1981 Chevy K10 Shortbox

[ModelKing]

Hello everyone! I've been looking through a lot of these treads lately. And I've got to say, It's making me want to work on my truck!

Let's start off by saying this will be a very slow build as I'm trying to find a job in a town of less than 1800. So my budget is basically non existent, And It'll take awhile to get all the parts I'm looking for to get what I want done this year. But enough with the rambling!

My project is a 1981 Chevrolet K10 shortbox "Mutt" It's a 1979 K10 frame, axles, etc. it has a 1979 chevy four bolt main 350 that was out of a Camaro, And a 2WD cab. It started out as a plow truck me and dad found on the side of the road for $700 in 2007. we got it home and nicknamed him "Herman". As the years past we looked for a different every day driver, But found out it would be cheaper to fix Herman. so in 2009 we decided to get tearing into it! Well, we replaced the carb, intake, radiator, rad hoses, front U joints and bearings, breaks all the way around, gas tank, and a lot more I can't even think of right now. Fast forward to 2010, I bought a 1991 Chevy K1500 for $800, It looked decent, typical chevy rust. Long story short it had some major rust on the frame that we didn't see. so my parents said we had to scrap it. And dad said I could have Herman to work together on as a father son project. So last year we got new driver side rocker panels, cab corners etc. And both rust free doors for $50!! And got it all mostly solid again.

So, This year my plans are to sand the frame and axles down and plaint them with POR-15.
Inspect the firewall, (and probably fix the rust I'm expecting) And fix the wiring in the engine compartment.
And finally finish the cab corner on the passenger side.

My long term plans are to get a box for him, get a new front clip. get him painted (I'm thinking a dark blue) redo the Interior. And freshen up the engine compartment.

Late 2010


(please excuse the horrible picture quality!! it's only for a few pics!)



In progress mid 2012


where hes at now



(Please forgive my horrendous welding skills! It was me and dads first time doing this kind of work! keep in mind, We still need to finish welding up pinholes and grinding it down.)





And if it's not too much to ask, How much POR-15 will I need to paint the frame, axles, etc? Thanks for looking and have a great day!!

[blazing816]

Welcome from Michigan.....looks like a good start to a project. Its nice you get to do it with your father, always love the stories of family restros and keep trucks in the family.

[Edemich]

Looks like you got your hands full!!  I bought a quart of POR 15 to do my cowl channel that had some rust through issues.  It is the consistency of varnish if you haven't used it yet.  The Marine clean they recommend is diluted with hot water so the jug they sell with the quart sized can should do your whole truck.  The metal prep is not diluted and you might need a few gallons of that.  I would start with a gallon for the whole frame unless you can get a half gallon container.  Half of a gallon should work.  It's pretty thin stuff when you apply it.   

Whatever you do don't get it on anything you don't want it on!!! It is great stuff.  I painted headlight buckets, battery tray and a few spots on the interior in addition to the cowl drain channel and I still have more than half a quart left from a quart sized container of it.  Buy lots of throw away foam brushes for each day you paint with it. Good Luck!

[ModelKing]

First off thanks for the warm welcome and all the tips. I really appreciate all the info! But, Unfortunately, I have some bad news...

I've been debating if I should even post this, But I forgot to mention in 2009 me and dad pulled the bed off and wire brushed the frame, gave it a quick coat of paint, and put the bed back on. The frame and everything was in really decent shape. That's what really made this a father son project, we pulled the bed off again and well... lets just say we weren't really happy with what we seen. The frame was pretty thin in some spots, and the cross member looked like Swiss cheese. But we were still going to fix it until we discovered you could see daylight through the rear leaf spring hanger. And the main leaf was broke on the passenger side... So I think we're pretty much done with him because we just don't have the right tools to fix everything the right way, and the safe way... At least right now that is!

So thanks for all the help on this I could get. If your reading this thanks for helping me out with the rockers thirsty. And thanks for the tips on the POR-15 Edemich. Everything was much appreciated!






I'll post updated pics of the problem areas soon.

[thirsty]

Don't give up too easy. If your frame is not too bad then the other parts can be taken off another truck. Look around and see if you can get a rear section off a parts truck. That would give you the hanger, springs, cross member, and patch material for the frame. Cutting rivets off is the worst part. After that it is just nuts & bolts. All that stuff was removed off my frame . Just make sure you get the correct size hanger and springs. 2wd & 4wd hangers are different and leaf springs come in different lengths eye to eye.
Don't give up...it's just an obstacle. Post some pics of your frame so we can see what you have to work with.

