High School Project (first build)

[rckclmbr99]

So I've been wanting to build a 67-72 c10 for a while. My buddy had a '69 that he had purchased a while back that was sitting in his back yard for about a year now. It had parts of a 305, no tranny, and no driveshaft. It has some rust in the floorpan, in the doors, and little surface rust from sittin. Other than that it has a fair amount of dents and a good bit of bondo on the bedsides for some unknown reason (a meth head hasd it before my buddy, we found lots of odd things like a piece of sandpaper used to sand bondo that had been rolled up and smoked). My buddy wanted $300 for it so i had been saving up to get it. My parents decided to get it for me for Christmas. The day i got it my buddy and I began to work on it.
Here are some pics of it from his back yard:

[rckclmbr99]

So the first day we pulled it out and the brakes still worked (it was on the street 2 years ago) and we got it in the shop

[rckclmbr99]

So I knew that i wanted to lower it and we wasted no time (everyone knows that stock is no good!). When we got it in the shop we started working. We started by lowering the front.







Then the back:







I felt bad doin it but these had to go...



Then we were just chillin in the shop and got an idea for exhaust while its a rat rod...

[LuckyHenriksen]

Hell ya, more high schoolers. Check out my build, also texanidiot and thirdstreettito, these are the names that come off the top of my head. We are all high schoolers building these beasts. Good luck, looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you! What are your plans for drivetrain/suspension/paint?

[rckclmbr99]

So all that was just the first day. The next day we pulled out the 305 to see if it was worth anything. well it wasn't. there was lots or carbon build up and lots of wear.









So far thats all we've done to it and we are gonna put it on a rollback and get it over to my place. Progress will most likely be slow due to money and my parents want me to have and keep good grades but i will keep this updated as much as i can. I'm really looking forward to doin this build and can't wait to get her back on the road.
Take it easy,
Jonathan

[rckclmbr99]

Originally Posted by LuckyHenriksen

Hell ya, more high schoolers. Check out my build, also texanidiot and thirdstreettito, these are the names that come off the top of my head. We are all high schoolers building these beasts. Good luck, looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you! What are your plans for drivetrain/suspension/paint?

I want to put a mild 350 in it with a 700r4 tranny. for paint im gonna do a 2 tone with a dark blue on top and black on bottom with a silver break in between the 2 colors. i have a sketch of it ill try to get it on here in the next few days. as for wheels im not quite sure if i want old school or new. i'm still lookin.
Take it easy,
Jonathan

[LuckyHenriksen]

Sounds like a good plan, you are making great progress. Keep posting the pics

[rckclmbr99]

about what i wanna do for paint:





not the prettiest but that about what i wanna do. i'll have the silver break tapering back from about 2 inches wide in front to about half an inch in the back.
Take it easy,
Jonathan

[67-72crazy]

keep up the good work on the truck. nice sketch of what you want the truck to look like.i used to do the same think when the teacher wasn't looking.

[nuke1]

great first project you have there, i was 15 when i started mine, so i know all about the money and such, but it was worth every hour i worked on it, besides that it kept me out of trouble and clean, not that i still did not have fun!

[*Dylan]

That's a pretty good looking truck you have. It's good to see another highschooler like myself building these trucks!

[rckclmbr99]

Thanks for the comments guys. And thats exactly what i did, when the teachers weren't lookin i'd be sketchin up my truck. I'm probably gettin the truck over to my house tomorrow so i'll be doin some cleanin up on it. I'm not sure if i'm gonna be able to but i'd really like to atleast get her runnin by the end of Feb. so i can take it to blood drag with a bunch of my friends and our club.
Take it easy,
Jonathan

[LuckyHenriksen]

Blood drag? Sounds cool, explain please?

[rckclmbr99]

I'm not exactly sure. This will be my first year goin. A few of my friends have bagged s-10's and so they invited me. From what i understand its a rather large truck show with minis, full size, and some rat rods and what not. It's probably called blood drag b/c the bagged dudes drag frame or blocks and they have draggin competitions. It would just be fun to have my truck to drive down there and enter rather than riding with someone.
Take it easy,
Jonathan

[LuckyHenriksen]

definitely sounds like fun

[texanidiot25]

Blood Drag, Dropzone, Havoc, Heatwave, all worth going to see if your into trucks of all shapes and sizes.

Good to see another high schooler man... what grade? And what size tire is on this pic:

[VA72C10]

Looks like a good start and I like your sketch and paint idea!

[allen123]

Looks like a awesome build
Im a highschooler too, Im building a 72 SWB

How did you lower it drop springs and spindles? And how many inches cause thats about as low as i want mine

[texanidiot25]

Looks about 3inches up front, and 5 in back. But a 5 inch drop he's gotta be on the bump stops

I know I am

[rckclmbr99]

well I'm in 11th grade so I'll be workin on her through high school and as you all know it's never done so it'll be fun to work on here and there through college too.

Well to start out with I don't have the money to spend on new spindles and drop coils (savin for engine and trans) so we just chop the coils. It was 1 and a half up front and I think 1 and a quarter in the back. I'll check for sure tomorrow when I check to see what size tire that is on that side in the back. As for bumpstops I ripped them out for now. I'm goin to pull apart tomorrow and I'm gonna look for some smaller bumpstops and some other parts like a hood hinge (the drivers side one is broken). Also my buddy and I are gonna fab up a new traction bar for the back since mines bent so I'll see about gettin some pics of that when we do it.
Take it easy,
Jonathan

[texanidiot25]

Did you reshape the coils for the spring holders?

Get dropshocks too before you hit the road. By cutting coils you effectively stiffen the suspension, and the stock shocks can't handle the higher spring rate. A crap ride and eventually bad shocks are no bueno.

[rckclmbr99]

ya we only had to slightly reshape them in the back. If you cut them just right you dont have to reshape them much to fit under the spring perch. I'm gonna get drop shocks before i start drivin it but for now its fine considering theres no engine or transmission. I used to crappy rides b/c I currently have a 1987 Toyota 4runner thats lifted and has cranked torsion bars. Also I've rode in my friends bagged trucks and they all wanna be as low as possible so most of them have mono leafs. I will be gettin dropshocks though.
Take it easy,
Jonathan

[texanidiot25]

Me moving up from a 1990 Firebird, I can't wait for this truck's ride.

Anyways, glad your doing it on the cheap right. Keep up the work mayne.

[rckclmbr99]

So I checked today and it was more like 2 coils cut front and back. That back tire is a P235/75R15. I'm thinkin thats about the size I wanna run all the way around. I took off the traction bar in the back today because it was sbent up pretty bad and found out its also twisted on 2 different planes. My buddy and I are probably just gonna make a new one some time before i get her back to drivin on the road. I'll try to get some pics of it on here tomorrow or the next day.
Take it easy,
Jonathan

[rckclmbr99]

finally got it to my place and found the camera and i've been grounded
updates:





traction bar or whatever. bent on 2 planes and looks like someone heated it so it would bend:



15x8 $50 on craigslist



rust in cab. its been fiberglassed over (PITA):



yes thats aluminum foil fuses...



dash pad off:



now im gettin the bondo off the bedsides, rippin up fiberglass crap, and hand mountin some tires on my new wheels (wanna paint them black and get some smooth chrome caps)

Take it easy,
Jonathan