This thread is going to run for months, if not years.

I'm going to ramble a bit to give the history behind this thing......
My grandfather had a 1972 Chevy C10 shortbed, 3 on the floor, headers into cherry bombs that dumped right behind the cab.  My dad's parents lived on the same property as me and my parents.  Us on one side of the hill, them on the other.  Many winter mornings I'd sit in this truck waiting for the bus when I was really little.  If I was lucky, we'd run down to Maria's corner shop to get donuts or chocolate milk beforehand.  Before he went full time with his own business, he worked second shift.  I'd spend the night at my grandparents laying awake waiting for him to get home, I'd hear this truck burbling, gurgling, and popping as he slowed down the hill.  A few years later my parents got divorced, I was 7 or 8.  For some reason the night my mom cleaned out the house and took me to her parent's house, my dad drove this truck to work.  I guess his was broke down or some shit, I don't know.  I'll never forget hearing this truck roaring down the road seconds before my dad kicked down my grandparent's front door.  There was a stop sign maybe an 1/8 mile away from their house, boy did this thing scream pulling out.  A second after kicking in the door my dad collapsed into my grandfather's (my mom's dad) arms crying his eyes out.  That grandfather was a Marine staff sergeant, a man everyone loves and respects.  

Anywho, fast forward a few years, my mom moves half way across the country and takes me with her.  I spend the summers with my dad, well, a little bit of the summer.  The summer I'm 13-14 my dad and I decide to start working on the C10.  It had sat for a few years at this point.  We wanted to fix it up a bit and make it my first vehicle.  I go all in instantly.  I strip the truck down to the chassis, sand blast everything, and start painting it all.  My summer with dad is over and I have to go back with my mom.  A few months later I find out my dad fucking sold it.  I don't know what the circumstances were, but I was devastated.  

Fast forward 19 years, my half brother finds the truck.  He has zero memories of it.  He wasn't even born when my dad sold it.  He buys it.  Let me frame this for you guys, I adore my brother.  He is one hell of a kid and is going to be a hell of a man.  He is extremely talented and that is an under statement.  I'd put any amount of money that he can tig weld anything better than anyone on arfcom, period, the end.  However, his mom, my stepmom, I tolerate only for him and my dad.  She has driven a massive wedge between me and my dad, and between my kids and my dad.  She despises my grandfather and wishes death on him.  She basically does her damndest to convince my dad that I'm not his kid, only my brother is.  Anyhow, between my dad and brother finding the truck and buying it, it stung bad considering how my dad essentially went "lol fuck you" and sold it away from me.  I voiced my opinion about the purchase.  I straight said "I'm happy for you guys, but that stings, that was supposed to be OUR project."  My dad instantly responded, "oh, that's okay, after we fix it up you can buy it from us, but it won't be cheap".  I said fuck you and hung up.  

I explained to my brother that I have no ill-will towards him over this, he couldn't have known the back story.  I explained the back story.  My wife told him too at one point when we were hanging out.  Fast forward a year and my brother asks if I want to buy the truck.  I respond with a resounding FUCK YES.  He did a bunch of body work and patch panels, put a rebuilt engine in it, etc. etc.  This was about two weeks ago.  I have been ecstatic as all hell ever since.  

When my dad and I started restoring this, in his infinite wisdom, he convinced me to toss the bed because it had some rust and it would be easy to replace.  LOL.  A shortbed C10 easy to replace?  Not in a million years - but this was 20 years ago.  These beds are as good as gold now.  So since the truck is going to be mine and doesn't have a bed, I started poking on FB marketplace.  Well wouldn't you know it, I found a dude right down the road selling a '72 C10 shortbed that was in pieces.  I see a picture of the bed buried in the woods covered in shit.  I messaged him and said if it's solid enough to lift in one piece, I'll give you $500 for it.  He said he didn't want to part it, I said I don't care, I don't want the rest of the truck only the bed.  Well, I wound up getting a pristine (for the condition of most) 67-72 C10 short bed.  I could sell this bed within a week for $5k.

Anyhow............

The truck is still with my brother.  The bed is in my garage.  The bed will go up to my brother's for some patch panels and welding.  We'll throw it on the truck, then the whole shooting match will come to my house.

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The truck after my brother got it fired up.
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And I give you the crowning jewel to this OP.  My dopey 13-14 year old ass with the truck.  All the sand on the ground is from me sandblasting.  I swear to god I don't look anything like this anymore
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I'm not claiming pg. 4 ownership, but I have to ask this question.

Has anyone at Chevrolet put a little humor in the body and stamped into the metal "If you can read this, you have gone too far"?

Can't be stuck if it's liquid!  

God damnit

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This is probably my favorite tool I've bought in a long time

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Also the kids are ready...

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I've got a squarebody in progress and the cowl/firewall is just full of rot due to a combination of poor design and old cracking seam sealer.  I'm pretty close to just deciding to just cut it all out and shave it.

Whole front clip is gone.  Time to tear into the engine.  Pretty sure the oil leak is the typical oops on a 4 piece pan gasket where it hits the timing cover.

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Also confused why the balancer bolt won't go in

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Cut out the cab/firewall rot.

