1980 Chevy K10 – Mike R.

From Impound to Impressive

I was working one morning when a buddy of mine texted me a picture of an old step side K10 that was sitting in an impound auction and that looked to be in good shape. After a few texts, he had convinced me that it was mostly rust-free and better than most. I arrived just after the auction had ended and found myself the new owner of a rusty K10 that someone had mechanically restored. With a jump and a little starting fluid, it fired right up and I drove home.

Once home, we found out what we really had. Under the hood, we found a freshly rebuilt 350 and sm 465. Inside, we had the very rare factory bucket seats and tachometer.

After a few weeks of driving it around, my buddy convinced me to put in the garage and restore it. Being factory black, I knew this was not going to be easy but out came the tools and the welder, and I began pulling it all apart. About a week in, the to-do list was made, the hunt for parts began, and while talking to a person I worked with, I was  handed my first LMC catalog. Between LMC and the local scrap yard, within five months, the rust had been repaired, the body taken down to bare metal frame was cleaned and painted, and it was ready for paint so off it went.

When it came back with its shiny new black paint job, I found myself rejuvenated on the project so reassembly began as did more part orders from LMC. Every part order took me back to Christmas morning as a kid opening boxes. Pulling out packing to find the next piece of this massive 3D puzzle: door panels, dashboard, new hardware, and the best part of it all, the oak bed floor. The oak bed on this truck really tied the whole project together as it came raw. I had picked a perfect stain of my liking and took my time over a week of staining, finally clearing before installing.

After just one year,  it rolled back out the garage 98% done. Sitting in my driveway, it caught the attention of my neighbors and the second biggest critic, my wife, (me being the biggest critic of my work), and that was it from impound to impressive.[lmc_story_gallery]