harryk387
Junior Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2019
- Posts
- 11
- Reaction score
- 12
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- First Name
- Harry
- Truck Year
- 1978
- Truck Model
- C10 Bonanza
- Engine Size
- 350
Hi everyone,
Finally getting started on a restomod of my 1978 short bed C10 Bonanza. My dad bought the truck about 25 years ago and was the 2nd owner. It's been used as a "work" truck all that time and I've always had my eyes on it and wanted to restomod it. For the past 4-5 years its been sitting in my dad's backyard, unused, undriven, so I asked my dad if I could buy it from him, to which he said I could just have it!
So now, I have myself a nice little project truck to customize and have fun with. Here are my plans so far:
1. New wheels and tires (most likely 15x8 all around on 275/60/15 tires- although now I'm hearing that this may not work with my next mod on the list due to issues with rubbing on the lower control arm)- most likely going with black 'D' Window type wheels like the AR 767s on BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires
2. Lower- still deciding on 2.5/4 or 3/5 drop. Leaning more towards 3/5, but no lower than that since I still want to be able to use the truck as a truck and haul large loads every once in a while and also didn't want to have to c-notch the frame. Will likely go with Western Chassis, Belltech or DJM and install some performance shocks to go along with the lower ride height
3. All new rubber bushings throughout. Under the car I can see a lot of the stock bushings are dried up and cracked
4. Upgrade the brakes- fronts are currently discs and rears are still drums. For now, budget only allows for keeping the discs up front, but eventually I would love to go discs at all 4 corners
5. Body work- hood has the infamous bend that the trucks of this generation are plagued with, so probably first thing I'm going to do is find a good condition used hood to replace mine with and get some new hinges for it. Then replace both front fenders since they've seen better days and not work salvaging. And then fill all the holes left behind when I removed the lower trim pieces around the truck.
6. Paint- still deciding on color but have a few ideas. I really like the flat blue that this C10 in Japan was painted (if you're not familiar, check out the Hiro's Big 8 C10- http://gripshiftslide.com/2015/05/27/hiros-big-8-chevrolet-pickup/)
7. Drivetrain- long term plan is to do an LS swap (most likely 5.3 from an early 2000s Tahoe?) and coordinating transmission
Would love to get into the local C10 scene too, so if you're in the LA area, let me know of any groups or meets.
Finally getting started on a restomod of my 1978 short bed C10 Bonanza. My dad bought the truck about 25 years ago and was the 2nd owner. It's been used as a "work" truck all that time and I've always had my eyes on it and wanted to restomod it. For the past 4-5 years its been sitting in my dad's backyard, unused, undriven, so I asked my dad if I could buy it from him, to which he said I could just have it!
So now, I have myself a nice little project truck to customize and have fun with. Here are my plans so far:
1. New wheels and tires (most likely 15x8 all around on 275/60/15 tires- although now I'm hearing that this may not work with my next mod on the list due to issues with rubbing on the lower control arm)- most likely going with black 'D' Window type wheels like the AR 767s on BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires
2. Lower- still deciding on 2.5/4 or 3/5 drop. Leaning more towards 3/5, but no lower than that since I still want to be able to use the truck as a truck and haul large loads every once in a while and also didn't want to have to c-notch the frame. Will likely go with Western Chassis, Belltech or DJM and install some performance shocks to go along with the lower ride height
3. All new rubber bushings throughout. Under the car I can see a lot of the stock bushings are dried up and cracked
4. Upgrade the brakes- fronts are currently discs and rears are still drums. For now, budget only allows for keeping the discs up front, but eventually I would love to go discs at all 4 corners
5. Body work- hood has the infamous bend that the trucks of this generation are plagued with, so probably first thing I'm going to do is find a good condition used hood to replace mine with and get some new hinges for it. Then replace both front fenders since they've seen better days and not work salvaging. And then fill all the holes left behind when I removed the lower trim pieces around the truck.
6. Paint- still deciding on color but have a few ideas. I really like the flat blue that this C10 in Japan was painted (if you're not familiar, check out the Hiro's Big 8 C10- http://gripshiftslide.com/2015/05/27/hiros-big-8-chevrolet-pickup/)
7. Drivetrain- long term plan is to do an LS swap (most likely 5.3 from an early 2000s Tahoe?) and coordinating transmission
Would love to get into the local C10 scene too, so if you're in the LA area, let me know of any groups or meets.
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