The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1960 Chevy C10 - "A Family Heirloom"

"We Are Truck People" ...

That being said as I sit here with my laptop and coffee looking out across the yard, there are no less than six or seven trucks here at any given time. For the most part, they are GM products. There are a few off makes: International, F@&d and until recently a 1961 Peterbilt. Yep, we are Truck People.

The most recent addition to the "fleet" is a 1960 Chevrolet C10, Shortbed Stepside. The truck has been in my wife's family since new and had spent its entire life on a farm in Walterboro SC. The truck is known to me as "Mrs. T," that is for lack of a better name at the moment. Linda (my wife) hasn't named the truck as yet. I told her that a name wasn't important but if it were to have one, it would present itself before long. I believe that these old trucks take on a personality of their own. A name will come.

The truck was purchased new by Linda's great Uncle. It was as base a model as you could get: 235, 3 speed, manual brakes, manual steering, no heater and no radio. The truck was worked daily on the family farm, hauling materials, feed and hog's. When her great Uncle passed in 1990, the truck stayed there on the farm, parked under an equipment shed with a vintage Allis-Chalmers and antique Oliver tractor to keep it company. It was pretty much forgotten by the family.

The first time I saw the truck was several years ago while visiting (more like working) the farm. The truck was backed under the pole barn with the cab front sticking out. It had three flat tires and was filled with trash.

I talked with the the family about the future of the truck. It had been passed to Linda's Uncle James (Snuffy) as he was the next in line. There seemed to be no plan for the truck other than to leave it on the farm. So as things go, I would see the truck while at the farm and watch as it continued to go down hill. The roof had developed holes in the upper corners and water was getting in. I did wrap a tarp over it but that was all I could do at the time.

A few more years passed. The farm was sold and the truck was moved to Uncle James' house (local). It now sat in the driveway, uncovered, still leaking water. I opted to take the truck home and at least repair the roof. I was told that he would take care of it. He didn't.

In 2022 Uncle James passed away and the truck was then passed to his youngest son, Josh. Josh had the best of intentions but no time. So the truck still sat in the driveway.

The family decided to sell James' estate. Josh was willing to let the truck go as well. I told Linda that it should stay in her family if possible. One of Linda's cousins was interested in the truck as well. He wanted to slam it down on air bags and do the LS swap. I asked Josh to come to the house and discuss the truck's future. I just didn't want to see this piece of their family's history hacked up and slammed down. Josh agreed. Linda and Josh made a deal and the truck again traded hands -- still in the Family though.

Time and the elements had not been kind to "Mrs. T' as I was now calling it (Linda would just shake her head every time I said it). We went to bring it home and the tires were so rotten they wouldn't even inflate. The brakes were frozen and it was still filled with trash. A couple hours later and some serious winching, it was on the trailer and headed home -- at long last.

Now the work would begin.

That looks like it is in great shape ,glad you got it to bring it back to 1960 driving condition.

Upon Further Inspection...

Once we had "Mrs. T" at the house, it soon became apparent that the truck was going to need some work. Knowing that the roof had been leaking, I fully expected the floor and rockers to be Swiss cheese. That was not the case; the floors, toe boards and rockers are perfect.

What wasn't perfect were the "Knee Knocker," A pillars and the upper door jams. The A pillars must have collected water that just sat in the area. They are rotted thru and thru, from above the door sill to the dash. The upper door sills are rusted thru and paper thin in many places.

The seat had been removed and some clean up work done on the floor and dash. The dash looks to been primered. The interior is stock, nothing cut, nothing butchered.

Moving to the outside. The wood in the bed is toast. It's basically Balsa Wood, well rotted Balsa Wood. The truck had been used to haul hog's. There may have been some sort of pin that stayed in the bed to transport them. Linda can remember riding great Uncle "W.J." to sell hogs on many occasions. Whatever sat in the bed of the truck allowed it collect moisture and held it. The rotted bed floor led to rotted rear frame rails and trailing arms.

The rear section is beyond repair and will require some steel to be sectioned in behind the rear shock mounts. The trailing arms are separated and need to be replaced.

The bed sides are rotted at the base. The front bed panel is also rotted. All this can be repaired and have new steel welded in.

The tailgate has been repaired a few times in its life. That we will replace. I told Linda I would build her a bench or swing from the old tailgate just to have for the memories.

