Fresh Start – Assembling a Golden Star Classic Auto Parts 1970 Chevy C10 Pickup Cab on a Replacement Frame
While many enthusiasts reminisce about a “golden era” of hot rodding in the past – oftentimes referring to a time roughly between the 1950s and 1970s – there’s a strong argument to be made that the modern era has as much glimmer as any before. Think about it. Today, you can get unheard-of levels of horsepower in street-friendly engines delivered to your door. There are talented craftsmen and specialty shops sprinkled all around the country. And there are all kinds of great aftermarket parts available to build the car or truck of your dreams – including brand-new bodies and frames.
The hot rod reproduction body business goes back more than six decades now, beginning with fiberglass T-bucket kits, which led into ’32 Fords in just about any body configuration. Later, we saw early Ford reproduction bodies become available in steel, followed by a steady stream of other popular cars stamped from fresh sheet metal – Tri-five Chevys, Camaros, Mustangs, Novas, and more.
Truck enthusiasts have benefitted from the preponderance of reproduction sheet metal in recent years, too. In addition to bed assemblies, fenders, rust repair panels, and other individual components, there have been new steel cab bodies offered, plus reproduction-style and custom frames. A good case in point is the 1969-72-style Chevy C10 pickup cab assembly from Golden Star Classic Auto Parts that we’ll be taking a closer look at over the following pages.
When Daniel Maffett and his team at Maffett Motorwerks decided to embark on a custom ’70 Chevy pickup build, they weighed the options and costs of rehabbing an old original cab or starting with fresh steel from Golden Star. It didn’t take long for them to decide on the path of fresh metal, which would save them time and effort by avoiding rust repair and other fixes to decades-old steel. The cab already has a partially smooth firewall and is available with the choice of an A/C or non-A/C dash, as well as other options.
Beyond the cab, Golden Star offers virtually every other sheet metal body panel for these trucks, from fenders and hoods to doors, bed floors, bed sides, tailgates, and other pieces. So, you can choose to re-use any good parts you may already have from a donor truck or your parts stash, or you can virtually assemble a brand-new “old” truck comprised entirely of fresh parts.
To get their project underway even more quickly, Daniel and his team opted to get a reproduction C10 frame from Golden Star, as well. This two-wheel-drive, short-bed frame is identical to an original and, like the body, allows you to start building right away without needing to worry about fixing previous damage, rust, or other problems. Whether the goal is to build it with stock-style suspension components or update it with performance parts, this clean, new frame gets you ahead of the curve on crafting a fresh rolling chassis for your truck.
There’s no doubt that assembling a new, rust-free body in a matter of days can be a huge motivation builder for any new project, as it will undoubtedly be for this one.Take a look at the assembly process on this truck cab and frame below and we think you’ll agree that we might be living in a new “golden age” of hot rodding and custom car and truck builds. Check out Golden Star for all the details.
A set of casters were welded to the frame’s shipping crate to make it easy to move around the shop. It takes a few minutes, but it makes rolling the frame around the shop effortless until the suspension is installed.One of the nice surprises with the Golden Star cab is how manageable it is. Grab a friend or two and team-lift the cab onto the frame mounts. Start by setting it in place on the mounts first.
Once the cab is sitting where it belongs, lift one side at a time to make adjustments and slide the body bushings into position. After all the bushings are installed, drop the cab mount bolts through the cab from inside. Underneath the cab mount, install the lower bushing followed by the oversized washer and lock nut. Any master body hardware kit will include everything you need for this step. When tightening the cab down, don’t rush it. Snug each mount a little at a time, moving around the cab until everything seats evenly.
With the cab secured, you’re ready for the next phase. That might mean hanging doors, installing the front sheet metal, or assembling the bed. For this project, the shop used a reproduction bed floor, wheel tubs, and bed sides from Golden Star. Assembly was a relatively straightforward bolt-together process.
In less than a weekend, Daniel and his team had the collection of Golden Star parts assembled into the beginning of a truck! This included new front fenders and Golden Stars’s 1967-68-style cowl-induction hood with louvers. With a quick start like this, motivation is strong to start assembling the chassis, installing an engine, and diving into the rest of the work to make this a trick custom truck.
Photos: Maffett Motorwerks
