My truck - 1970 Chevy c/20 - Grandfathers truck

[Hbrown95]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum and am already seeing a ton of awesome trucks that offer a lot of inspiration to me. My truck is a 1970 Chevrolet C/20 that my grandfather bought brand new in 1970. Now that is has been through many of my older cousins and my older brother it now rests in my hands and i have the complete intention of restoring it. The truck is pretty rough now with some rust spots and some awful wiring that is just waiting to stop working. Now i am only 18 years old and am going to college full time and work a part time job. Money is tight right now and i'd like a few suggestions to buy me some time until i have the time, money and resources to really restore this family icon before rust overcomes this truck. So enough talk.. here are some pictures tell me what you think

[Hbrown95]

some more pictures

[Hbrown95]

quite a few more to come

[Hbrown95]

still more

[Hbrown95]

last ones -- a couple notes. I have a wiring harness to install that my brother purchased from summit racing as well. Suggestions for that are appreciated as well!
My current goal as i said is to stop the rust.. I also want to get a nice even coat over the entire truck. I feel like i might get some flak for this but i want a base to plasti dip the truck. I just want it to buy me some time and look good in the meanwhile while being easily removable when the time comes for a real paint job. I want to do a complete restoration some day when i'm older and have a job that can support the cost of it. But for now I want to just clean it up and make it easier for when that time comes.

[69chevytrucker]

roof is scarey but other then that looks like a good truck to start with

[Hbrown95]

First things first the white fenders and driver's side door are from a junkyard due to a crash that i got into that folded the driver's side door completely in half. I do not remember if the holes in the bottom of the door were there when i purchased them from the salvage yard but it sat it my back yard for about a year after the crash with the doors on it until i had the time to install the bed wood just about a month ago now. The bed wood was purchased several years ago and i had many frustrating attempts at putting it in but each time the boards were just too wide to fit and this last time i finally just cut them to size and bolted them all in. Way to go bed wood! nevertheless the door did not come with weatherstripping so i plan to buy a kit for both doors and windows. When that time comes i will tackle the rust that is at the top of the passenger side windshield. How do you guys think i should go about this?

[Hbrown95]

Yeah that roof definitely strikes fear into me.. both on the driver side gutter and in the cab itself.. both are going to be a task i am sure.

[69chevytrucker]

you can buy repop roof and inner roof

[Hbrown95]

That may be a good plan in the future but for now would some fiberglass and bondo do the job? I have seen that done but it just does not do the job of stopping the rust i feel..

[Hbrown95]

I mean i want an even coat of primer over the whole truck. Then plastidip that can be removed when the time comes.

[bigmac73]

The roof? well i think i would take it to a good body shop and talk with them , lot of metal work there. As far as the rest of the body i would start with a rust converter and that will give you some time to tackle rust later on,
for safety reason i would start with the front steering stuff, ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearings, brakes.
The wiring will take you some time as well, get rid of old wiring you dont need like old smog stuff, Previous owners add ons, so you know what you have to work on.

i guess it all boils down to cash in hand and time and a place to do the work

good luck

[89AKurt]

I am finding there are many similar stories such as yours. Just found out someone I know has a grandpa's truck too, the family has discussed who would get it, like it's an heirloom. Took a picture, tried to talk them into joining this forum. LOL


My truck belonged to a grandpa too; the friend needed the money, had a deal that he would buy it back, but due to his alcoholism, we parted ways. He never had kids, so the truck is better off.

Best of luck with yours!

[toolboxchev]

Yes there are some rough spots. If you plan on building it in the future keep it out of the environments now.

Its a great hobby and I have driven mine for over 10 years, they are cheap to fix in comparison to classics.

If it becomes a dream come true later in life you will not regret it.

[Grumpy old man]

Well ... Find someplace dry to park it and start hitting the junk yards looking for parts to put it back together , If possible find some better doors and hoard them away until the time comes to change them out original parts are getting harder to find and in your area you should still be able to find nice rust free stuff before the prices climb out of site , You may even be able to find a nicer cab to replace the current one with it's rusty/damaged roof or even just a solid roof section . Always handle the mechanical issues before any body work gets started and the very first things I would do to it would be spend a day (or two) with a pressure washer and clean it like it's never been cleaned before top to bottom (you'll find all the little issues your over looking right now) ,Then get a solid set of tires under it (I'm not talking mags or fancy tires ) just good solid MATCHING wheels and tires that will allow you to see exactly how it's sitting I have a couple sets of old cheap wagon wheels with matching sized tires just to use as build wheels . You'll see a lot of guys with a set of build wheels they use from truck to truck when building more than 1 . accumulate the parts before tearing anything apart and waiting to have time or the money to fix it . Many unfinished trucks lay in pieces because the new owner wanted to jump right in and tear things apart and ended up not having the time or money to put it back together and lost or misplaced pieces and the truck never goes back together again . keep it mobile , nothing worse than being parked on jack stands just sitting there waiting and waiting for the time and cash .One small step at a time . A $20.00 harbor freight tarp is better than letting it just sit in the rain getting worse

[Canuckvetter]

^^^^^^^Exactly what GOM said. Tackle only jobs that will have the truck down for small lengths of time. Get it safe and enjoy the restoration journey. By the way welcome to the forum. Everything your doing or plan to do someone here has been there done that. It's a great resource.