First Timers Build/Super Stock 70 Step

[jsmithbm]

So, I was ask by several people if i would be doing a build thread. I didn't know if it would interest you all. I've read many many post and they all interest me. Maybe the same is true for other people. I will read 1500 pages of material before i try something new. However I am a visual learner. Just a quick run down on my background, then on to the photos. I know you all like the pic's more than reading this stuff. LOL. Anyhow, I was a Police Officer for about ten years, retired and moved on to something else. I followed several of my buddies and went into the Insurance business as an Estimator/Adjuster. I have good street sense so to say but mechanical and body knowledge has all been obtained from watching Stacey David and the others on TV. Enough about that. I have been wanting an old Chevy Truck for some time. I have been asking a lot of questions and going out to see a lot of trucks. This past 4th, i went back to my hometown where my parents lived. I showed them a truck that had been on Craigs list for a few weeks. Made an offer and bought the truck. Here is what the owner had posted for pics on his listing.


It's a twenty footer at most, and thats stretch. Well it's a 1970 Chevy C/10, Step w/spare mounted on bed. It has a L6/250. Power nutting. So i bought the truck, it idled great so thought we would drive it home.
I've driven several 5 speeds in my life but never a three speed, on the tree.
So i driver out his driveway and out of the neighborhood. Headin to the main road it cuts off. GREAT!!! Pull off to the side and Dad pulls up, Whats wrong, "CANT YOU DRIVE THAT (Insert your choice word here) thang. Thought maybe it was out of gas. The PO drives by and waves....... (not even going to put down what i thought of that. But hey he sold it as is, not his concern right. Well thats not how i operate and i don't think most on here do either. So we go get gas, added it and fired right up. I know we should have taken some with us and maybe even a dolly, but PO stated he has been driving it around town. So we get almost home and it does the same thing. We call a Tow. 75 bucks to get it three miles home. Here are some pics i took after we got it home.



Not sure how much i can put into one post......

[jsmithbm]

I didnt get much done the first weekend i had it due to it being the 4th weekend and i had my son.
Since it cut off on us i wanted to pin point the problem. I checked the inline fuel filter, amazingly dirty. Changed, drove it around my parents neighborhood. Oh the Exhaust, Yeah its not there! Ex. manifold down below the cab then nothing. Its loud. So i drove it around the block a few times. Checked the filter again. Dirty, Changed, added 20 gals of new gas. Dad and i thought it would be a good time to drive it to my house, early Sunday monring sure no one will be on the highway. We leave out around 8 or so. We get onto the highway. I'm leading in my car, Dad is driving the tank and mom is bringing up the rear. We got just past the county line and it cuts off. GREAT. We sit in the emergency lane for a few rethink our game plan. We think it would be best to go home. They are doing a ton of work on the interstate near my exit and there are not emergency lanes and barriers on both sides so you would not be able to pull off to the side. We get back home. I'm not to happy but hey, its all in the fun of owning an old truck right. Dad goes inside to watch Little House on the Praire. LOL.
I go out and look at the fuel filter AGAIN. Sure thing its dirty dirty. I go to the store and get another 3.98 filter. I think it would be safe to say that there is surely some trash in the line. My thoughts..... Pull the tank out. Oh yeah the tank it full of gas. I found numerous containers for the old gas. How did i remove it...... The old fashion way, SIPHON, it worked. Drew out all the gas, removed mounting bolts. GEEZ sounds like sand is in the tank. I washed the tank out for about an hour. I loaded it up Dads truck. He took it to a person that clean and seals them. Charge 80 bucks. While taking out the sending unit i noticed that the sending line was loose. Hmmm where can i find one in stock. NO WHERE. Had the line brazed its fixed no problems. Not much else i can do. I have to go back home. Its getting late.
Photo from today, tanks in with new rubber gasket too. Missing one bolt and washer, order it today.

Here is a photo on the cab. While i was back at work dad took it upon himself to do a little tinkering with the truck. Thanks DAD, He removed the carpet and several other things in which he elected not to tell me about.

I got there today and went into the work shop to get putty knife. I was going to clean the frame rails before i put the power steering pump oh. Here is what i ran into....

Its hard to see but if you look above my sons head you can see the Massive tear in the seat.