The front grille has some issues. The rust has eaten thru the lower portion. The headlight bezels are rotted thru. These are proving to be a hard item to locate -- well at a decent price. As this truck has many "one year only" parts, it is going to take some searching. The parking light bezels are a one year part; the grille as well. Many of the '60-'62 parts are interchangeable.

All of this was just on a walk around. I'm sure "Mrs. T" has some more surprises.

Why did Miss Peggy edit your first post. Did you use bad words?

Knowing you my friend you'll make a nice driver out of it. Remember 15 minutes a day...or more.
And you already have a seat. I'll be on look out for some of what you need. Keep smiling as this too shall pass. 😊

Alvin, I added the image to the post (an Admin function). I cleaned up some spelling, grammar and punctuation errors (an editor function). This DITY Gallery took over from the Legacy Gallery, which was a pretty clean finished product. I did a lot more interviewing, writing and editing (lots of typing there), so this is a lot easier. I edit here and there in the forums and I'm more picky in the Welcome Center, DITY, News & Announcements and Passing Lane. I have to rely on others in the SHOPS (language barrier ). I stay out of most of the Side Lot forums (except ODSS).

Craig's doing a great job with this story, info, pictures, etc. Glad to see him getting it going.

What a gr8 story and a cool old Chevy !

Alot like mine 👍😎🇺🇸

Great story and still in the family! WOW!

You have your work cut out for you. Linda can’t complain about spending too much time out in your garage, at least when you’re working on her truck! Those eyebrow parking light bezels have got to stay! Although not one of Chevy’s better looking designs, it’s so unique, I believe it will make it more valuable. Allot of ‘59 owners replaced the hood with a later model so they are getting scarce.


Wishing you and Linda good luck with your restoration. I’ll be following.

Keep it in the family, keep it close to stock, that's the way it otter bee!

Good luck with your project. Looks like you've got some work ahead of you.
I'm surprised the rubber pads were still on the clutch and brake pedals. Usually any truck that's been worked that hard will have those long gone.

The Good, The bad, And the Ugly...

We had some time to work on "Mrs. T" (still no name really). With the days getting longer and more time in the afternoons, things are progressing. Getting the truck dismantled is the plan for now, and assessing the areas that need work and parts.

We pulled the bed off and found some serious issues with the frame: rot and rust, rust and rot (The Ugly). As said earlier, the truck was a farm truck. Hauling a hog pen and loads of peanuts had really taken its toll on the bad and rear frame. The frame rails from the rear shock mounts to the bumper are shot. Just removing the bumper called for my trusty die grinder cutoff wheel. At one time, the spare tire had been mounted under the bed. The tire was there, but no wheel. Even the trailing arms are beyond help. The center crossmember has some rust, and is pretty thin in some areas. The bed itself has some rust in the side panels, tailgate and front panel. Almost all of the bed sills will need to be replaced along with the wood flooring and bed strips. I told Linda "I just see dollar signs."

The bed fenders are going to need some love. They are not bad, just some small areas to be repaired. The steps are pretty much the intact, just a little worked needed there. The side panels are another story. There has been some attempt at repairing them in the past (The Bad). The patch work was done with fiberglass matting prior to a repaint. Most of the lower panel will need to be repaired on both sides. As this is a flat panel with very little detail, I believe I can handle this myself. The tailgate could be repaired. It has evidence of been welded on a time or two. I'm not sure if it is cost- or time-effective to repair it. Replacements are available everywhere. Linda, however, has vivid memories of bouncing along thorough peanut fields on that tailgate. It may become a porch bench as some others here on the BOLT have done.

As we were this far into the teardown, the "While we are in here Bunny" stuck his head in. I was trying to focus on one area at a time. It didn't go as planned. Linda started poking around on the cab, so the cab got a quick look over. Other than the roof, as described earlier, the cab is SOLID (The Good). The rear cab corners are almost perfect -- even the rock guards are still there. I think the cab will clean up easily.

Sometimes it's good to have more than one project in the works. Even "Thor" was involved with this one. Having a bed-mounted crane really came in handy. Lifting the bed off of "Mrs. T" was a breeze. Through this whole process Linda has been involved. As she says "Her Truck" -- and it is.

