Well, I finally made up my mind and found "the one". 1976 Chevy C10, 350 with SM465 manual trans stepside. No rust. Needs a little work and of course spent way too much, but don't care.
Flight is booked for March 3rd. Planning on spending Friday installing seat belts, Saturday picking up Dad from the airport and getting a good nights sleep. Then I have 3 days to get home in a 41 year old truck. I wholly plan to document the whole trip as we go along. It should "only" take two, but in case the highways are just too much for it, this gives me the time to take the back roads.
quick video
Not going to lie, having a hard time sleeping. Inlaws are taking possession today at 4pm EST.
Replace wheels, replace grille, adjust wipers, done.
My dad had one a 76 4x4 stepside, i like the look but disliked the bed space. Hopefully you enjoy the trip home with it!
pinchvalve wrote:
Replace wheels, adjust wipers, make suspension work betterer, done.
Fixicated for accuracy. I love the 80 grille.
dropstep wrote:
My dad had one a 76 4x4 stepside, i like the look but disliked the bed space. Hopefully you enjoy the trip home with it!
I don't need this as a truck. I already have a real truck. I want this as a CAM/T car that can haul it's own wheels and tires easily. :D
Congrats! I had 1978 4WD step side in high school, miss that truck..
Bobzilla wrote:
pinchvalve wrote:
Replace wheels, adjust wipers, make suspension work betterer, done.
Fixicated for accuracy. I love the 80 grille.
Well that makes one of you. 
I much prefer the previous round headlight grilles, but if it's what you like, then keep it.
Hmmmm.....
Camt you say?
Full size chevy truck you say?
Fly and drive you say?
All I can think about is grm roadkill.
Dusterbd13 wrote:
Hmmmm.....
Camt you say?
Full size chevy truck you say?
Fly and drive you say?
All I can think about is grm roadkill.
I think they stole my idea with their muscle truck. I'm actually entering into new territory. I do not understand carbs. Not the kind you eat either. My understanding of how carbs work involve black magic, voodoo and ritual sacrifices.
Bobzilla wrote:
Dusterbd13 wrote:
Hmmmm.....
Camt you say?
Full size chevy truck you say?
Fly and drive you say?
All I can think about is grm roadkill.
I think they stole my idea with their muscle truck. I'm actually entering into new territory. I do not understand carbs. Not the kind you eat either. My understanding of how carbs work involve black magic, voodoo and ritual sacrifices.
Dont forget unicorn blood and pixie dust.
Id rip it off and go tbi, but i berkeleying HATE carbs.
In reply to Dusterbd13:
I was thinking something like this.
efi
Nice - I learned to drive on my dad's '77 C10 with the 250 straight 6 and the 3 on the tree. Manual everything - brakes, steering, windows, etc. Only options were the HD rear suspension, and the folding front seat.
The thing I remember about it was that you could have fit the whole truck in the gap between 2nd and 3rd gear.
I've always liked that body style. The older grill and headlights seem to fit with the style more, but that's not the worst looking grill either. The wheels are awesome in a period-correct kind of way.
Carbs are simple. Everyone gets all worked up but they're not hard to deal with, particularly when the vehicle is already in running condition. Pick up one of the Haynes Techbooks on whatever carb it has and you'll be fine. It's hard to make a carb run as perfectly as it can, but it's pretty easy to make them run good enough.
For hard cornering you'll likely slosh the fuel inside the carb around enough to make the truck cut off. There are (or were) kits out there that a lot of the off-road guys used to make the carb function at high incline angles that should solve the issue.
Remember, if the carb works DON'T TOUCH IT!
Happily following along on this adventure. I too grew up with one of these, red, long box, 4x4, but the cabs all feel the same. I like them.
ultraclyde wrote:
I've always liked that body style. The older grill and headlights seem to fit with the style more, but that's not the worst looking grill either. The wheels are awesome in a period-correct kind of way.
Carbs are simple. Everyone gets all worked up but they're not hard to deal with, particularly when the vehicle is already in running condition. Pick up one of the Haynes Techbooks on whatever carb it has and you'll be fine. It's hard to make a carb run as perfectly as it can, but it's pretty easy to make them run good enough.
For hard cornering you'll likely slosh the fuel inside the carb around enough to make the truck cut off. There are (or were) kits out there that a lot of the off-road guys used to make the carb function at high incline angles that should solve the issue.
EFI is so cheap and easy anymore sticking with a carb seems rather silly. I'd like to eventually see somewhere around hte 350-400hp range out of this truck, something around a 315 in the rear for tire and at least a 285 up front. I'm kind of thinking old ZR1 wheel sizes (depending on fitment) of 17x9.5 front, and 17x11 rear
In reply to Bobzilla:
Oh, I'm not saying you can't improve your life by running EFI. It's better in every way. I'm just saying carbs are nothing to be scared of.
Looks awesome! Will follow the build!
Excellent! Step sides are the best sides!
Cool looking truck with gobs of potential. I'll be following along with this adventure/build. (Remember, we LOVE pics)
Where is your trip taking you from/to?
In reply to Bobzilla:
I have a whole GM TPI setup I'll sell you. 
In reply to MulletTruck:
Truck is in Tucson, inlaws picking up today. I fly into there on Friday march 3rd, start the trek to Indianapolis that Sunday the 5th hope to be home before the 8th.
In reply to petegossett:
I did always say those would be great truck engines! lol
Bobzilla wrote: Flight is booked for March 3rd. Planning on spending Friday installing seat belts
By 1976 pickup trucks had seat belts as standard equipment...did someone remove the old ones?