[jsmithbm]

Back to the power steering, Thanks to everyone that i bugged the mess out of about that issue. I bought an entire steering column out of a 75 chevy in order to get the gear box, pump, resv. What do i not have for this upgrade. The stinking mounting brackets. I searched all week for them. Thanks to a board member i now have them on the way. It is very very hard to find them for the L6. Here is a photo of what is coming in the mail in a few days. As soon as my paypal thing gets ta working.


Here is what i am planning for the motor to look like when i am done. Not exactly but something similar.

[mas09ts]

Looks like a great one to start with dude. Keep us posted. . .

[jsmithbm]

I went down this morning like i was saying. I was going to put on the p/s gear and clean the frame and control arms and stuff. I was reading a thread about someone using oven cleaner and pressure washer to get the years of dirty, mud, etc off. I stopped off at the Dollar Gen. to get some store brand cleaner. Grabbed five cans and a coke for under ten bucks. Cool.
I made sure to take my camera with me b/c i wanted to get a lot of photos to share and added to this thread. Here are some before photos of the underside of her.






Here is what it looked like after i cleaned it. I sprayed a can per side and used a 1inch putty knife, pipe brush 3/4 (Dad was a plumber, he has tons of them and the work really great for those grooves and nocks) I did not even use a wire brush. After all the scraping i put the water hose to it and this is the result. Now keep in mind this was just to get the crude off so i could get to the p/s mounting holes and inspect the U and L control arm bushings and grease fittings. I didnt know they had that many. Heres the photos.

[mas09ts]

Yeah Oven Cleaner does wonders!!! Looks alot better.

[jsmithbm]

Did you notice what condition the rubber brake hoses were in? Well lets say they were not safe to be driving around with. Went to Advanced and got an entire set. The back ones will not be in until tomorrow. I replaced the front ones. Not to hard. Made sure i soaked the nuts in WD and changed out. Another thing my dad did was to take it by the brake guy and let him turn the drums and bought a new drum for the front. While they were inspecting the brakes the noticed that some of the parking brake hardware was missing. This past week while i was working i located a few old trucks. Man are they hard to find at the JY's around here. I work in downtown Atlanta. I am sure there are some in the rural JYs but anyhow, i had to buy the whole brake setup for one spring and one arm. But while i was there i setup a deal for the entire front end from a 72. Might convert to a power disk brakes on the front. Trying to keep it looking like stock but stil have some of the modern conviences. Another thing i will be looking for in the near future will be an HEI.
Here are a few pic of the inside and the problem rust areas i am going to tackle once i get the truck to my house.
It appears that someone has already replaced the outer rockers horrible repair, notice the holes.






The left fender seems fine however the right one will need a lower patch. here is a photo of it. Looks like someon might have hit something the right rocker has damage on the outside too

Here is a photo of the underside of the cab.

[jsmithbm]

Question, It appears that the lower half (?) of the carb is loose? from the top part. Kinda like its 2 pieces. Its moves around a bit. Should this be fixed before we attempt to drive it 65 miles? I am sure it is causes some issues. I was looking it over after dinner and it loolks like you have to take the entire thing off the intake because the screws that hold the top half would not be accessable. Here is a photo of the Carb. Sorry i dont have a photoshop program so i could circle the area i am talking about. One last question. Can ya tell me which manufactor this is.



I almost forgot i got another surprise today as well. Some new rubbers for her. The original tires where horrible, they were dry rotted.
Here is the tires:

I would like some feedback from you guys, anything would be appreciated, good or bad and even elbows (opinions). LOL Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and they were able to do everything the set out to accomplish.

[sharpmark]

the carbs the same on my i6.there are 2 phillipsheaded screws underneath that it would pay to tighten up.also have you checked the filter where the inlet pipe goes into the carb,the bignut there is part of a small internal filter that was quite blocked on mine.nice truck by the way.

[jsmithbm]

Someone told me the other day to make sure and check that, they told me that their carb had one but they were not sure it mine did. I will check that. Thanks for the tip!

[uno67]

Nice build. I think those brackets are for a smog pump, the pulleys will work someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

[wancosc356]

Looking good man. Nice progress.

