1971 c-10

Some here may remember a few posts I made years ago concerning a 1971 Chevy C-10 that I bought for my son in 2004 when he graduated from high school. He was really into racing dirt bikes and the truck (a fleet side long bed) had plenty of room for two bikes and all the necessary fuel, gear and a pair of ramps. The truck was in decent shape and had an Earl Scheib paint job that didn’t look half bad. At the time, I knew that paint was probably covering up a lot of Bondo and heaven only knew what else, but it looked pretty good and he loved it. 350 with a mild performance cam and some headers made for a great sound and it was very drivable as purchased. Soon after the purchase, I removed the 750cfm QuadraJet and installed a dual plane aluminum manifold and the old reliable 1406 (to actually tone things down a bit), and we drove the daylights out of this vehicle for the next sixteen years. There were several upgrades (interior and gauges) as well as one re-spray (that turned out to be a disaster) but overall, the truck has been a workhorse and Ryan has always loved having it and working on it. As all dads will attest, anything that allows time with the kids is a good thing.

Let’s fast forward to last year. The truck is looking a bit tired. Needs front shock and the headers are a bit pitted. The body really needed a once over so we decided to bite the bullet and sent it to the same gentleman who had done such an incredible job on my 1963 Nova SS. A series of pictures follow the progress and we drove it home today.

The first four pictures are the day we brought it home:

The interior was not the greatest and the engine was filthy. These pictures show interior as purchased and later upgraded as well as the initial engine bay clean up/modifications and new exhaust which takes us through 2011.

Interior and exhaust - takes us through 2011

That got quite the work over, looks pretty cush now.

Ok - now it's August of 2020 and we're beginning the body restoration. My friend Lonnie McCance managed a body shop for Ford in Newberg, Oregon for years and now works from his home shop doing spectacular work. Found up to 7 coats of paint in some spots and surprisingly very little Bondo.

As is often the case in most 50 year old vehicles, we did find some cancer around the rocker panels and lower doors. Lonnie cut out all the bad stuff and welded in new - coating all exposed interior surfaces with POR-15.

Lots of prep work, primer and then the first look at the color. It's a 2020 Jaguar color and believe me, the pictures do not do it justice. It really comes alive in the sun with shade of pearl and fine metal flake. Here's the doors prior to cut, buff and clear coat.

Now the project is really starting to come together. Lonnie got all the panels laser straight and the paint laid down like glass. Installed new front windshield and all new rubber gaskets for glass.

And here's what we picked up today. Ryan is now 34 with his bride Katie and Lonnie McCance - all were very happy with results. After a 40 minute drive, she's snuggled next to the 63' Nova.

Still a couple little things, i.e., need new sockets for the backup lights and one pesky turn signal but overall looks better than the day it rolled off the line.

Did a rhino liner in the bed with a touch of blue tint. Bed looks really great for 50 years old. Ryan has decreed, "No dump runs and only clean lumber. No bags of cement of concrete blocks and no trailing through the blackberry field!"

Hope you all enjoyed this snippet of the project.

That's some really good stuff going there Glenn.........

Great story! Beautiful truck! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the likes - I have to tell you that the entire project can be summed up in this last picture. My son Ryan was so pleased with the outcome. Color was his choice and he was so excited to see the truck restored and really beyond it's original glory. I also have to say that having his wife Katie on board with this project is very nice.

As we all know, you can't choose who your kids will fall in love with and marry. Ryan went through a horrible "girlfriend divorce" when he was in his early 20's and swore he'd never like much less love another woman aside from his mom and sisters. He didn't see any women for several years and then he met Katie when he was working at the pro shop at the Reserve golf course in Hillsboro, Oregon. A spunky little girl who was athletic (great golfer) and possessed a very high set of morals and standards that gave Ryan pause. I'll never forget when he shared with me, "Dad - I met this girl and she's, well she's different and I think I'd like you and mom to meet her...."

Well, we met her and shortly after they were engaged (boy do they clean up nice!) and then married at a small ceremony on the Oregon coast in 2014.

Joanie and I have been so blessed to have Katie as a part of our family - she's smart, quick of wit, fun to be around and most importantly she and Ryan complete each other. They've been married just six and a half years now - no kids, two cats - and they live fairly close to us so we see them usually once a week (Friday is hamburger night at our place). They both work hard at great jobs, love each, still golf together and are just fun to be around.

Thanks for letting a proud father ramble a bit...

Regards all,
Glenn

Another great story, one that made the screen go blurry for a minute.... They seem to be a match made in Heaven!

Thanks for the kind words, Roger. I think I'm getting more sentimental as I grow older. My priorities are my faith, my wife, my kids and then everything else and things just seems to work well. Not always easy, but overall very rewarding.

The smiles say it all! Love the pictures! Brings a smile to my face!

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Originally Posted by glennsexton

Joanie and I have been so blessed to have Katie as a part of our family - she's smart, quick of wit, fun to be around and most importantly she and Ryan complete each other. They've been married just six and a half years now - no kids, two cats - and they live fairly close to us so we see them usually once a week (Friday is hamburger night at our place). They both work hard at great jobs, love each, still golf together and are just fun to be around.

Thanks for letting a proud father ramble a bit...

