Projects Father/Son 63 Chevy C10 SWB Build Thread

I tore some crap up bajaing a 1979 Honda wagon when I was 16. I also, got to buy parts.

 

I may have posted this earlier, but it bears repeating in this circumstance.

Good judgement comes from experience, a lot of that comes from bad judgement...

 

So, no real progress of any kind although we are getting closer to being able to work on this again.

We got the 1-ton back together and then I spent quite a bit of time putting a 55 Chevy fiberglass front end back together off the Bad Banana gasser that got into a wall.

Today, we pulled the hood and doors off the 60 parts truck to sell to a lady I work with that is working on a 60 short bed stepside and had the newer hood and wanted the right one. And, her doors were junk from what I understand. So, this money can go toward something on this truck again.

We are also getting the newer hood that will fit this or my 66 in trade for these parts. Hopefully back to work soon...

 

I love the nostril hood.

 

They are an acquired taste for sure!

 

Finally got a little done today on the truck. I had a 56 Chevy steering wheel I bought for another car years ago that I never used so he decided he wants it in his truck. He also starting stripping all the paint on the dash, etc. He kind of jumps around, but it is all progress. We went down to a local car club’s get together last night and several folks gave him a hard time for not working on this thing. I think it helped.

 

Progress is progress. Looking good

 

Finally got back out in the shop tonight and Silas sanded some more paint off the inside and outside of the cab while I made a patch panel and tacked it in the front jamb to fix some rust. I guess we also committed to moving the fuel tank from behind the seat after I made that patch and Silas welded it.

He started working a full time job at Napa so has some money coming in now. We should start to make some progress again. I know he is ready to drive it.

 

That's going to be one sweet lookin ride!

 

Spent the day cleaning up the shop since it was WAY overdue. Silas has been dying to set the bed and front clip back on to see how it is going to sit. I think it will be good, but he thinks it is too high. I figure once the engine, doors, bed wood, glass, etc. is in, it should be pretty good. We will see.

 

You’re right ! With added weight of motor, doors etc., it will sit just right. Killer Project !

 

Mockup over...back to working on the cab today in between cooking and eating. The undercoating on the firewall is scraping off fairly easy with just a putty knife. We will both be glad when we can get the cab cleaned up and painted. It will be much more fun putting stuff back together. Seems he is motivated now. We just need to try to make a little progress each day.

 

Firewall-body color or satin black?

 

He is thinking an off white. May end up same as the roof and stripe color.

 

Finally a little progress this evening. He is getting real tired of driving a borrowed late model, but we have also had a lot going lately. Anyway, I talked him into working on it some this evening instead going to hang out with a friend. We need to order two more patch panels for the area where the kick panel goes to the floor and we can get everything welded in. Amazing how much dirt these rockers hold. Also started stripping the hood. This may be one of the nicest hoods I have ever seen. Other than the two holes someone drilled in it, it is nearly perfect. Decided razor blades are quicker stripping it than the DA.

 

Well, we may have made some progress last night mentally if nothing else. Silas really wants this thing drivable for the Hot Rod Hundred in Springfield, Missouri on Easter weekend. We still have a ton to do, but that may just be doable if we can stay focused. If it weren't for my fulltime job, his job, his school, lack of funds at times, etc., it would be easy. But, with life in the way at times, it is an energetic goal. We will see if he can stay hooked up. To make that kind of deadline, I suspect it will be only focusing on finishing out the cab and drivetrain for the most part. I can see that the front clip and bed might still be white and just thrown on last minute. More to come. We did pretty much finish stripping the hood last night. I convinced him we have to get back on the cab and focus there if we are to make a deadline like this.



As much as I am not real keen on just throwing any of this back together, I also get the motivation piece of having a running project. He loses interest quick and is not as excited about all the time consuming detail work as I might hope. But, pretty sure that first time we fire it off and he can drive it, his excitement and motivation will increase exponentially.

 

Looks like you’ve added ‘cheerleader’ to your list of duties. Those little details really mean a lot when everything is done. Keep ‘em at it, Carp.

 

I do think Silas has had just enough exposure to the paint and body world now to know that that ISN'T what he wants to ever do... At least he is learning his strengths and weaknesses. We all have to try stuff to know what we are good at, enjoy, etc. to find our way. Pretty sure he is more of a mechanical guy than paint and body guy. Maybe my younger son will like that kind of work. I don't figure I will be around forever to be Silas's personal paint and body guy. It's harder on me now than it used to be too.

