" TT2's that would look great on it, but the 4 wheel drums are all new, and the 5-lug conversion wasn't something I wanted to tackle right now. I ended up finding a deal on these slotted mags. Its not the look I originally wanted, but they do look pretty tough, and they bolted on in just minutes.

Drove 3 hours round trip to pick them up:







Replacement floor pans, sill plates, driver window regulator, seat cover, carpet kit, and fuel tank are already here, and the CPP 3/5 lowering kit is ordered and en route.

With the engine issue, this might be a slow build, but I'll update it as possible. I have a $260 4.8 in the shop waiting to be assembled that will probably end up in this truck... we shall see.

[bowtieguy79]

I dig it, will be fun to see you guys take this out when its done!

[Cash3481]

I'm getting ready to sell a set of bed sides that match your paint/patina if your looking for some. I love that color too!

[Justin@EntropyRad]

looks killer as-is

[WIDESIDE72]

I'm curious to see how this one turns out.

[Farm Shop]

Originally Posted by WIDESIDE72

I'm curious to see how this one turns out.

Me too.

[Advanced Design]

I am in to tag along. Looks like a fun build.

[Farm Shop]

Plans have changed before this project even started. I am VERY pro-LS swap... you just can't beat the performance and reliability per $ of even the 4.8... but the local shows are getting pretty saturated, and I wanted to do something a little different.

I ended up finding a steal of a deal on a 1999 3/4 ton Suburban with the Vortec 454 and 2wd 4L80e trans. I'm excited about this for several reasons:
- Different from the very common LS swap
- The BBC matches the old school muscle truck attitude
- EFI and an almost bulletproof overdrive trans!! Plus, my EFI Live will work with the '98+ ecm's, so that's just a $125 license and I can get it exactly how I want.








I also plan to use a seat from the Suburban as well. I've seen guys use the front and the middle row, so I'm not sure which direction to go right now. Either way, it'll be a big comfort and convenience improvement with the fold down center console/arm rest.


I also picked up another set of 15x8.5 slotted mags and new 275/60-15 tires (no pics yet) to replace the staggered 15x7/15x8.5 currently on the truck.

I don't expect to start turning wrenches on this project until probably Feb (maybe January if I'm feeling ambitious), but I am getting more and more excited about it. I think it will be a fun, unique, but easy-to-drive little rig.

[Farm Shop]

I'm finally getting some traction on this project. My dad and I pulled it from my house to the shop at the farm (about 5 miles) and I dove in Friday night. Nothing too amazing, but I got the front clip off, and the engine is just trans and motor mounts away from coming out.

Some fresh "before" pics:













And this is how it looked after a few hours. For the most part it came apart really well. Manhandling the hood on my own was a challenge, but at least there's no expensive paint job to be worried about!





I hope to have the eng/trans out, and start cutting out floor rust tonight, with the goal of having the cab sheetmetal done this week so I can pull the cab and bed off to blast and paint the chassis over the weekend. We'll see if that actually happens or not!

[Advanced Design]

That will be a great powertrain for your truck. Good luck with the next steps.

[flashed]

Im late to the party but here for the rest of it ,looks great to start .

[bowtieguy79]

About time you get on this one Kyle! off to a great start!

[TruckNLoad]

This will be nice build. good luck!

[swamp rat]

Ya got me at 454..

[roOstersan]

I follow along, I'm partial to the olive ones!

[sambrutay]

This truck had me interested when it was on CL. really dig the overall look of it. Green and rust is my color. Good luck with the build.

[Farm Shop]

Thanks for the positive feedback! Hopefully it turns out ok.

Spent a few more hours on it last night. I didn't start throwing sparks on the floor pans like I had hoped, but that's the next step after the fuel tank comes out. There's definitely a lot of dirt/leaves/junk in every place it could settle throughout the body, causing quite a bit of rust in those low areas. Technically the cab could be restored with all new metal, but I think the route I'm taking with the truck makes the most sense. The funny thing is, its still nicer to work on and pull apart than my 2005 Z71 that's been in salty IL its whole life.

The I6/powerglide coming out to make room for 2 more cylinders, 204 more ci, and 2 more gears.


Pulled the seat out to see what I was really working with. So far it seems like all the rust was easily visible when I bought the truck.


The passenger cab corner is great example of how much dirt settled EVERYWHERE in/on the truck, and it really makes sense why it rusted the way it did everywhere else. This could've been awful if the rear window had leaked... its full to within 1/2" of the actual floor board with dry dust/dirt/leaves/acorns.


This is how it looked when I called it a night. Ready to yank the fuel tank and start throwing sparks on the floor pans.

[Wasted Income]

Nice. I like the green and rust patina. Where have I seen that before??

[allengator]

great project!

[mild68]

Cool project. I'm looking forward to your progress.
I'm going to be doing a similar project on a 68.
Where about are you in central Il? I'm in Normal.

[riddinlow99]

nice project I too just picked up a 70 olive c10, will be watching I really like the motor choice.

[Farm Shop]

Originally Posted by mild68

Cool project. I'm looking forward to your progress.
I'm going to be doing a similar project on a 68.
Where about are you in central Il? I'm in Normal.

Small world! I live between Deer Creek and Goodfield.

You wouldn't happen to know where I could source a good pair of inner fenders and radiator support locally? I'll order repops if I have to, but I'm putting it off as long as I can.

[tommys72]

Nice little truck there

[mild68]

Originally Posted by Farm Shop

Small world! I live between Deer Creek and Goodfield.

You wouldn't happen to know where I could source a good pair of inner fenders and radiator support locally? I'll order repops if I have to, but I'm putting it off as long as I can.

Nope, sorry

[jeh]

Ive gotta stay tuned for another BB build. Looks like good progress so far