Nate Pagel's 1970 Chevrolet CST / 10 Fleetside

27 December 2005 Update
#1280

From Nate:

             I know its kinda early for an update on my '70 but here it is. I have the guts installed in both doors along with brand new weather stripping for the windows and doors (door weather stripping not yet installed). Obviously the grill is in now and it looks alot better -- but kinda dusty. All the wiring is wrapped up with orange electrical tape and I have an oouga horn installed that I've had for a while. In this picture, on the right side, is the back end of my 1978 Chevy Suburban -- 1st vehicle and also on the right in the back is my Dad's 1946 Chevrolet Stylemaster.

             Now for some reason I am have troubles with the carb and / or distrib. It is being goofy. I don't know what to do and I found out that my master cylinder is shot (leaks). No wonder the brakes never worked to good when I drove it.

             Thank you so much for puttin' my truck in your Gallery and adding this update to it also. Y'all have such a wonderful site keep up the good work.

Nate Pagel
"OldIronChevy"
Bolter # 8671
Winthrop, Minnesota

             In January 2007, Nate added a 1964 Chevy C-10 4 x 4 to the Gallery. ~~ Editor

09 November 2005
#1280

From Nate:

             Included are two pictures of my third Bolt that I own and I have to say it is my favorite. It is a 1970 Chevrolet CST/10. The photo at the bottom is what it looked like shortly after I bought it (February 21, 2004, my sophomore year in high school) and the other photo is were I am at in my restoration / rodstoration project. I started it around the end of July 2004.

             I have a rather long story about how I got this truck. On January 13, 2004 I had a roll over accident with my Dad's 1988 Chevrolet K1500 and totaled the truck. So with that truck gone, I drove my 1978 Chevrolet K10 Suburban and this thing was kinda a gas hog. But gas was somewhat "cheap" back when I drove it -- but it still only got about nine mpg.

             So I was lookin' for a 2-wheel drive pickup, gas for better mpg (the 4 x 4 Suburban with 4 inch lift and 32 inch tires sucks a lot). Well I found a 1978 C-10 pickup with a six banger and 4-speed for $400. Dad didn't want me to get it because of how far away it was (1 3/4 hours). He spotted a 1970 Chevy in the paper and he asked "Weren't you lookin' for one of these?" I did want one and the truck was 20 minutes away.

             I called the guy up and asked him some questions. The next night me and my Mom went and looked at it and said I would buy it. So we gave him a $100 to hold the truck for us. I got a loan for $1,000 (pitched in $400 of my own to which included the $100 we already gave him). So I finally got my 1970 Chevy for $1,400.

             The truck is a 1970 Chevrolet CST / 10 Fleet side long box. Dad would only let me get a long box which I don't have problem with -- can't fit much in a short box. It is two wheel drive and has a 4 bolt main 350 bored .030 over to 355. It has a Weaned action plus intake, high volume oil pump and single witch hat heads (don't know if those are really special) and a Turbo 350 automatic with a B&M STARSHIFTER.

             I remember the one comment the guy said about the truck, "Ya, the spare tire is on the truck because I was doing a burnout and a screw put a hole in my tire." My mom was standing right there looking at me like, "Don't you dare do that!"

             I drove the truck for a while when my fuel pump was crappin' out on me. A lot of gas was squirtin' out of the pump and my starter was going bad (had to jump it on the solenoid with a screwdriver). When I went to get a new fuel pump, my starter wouldn't work. I couldn't leave the NAPA store. I had to pull it home with my trusty Suburban.

             That starter was a high-torque one and I had problems with heat soak because of the headers.

             So ... then ... just because of few little problems, I decided to redo the whole truck. Rebuilt the motor. Took out the Turbo 350 auto and replaced it with a SM420 4-speed. For the color, I shot it with Omaha Orange instead of the original Hugger Orange and kept the white cab top. I had to fix my frame above the coils because of rust and because I hauled a 1968 IH 4 x 4 1/2-ton and that cracked my frame pretty bad.

             I have a ways to go yet. I have to finish the box -- this truck was so rusty. I had to replace lots of things. Got a whole new box (wood floor this time), both doors, driver's side fender (was bent pretty bad) and new rockers, cab corners, and front and back floor supports.

             I did it all myself with a little help but I did not pay anyone to do anything on this truck. I want to get it done for my graduation next year (June 4, 2006).

             So what do y'all think? Not to bad for a high school kid, eh? (My very first project -- never painted any other autos before -- just some body work). I just started learning how to do auto body work 1 3/4 - 2 years ago and just looked at repair manuals on how to fix engines and just asked lots of people questions. And this is where I'm at. I'd like to see more people my age into old iron but it doesn't really happen round here. Most are interested in brand new cars or the newer trucks and all that -- or those gosh darn ricers. Wish I could drive my older trucks more, but with gas the way it is, had to buy a '90 S10 Blazer so I could get better then 11 mpg. So ya, hopefully my '70 gets round 15 mpg. I might have to send some more pics soon. I've gotten a fair amount of work done on it. I'll keep you posted

             Thank you so much Stovebolt Staff for making such a wonderful web site and thank you for posting my truck on your site. Thank You So Much!!

God Bless,

Nate Pagel
"OldIronChevy"
Bolter # 8671
Winthrop, Minnesota