Homebuilt C10: One Man's Hands-On Take On A Classic Truck

Richard McAfee, the owner of this gorgeous Chevy truck, is a longtime hot rodder and former circle track racer. His homebuilt C10 is not some pie-in-the-sky, high-end piece with $100,000 worth of expensive parts or billet do-dads.

The Autosport 3030 wheels and Nassau Blue-like paint make this C10 a simple-but-gorgeous example of a hot street truck. (Photo by Jim Campisano)

No, this homebuilt C10 is just a prime example of a classic Chevy truck that shows what a great piece can come out of just about anyone’s garage.

I’ve had a bunch of these before and I just wanted to build something,” Richard told us. “I did circle track racing for 25 years. I got out of that and had to have something to do. I got bored.

The 1970 fleetside was pulled out of a field, so you can only imagine how much work it needed. As the owner admits, “It was rough.”

That did not deter Richard, who performed the vast majority of the labor himself — all the body work, the interior, the wiring, and the engine. The only things he can’t take credit for are the paint and the transmission.

Motivating Force

The engine is a Gen-1 350 small-block with flat top pistons and aluminum heads. The intake is an Edelbrock Air Gap utilizing a 750 cfm Holley Brawler carburetor. AT Racing World heads complete the top end. Compression is 10.5:1. Exhaust duties are handled by Summit Racing mid-length headers flowing into a Summit 2.5-inch builder kit with Flowmaster mufflers.

No LS swap here —just a traditional 10.5:1 small-block Chevy with aluminum heads, Edelbrock intake and Brawler carb. (Photos by Jim Campisano)

The transmission is a 700R-4 and the rear is a 3.73 Posi the owner assembled in the stock housing.

One the bodywork was complete, Richard set out to have the car sprayed in a factory color, Nassau Blue, but he could not get it in the brand he wanted, so he and the painter went with a Dupont hue that turned out a little different than he originally planned — but one everyone seems to like. We know we dig it.

The owner did the bodywork himself, including smoothing out the tailgate and moving the latch to the inside. He also did the welded rollpan and deleted the stock taillights. The slender custom tails come from Watson Street Works. (Photos by Jim Campisano)

(Photos by Jim Campisano)

Wheeling and Dealing

A set of 3030 Autosport wheels are the only exterior brightwork. The rears come in at 15×12-inches and are wrapped with fat Mickey Thompson Sportman Pro tires measuring 29x15x15. They fit inside the fenders thanks to the minitubs that Richard himself installed — he also fabbed the custom bed floor). The fronts are Cooper Cobra radials (255/60-15s). We applaud his wheel choice and especially like the oval-shaped exhaust outlets in front of the rear meats.

The truck has been dropped three-inches in the rear with lowering springs and two-inch drop blocks. The front was lowered with Classic Performance Products (CPP) 2-inch drop spindles and 2.5-inch lowering springs.

The interior today is anything but stark — and these trucks were especially spartan from the factory (take a look at the stock plastic door panels set in steel doors, not to mention the lack of a headliner). The current seats came out of a 2012 Chevy Silverado. Classic Auto Sound got the nod for the stereo (including the speakers, amp and subwoofer), and in keeping with the homebuilt C10 theme, Richard fabricated the console and speaker boxes. He also laid down the blue carpeting and installed the Dakota Digital gauges.

Interior is far cushier than stock, but does not approach the leather-covered living room status many go for these days. And we say bravo to that. (Photos by Jim Campisano)

The only addition he’s considering is air conditioning, something of a necessity when you live in Florida.