I started building a Chevy C/10 1/2 ton truck in May, 2007. The plan was to take three old trucks of mine apart and put the best of the parts together . I used the front clip and doors from a '68. the cab from a '69, and the frame and bed from a '70.
	*	1968 - hadn't had this one long.....just called it "The '68". It had a decent running straight 6 with a Saginaw 3 speed and a Hurst floor shifter. During the project it became a "Frankentruck" since it was running the camo front clip off the 1970 and I was swiping good parts off of it and putting on the leftovers just to keep it on the road. During the build it ran parts (and me) back and forth to the shop - about 120 mile round trip most every week.
1970 - "The Turtle" This was a daily driver for me for a few years. I painted the camo on just to hide the rust. The cab was more rust than metal. It had a tired old 250 straight six and 3 on the tree. It served me well, but it was time to retire this one. She barely made it to my brother's shop where she was dissected. Turtle contributed his frame and stepside bed to the new truck.
		1969 - "Homer" Another old daily driver. I ran this truck for years and just did what it took to keep it running. When He was retired he smoked so badly that environmentalists were yelling at me as I drove by. He had already been an organ donor for a while when this shot was taken, hence the missing headlights, master cylinder, and a bunch of other stuff. You can just get a glimpse of my brother's '69 parked beside it. He another member of the Ol' Chevy Truck Club.
"Homer's" dead 327 as she looked during his dissection.
		"Homer's" cab after stripping it down. It had a couple dents, but very little rust.
Things began to go back together by mid-summer, but I knew I would have to hussle to get it going before winter set in up in the Cascades. All my time off was thrown into the project
		Here's the '68 327 4 bolt. I had it bored to .030 over, decked, and line honed. I used a new Scat steel 350 crank and TRW forged pistons, so it ended up at 355 CI. I used a high volume oil pump, a Comp Cams RV cam, a Cloyes double row timing set, 76 CC 2.02 World Products S/R heads with Comp Cams roller tipped rockers with KoolNuts, a ProComp HEI distributor, and an Edelbrock manifold with a 600 CFM carb. The compression ended up at 9 to 1.
The '70 115" frame after rehab. I replaced all the control arm bushings, tie rod ends, reuilt the brakes all around, and upgraded to a power steering. I decided not to lower it. I figured I might actually want to haul something !! Since then I've decided to go back in and install 2 1/2 inch drop spindles, 6 lug discs, and drop the rear down with 4 inch drop springs...when I can afford it !!
		State of the project at the end of September, 2007. Long block had neen installed and the work continued on the cab.
In early October the shocks, headers, tranny, and driveshaft went in.
		By the end of October the doors and front clip were painted and assembled. The assembly of the doors was complete and the new weatherstripping was installed. I was running out of time. I had to finish it befiore the snow fell, so I didn't get pics of the bed going together. I had a lot of rust repair to do on the fenders and the bed sides, and I built a tube steel frame and installed a steel floor. I was able to find a decent tailgate on Ebay By mid-December I got it running and back to town just before the snow began to fly.
Here she is in a recent photo. Well it's Spring of '09 now....... The truck's been on the road since Dec. '07. I ran short of money toward the end, so the interior's still not finished. I needs sound deadening and carpet, a stereo, and I'm thinking about getting rid of the bench in favor of buckets. l had trouble with the charging system and ended up replacing the alternator with a '82 80 amp with built in regulator. I also had some trouble geting the clutch linkage working the way I wanted. Other than that, she's been very dependable. At about 6000 miles she's broke in and running really well. I'm not sure how many horses she makes, but it's enough to put a smile on my face and move the ol' 1/2 ton down the road in style. l still need some things that got trimmed off the project toward the end for financial reasons. I have a set of good M/T aluminum rims, but no rubber for them yet. There's no fan shroud in it, but it's almost winter anyway! That can wait 'til spring. The exhaust is still just slapped on, so I need to get it to an exhaust shop and get the intermediate pipes up under the frame closer. The front bumper needs to be replaced too. It looked OK sitting in a parts pile, but after painting it and mounting it I found out it has a twist. The interior still needs a lot of $$$$$ thrown at it, but I'll get to that soon. l'll add more pics and updates as things get better. DB