The Aussie Obs
Vehicle Type:
1968 C10
A few years ago we built an original paint, 1968 C10 with a 5.3L and an M21 4-speed. It was a down and dirty hot rod that we built to drive on the Hot Rod Power Tour. After the tour we ended up posting it for sale on eBay. A guy from Australia, Wayne, bought it and it shipped over. Over the years we have stayed in touch and watched as he turned that truck into something awesome. Now with 1988-98 C1500 trucks trending, he reached out to see if we could help him locate a good one to send down under. We both spent time on market place looking around the Midwest. Wayne ended up find a pretty good 89 out of Missouri that would fit the bill.
Details:
The truck is at our shop now getting some new parts before it heads over to start a new life. We have replaced all of the aged or damaged exterior parts such as bumpers, trim, lighting, glass, seals, etc with new from LMC Truck. The original suspension was replaced with new control arms from Moog, new rear leaf springs as well as shackles from Rockauto, and a Street Grip package from Ridetech suspension. The Street Grip package is the latest tech in a 4/6 drop. It provides new front coil springs with optimum rates and a set of drop spindles. Ridetech also provides a new front sway bar with the perfect rate to compliment the coil springs. The rear gets their rear axle flip kit as well as the most well engineered “C” notch you have ever seen. The real magic in of the kit is the mono tube, single adjustable, shocks from Fox.
While the rear end was out of the truck we shipped it down to out friend Fuzzy at GearFX in North Carolina. They took the factory axle, sand blasted and powder coated the housing, installed all new bearings and seals, new Eaton Trutrack limited slip with a set of 3.91:1 gears, and checked the axles and c-clips for wear. They sealed it up and shipped it back for us to reinstall. Once back at the shop as installed a rear disc brake conversion and larger from disc brakes and master cylinder from Little Shop MFG. We spec’d the kit with black powder coated calipers as well as coating on the rotors to eliminate rust on the non-braking surfaces. We will be installing a set of 20” wheels and a new set of tires before it heads over as well.
On the inside of the truck is was already pretty good. However one of the door lock switches needed replaced and a few other things addressed. We pulled the steering column and replaced a broken shift lever return spring. We also pulled the gauge cluster to replace the PRNDL display then cleaned and polished the lens before reinstalling everything. The cluster bezel was cracked so we transferred the vents and switches while everything was apart. To keep on the topic of steering we also replaced a leaking steering pump and hoses as well as every steering hard part on the front end. While the entire front end was off the truck we cleaned, sanded, and painted the frame rails. Now the truck looks like new when its on the lift.
We ordered a cowl induction hood from LMC and have prepped it for paint and are now about to cut it in and reinstall it before we paint the hood and blend the fenders.
We are excited to finish up this little project and see Wayne enjoy it this coming summer in Australia!
