Projects '66 Chevy C10 build

Making progress still. We have finished sanding and wirebrushing the rust in the cab, found a few more spots that turned out to need patching but nothing major. There's rust converter on it all, now I need to get a compressor, do a once over everything with 130 grit, clean it, and spray paint. So close now...Already have the paint and the guns. Hope to have it in color in no more than a week or two, we'll see...Here's what she looks like now.
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Awesome build man! Cant wait to start a build with my kids.

 

lovin it. reminds me of how cool my old man was. subscribed.

 

Big day tomorrow. Finally got the cab prepped, gonna spray primer and hopefully paint tomorrow. First time painting a car with anything but a rattle can...Gotta admit I'm a little nervous. Should go well though, I feel like we have it nailed. I'll update as soon as possible after its done.

 

looking forward to the paint!

 

Well, as usual I didn't get as much done as I thought I would, but David and I got the primer sprayed today. This is a huge milestone for me, feels really good to see it all clean and fresh looking. Here's a few pictures of today's festivities.
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We did a final sand to get the fresh formed rust off...Unfortunately I am building in a carport and if it sits over night it gets that fine powdery rust on it. Then we blew it off and wiped it down a few times with wet rags to get the last of the dust off. Next up was masking off the bits we were going to spray, then a final wipe down with grease and wax remover.
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This was followed by mixing paint and gearing up. We were going to do it in the carport, but it was really nice today and no wind so we figured we would just spray right there in the driveway...None the less, full protective gear was issued, especially since that's my only son there....It was hot as hell those suits today!
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Actually laying down the paint was not as hard as I had psyched myself up to believe it was. Of course, this was just primer. Under the dash was a bitch. David and I each sprayed about half the cab.

 

I underestimated how much paint we needed. I bought a quart of primer and a quart of topcoat, but we burned up the whole quart of primer and actually came up just a little short. Since we need two coats of color, I think I need to buy at least a quart more, maybe even just spring for a gallon. I will use any extra elsewhere, wheels, trim etc. Other than that, it came out great, I am so happy to see it! This is the first car we have sprayed, I am pleased that we could do it. Like I've said elsewhere on this board, you just have to jump in and do things, you can do a lot more than you think you can. Here's the new look:
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Finally, here's a comparison shot....The before was actually worse than it looks if you can believe it. Progress! We may actually drive this thing yet!
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Before:
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After:
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Great work! I can't wait to get further into my father/daughter project! I know I'm a way away from paint... (thinking flat too), but what gun and compressor size are you using?

 

I bought the gun set that TCP Global sells, its got three of them, two identical guns at 1.8 and 1.4mm, and a smaller gun with a 1.0mm tip. I used the 1.8 for the primer, gonna shoot the topcoat with the 1.4. I bought a Home Depot brand 60 gallon compressor (Husky?), 3.2 hp motor. Its a re-branded Campbell Hausfeld (sp?) and worked like a champ. It only kicked on two or three times while I was spraying, and it was able to re-fill during use. Well worth the just over $500 it cost.

 

My paint came from TCP Global today, got the primer finished this evening. David and I will sand it a little tomorrow after work, then Friday is topcoat day.

Lesson learned the hard way...You have to clean your gun IMMEDIATELY after spraying or it is a bitch. First time I spent about an hour and a half scraping off dried primer from the guts. This time I ran about a half a pint of solvent through the gun immediately after I finished spraying, it was 1000 times easier to clean.

Question for you guys that actually know what you are doing: Some (most) areas of the primer are rough rather than smooth, I don't know if thats normal for primer, operator error, or maybe overspray that fell on it after i had started to flash? Any thoughts? Its ok on the primer, I'll just hit it with some fine grit sandpaper, but if the top coat does that too it will suck.

 

Sounds like you have moisture is in your line. Also check your air pressure. Too low and your paint will not atomize properly. As a result the paint will come out as larger droplets. Not good for base coats, but great for custom artwork like stone effects, but thats another story. Too high of pressure and the air will push the existing (and on coming) paint away from itself. It actually creates many tiny vortex's, which is the cause of orange peel. Check your fan width, and pressure on a clean sheet of paper, or another part before you spray the real part.

 

cool build! check out 67-72chevytrucks.com i have a 68 and its similar to yours (suspension)

keep at it

 

Loppy, thanks for the advice, just in time since we are spraying topcoat later this morning. I'll crank up the pressure a little this time. I have an old door I can try it on first. Also, I have a moisture/oil filter at the compressor end, the guns came with another one to put at the end of the hose and I didn't use it because it made the gun a little more awkward...Think I'll throw it on there this time and see what happens. With any luck I'll have some pictures and an update later today. The actual spraying should only take an hour or so, just waiting for my son to wake up...He's 16 and its the last week of vacation.

