The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Completed Journals 1966 Chevy C-10 Short Stepside -- Step by Step

Finally getting back to work on my truck.

I mounted an aftermarket sway bar on the front when I did the front suspension earlier and now have one on the rear as well. Photos below, I hope LOL.

Got the bed loaded up & delivered to my sandblaster. He's 2nd generation in the business & is really good at what he does. Does not damage the sheet metal but does get rid of the old thick undercoating , dirt, grime & rust. Plus, unfortunately, shows up rust in places you might have thought were rust free.

After getting the bed back in the shop , I put the wife to work helping me remove the fenders. I was up inside the fenders with the torch heating the nuts on the bolts while she used a small impact wrench with # 3 Phillips bit to run the screws out . Worked out well, but I'll still get a new bolt kit for the fenders but it'll be good to have some old spares in case I need them.

Of course, the angle strips that are spot welded to the bed sides were completely rusted out, so I used an air chisel & grinder to finish removing them.

Then primered everything to cover the bare metal.

The left side fender , which has the spare tire cutout seems to not be currently available , so it looks like I'll be doing some major rust repair on the fender. (The wife & I really like the side mount spare. So switching to the plain fender which is available, is not an option.)