[jsmithbm]

I got a call this morning, from my dad. I had ask him to check the carb to see if there was a filter behind the fuel in line. Well it appears that the PO (POS) has cross threaded the nut and to solve the problem added a few washers so that it would be somewhat tight. The top is still a little loose. But in order to fix the fuel inlet problem i think i am goin to be forced into buying a rebuilt carb or try my luck at finding a Used one..... I dont know what to do about that. I want to upgrade to a OFFY intake with bigger carb but didnt want to do it right now plus i dont want to water 240 buck for a rebuilt carb. Arent these project so fun. LOL. Well i will not be able to work on the truck this weekend. My son and i will be spending some time together. Thanks for checking out my build thread and vent session.

[wancosc356]

Originally Posted by jsmithbm

I got a call this morning, from my dad. I had ask him to check the carb to see if there was a filter behind the fuel in line. Well it appears that the PO (POS) has cross threaded the nut and to solve the problem added a few washers so that it would be somewhat tight. The top is still a little loose. But in order to fix the fuel inlet problem i think i am goin to be forced into buying a rebuilt carb or try my luck at finding a Used one..... I dont know what to do about that. I want to upgrade to a OFFY intake with bigger carb but didnt want to do it right now plus i dont want to water 240 buck for a rebuilt carb. Arent these project so fun. LOL. Well i will not be able to work on the truck this weekend. My son and i will be spending some time together. Thanks for checking out my build thread and vent session.

Bummer man. Try to tap it yourself to repair the threads or take the carb to the machine shop and see if they can helicoil it for you or if you have the tools, do it yourself. Would be much cheaper than a new carb. Good luck.

[jsmithbm]

Whats the helicoil?

[wancosc356]

Originally Posted by jsmithbm

Whats the helicoil?

It is essentially new threads. If you have a hole that is too big, either from stripping the threads or drilling it out, you drill it a little bigger. Tap the bigger threads in. Screw in the helicoil. And then you have yourself a brand new hole with good threads to screw your bolt or fuel line into. Wow! That sounds kinda bad. haha.

[jsmithbm]

I located them at Advanced, "New Threads". I will have to get em and see if they work. Seems like it might. I will let ya know. I have a friend that may be able to get the reman carb for right around 100 which is a lot better than the 2 something. huh. thanks for the tip

[wancosc356]

Originally Posted by jsmithbm

I located them at Advanced, "New Threads". I will have to get em and see if they work. Seems like it might. I will let ya know. I have a friend that may be able to get the reman carb for right around 100 which is a lot better than the 2 something. huh. thanks for the tip

Ok. Cool. Just make sure u drill and tap straight and not crooked. It should work. $100 aint bad for a rebuilt carb. No problem.

[72BlckButy]

Great looking project, good luck with it!

[hgs_notes]

I'd go with the new carb if you can get it that cheap. You can always re-sell it later when you upgrade.

You might want to get that exhaust pipe hooked up before any extended driving. Even just putting on the new part from the manifold directly into a cheap muffler will be a help.

[Alan's Classic]

IMO I would put the reman carb on it. It might be the lesser of the 2 evils. Typical rust for this area. Did you look up Msgross's build where he put ther whole floor in. I remembering you asking my thoughts on it. Have you decided yet?

I see your using photobucket for your pix. You can edit your pix in there to draw circles and such.

I think you have got yourself a nice project there. It will be very trying at times, but well worth it in the end. Thanks for the pix.

[jsmithbm]

Thanks Alan, I have trying out photobucket. I did read the thread on the floor replacement. I think I should go with the patch panels.
Are you going to the po boy cruise in?

[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by jsmithbm

Thanks Alan, I have trying out photobucket. I did read the thread on the floor replacement. I think I should go with the patch panels.
Are you going to the po boy cruise in?

There is a Bday party that ends at 4:00. I hope to sneak out and make it to the cruise. Will you be there?

From what I can see in your pix the floor only needs patch panels and not the whole thing. Just my .02

[jsmithbm]

Yea i will be going to both Po Boys and Year One.

[jsmithbm]

Progress is slow and steady, i have not taken many photos of what i have done, The power steering brackets made it in the many yesterday. Once i get it installed its off to the brake shop. I stoped by a fellow board members place and picked up some goodies. I got a set of fenders and some seat belts. Here is a photo of the one on my truck i am replacing.

I took the feners to the shop today and did some metal work on them and sanded them down. I'm going to prime them and put them until i am ready to spray some paint.