 

OK, we sprayed the color on the cab today. We used Hot Rod Flatz "Hot Rod Black", it took a little under two quarts. While not a wild success, it could have turned out a lot worse. Its a little streaky, especially on the back wall and the roof, I think thats because our coats are not even enough. I was also surprised at how shiny it is, I expected it to be flatter than it turned out. We had a few runs as well. Grrrr. Finally, due to the fact that we had to shoot it in my carport, there's a little dust in it. Not a huge amount though. Overall, for our first journey into automotive painting, I think it turned out all right. I think it will be just fine....Now to let it harden up and start putting the cab back together. Here's the pics of the final result:

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OK, off to finish getting the seats ready...

 

Damn I love this build. Can't wait to see more of it. I agree the sixes are sweet engines.

 

The key to shooting these flat or satin finishes is to fog the last coat. Scuff it with a grey scotchbrite pad and back off about 8" and give it a light dusting one more time. You won't have stripes if you do it that way.

Looks good!

 

Lookin GREAT!!!!!

 

Hey CGkidd, I see you are an EMC in the Coast Guard. You stationed in Seattle? I'm an MEC at the Base. I hope to have the truck running by the beginning of next month, I'll bring it by the Base if you want to check it out...

 

After sitting for 24 hours, it looks a lot better. Still not perfect, but way closer. I'm happy now....

 

i like the methodical way your going about it, and i have a soft spot for these trucks as i had a '66 C20 for a while
good to see one brought back from the dead

 

You really have to have a system when you have a project that needs this much work, otherwise it will overwhelm you. Even so, I have sworn to myself that the next few cars I build will be running and driveable the day I bring them home! This has been a ton of work....Worth it though. Can't wait till that first day we roll down the road in her.

 

Things are coming together faster now that the metal and paint is done. We got the air vents back in, some misc small fittings in the cab, and are probably 2/3 done with the brake lines.

Since we installed the dual carb Offy, the stock linkage wasn't even close to working. After looking at it and thinking hard (my brain still hurts) I decided that the best way to go was with a throttle cable rather than trying to bend a hard linkage. Got it all finished last night. The cable is a Lokar, really nice part, seems very high quality.

Here's the carbs and lever. I needed to fabricate a bracket and decided to attach it to the two bolts you see in the middle of the intake.
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I made the bracket out of 16 gauge sheet metal and rattlecanned it with black engine paint. Here it is mocked up with the cable set in place.
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For the other end I cut an arm off the stock linkage and welded it onto the stock gas pedal. Tricky part was getting the pull length and angle right.
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Here it is painted and installed, ready to go. Works pretty well. The only thing that bugs me a little is that it pulls the cable out and down rather than straight out, but I think it will be fine.
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Finally, here's the finished bracket and cable installed at the carb end.
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Everything needs the final adjustment and I need to get a return spring on the pedal or something, but it works pretty well, and I think it looks decent also.....Now to finish the brakes, get the wiring done and do the fuel lines.

 

Neat trick with the throttle cable. I may have to steal that idea.

 

It was making my head hurt trying to figure out a hard linkage....I think it looks pretty slick too.

 

Love this build so far. Will the whole truck be painted flat black -- it is a little stereotypical to some, but I think the C-10's really look their best done that way. Alternatively the factory two-tone (primary color with white top section) looks the beans as well. Can't wait to see the finished product!

My brother has a 1963 C-10 that our grandfather helped him hot rod. Sadly he got into an accident with some buffoon without brake lights, insurance or even a license to drive! Somehow my brother was the one who still got the ticket! *rolls eyes*

Since then the truck has been parked with a tweaked front-end (and possibly cab). That truck was a big part of what got me into cars as I use to travel everywhere with him in that thing, listening to the 350 SBC roaring through glasspacks as he rowed through the gears on the Muncie 4spd.

 

Thats too bad about your brothers truck, maybe you guys need to save her!

We are going to paint her the Hot rod flatz olive green color, with white scallops..

 

Looking good!! I did something similar to my 65 c10 with a lokar cable at the gas pedal,mine also pulled down instead of straight out....the cable will just wear a slot in the aluminum screw firewall mount thingy(dont know the name lol) didnt fray the cable at all....i like the bracket you made cool little gussets for strength.....i also am building a 1966 now..

 

Without the gussets it flexed too much. Good to hear about the cable, that was one thing that concerned me. Also a little worried that I will need to hook up water or exhaust to the manifold, I'll have to rework that bracket if I do but I'm hoping to get by without it, I don't want to clutter up the engine compartment with more lines unless I need too.

 

Awesome!!!