My '70 LWB Stepside is finally DONE!

[jcwren]

A big thanks to everyone in the community who has helped me sort things out along the way of getting my truck finished.

I bought this 1970 longbed stepside as an incomplete father-daughter project. Dad was moving out of state, and the daughter had gone to college. I was on the hunt for a C10 that had a body in decent shape (I suck at body work). I wanted a running truck mostly because I didn't have a way to get a non-running truck home. After about a year of poking around on Craigslist I happened across the listing for it. No details, other than it was a father-daughter project.

Called the number, and a girl said I need to talk to her father. I called him on a Saturday and we made arrangements to meet Sunday. My buddy and I drove out there to check it out. The body was damned near perfect, but it wasn't running. It had a 3-carb Offenhauser intake on the 250 L6, 3 carbs in boxes, Hedman headers, no bed, tires barely suitable for rolling it around, no brakes, and a lot of odds and ends that needed cleaning up.

We checked it out, and walked off to discuss it, and my friend told me if I didn't buy it, I was an idiot. It had everything done that I don't like doing, and what had to be done (mechanical, electrical) is stuff I enjoy. I pointed out that I didn't have a place to put it, and my buddy offered his 24x64 shop to work on it. The guy selling it co-owned a wrecker yard, and offered to deliver it. I didn't even haggle on the price. Having it delivered to the shop was worth a couple hundred bucks to me.

Later that night, the guy dropped it off. I started ordering parts from LMC, Brothers, etc. Put the factory intake on it (which was in good shape), ordered a carb from eBay, got the engine running (very solid). Replaced the points with electronic ignition, new coil, replaced all the rubber in the suspension, shocks, completely rebuilt the brakes, ditched the in-cab gas tank for a Boyd Welding tank, ran -8 AN fuel line (in case of a V8 swap later on), replaced all the marker light lenses, did the headlight relay modification, new mirrors, new tires, 2.5" exhaust through 18" Glasspacks that turn out in front of the rear tire, and a mess of other things.

Tonight I finished up the fender braces, installed the rear bumper, cleaned up the tail lamp wiring (not completely happy with that, need to see a factory unit to see how it SHOULD be). Dropped it on the ground, fired it up, and rolled it back and forth. Unfortunately, it was too late to do a shake down cruise. That's for tomorrow morning, where I remember how to drive a clutch after 7 years, and a 3-on-the-tree for the first time

I have to say of this entire project the part that sucked the most was doing the wood bed. I hate varnish, and never want to see a can of it again. If I build another C10, it's getting one of those faux wood aluminum beds. I figure for what I paid the wood bed, the time I put into it, the aluminum bed is a deal. It still didn't turn out the way I wanted; I can see all the defects, and I never got that glass-like finish I wanted. But anyways...

So here's a picture of the dork that owns it, and two better pictures of the truck without him.

[Joesjunk]

That’s a great looking truck, And now some hubs caps as the finishing touch 😉

Good luck on the test drive tomorrow

[jcwren]

Originally Posted by Joesjunk

That’s a great looking truck, And now some hubs caps as the finishing touch ��

Good luck on the test drive tomorrow

Thanks! And you're entirely correct. I have a set of dog dishes, but they're not in good enough shape that I want to use them. Need to find a nicer set.

The future definitely holds a front disc brake conversion, and maybe a static 2.5/4" drop. At that point, I'll have to go to 15" or larger wheels, and maybe put some non-steelies on it. I'll drive it a bit first to figure out what I really want. Heck, a Vintage Air kit could be the most important thing I do (I'm in Atlanta).

[too much stuff]

Truck looks good!

[dave6672]

Truck looks great, it's nice to see a long stepper restored!

[ThreeQuarter]

Great looking pickup—just like 1970. Love them longsteps!

[Steeveedee]

I'd like to have a LWB Stepside. Someday before I die.

[yuccales]

Great looking truck!

[72c20customcamper]

Good looking truck . But I am partial to lwb steppers. How did the shake down cruise go?

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks very good. How did the shake down run go?

[notsolo]

Score!

[lolife99]

Beautiful truck. My favorite color too.

[weq92f]

.
Oh man nice truck! Hope you'r test drive went well! Post some more pics.

We're all dorks.

-klb

[cypressbog]

Originally Posted by jcwren

The future definitely holds a front disc brake conversion, and maybe a static 2.5/4" drop. At that point, I'll have to go to 15" or larger wheels, and maybe put some non-steelies on it...a Vintage Air kit could be the most important thing I do (I'm in Atlanta).

I looked at the thread title and laughed. No truck is ever DONE.

[RenoKeene]

Sweet stepper for sure!

[jcwren]

Thanks for the comments.

Shakedown cruise didn't go so well. In fact, didn't get 200 feet. The 250 idled well, and would hit 4K under no load, but with a load on it, it was just dying. Pretty sure it's the crappy 1 bbl pseudo-Rochester.

Ordered a Holley 350 Avenger 2 bbl w/ electric choke and and a Trans-Dapt 1 bbl to 2 bbl adapter. I have Hedman headers on it and want the choke so I don't have to wait forever for it to warm up. While I was waiting for it to come in I set the valves again (they were fine), ran a compression check, double-checked TDC, etc.

Then it starts going south... Although the Trans-Dapt is specifically for the Chevy Inline 6, it'll only work with the intakes that have 5/16"-18 threaded studs, so naturally mine has 3/8"-16 studs. To keep the linkage in the correct position, you've got to use the recessed bolt holes, which means going to socket cap bolts. But the socket caps won't fit in the recessed holes. I was going to drill them out, but the walls start getting a little thin, and it starts turning into a hack job. So I ordered a 5/16"-18 Keensert kit, which should come in today.

On top of the stud size problem, the electric choke created a minor problem. It has a small bit of linkage that hangs below the base of the carb and hits the Trans-Dapt plate. So I had to mill out a little material to clearance. OK, I didn't mill it, I used the bench grinder and hogged it out. Whatever...

Running headers typically require adjusting the mixture, and the cheese-ball carb didn't had a mixture adjustment (one of the reasons I switched to the Holley is that it is adjustable, and has replaceable jets and power valves). I also picked up a couple AEM air/fuel meters and sensors, and tapped the headers for the O2 sensors. My buddy is like "Hey, we can set the mixture by ear", and I'm more like "I hate subjective things, I'd rather instrument it". So once I get the carb installed, I'll properly set the air/fuel mixture and jet size. I'll cap the bungs off afterwards. I mounted the gauges in a small project box so I can use them on other engines (like once I start working on the '71 Dart's 318).

MAYBE this weekend it'll actually be called done...

[rustytruck50]

Real nice truck....duplicate of a buddy's truck in high school....yours is in much better shape