Lots of love is in order 👍

Looks like a doner truck/frame is in order. Fatboyzz is spot on. It needs allot of love! At least you will have a helper!

Keep your head up... that 1960 is kind of like my 1954... they are transition trucks from one generation stovebolt to the next. Keep it original looking and it will be a jewel!!!

Getting back to the '60 Apache. I have been working a lot on "Thor" these past few months, that's not saying the '60 hasn't had some work done to it , I just haven't posted it. We continued to blow the Truck apart and have actually gotten the cab separated from the chassis. The bottom of the cab is as solid as the day it was made, the upper "A" pillars not so much. The frame has some serious issues in a couple of places. The crossmember where the rear trailing arms mount it s paper thin. The rear frame section behind the spring mounts is all but gone.

The plan going forward is to start with the frame and suspension, make some repairs and upgrdes as we go. Being that the '60 was the Frist year for the new design there aren't a lot of parts readily available for the suspension. The torsion bar front end was a two year run ending in '62, the rear suspension with coil springs carried over to later years. We made a plan, disc brakes on the front, power steering, and a T5 transmission. I was glad Linda decided to stay with a manual transmission, the over drive is the way to go. I had a T5 in the shop, it has been since relocated to Lugnutz for him to do his magic with. We will replace or rebuild everything as we go. The '60 being a transition year had some unique features, a hydraulic clutch, dual feed master cylinder.

Linda and I went to the Moultrie Spring Swap Meet and found most of what we needed for the suspension and brakes. A vendor actually had a 6 lug disc conversion kit that works with the torsion bar front end. The spindles are different that the later style coil spring design. We purchased an aluminum radiator, tailgate, front bed panel, lower front fender patch, inner cowl panel, upper windshield panel(inner and outer). We were not able to get the roof panel as it needed to be ordered ahead of the Swap Meet. We had a truck load when we left.

I have ordered many other parts as well. I bought a master cylinder mount and power steering box mount form Custom Fab (Lugnutz suggested them). I ordered a stainless steel brake line kit from Inline Tube. Many other small pieces and parts. Once I repair the rear frame section and trailing arm crossmember the frame will be mounted on a rotisserie (on loan from Lugnutz). it will get blasted clean to epoxy primed and sealed. The chassis needs to be together prior to getting started on the cab and bed. Lots of things to do.

Glad to see you’re making progress. Sounds like a good plan. Lugnutz is a great resource.

This is baldeagl posting as TUTS Attempting to attach a picture.

I am having to split my time between various projects. Like most of us I have WAY too many irons in the fire. I'm trying to get my shop completed, working on "Thor" and figuring out where to go with "Ernest" my '59 3100. The '60 C10 is really forefront in the line as it's Linda's Truck. We have amassed a lot of parts and even looked at some paint options. I found a 40/60 split bench seat from a late 80's Chevy 1500. Linda is only 4ft 9 in, a split bench will allow her to drive the Truck safely and still let the passengers be comfortable.

I located a T5 transmission and Jay (Lugnutz) has been gracious enough to prep it for us. The next phase is to sandblast and paint the frame. I will address the rotted areas and replace the steel where needed.

You could always put blocks on the pedals for Linda!

I mentioned that, you don't want to know the look I got

I’ve got a used set of short stepside bed strips , sandblasted & primed, that I can donate if you can use them.

We test fit the 40/60 split bench seat to the cab. The seat is from an '88 C1500, the width is just about spot on. It's funny that Wayne mentioned adding blocks, that is actually more like a reality now. Linda is little, like 4ft 9 in little. I set the seat up on 2 pieces of 5/4" boards to allow her to se over the dash. I zip tied a couple of pieces of 1' board to the clutch and brake pedal. It was still all that she could do to push the pedals all the way down. She is using just the end of her toe to get full reach. The steering wheel is also obstructing her, I will need to find a smaller wheel that looks correct. I plan to add some 1'' square tubing to the seat mounts and possibly cutting the pedals and adding some material to move them up too.

Craig are you suggesting cutting/moving the pedal pads higher up the pedal arms??? If you shorten the arms it will make pushing the pedals harder as you will lose some of the mechanical advantage in shortening the arms. I would add material to leave them at the same overall arm length, but get the pads closer to the seat. I would think about 1-1/4" extra would help her get full pedal action without having to stretch the toes out fully.

