The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1966 Chevy C10 Stepside - Beginning of a Mild Resto

Back in the early 90 Got the truck for the right price. Has some rust issues, but they all do. Here is my progress thus far.

Engine runs well. Going to keep it, but probably FI it. Know nothing about the transmission. Hoping it is good. Rear end was run dry and the vent was completely gone from the top of the housing. Lots of dirt and grit in it. Had to replace everything in it. Got it done with a little help from a HS friend who knew much more than I did about rear ends.

I am currently working on dent banging with rear fenders and rust repair. learning the art of patch panels one by one.

Working on figuring out how to post pics here.

Edit June 2024 : Ferris figured got the hang of adding images pretty quickly! DROP DOWN TO THIS POST to where the pictures being. ~ Peggy M

After clicking "new reply, below the text box you enter your message, there is a paperclip down below.

"attach manager". click on it, upload file from where ever you stored it.

Hello Ferris Bueller,

Welcome to the Stovebolt and the Project Journal forum! Your '66 C-10 Step SIde will be of great interest to our forum participants. I'm really looking forward to watching you refresh the '66. Be sure to ask your questions in the appropriate forum(s). There's a wealth of knowledge here on the SB. I see you've checked into the Welcome Center and introduced yourself, an excellent first step.

I'll send you a PM with some additional Project Journal information after you make a couple more posts. You can just click on the flashing red envelope in the upper righthand corner to open it.

Once again, welcome. You're gonna love it here!

Pics of where it had gone to die in MT. Truck originally was bought in Gillette WY, and brought to Powderville MT. Owned by same guy K lazy E Ranch (Established 1890 ish) until his death in 94. Truck sat till 2000 until it went to his grandson. Grandson got it going and beat on it a little for a couple years until it quit on him. Sat again until 2021. Grandson went into reahab, getting divorce, and his mother (One of my best friends) didn't know what to do with it. We discussed price and shipping costs and it started its journey to NH.

front clip off. There is rust, but not bad rust. Not even breaking any bolts.

Bed teardown. Some dents in the fenders which are going to be tough to get out. Little to no rust.

They don't come apart easy unless you have inspector gadget arms.

Decided to see if it would run. Scoped it cause the air cleaner was off. Changed plugs, put gas in the carb vent and it started and ran, but it would not pull fuel from a can.

had fuel pressure at the carb so I went through through the carb. Now it pulls fuel from a can, but it wont idle. I should probably just FI it.

I tried to attach video, but they are too big of a file.

Rear end, ended up being hosed. The vent was gone and it allowed who knows what into it. I found large hunks of metal, sandy sludge, and shims that had moved and were grinding themselves apart. Wheel seal or wheel cylinder was leaking, not sure which.

New set of gears, bearings throughout, wheel cylinders, and fresh brakes are on the list.

Ferris Bueller,

PM sent.

I am on the fence to keep this dealer optioned bumper or not? I like it, but I was only able to straighten it so much even though I am happy with how it came out. Going to have to strip and rhino line or go with a regular chrome bumper.

Hey, where in the Northeast are you located? Nice project by the way.

Afternoon Glenn,

I am in Central NH.

I see we skied together at some points in our past. Happy to lend a hand when hand is needed. I suspect I am close enough to join forces.

If you want to take that last bit of bend out near the weld, get out your O/A torch and heat the area I marked in yellow on both flanges of the channel till red, then let cool. If you support the bumper on the ends with the flanges up when you heat it that will help it straighten it as well. The heated area will shrink and pull it straight. You can do that multiple times till you get it where you want it. I've seen that method work on huge I-beams that were bent, so they were usable again. The labor and gas cost was worth a lot less than buying a new I-beam.

The part that's bent with the flange inside the bend can be straightened on your press with no heat used, stretching the flanges.

If you want to take that last bit of bend out near the weld


I cut the welds for the gussets and got it the same as the side that had no damage. I have not welded back as I want to test fit once I get the bed back together.

Appreciate the tip. Going to see how it looks with both sides the same first. If still not happy I will try your idea.

I am trying Eastwood's product on this thing. Rust encapsulator. I didn't have much and I am doing this in 1/3's so blasting was not a option.

I am using a pressure washer, then treating with a converter, encapsulating individual pieces, encapsulating again once assembled, and then going over it with a rubberized or bed liner coating.

Put new brakes on when it went together. Pic shows old brakes. I think they might have been original as rear brakes lasted for ever back then and the truck only has 60K.

Huge improvement already!

Spent time time trying to save the rear fenders. Massive case of the mumps on them from driving down gravel roads. I am hoping using bed liner on the underside will help stop this from happening again in the future.

fender in the pics has a dent and a twist. Where the curved portion of the wheel well meets the flat it actually dips in before it meets it. I think this will be very difficult to get out. I am thinking I will simply replace and then keep working at these. If I get them in good shape I will sell them to recoup the cost of replacement metal. Flame suit on for not wanting to use original metal.

Started learning about filler this weekend. I am working in large part where things will not be seen at first. I am not fast, but I am satisfied with progress so far. I will know more when I lay down some primer and block it after all of this.

