C10 Builder's Guide Fall 2017

THROUGHOUT MY TIME IN THE scene, I’ve seen trucks in every state of repair (and disrepair) and at every build stage. Some were rotted away; others had been show-winners that were now stored away and layered with dust. It’s amazing how many trucks I’ve seen and how so many builders struggled to get them finished. Some builders had problems completing their projects, while others formulated a plan, built the truck, had it featured, and then sold it right away to fund their next project. I have the most difficult time with the trucks that will never come to be. I’ve been to many shops where what started as a kick-ass project had been sidelined indefinitely. These are the toughest to swallow. They get some love early on, but as they…

Power Player CTEK HAS EXPANDED THE FUNCTIONS OF ITS Battery Sense smartphone app to meet the requirements of all users. The app functions as a Bluetooth-enabled battery monitor and is designed to help prevent unnecessary breakdowns and maximize battery performance. Offering instant voltage and temperature readouts, capable of graphing battery statistics, and now offering manual input of battery capacity for more accurate monitoring, the app can detect whether or not your battery is providing standby power and compensate accordingly. It can also offer notifications if your battery state falls beneath a critical level and accommodate multiple vehicles to keep all of your diagnostics in one easy-to-use tool. CTEK • 330.963.0981 Ctek.com Smooth Operator THESE HOOD HINGES from All American Billet promise function and fashion for your 1967-72 Chevy truck. Machined…

RYAN WEHRLI HAS ALWAYS been a truck guy who loves older iron, especially the 1967-72 C-10s. After a few years of driving his Cummins-powered ’06 Dodge, he grew bored with it, so he embarked on a new project to make an old truck new again. As the fabrication shop manager for Wehrli Custom Fab (WCFab) in Sycamore, Illinois, he had the expertise and access to the tools and space needed to create his dream truck. He hoped to find a C-10 truck, and then put a Duramax drivetrain and chassis underneath it to make it the ultimate driver. When a WCFab customer wanted to sell his ’06 2WD regular cab long-bed truck, Wehrli knew he’d discovered the foundation for his project and scooped it up. It was a nice truck,…

AFTER BEING A SPECTATOR AT Lone Star Throwdown (LST) last year, I decided I needed to come back the following year with my own ride. I was motivated by the many others who drove their trucks to shows: Hot Rod Power Tour, SBS Run to Brothers, Dino’s Get Down and more. Once I made my decision, “Eastbound & Down to the Throwdown” was a go. First, I needed to make sure my ’73 crew cab, Yellowstone, would be ready to make the 2,500- mile round trip from Phoenix to Conroe, Texas. Some said I was crazy to do it, especially with a huge camper on the back. But, I remember Dino saying that people made these trips in these trucks all the time in the ’70s, so why couldn’t I…

ONE OF THE MOST DAUNTING things about building a truck is the sheer number of parts that can accumulate during the project. Tearing things apart can seem easy enough, but then all of a sudden you don’t have a truck so much as you do a garage full of confusion, and possibly regret. Don’t fear! We’ve brought help in the form of Eric Miller. Eric is the main dude behind Squarebody Specialists, but he’s had his hand in all types of C-10s, and newer trucks, for that matter. Squarebody Specialists has been building trucks for many years and has it down to a science, so we knew Eric would be the perfect person to talk to about what we, the average C-10 garage builder, can do to make our lives…

“After many hours of bodywork to smooth the exterior, custom white was mixed up and laid across the C-10’s skin.” GROWING UP, MIKE BALDWIN always liked cars. When he was a kid there were plenty of makes and models that could turn his head. However, not many stayed with him like a certain truck a coworker owned back in his high school days, a ’67 Chevy C-10. Something about the simplicity of that truck always resonated with Mike. As the years went by, Mike built and owned many different vehicles worth discussing, yet that C-10 was always lurking at the back of his mind. Fast-forward 20 years to October 2015, when Mike got the chance to buy a ’67 C-10 of his very own and grabbed it. Having multiple builds…