Regards all,
Glenn

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Some people get lucky with whom they marry.

I know I did

So many of my friends didn't.

And by the way; that's one gorgeous truck.

Wow, the truck turned out gorgeous! This whole story is awesome. That's really great your friend was able to get the truck done that fast. I hope they keep the truck forever!

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Wow, the truck turned out gorgeous! This whole story is awesome. That's really great your friend was able to get the truck done that fast. I hope they keep the truck forever!

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Thanks, for the kind words, Ryan. My son (also Ryan) is really attached to this truck and I have a feeling if we still have gas powered cars when they have kids, they'll be driving this one.

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Originally Posted by glennsexton

Thanks, for the kind words, Ryan. My son (also Ryan) is really attached to this truck and I have a feeling if we still have gas powered cars when they have kids, they'll be driving this one.

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I'm betting we will. The whole electric drive will be halted by the lack of network. Just wait until fleets actually try to make the change and people don't have power in their houses. :LOL:

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I'm betting we will. The whole electric drive will be halted by the lack of network. Just wait until fleets actually try to make the change and people don't have power in their houses. :LOL:

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Can you immage the impack on power grids when we start charging a fleet of buses or semis? Get ready for some big increases in the cost of electricity. Portland has opted to "go electric" over diesel for their buses. Cost is astronomical and there is no model that shows them more cost effective but it sure makes the people of Portland feel good about saving the planet....

Glenn, I guess I missed this when you put it up. Great looking truck and an even better story.

Really liked the pickup story, loved the story of your son and daughter in law. My screen got blurry too.

I knew there was a little oil leak in the truck - just a slight piddle that was more of a nuisance than a major problem. When I found this in the drip pan, I knew it was time to address the leaks.

I bought a new gasket for the transmission and a service kit (filter and new fluid) and took a morning to lift the truck up on my handy-dandy QuickJack portable lift (gives me 24" of lift). Scooted under the truck and drained the transmission - thanks to the previous owner's installation of a chrome transmission pan with a drain plug - and proceeded to clean things up and change the transmission pan gasket. All good? Wrong, the next morning the leak appeared to be worse so I acquiesced and said to myself, "I'm getting too old to pull an automatic transmission and fix this leak. Did I mention that I'm not an automatic transmission guy? Never built or rebuilt one and probably not a great time in life to invest in the tools to get the job done correctly.

So off to the local AAMCO shop at the bottom of my hill. These guys have a ton of five star reviews so I thought I'd give them a try. They put the truck on a proper lift and it was quickly determined that there were other issues - bad pan gasket, bad rear main seal, and front pump seal in the transmission. I authorized them to fix it all.

Upon pulling the pan, they found a loose bolt (yikes) and so I had them install a new pan as well. Out the door $1,400 for all of the above as well as new valve cover gaskets. Could I have done some of this? Yes, but sometimes it's okay to support the local economy.

Less than a week later, the drip pan is showing pink oil.... Another trip to AAMCO at which time we determined that the nice new seal in the front of the transmission allowed the pressure to test other seals which decided to show their age and begin leaking. Long story short, let's redo the transmission. Upon removal, I was glad that such a decision was made as most of the innards of the 50 year old TH350 were shot. Not a criticism rather a testimony to the rugged nature of the transmission that had served for half a century in a truck.

Got her back and shifts smooth as silk. 62 miles later a funny noise and clouds of white smoke billow out the exhaust like there's no tomorrow. I quickly checked the cooling system and it held 15PSI overnight so I suspected a bad modulator allowing transmission fluid to be introduced to the intake manifold and thus the white smoke. AAMCO sent a wrecker to my house (which they paid for) and sure enough, bad modulator. Unfortunately, the modulator that comes with their master rebuild kit is a Chinese part and it went kaput right away. AAMCO replaced with a good ol' "Genuine GM Part" and we're now once again, good as new. Throughout all of this the folks at AAMCO have been consummate professionals and very apologetic - no cost for the fix.

So we're back on the road again and hoping for lots of trouble free miles and smiles!

In the process, I have redone the wheel as well - I like the steel rims with the Eastwood silver and stainless steel beauty rings - nice and somewhat understated and I stayed with 15" wheels. I personally can't stand the 20" wheels on a 1971 vehicle.

Regards All,
Glenn

The previous owner of the truck had installed kick panel speakers. The one on the drivers side was destroyed as the emergency brake hit it every time it was applied. So I bought new speakers and fabricated a guard for the speaker and modified the brake pedal by cutting off the left side and making a new pad out of 1/4" aluminum. I drilled three holes and used some 5/16" stainless steel button bolts to secure to the new pad. Polished the entire project and here's what we get. Clears the speaker (guard protects against my big ol' boots) and everything sounds good.

that looks like a corner oil pan bolt

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Originally Posted by firebird77clone

that looks like a corner oil pan bolt

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I know - my thought exactly but it was inside the pan and obviously the crank had (at one time) found it and made a mess. Certainly not a high torque bolt as there's a star washer. It will remain a mystery forever.

Not really. The last wrench dropped it in, and instead of looking for it, just grabbed another.

Very cool; brings back a lot of good memories. My eldest's sons first car was a 69 C-10 that we rebuilt together.