Is it Really a Truck if You Only Have Two Parts?

Without a cheap hookup on a new paintjob for the rustbucket C10, I turned my attention to making the truck run a little better once I put it back together. I pulled the original 327ci V-8 and three-speed trans out of the chassis and tore it down because the truck was misfiring, didn't idle, and in general ran like poop.

The insane misfire coming from the left bank of cylinders turned out to be the Number 3 piston, or rather the pieces of the Number 3 piston that wanted to fall apart, but somehow manage to stay together within the cylinder while the engine was running. As soon as i took the heads off and flipped the engine over on the stand the piston fell onto the garage floor in three separate but equally important pices. I really wish I could find the photos my friend Busby had taken of it because it was truly an automotive marvel that the engine didn't self-destruct during the brief jaunts I had made around town in it. It was at this point that I realized this project needed a huge kick in the arse. This wasn't going to be easy.

I made a mental checklist of everything that sucked about my new purchase.

1. I drove 14.5 hours one-way with an empty car trailer to pick up the C10 and another 13 hours home (yes i was speeding on the return trip. Norcal is only beautiful the first time you drive through it. After that, you just want to get back home!)

2. Yes, the C10 ran, but 52 mph on the freeway in third gear wasn't exactly efficient transportation. Nor was it fun having squirrel turds hit me in the eyeballs as the wind rushed through the rusted floorboards and into the cab.

3. The necessary rust repairs included the cab floors, rocker panels, the inner fenders, the cab corners, the doors and the bed supports.

4. Except for the holy grail of unobtainable parts, the original '67 grille shell, there wasn't a straight body panel on the truck.

5. The motor was indeed junk and the trans wasn't much better.

It was at this point that I really committed to the idea of trashing most of the truck and starting over. With the realization that I'd just paid three grand for what amounted to a cab and bed, i filled another dumpster with old C10 parts and pieces, mourned my stupidity, drank heavily, and then passed out, hoping the next day would be somehow different.

The aftermath of my decision:

I didn't want to clean the scale off of that chassis anyway!