1969 Chevrolet C-10 Truck, Short Bed, Shop Truck, Rat Rod

1969 Chevrolet C-10 Truck, Short Bed, Shop Truck, Rat Rod

Shop truck/rat rod condition

350 small block, 3-speed automatic transmission, power brakes, power steering, deluxe trim, rally wheels, 2 inch lowered.

About two years ago, a friend approached me about buying his truck because he needed the money for a worthy cause. While I am a huge muscle car and 50's enthusiast, I am not much into this style of Chevy trucks. However, because of the situation, I bought the truck anyway. Because of this, I do not know every little detail or part on the truck, but I know it has basically always been on the road and has not had any serious restoration or any serious rot that vehicles that have been parked for decades have. I know about 3 people in my town that have owned this truck over the years. The truck seems reliable and handles well and is comfortable to ride in. When I purchased the truck, it had a substantial power steering gearbox leak, so I replaced that. A number of the original gauges were not working and there was an add-on cluster, so I replaced almost all of the gauges and eliminated the extra cluster. The Ammeter gauge is not currently working because the newer style alternator needs to be wired to the cluster. The engine temp gauge works, but reads on the cool side of the normal range. This appears to be accurate and is probably because the motor has a cooler thermostat than the gauge and sending unit were originally intended to work with. Other than that, the speedo, oil pressure, tach, and fuel gauge all work as you would expect. (Please note that the interior pictures were taken before the new factory gauges were installed)

The window glasses are not cracked and seem to be clear and in good general shape.

The wipers, heater/defrost, and radio work. The headlights (high/low), park lights and turns work.

There is a horn button added on the lower part of the dash, as well as two toggle switches; one for the reverse lights and the other for the interior lights.

After initially cranking the truck, the truck will crank without patting the gas petal. The truck has a good exhaust tone. The brakes work well and it does not pull to either side. The power steering pump is a little noisy, but the steering function is correct. The wheels and tires are probably 5-10 years old, but have a good appearance.

The body has mostly surface rust, with the only rust through I have noticed being on the top corners of the cab cowl, under the rear of the hood. There is a tiny hint of something at the lower cab corners (see pictures). Under the truck, the frame looks good. I was told that the bed floor had some rust, which is why the previous owner installed the bedliner. Under the bed, the cross-members that support the bed-floor have some rust, but it doesn't look bad enough to compress or collapse.

This truck has the original blue paint under a coat of 1 stage silver/blue metallic that was sprayed in the 90's. To be the perfect shop truck (in my opinion), I would lightly sand off the silver/blue metallic and reveal all of the deeper blue paint.

I have a speedometer cable and gear (did not need) and 2 spray cans of matching blue single stage paint that will go with the truck (not used). I was going to repair the front cowl corners and touch up and patena with this paint.

This truck would be a good shop truck/reliable driver as-is, or could be a great candidate for a full-blown restoration if someone wanted a perfect show-truck.