 

Way back when, I stripped the paint off my one and only car, '64 Pontiac, during Thanksgiving weekend....with chemical stripper...believing in all my naive 20 year old self I'd knock it out on the long weekend, have it all in primer and back together in time to drive to class Monday morning. Obviously, I didn't make it and had to borrow a car for another week and still didn't have it totally all done. I just primed over what I had (and some spray bomb flames) and went back to driving it. When summer came, I took the front clip back off, piece at a time, to finish each part while still driving the car missing parts. LOL Good times. Maybe Silas will be able to look back at the "fun" of doing what you can, when you can while still enjoying the truck as much as possible in the meantime.

....oh, and as most know, 30+ years later, I still have yet to do any bodywork or have painted the car, but it has had 3 or 4 primer jobs. LOL

 

Thanks for sharing that Dave! I always used paint stripper back then too and that was by far the fastest way to strip something. My dad showed me that trick when I was pretty young. I even had several friends come over one Friday or Saturday night when I was about 18 and we stripped about 5 paint jobs off of my younger brothers Chevelle all in one evening. That is just the extreme example of how fast we did it...now the bodywork and finish work took alot longer. I would be doing that now, but the new paint strippers have become safe enough to likely eat and don't work anymore as best I can tell.

Overall, I just think his wants and patience aren't lined up completely. We should have probably just focused on mechanical stuff initially and he would be driving it by now. But, it will be good to at least totally finish the cab to where all the other stuff to finish later is bolt on parts that can be handled weekend by weekend.

 

Decided to go ahead and get back on the cab so we can start to actually finish something up. Silas would rather weld than sand, so I started fitting up patch panels tonight. He sanded more on the hood while I cut more out and cleaned it up for the last patch panels I ordered last week. Got the first one tacked in, so starting to head in the right direction. He should be able to weld it in solid tomorrow and we can continue to fit up the rest of the patches. I’ll be glad when the rust is all taken care of. That’s not my favorite part to work on.

 

Hey Jeff, PM me your address, I've got a bunch of new small parts i wanna donate to the cause, door checks, hood bumpers, fender seals, uh.... i can't remember what all i do have but it's my donation to Silas

 

It's still not as good as the way it used to be, but I've been knocking over the old paint with 80 grit, throwing on the aircraft stripper, and covering it with plastic for about 15 minutes. It helps.

 

That’s good to know. I was pretty unimpressed trying to just use some of the new formula Aircraft stripper on some painted aluminum recently. The old stuff would have slid it right off. I may have to try what you mention. Thanks again and especially for the parts!

 

Still not as good as the original, nothing will ever replace it!! But it does help. You're welcome man

 

yeah those C10 cabs just like to rot out dont they? Seems like they all need rockers, kick panels and cab corners anymore. I was happy to avoid that on my C10, paid off to buy a California truck.

Once you get the the cab all patched back up and the first layer of primer is one and everything is one color, maybe his interest will pick back up as now there is a very solid visual of progress. I know I was like that on my o/t camaro restoration when I was 14. I was losing interest when it had sat years in a rainbow of colors as we did all the other stuff on it, but man once it was all in primer, I was lit up again to just spend all my free time working on it.

 

Yep, this was actually rustier than it appeared too. The last one of these I actually built was more than 30 years ago now and needed no rust repair.

And, yes, I know it will motivate him to get all the patch panels in and get the cab in primer once we knock out the bodywork. That is why we knocked out a door a while back for the same reason and why he was wanting to do the hood. It just seems he has spent lots of time cleaning and stripping parts since this project started. He is ready to be be done with the messy part and make it pretty.

 

Yeah I think we are all like that at some point, lol. Just want to get to the pretty part.

 

On a roll now! About to button up the patch panels on the drivers side. We will have to make a couple small patches to fix some rust in the floor that was beyond the patch we got and need to get the rocker attached. But, it is starting to come together. The rocker doesn’t fit all that great where it meets the jamb, but I’m sure we can make it work. Oh, and need to grind down the welds on the floor panel piece we welded in tonight.

 

I sure enjoy this thread!