The bed sides have bends and bows to them that I hope will straighten when fenders are bolted on? Time will tell. Its scary when you have no idea what you are doing.

Finally got some more time with the bodywork. After multiple rounds I have a bedside and tailgate done. i blocked it best I could, but some areas of the bedside wont straighten out until the fender is bolted tight. I clamped straight edges where I could and I think I was able to get them blocked pretty straight.

The hard part is knowing that they were not straight out of the factory especially things like the bed rails. I have one that I know has never had work done to it and there are dips into the stake pockets etc.
Last step was two heavy coats of primer (This was my first time shooting from a gun). They await completion of the other pieces, to assemble, block again to make sure its straight, disassemble and then shoot color matched bedliner at it.

Final filler and blocking before heavy load of primer.

I guess I should note...... Other than some hammer and die work, I am not worrying about things below the strip line. Out of easy sight, out of mind. Otherwise I would be driving myself crazy.

If they are not perfect, they are as perfect as I am going to get them being the novice I am. I think I did alright.

After two days of degassing I brought them into the house to make sure they stay dry. They still stunk up the whole house. Wife is not a happy camper.

You have got some interesting hangers for your paint work, I never thought about using bungee's. Great work.

Nice work. You are making fast progress.

I had wanted to have the bed completed by now, but it needed more work than expected. I suspect all pieces will be ready for a trial assembly by the end of January. At least hoping.

Once bed is done I really want to have the front clip and engine out/painted done before summer. That gives me a year to go after the cab.

I will check in maybe next week as I hit nh again. Happy to have you heat the garage and chill the beer while I lend a hand

Front panel rear cross bar and supports primed today.

The second bed side was a little more involved. Thought it was done and then I see 10 things I missed, then I tried sanding the filler too soon, etc etc etc.

When I used a straight edge and clamped the warped side I was able to get it to pop in and out of place. When popped in place I think I have gotten that area flat. Only thing I could not make sure was a warp where the step bolts to the bedside. I will have to massage into place when I bolt the step into place.

Anyhow I am done for the evening. Have about an hour of prep time and all bed pieces are primed and ready for trial assembly. Can't wait for this bed to be done. Its going to be a huge motivator.

Weekend is for test fitting the bed pieces together. Got my fenders today and my seat back from apolstery. Wish I was ready for the seat but it's one more thing off the list.

Can anyone catch the points lost for the seat other than the color change?

Seat looks great.
Beware! Caution! Alert! Warning!
I installed door arm rests on BOTH of my 1963 doors in the factory position. Then one day I decided to tilt the seat back forward and found out it will hit the arm rest. IIRC, it damaged the seat upholstery where it hit the arm rest. So if you install a PS arm rest, make sure BOTH doors are open before you tilt your seat back forward.

Lugnutz,

Would not have thought of that and my plan is to install the armrest. Amazed at the terrible engineering of the time.

We were able to go to the moon, but things like this were overlooked. Well we actually didn't go to the moon so I guess it makes sense.

Well the garage is struggling to keep 60 with it -18 this morning.

Hardest part is figuring out how to hold stuff and get bolts in holes as a 1 man show today.

Things are loosely together with bolts in most holes. The inner holes on the steps to the fender are a mile off? When I get another set of hands I might try and force things into place. Other than that I am pleased in how things are looking.

No progress lately. Whole family id fighting covid.

Earlier this week I brought my pieces out into the sunlight. I see about a dozen issues per panel that need to be addressed before color goes down. Guess I am not done with bodywork yet. Uggggggg

I installed studs instead of bolts to solve the problem Ferris experienced.

Ed

After COVID cold getting wheels polished and kid crap I am beginning to get back at the bed.

Bed steps were in amazing shape. Has not taken much filler to get them looking good. Just a little rust rash where the fender meets the step and some small dings is all that needs to be taken of. They are looking sweet. Ready for last coat of primer and a final sanding now.

The ribs were a pain to do for sure. I knocked out the dents as best as I could first. Here is the finished product.

Got a few posts for updates on this rig.

Have not had good enough weather for painting yet, so I have set all of that aside for the moment and moved on to other things.

First is the transmission. It is out. I threw every bolt and piece that would come off into a bucket of vinegar for a week. Chiseled, scraped, wire wheeled, and pressure washed until it was...... sill not clean. Tried everything in the book, and the best thing was oven cleaner. It softened the super hard layers so the PW could blow it away. Needed to do this a few times. All sealed, up, primed and painted. Two coats of primer,, two coats of paint. If the rest of the truck comes out this good I will be very happy.

Next is the front suspension.

Have it out, but not cleaned yet. I have new seals, bearings, brakes, drums, brake lines on the way. I could not get any movement out of the B Joints so as of right now I am going to consider them good unless the crud is holding them tight. Both springs are broken in the same way. This is what gave it the nice rake. With new springs it will ride level I bet.

More scraping, chiseling, wire wheeling, and pressure washing is in store for me. I should buy stock in oven cleaner at this point.