ot rod builder Mike Swaney didn’t think twice about gifting his 14-year-old son Brad with the rusty 1971 Chevy C10 he had lying around, as well as the cruddy pile of parts that went with it. It had sat dormant for way too many years and he just figured his mechanically competent teenager could throw it all back together for some basic transportation. Even good ol’ Pop would have a hard time believing what the very needy pickup would metamorphosize into under the direction of his talented son.
So, along with starting high school, Brad got a four-wheeled project of his own. No doubt about it the truck was in shambles; partially torn apart with most of the parts and sheetmetal in the process of getting reclaimed by Mother Earth. Brad knew right away he had to start fresh to get this thing roadworthy. “The first summer I had the C10 I sandblasted the frame bare and then primered it with epoxy paint. After that I sanded it again and painted it with a deep metallic brown topcoat,” Brad says. It was a good start to getting the truck roadworthy and safe out on the street.
However, it didn’t take Brad long to realize what was happening here. “It was about at this point I realized this particular pickup was going to be way too nice to be an everyday driver. I figured I would need another daily ride, so I bought my Grandpap’s 1989 Chevy 1500. I then proceeded to do a quick frame-off resto on the truck to clean it up and make it dependable. It took me away from the C10 for a while, but once I had reliable transportation, I could put all my effort back in the 1971,” Brad states.
Once back on the Chevy, the youngster put all his free time and effort into the build. Now that the frame was done, Brad started on improving the suspension and ride on the C10. A set of drop spindles and springs, courtesy of Classic Performance Products (CPP), were added to get the truck to help make it sit the way the owner wanted. A quick-ratio steering box helped keep this ride pointed in the right direction and a quartet of CPP 13-inch discs help stop this bedded hot rod on a dime.
Underhood, the front wheelwells and firewall were smoothed out for a custom touch. To make the truck look more symmetrical, the passenger firewall was filled in to match the shape of the driver side. Filler panels were made between grille and core support, and the front edge of the hood was cut off and smoothed to perfection. But there’s more. “The doorjambs were also welded solid so there’s no seams of any kind. Any seam, bump, or hole was filled to give a cleaner look. My dad and I did all the bodywork on the truck,” Brad says.
Next, Brad moved onto the drivetrain that would power this pickup. To him it was go big or go home so a stout 454ci powerplant was obtained through a barter deal. Once they secured the built motor, good friends Alan and AJ Stewart tore it down to make sure it was up to snuff. Once apart, AJ ported and polished the GM heads and matched them to the Edelbrock intake. A Holley 750 feeds this big-block the go-juice it craves and a set of polished Hedman headers get rid of the spent gases. For a little bling, a Billet Specialties Tru Trac front drive handles the duties up front and an Accel HEI distributor and MSD ignition handle the spark. A 700-R4 was selected then built up by Paul Fertal to run this pickup through the gears. Out back, a GM 12-bolt rear gets the power out to the back meats.
Finishing touches include the beautiful wood bed layout. “I wanted something different in the bed floor than just typical oak or something and I really liked black walnut. I was going to buy the complete kit, but it was expensive, and it had their company name burned in the underside, which I did not like. So Dad and I went to the saw mill and bought rough-cut black walnut boards and bought a plainer and decided to make it ourselves,” Brad says. To finish it off, he did two coats of clear on the boards and then sanded it to fill in the grain. This was repeated until the boards were smooth. There are between six to eight coats of clear on each of the boards. “I get asked all the time if it’s actually real wood,” Brad laughs.
Once the truck was finished Brad couldn’t wait to show off his new ride. “I decided late in the game that I wanted to take it to the 2018 World of Wheels event in Pittsburgh. I worked day and night to get it there and basically finished the truck at the event, putting the bumper on at the show,” Brad says. There the C10 won Best Truck in Show, though it did not make the “Steel City Six,” which was the goal from the start. “When I got the score sheet back from the judges, I saw that there were very minor things they didn’t like about the truck. One was that my frame had orange peel in it. So then and there I decided I was going to build another frame for it,” Brad exclaims.
As for the truck, Brad just could not be happier about his experiences building his dream ride. “Building this truck was a big learning experience. I learned a lot on what I now could do differently on customers’ cars. Without a doubt the C10 opened up a door for what I now make a living at,” he says. Special thanks go out to Brad’s mom for her support the entire way through the C10 build.