How's the reach on the go-pedal???

Dan, No. I'm thinking about bring the pedal pad closer to the seat. I am changing the Truck out to power brakes with front disc's. I will no doubt need to adjust the point at which the plunger rod meets the pedal arm. I'm no stranger to making modifications, it's just getting it right for Linda.

The other side of this problem is having the Truck set up to where my 5ft 10 in wide body can drive it on occasion... That's going to be the trick...

Craig, can you move the seat forward closer to the wheel?

I think the problem is the Charlie Brown syndrome (picture the way Charlie Brown sits on a chair with his feet straight out in front). Her feet hang off the seat but don't touch the floor so it doesn't matter how close the seat is to the front of the cab.

Have you thought about using paraplegic hand controls in the truck?
Then just raise the seat because she will not have to reach the pedals.
You would also have to swap to an auto tranny though.

Don

Ohhh Don... The look Linda just gave me... Yep, your in trouble...

I have the seat about as far forward as comfortable. I adjusted the track to the most forward position, and placed the track where it needs to be.

I think moving the pedals pads forward is the best solution

With all of the rot this frame has, I have been trying to locate a donor replacement. Most of what I have found is either to far away, or in the same or worse condition.

Linda found a suitable candidate in Bryon GA, about 4 hours from us. The seller had it and other parts listed on Marketplace. I looked at the pictures and contacted the seller. He was clearing out his yard and wanted to let some things go.

We made the trip to Byron and met with the seller. He showed me several Trucks, cabs, beds and other parts. Most of what he had were remnants of projects. He cut a lot of things apart to get pieces for repair, there was not a complete cab in his parts. There wasn't anything I could use as far as the body and cab were concerned.

The frame he had listed was from a '61 C10. Overall it was sound, no rot anywhere, but the front frame horns had been damaged pretty severely at some point. He was asking $200.00. My plan had been to swap frames completely, with the frame horns so badly damaged that wasn't going to happen. I could however, use the parts I needed, and graft them onto our original frame. I offered a $100.00 and he accepted.

The frame had an engine and tranmission still mounted on it. The engine had been exposed to the elements so long that the timing cover was rotted through leaving the gears exposed. I didn't need the engine, nor the tranmission. We unbolted the engine and tranmission, loaded the chassis and were on our way home.

I worked on the Donor frame this past weekend. The plan at first was to use the Donor frame completely, with the damage to the front frame horns that was now out of the question. I measured the areas on the original frame that needed to be replaced. Cutting the needed portions from the Donor seemed like the best solution.

I had purchased a Plasma cutter a short time ago, this would be my first chance to try it out. I have never used a Plasma Cutter before, Jay (Lugnutz) provided me with the information I needed to get started. I spent a little time playing with the Air and Amperage adjustments to get a feel for using it. Once I had it close and was able to make a few cleaner cuts, I was ready to start. The Plasma Cutter made short work of sectioning up the frame.

I cut the rear frame rails off just in front of the bed support. This should give me more than enough material to join both pieces together and have room for some plating. As the rear section has no real load applied it should be more than sturdy for the bed and bumper mounting points.

I cut the entire center section out of the Donor frame, this will allow me to use just the pieces I need. I want to remove the Trailing Arm mounting points as a whole. I plan to cut the Mounts out of the original frame at the factory welds and leave as much material as possible. Fitting the donor pieces back into the original places should be fairly easy. From there it would be just a matter of welding it in again at the factory weld points. The final fitment and welding will be done on a rotisserie to keep everything square and level.

I will scavenge what is usable from the remaining section and scrap the rest.

Tut has ADHD
...automotive dissembling hoarding disorder!

Only if he keeps the parts of the frame he said were going to scrap. THAT would truly be ADHD!

I'd be looking at that metal and say to myself "That might be useful some day"

I may have ADHD, but I also have a HOA, her name is Linda....

You are an ambitious guy. Am optimist as well😀 But I’m sure you’ll get’er done. I saw a complete running 64/66 chassis on CL (no cab or sheet metal ) for 1200$ that I thought about letting you know. But Thought you might want to stay original.

Bob, The '60-'62 frame is unique, as it uses Torsion Bars. The other problem is the front frame rails are narrower, that make the core support unique too.