1968 C10 Stepside restoration/build **Picture heavy

[Tagar89]

So this is the thread for my 1968 C10 Stepside. I bought it when I was 16 from my grandfather. I'm now 21 and still have it, but i really havent done much with it over the years. Now I'm in college getting my A.A.S in Automotive Technology. Here is how its started.



Not bad looking for my first car huh.



It came with the 250ci Straight six, 3 on the tree, and i believe a 4.10 read end. The 250 has an HEI distributer.

Back when i was 16 I decided to start in the rear of the truck, unscrewed the bed and took it off. So the owner before my grandfather torched the springs to lower it, needless to say but it rides like ****. I decided to replace the coil springs with factory height. The breaks were also replaced(Drums, shoes and hardware).




This was the outcome of the work i did to the rear.



Due to living situations the truck was put on stop for quite some time, unfortunately rusting away.

[Tagar89]

Back in Jan 2010 i started school to get my A.S.S in automotive tech. Finally a garage i can start getting stuff done.

This is how she stands as of summer quarter 2010:




Due to sitting for so long i needed to rebuild the carb, so i did.




Thats really all i got done due to I was spending a lot of time getting a 1970 mustang mach 1 finished. I will add pics of that later.

Now comes fall quarter and its starting to get good.




So go to school for 10.5 hours a day. the first five i do wtf i want with my truck, the last five are dedicated to steering suspension and brakes.

[tantrumpipeline]

cool truck, did you shave the markers up front? what are your plans for it? keepin the 6cyl?

[Tagar89]

So the first part of my day i tackled my heater issue. Basically from sitting, mice got into the heater and built a nest. Time to tear down!!




Had to drop the fender and removed the hinge




And the NEST



More to come tomorrow.

[Tagar89]

Nice eye, no i didnt shave them, i have two different fenders, one has a side marker one doesnt :/. Plans consist of toying around with the six until i have enough money for the 572 hehe. That would be the only swap i would think about doing.

[tantrumpipeline]

572 is pretty wild for sure, mine had a 350 when I got it or I would keep the 6, there are a few guys on board I'm sure will see this and let you in on their secrets to making power out of them, one member has a sweet white and blue one with videos and pics of insane burnouts with their 6cyl rides., U keeping the 6 lugs? that's a sweet truck to start with, mine is currently a half painted frame and a fleet that I'm hoping to convert this spring to a stepper, look forward to the updates on your build

[Tagar89]

The suspension part of the day consisted of the following:

Fixing a leak in one of the valve stems.

Balancing the tires



Looking at the new parts and comparing. New drums, shoes, hardware, coil springs and shocks.



Now these things were toasted.



Looking at everything thats needs to be replace besides what i have.



So far i need new:

Upper and lower ball joints, both sides
Inner and outer tie rods, both sides
Brake lines, both sides

I'm doing a closer inspection tomorrow.

[Tagar89]

Yea its going to be a while before the 572 of course. I plan to tweak the six as much as i can for now . I think the only way i would convert could be going to the five lug disc brakes which is in the future, but who knows how close. I have one more post till im done for the night.

[VA72C10]

Looking forward to the build as you go....

[Tagar89]

Now here is the mustang i mentioned.



We rebuilt the 351 windsor along with the carb.







Now here is the college toy



1987 Ford ranger 351 Cleveland. 110 octane and a 150 shot of nitrous.






She only runs 12s but has the potential to kill that if properly tuned and had the right rear end. This thing screams.!

Last but not least the 65 Chrysler Imperial. had to do some torsion bar adjustments.



It had a push button transmission which i personally think is sick. I'll get more pics of it before it leave.

[Tagar89]

Opinions and advice is more than welcome to anything you see here, thanks.

Thomas

[tantrumpipeline]

Originally Posted by Tagar89

Opinions and advice is more than welcome to anything you see here, thanks.

Thomas

stainless grille inserts IMO a must for 67-68's, otherwise keep up the good work and the pics are good, mustang is sweet

[VA72C10]

Nice mustang and "toy"

[Tagar89]

Yea the grille inserts are going to happen! but after all the mechanical stuff

[Tagar89]

Can someone switch this to projects please

[JJorgensen52]

Nice looking truck, but I failed to see the rust

[Tagar89]

Yea the rust is pretty serious, but hey ill get there.

[Tagar89]

This is what i got down last friday.

First part of class:

I finished up ripping out the heater system






Second part of class:






When i was taking apart the steering and suspension components I notice the privious owner cut the bump stop "housing" off to lower it.




I have the access to a media blaster and will be working on just about everything i have taken off. I'm going to end up painting everything black.



Thomas

[petey-pablo]

Cool truck

[Tagar89]

Update

So its been a little bit since i updated but here it is.

Media blasted, then painted:
Upper and lower control arms
Heater housing
Brake backing plate
Spindles

Here is the before and after of the heater housing




Control arms



here are the brakes put back together about 1/2 of the way


New tie rods and ball joints



Anyways ran into a couple bumps on the way. As of now i need to replace my control arm shafts and inner wheel bearings.

Its been a blast so far. Next quarter is transmissions, i dont really know what im going to do to her then.

Questions comments are welcome

Thomas

[MAK191]

good job. keep at it.

[Tagar89]

So she is fully put back together for this quarter.

This



to this



This



To this



Thomas

[Tagar89]

So its been a while since i updated. I rebuilt my saginaw and now im working on the 250.






Thomas