1985 Chevy C10 Buildup - Project Red Rocker - Part 1

The fenders are unbolted and removed for bodywork to be covered in a future installment.

Project Red Rocker sat in the shop, stripped of its bed, doors, front clip, interior, and glass. Soon, it will not even look like the same truck.

During a short break, Jimmy Davis (yellow shirt) from Stan's Car Stereo in Lubbock stopped by to get a look at the inside of the cab. He is the talented audio craftsman who will be constructing the custom and classic Corvette-inspired dash, custom console, and rear cab structure, which will hug the seats like an old Corvette. That's Jason Hill behind the wheel, while Ron Knowles looks on.

With the truck taken apart, Randall Tharp proceeded to grind the paint around the holes where the original bolt-on driprails once sat and the holes where the C10 trim wrapped around the back of the cab. These holes will be welded up and forgotten.

Randall (right) welded up the driprail holes on the driver side, while Ron smoothed down the welds on the opposite side.

Randall gave his welds some attention with the grinder before the metal was smoothed to perfection with finished bodywork.

Nathan sanded the roof a bit, while Ron inspected things underneath.

With the front clip completely off, Ron and Nathan extracted the engine and transmission to allow for better access to the frame and front suspension. We planned to use this powerplant and transmission and clean it up with a collection of billet detail items and fresh paint. Doing this, will also help keep the project's budget in check.

After a few days, the truck was a shell, and with most of the suspension yanked out and the front Bonspeed billets and Nitto rubber mounted up, we were able to size up approximately how low this classic would go. The custom dash, console, and rear cab framework was starting to shape up and will be highlighted in a future article. Stay tuned to the sizzling creation of Project Red Rocker!