Watch from start to finish how we built a broken down 1968 Chevy C10 short bed Fleetside into a beautiful truck that we ended up showing at SEMA.
When we initially dragged this crusty old shortbox out of a snowdrift and took it home to the shop, we knew this was going to be quite the restoration project. While almost every part of the truck needed maintenance, repairs, or a complete replacement, this was the best opportunity to throw some amazing upgrades on this blank slate and really make it our own truck.
With our '68 C10 project delivered to our shop, we wasted little time tearing it apart. But first, we took pictures of how everything went together. We've found this step to be critical when it came time to put things back where they belong.
With a bare chassis in front of us, we discovered that we had a clean, straight original shortbox chassis, with one exception - that torched rear crossmember had to go. With that crossmember staring us in the face, and the idea that we wanted the truck to end up a clean driver that we could road trip anywhere, we decided to install our G-Comp 1967-1972 C10 Coilover Truck Arm rear suspension kit. This would give us fresh components, the adjustability of coilovers, and a chance to put some real-world miles on one of our products.
After cleaning up our project ’68 C10’s chassis and treating it to a fresh coat of paint and trick G-Comp rear suspension, we moved on to the front. There are lots of wild suspension setups for these trucks, but we kept it simple with our Complete Front Suspension Kit for 1963-70 Chevy C10. We also splurged on some tubular upper and lower control arms.
We also chose to upgrade to a C10 Power Steering Gear Box. While we were upgrading the steering, we also chose to install a Chevy Pickup Front End Rebuild Kit to freshen up the tie rods and idler arm.
When it came to the engine, we considered our options carefully. We came up with a 130,000 mile 5.3 LS engine out of an ’04 Sierra pickup. When it rolled out of the van, it looked pretty crusty, so we hosed off a decade and a half worth of dirt and oil before popping the pan off to see what we had. In fact, it turned out to be amazingly clean inside, with a good crosshatch still on the cylinder walls. These engines really are amazing.
After installing the 5.3 LS engine between the framerails, it was time to show off this project truck at SEMA. Even though there was a long way to go, it was great to show the world how far this little C10 barn find had come.
The next step was rust revival. Our project ’68 C10 had rust in all the usual places and then some. It was bashed and banged up in ways that we’ve never seen before. But we knew that this was one of the battles that we would be fighting after starting with a $500 truck. We tackled the cab, replacing the floor, rockers, cab corners, panels and a few lower pillar pieces.
Once we had patched up the cab, it was time to tackle the rest of the sheet metal required to make it an actual truck. We grabbed a bunch of fresh C10 sheet metal from the Speedway Motors catalog and got busy making this poor thing look like a truck again. Then, we hit up our pals at No Coast Custom and Rod Shop to help us dial the bodywork and finally got some paint on our project.
With another SEMA show approaching, we wanted to make sure we had a running 5.3 LS swap engine to show off. This step also included installing a bunch of new components throughout the truck. From bumpers and brightwork to lights, seats, and gauges, we were lucky to find everything we needed to get our project truck across the finish line. We got done just in time to get this new and improved 1968 C10 truck over to SEMA.
0:00 - C10 Yard Find
6:13 - C10 Chassis Teardown
32:44 - Front Suspension Kit Install
50:11 - Junkyard 5.3 LS Inspection & Cam Swap
1:19:16 - C10 LS Swap | Engine Install
1:32:50 - Rust Repair & Sheet Metal Replacement Process
1:59:20 - C10 Bedside Assembly and Body Mock-Up
2:16:59 - C10 Wiring Harness Installation
2:33:12 - Interior, Headlights, and Finishing Touches
Follow us on social!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speedwaymotorsinc
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SpeedwayMotors
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speedwaymotors
X (Twitter): https://x.com/SpeedwayMotors