1971 C20 Project

[RHGuyettejr]

So the other day I was talking with a friend in home depot, and the topic of shopping for an older truck came up. He told me he had a 1971 C20 that he didn't want anymore and was in rough shape, so I went to take a look at it and it isn't that bad. He said I could take it for $400 if I wanted it and leave it on his property to work on it until it was street legal. I am going to look at it one more time to make sure the frame is alright, it looked fine the last two times I checked it out, but I just want to make sure. The truck looks to have been always undercoated and the floor pans and underside have basically no rust. The fenders and hood and firewall are all rust free as well. The cab is basically rust free, except the inside floors and outer rockers. The floors are solid but rusty inside from snow being tracked in during the plow season. The bed is good inside, but the fleet sides are junk and will need new skins. The truck runs and drives, but has no brakes. The truck also needs exhaust because now it is straight off the long tube headers, which although it sounds nice, it is way too loud. Ill get some more pics when I clean out the 10 tons of pine needles, but this is what I am starting with.

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It's rough but I definitely think it is salvageable, its got a 350 with a four speed manual trans, and it's four wheel drive. The surprising thing is the underside is virtually rust free. I know the motor should be worth what I am paying for it as well so I guess I can't go wrong, just want to double check one more time before I take this on. Hopefully I will have more pictures to come. This summer I hope to get it on the road, and maybe start rust repair on the cab floor, if I can get that far I will be happy.

I was also wondering about the x-pipe kits through summit for these trucks, they say RWD vehicles, but this is four wheel drive, so I just need to make sure they will clear the front drive shaft. If anyone knows of an x-pipe kit that will work with 4WD feel free to point me in that direction, I figure i might as well put some duals on while I am under there, at least past the cab for now so I can get it to my house and work on it.

[RHGuyettejr]

So I Bought the truck, or at least agreed to. My friend said he didn't need the money right away, but I am going to get everything squared away this Wednesday when I see him next anyway, then the truck will officially be mine. I am going to start by pulling the interior and cleaning the crap out of the floor pans. The passenger side still has factory paint on the floor, the drivers side is rust colored but still completely solid, so I need to wire brush it to see exactly where I am at with how much metal is missing etc. The rockers won't need replacement, but will need some metal work so I will tend to these as well. I need to take the plow frame off and already have the ladder rack sold to a kid who wants the steel. I also need to take care of the "belt tensioner" which is currently a bungee cord attached to the hydraulic pump and hood hinge. I also need to order a y-pipe and a muffler and get rid of the long tube headers. I am going to replace them with manifolds for now because they are pretty rusty, and my dad has a set of manifolds for a 350 that he said I could have. I also need to address the brake issue which is still unknown, although I am leaning towards master cylinder. The brakes depress, but do not return to their original position and the pedal has to be manually pulled back . I did have my dad look over the truck with me one last time and he agreed it was very savable, especially since it had been undercoated most of its life.

Eventual plans are a full restoration, yank the motor and make everything pretty again, but for now I am going to keep working on it a little at a time, when I get money etc because I am still in college. It will probably take me five years to finish the truck , but I know I can do all the work, and this is exactly the body style I was looking for.

I will get more pics when I start to dig in (probably next week because I am going away for memorial day weekend) but hopefully I can have her running on the road by the end of this summer.

Also something I missed the first time is that the truck has had the front drums converted to disks, and the motor has edelbrock carb and intake as well as electric choke.

[DuallyC30]

Sounds like a fun build! More pics when ya can!

[RHGuyettejr]

Well I did get some time this morning to get the ladder rack off the truck and sell it to a kid I know who wants to make some tube bumpers and a roll cage. I got $50.00 for it so now I am only in the truck $350.00 I didn't have time to do much else because I needed to do some stuff with the Fire Department for their memorial day fund raiser and pack up for my weekend trip, but I did snag some more pictures. I will get some better ones once I get the interior cleaned out.


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[RHGuyettejr]

Well I have some more updates and pictures after I cleaned the inside of the truck and got the plow off. After the plow blade went to scrap and I received payment for my ladder rack I am only into the truck $250.00 now. I should be getting the exhaust together next week sometime and then trying to figure out the brake issue shortly after, then she should be road worthy.

Here are some pics.

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Pretty much from here I just need to get the mechanical stuff up to snuff, then I can get it to my house to actually start to do a full restore on the truck.