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Front end gone

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Very very very fucking frustrating weekend.  I'm trying like hell to flux weld body panels and God damn it's a joke

I've skinned those knuckles plenty of times.  Thanks for the flashbacks OP.  I'll just tag this thread and enjoy watching.

My only advice:  You're doing great!  Take your time.  Do it right while it's apart.  You will love her when she's finished.  

Do yourself a favor and get rid of the flux core wire. The investment in Shielding gas and regulator pays you back in the time lost and frustration you have now.

Hes right, look on CL or Marketplace and you can probably find an older 110 Hobart Handler for $350 or so.

Don't judge me


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OST and SDMF

This.
Go to Harbor Frieght and get one of the Titatnium MIG welders and a bottle of Co2 (if you are cheap) or 75/25 from your local welding supply.
Use .025 wire. You will get much better welds than fluxcore and no slag.  

THIS:
https://www.harborfreight.com/mig-140-professional-welder-with-120v-input-64804.html

Or better yet (this is the one I have):
https://www.harborfreight.com/mig-170-professional-welder-with-120240v-input-64805.html

.


Some of the early small blocks were a press on fit only for the balancer.
The 307 that I have in my '68 has a press on balancer with no center bolt.
I believe the 327 was the same way. The factory service manual has a procedure for tapping it on to install it.
Not sure what the deal is for '72...threads could also be stripped out.

My 307 also has a filter adapter for a ford style (FL1A/PH8A filter). The original filter was a cartridge type).


The rot in the bottom of the side air boxes is very common...also the cause of rot in the bottom of the A pillar.
I got lucky, but my A pillars were rotten and I ended up replacing both.

Adding to the frustration... Put in new cab mount bushings and the cab is an inch lower than the bed.

Seriously.. I'm on my third set of fucking brand new cab mounts.  They're all different heights from brand to brand.

Switched flux wire.  Turns out what I was using was beyond garbage.  I was scared I lost my touch

Damn... I'm hoping I don't run into that issue...haven't put my cab back on yet.  
I wonder if you could shim them with washers?

Here's a thread about it...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=498129

It seems like I've seen a lot of issues with getting things lined up after replacing the mounts over the years on the truck forums. From what I can tell the poly ones tend to be shorter than stock but rubber ones are no guarantee either. There are a few variations between the models and I have a feeling the aftermarket ones don't account for that. Maybe they just make them short and expect us to shim them. Yours being a C10 shouldn't be any uncommon config though.

I have all new cab/core support mounts sitting in a box in the garage. I'm a little nervous about installing them. I have everything in the front torn apart now, new driveline, springs, steering, exhaust, brakes and fuel system going in so it seems like a good time to swap them out. I guess I should probably measure the installed height of each one of the original ones before I take them out.

Snap a pic of the core support rubber stack.

If this third set is junk, I'll cut and stack them

This is drivers side core mount:
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Mine is a ‘68 K10 though, so not sure if they are the same. I know the rear cab mount is all different on the K-series.

Loving this thread.  I can feel the rust and dirt from looking at those pics.

Haha dude I've been wire wheeling the front frame to pass the time this afternoon.  I'm not exactly sure what I'm knocking off, but it looks like barnacles, is kind of soft, and I can hear it hitting the walls

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Lol. I think I’m following along just a step or two behind you. I’m not looking forward to that part. I have an old pressure pot sand blaster but I’m not sure I want to do that in the driveway, know I don’t want to do it in the garage. Such a mess.

I have one too.... I'd rather wire wheel.

Ideally I'd pull the motor, cab, and bed and have it all blasted, but I'm too lazy.  The frame is really really clean from the back to the firewall... Which is where I blasted it up to twenty years ago.

I'm in awe over how much grease is caked on the steering box.  It was so hard that I was practically grinding metal.

I have no idea how that shit forms. I actually used a hammer and chisel/screwdrivers on some of it.

I have one of those.  The grease concrete stuff just clogs it

Awesome thread!  Thanks for taking us along!  

Definitely get a gas set up for the mig, it's awesome.

Rest looks great.

I've been slacking on pictures.  I'll try to get some up today.  There's lots going on that I haven't shown.

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Getting ready to tear off the front suspension

This is the barnacle grease concrete rust mess
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After a cone wire wheel
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You can see I'm cleaning up some areas and painting as I go.  
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Does anyone want to trade me for these skyscraper edelbrock valve covers?  I want low stamped ones.

My '72 C10...

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What was your reasoning for not sandblasting? making a mess? Id get a blast cabinet and start taking everything apart.

Logistics of taking things apart without a lift, hauling it to the blasters, etc. etc.

Man that reminds me of what this truck looked like when I was little and riding shotgun in it with my pop pop

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nice work.


would love to have a classic truck

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Looking real good.  It's like a combination of archeology and wrenchin'. But you're not doing it for a living, so it's fun.    

It is fun.  I love building stuff.  I used to wrench all the time then grew to hate it because it was always unplanned scrambling to fix shit.

I'm a white collar business professional these days.  The looks I've been getting all dressed up but with shredded stained hands has been hilarious.

Everything is kicking my ass today, so here I am

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You can rest when you are in the ground.

Get back to it!



It’s good to take a break every once in a while.

Cool thread!

Highlight of the day was heating up mozzarella sticks with a propane torch

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Started ripping into the other side last night

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Did you remember to remove the plastic first?