[blazing816]

Don't give up too easy. If your frame is not too bad then the other parts can be taken off another truck. Look around and see if you can get a rear section off a parts truck. That would give you the hanger, springs, cross member, and patch material for the frame. Cutting rivets off is the worst part. After that it is just nuts & bolts. All that stuff was removed off my frame . Just make sure you get the correct size hanger and springs. 2wd & 4wd hangers are different and leaf springs come in different lengths eye to eye.
Don't give up...it's just an obstacle. Post some pics of your frame so we can see what you have to work with.

X2 .... I would love to have a project that was in the family like yours, I mean I am 27 and I plan on keeping my truck for a long time and re-restore with my future kids when they get old enough just because I never had anything like that as a kid. To me you cannot put a price tag on memoires. If you want just find another frame somewhere and just swap them out, I mean I usually can get frames for like $500 around here, which I do not think is that bad.

[ModelKing]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I have the same feelings that you guys do. I'd love to restore this with dad. And I'd love to re-restore it later in life with my family. I'll see what I can do about it...

Personally I don't think the frame is too bad, it definitely needs some love and attention. I agree that finding a parts truck is the way to go, but it's pretty hard to find good parts trucks up here in northern Wisconsin. I do know of a guy who has a 4x4 trazer for sale. Does any of you guys know if the rear leafs will work? IDK since the blazer is shorter. Any info would be great!

Here are the pictures.



I believe this is where the old box bolted down to. The whole area between the two rivets are pretty thin, along with some cracking because of it.



This is the drivers side



This is the drivers side rear leaf hanger.



Another angle of it.



Also that big ugly rear bumper is welded to the frame by the previous owner!

[ModelKing]

Well. I have some news for you guys! So I've been looking for a parts truck for awhile now, and me and dad finally got around to go talk to the guy about the trazer. Turns out he's been scraping some of the stuff out on his property, and he said we could have it for a few hundred bucks. But that's not the best part! A couple years ago me and dad walked trough the property and found a late 80's Chevy K10 shortbox, decent shape. But his doughtier supposedly wanted it so we couldn't buy it. Well when we talked to him today he said that it's for sale now. He said for about $400-500 we could take it home!



I don't have it yet. We're still trying to work some stuff out...(Yes, I know it has a visor, I know some of you guys hate it.)

Supposedly it ran last fall, And he drove it back there. It's a 305, Auto, And that's about all we could look at because some bee's decided the bed was a perfect place to build a home. The body's in rough shape, But still fixable. The plan as of right now is to figure out which truck is in better condition. And either part Herman out for this truck, or vice-versa.

Another option is to get the trazer, but as of right now 'Ol blue is looking like the better choice.



Also, I thought it would be cool to take some pictures of the place, I thought maybe some of you guys would like to see it, since it seems it's the finale resting place for some old square body's.
 

The white one in pieces is a plow truck he is building. Just a long box with K20 axles.












That's about it right now, hopefully we'll find out what's going on in a couple day's...

[bake74]

     So did this guy just drive chevy's for years and wherever they broke down he left them or what ?

[Irish_Alley]

looks almost like he never changed the fluids then once they crapped out he got a new/used one lol but i know someone around here that has money to play with. his backyard/woods looks like this, he loves to buy things i once went on craigslist and saw something chevy. called the guy who lived a hour away and i only wanted something small off him i forget what it was heads i think $200. so for another $100 we loaded the bed of the truck with a sb(unknown if it ran) had mud divers all threw every hole they could find, chevy doors, stock heads, odds and ends the guy looked to be ex military (air force) around here. but he was a small mechanic that accumulated parts over his time and wanted to clean it out. i went to the welding shop my friend owns and we all started looking at all the parts. he paid $200 for the engine by itself then another $100 for the heads, he paid all this knowing what i paid. i still had 5 other heads from the guy a set of power pack and a set and half of double hump. friend say he would buy them off me also.

[ModelKing]

Yeah... He's kind of a collector. Basically he buys the trucks for projects. He used to have a crap load more about 5-8 year ago, but he scraped em' out when metal prices where so high.