Meet my new truck: 1977 C10 Bonanza Project

[ck80]

I finally got the kind of truck I was thinking I would need to go out west to pick up... Rust Free where it counts. Now don't get me wrong, it needs work and a whole lot of it, but, more on that later... first it's story time:

So I bought this truck over 4th of July weekend from the second owner, a very nice older man who was honestly sad to see it go. When I asked him if he wanted to drive it up from the back yard to the road with the battery I brought he almost looked near tears although I can't say for sure... According to him, this truck has just over 89,000 original miles. The first owner was an old time farmer, and the truck was his go to the feed store or run an errand vehicle. Well, eventually the old farmer passed on, and the second owner got the truck when his wife bought it for him out of the estate through one of her coworkers. This would have been in 2004. For the next 8 years or so, the second owner drove the truck and it sounds like he really loved it. Over time it picked up a dent here, dent there, he doesn't appear to have been the best driver. Then in 2012, the truck got hit a little bit harder on the driver bedside. From what I am told, another vehicle on the road flipped onto its side, with the roof making contact with the truck, primarily on the driver bedside. The good news is that the wheel/axle were untouched, and it was a glancing blow. Tailgate opens and closes fine, and the bedfloor was unaffected, but the 1-year only trim took a beating as did the outer sheetmetal. At this point the truck got parked in the driveway, with him saying he was going to someday get to fix it back up. Fast forward two years, and the second owner wound up on oxygen, in need of a liver transplant, and suffering from the beginnings of a form of dementia where from time to time he forgets where he's going and a trip across town turns up with him not knowing where he is 40 miles away. Reluctantly, he put the truck up for sale at the urging of his wife, knowing he couldn't fix it up and wouldn't be able to drive anymore. He wanted it to go to a good home, and now it has.

So what is the truck? Well, as the title says its a 1977 C10 Bonanza. Speaking of titles, this truck has a clean and clear one, no small feat these days in this neck of the woods where titles are optional. But I digress. It was an oddly optioned truck, as I expect many Bonanzas were, but here's the list as I know it without digging out the SPID label: 250 I6, th350 trans, no a/c but ps and pb. MW/ML, no cruise but has tilt. Has a factory am/fm radio but not stereo, windshield glass antenna. Remember the no a/c? Well, it also has a fixed rear pane without a slider. Single tank, step bumper, no cargo lamp, steel bed floor in the 8 foot bed. Rallye Wheels with trim rings and center caps. Blue cloth bench with carpet, but no headliner. Has full gauge package with clock (not idiot lights) and without tach.

My favorite part: No rust in the floor. No rust in the cab corners. No rust in the rockers. No rust in the frame or the suspension parts. Pretty much no rust in or on the undercarriage. The inner fenders and core support are rust free as is the hood, bedfloor, and passenger bedside. But the rest of the body?

Drivers fender has a dent, need replacement and new trim. Passenger fender rusted between the tire and cab due to clogging from debris. Passenger door has a cracked hinge and a dent in the center. Drivers side bedside... welllllll... lets call it banged up. Interior needs to be redone as well, as probable would be expected.

For all that, I love the fact it was a white truck which makes my future paint options easy. I like the original blue interior as wanted to do a blue interior in a truck someday. And I love the fact it has the inline 6 engine.

I'll do my best to get some pictures posted up below, and update some more info as I go through the truck more. Right now they are larger than the allowed upload size, except one picture of the truck riding the flat bed home. (I didn't want to chance anything after it having sat so long, on a holiday weekend no less) So far its been hard enough just doing cleaning. I know some things were probably changed over time, as it has large spring packs on the rear axle  (closer to 9 than the 4 that would have originally been on a c10) but that may just have been its prep for heading to the farm...

[bake74]

     Congrats on finding the truck you wanted.  Where out west did you have to go ?   Looking forward to progress pics and the story that goes along with the pics.

[zieg85]

Love the story, love the truck, love the history... Congrats on the find.

[ck80]

Where out west did you have to go ? 

That is the best part of all, and I think I forgot and left it out in hindsight...

I did not have to go out west at all. In fact, this truck popped up on the local craigslist about 15 minutes from home later at night on July 3rd. I tried to see if I could go for a look on the morning of the 4th, but the previous owner (understandably) had family plans. Saturday morning we did go out there to look through it, brought a battery, brought cash, and the rest as they say is history.

I finally downsized a couple of pictures during the first round of cleanup, shows a little better the bumps and bruises around the body. The nice thing is, everything is superficial damage. Cab is perfect without a speck of rust, inner front fender tubs, radiator support, same story. Just the bolt on parts have bumps and bruises. Once I can find nice enough sheetmetal to put on, this will be the rust-free keeper truck I've been after (in one form or another) for the last 15 years or so.

[bake74]

     I do not know what you use for a image re-sizer, but I use "fast stone image viewer", it's free and very easy to use.  Lets you do all kinds of things to the pics if you want.

[autorepr]

Cool story.  I just got a 1975 C-20 Camper Special from an old timer. (84 years old) I was going up to the auto parts store and saw an elderly woman on the side of the road in a late 90s Chevy pick up with the hood up. I stopped and asked her if she needed help, she said "no my husband went up to get a battery and is coming right back." I left and went to the parts store. On the way back home I saw the old man nosed up to the Chevy with an early 90s Cadillac. He had jumper cables hooked up to both so I stopped and asked him if they needed help. He said " no I'm just boosting it to get it home." I asked if they lived near by. He said they lived up the street and we talked for a while. He started it and I followed him home to make sure he got there ok. I was shocked to see where he lived....... it was a house I had driven by a 1000 times and always said "look at that old Chevy!".  I got out and told him that and he said he had to get rid of it, the city was on him and "I'm too old to mess with it anyway!" He said "You want it?" Oh yeah....... It came home with me on my trailer!!!!!!!!

[BADAZ chevy guy]

Cool truck. I always thought it would be fun to build a Bonanza, Paint it Yellow and Redo the fender emblem to read Banana. Just to see how many people caught it.