1979 Chevy C10 Rebuild

[DC-Monster70]

Thanks guys!

[DC-Monster70]

Started tearing down the front end to replace the rocker arm bushings. That is one heck of a job.





This little guy becomes your best friend when bulling the ball joints.


I also found a upper shock mount with a wallowed out hole.

Another thing to add to the fix list.

One of the lower arms bracket that holds it in place was broken. It's held on with a rivet. I jumped on a old truck forum looking for help. I was told by one of the truck gurus to use a hex bolt. I did what he said and it worked great.

[DC-Monster70]

Surprisingly all the ball joints were in great shape, so I decided not to replace them and install new rubber grease sleeves. That is it's self was a chore to find the someone that made the rubber sleeves. It took some time to finally track down some that would work.

[DC-Monster70]

The hardest part was removing the old rubber busing. I used a drill, chisel and screwdrivers. There was a total of 8 rubber bushing to replace and after removing the first one I thought to my self "why the heck and I doing this" LOL.

[Dirtymike]

I wish I had the patience for this type of project. I would end up with a bunch of extra parts.

[FLASH_OUTDOORS]

Watching this!!!!!!

[DC-Monster70]

Got everything back together and dropped in the 2" lower springs that came with the truck. I'm sure it will require a front end alinement, but that can wait.


Re-painted the calipers with a high temp paint.



New bushing installed.







The front end is all finished.

[Eric T.]

Nice I have an 81 that is in the process ......following

[DC-Monster70]

I went thru and did an inventory on the doors and finders to see what could be fixed or needed to be replaced.

- driver side door was filled with bondo and rusting.
- driver side finder was in good shape.
- passenger door was in good shape, minor rust.
- passenger finder was in bad shape and look like too much work.

[DC-Monster70]

My daily driver, a Toyota Tundra, was due a timing belt change. I was all set to pass it off to my mechanic friend however, he was booked for several weeks. So I took a brake from the 1979 C10 and worked on the 2006 Tundra. After watching several YouTube videos I finally tackled the project.

The work involved was a heck of a lot more than a old Chevy 350. Completed it in 2 days. Before I turned the key to start the engine I said a little prayer, because this is an interference fit motor and if the cams are off timing it can destroy the engine.

It started right up!.



Now back to the easy to work on older Chevy's'

[DC-Monster70]

Searching Craigslist daily I came across some doors, however when I finally got around to calling the guy it was already sold. Several times this happen on these older trucks, got to jump when you see the add.

So, I kept on looking and finally came across a new listing for the right year doors, $250 for a pair. I called right away and he still had them however, he had several people coming on Saturday to look at them. I told him I can be there in 2 hr (was Friday and I was at work) so we arranged to meet that day. "Boss, I have a customer I need to go see" lol, I really did and the plant was close to where the doors were.

Met with him and looked at the door, NO rust or bondo!!! These door are very hard to find without rust or bondo, especially rust at the bottom inside.

I stripped them down from all their hardware and mounted them to the truck.

[bwssr]

This is fun...to watch...and BTW...those are the upper and lower A frames you put the bushings in....and I don't like doing them either....

[DC-Monster70]

New finder under skirts are about $40+ each shipping. The ones on the truck were in ok shape except for a rust hole in each one. Instead of buying new finder under skirts I worked on them my self.

I cut the rust part out of each skirt and welded some sheet metal in. The first one did not turn out so well but the other one did. It's hard to tack weld on thin metal. However, the patch jobs were in places that did not show up while looking under the hood.



Patch work done.


Rust blocker applied.


Painted with Rust-oleum glossy black, applied with a compressor spray gun.

[Gangerland]

Great work, looking awesome

[nimrodtracy]

nice