1971 Chevrolet Super Cheyenne C10 Pickup Truck

This was a complete Body & Frame restoration. Many hours were consumed working the metal to get every part of the body arrow straight, then the truck was assembled and body parts fit to perfection to get all the lines & gaps just right. Factory fitting could not compare to this truck.

Paint was next on the list as everything was taken apart again and prepped for paint. This truck was so straight that it was decided that Wet Black would be the color with a glossy clear coat shell of many coats of clear.

Note: paint prep was not just done on the parts that show. Every part of the truck was painted on both sides which takes considerably more work but makes the job a real restoration.

If you look closely you will discover that “All” the stainless on the sides, around the windows, the chrome grille frame & chrome grille, headlight & taillight rings, side mirrors, Door window wing brackets, wiper blades, are all new.

There are even special LED lights at all side marker lights, tail lights & turn signal lights. It’s likely you will not find them on another truck.

All the window glass & rubber around windows & doors are all new, with the stainless fitted perfectly.

The truck has the large back window as part of the “Cheyenne Super Duty packet” plus the rear window has had tint applied to keep the Cab cool.

All brand new door handles both inside & out plus window hardware and electric windows & door locks.

Chrome bumpers, front & back plus brackets are all brand new.

The hood is a tasteful cowl induction hood with “Fuel Injection” script on both sides. Hood hinges are new, plus they were then powder-coated wet black to move from just hinges to stunning hinges.

New rear cargo light was installed, plus a control switch inside the Cab next to the interior light so you can operate when needed. (Cheyenne Super Duty feature.)

The inside of the truck bed is arrow straight and then a custom wood bed was created with polished strips that make the bed a work of art.

There are several more custom items that show the attention to detail given to this truck including custom power antenna on driver’s side of cab, and “CHEVROLET” in chrome lettering across back of tailgate.

Frame, Suspension, & Drivetrain:

The frame was taken apart, cleaned, rebuilt, and powder-coated gloss black along with the 2 piece driveshaft.

Upper & lower A-arms are all brand new with 2” dropped spindles dropping the front end 5.5”. All the remaining front suspension arms are new along with all body mounts and suspension mounting rubber.

Rear-end is a new 9” Ford rear-end with posi-traction and 373 gears. Rear end was then painted charcoal metallic. Also the transmission cross member, inter front fenders & several frame parts were painted charcoal metallic.

The rear suspension is made up of leaf springs & a custom traction bar setup built with a thick sway bar in the front & rear. The truck sets 5” lower in the back.

At the center of the drivetrain is a hydraulic clutch that funnels torque through a modern 6-speed Tremec manual transmission that is equipped with a unique curved Hurst floor shifter.

Front & rear brakes are all new Wilwood 14” disc rotors & bearings with Wilwood 6 piston calipers for excellent stopping power. (Wilwood on calipers painted red.)

Brand new IDiDit polished steering tilt column with new U-joint & rag-joint to the new power steering box, plus new front steering arms & a-arm joints.

Four new KYB shocks painted black were installed for improved ride comforted and sway control.

The Forgeline Alloy Wheels the best you can buy, they are a 3 piece performance series with a stepped lip design. Centers are charcoal gray, center caps are black with red lettering, & lips are highly polished. Wheel sizes are 20 x 10” in the back & 19 x 9” in the front.

Tires are important to the stance of the truck so we choose matching front & back Nitto NT555 G2 Ultra high performance tires, 275/40ZR/19 on the front & 295/40/20 on the back.

Engine Compartment:

Engine is a Gen-3 LS6 crate engine (Painted red) that’s been punched out to 383 cubic inches by the famous & great John Lingenfelter. (His work is the best & very expensive.) From there chrome Weiand intake manifold feeds the matched, ported and polished heads.

GM’s familiar fuel rail covers display custom Cheyenne-themed graphics over glossy red paint. In front of those covers, a chrome/billet serpentine system spins a chrome alternator, A/C compressor above a chrome water pump.

There is a Street & Performance custom chrome air box unit with LS6 on the front of it. There are two fitted electric pusher fans to keep the engine cool bolted to the front of a custom built polished aluminum radiator.

There are two custom built black powder coated covers that are over the radiator & front of the radiator to give a clean & custom touch to the finish of the engine compartment. Also there are black cover radiator hoses, steel braided fuel lines, and super conductor plug wires for that detailed & finished appearance.

The braking system of this truck is very strong based on all the large Wilwood brakes at each wheel now supported by a chrome booster, Wilwood dual black master cylinder & Wilwood proportioning valve.

All this work in the engine compartment comes down to the sound of the truck… Well you will not be disappointed as a set of ceramic headers were installed & matched to the heads, then a custom built stainless exhaust system built with X-shape crossover & burly Bora mufflers all dropping sound out the custom ports in the bed side just before the back wheels.

The fuel tank was moved out of the cab and back under the bed. First a custom built fill tube was located in the side of the bed on driver’s side. (This is a real work of art, looks factory) next a highly polished aluminum gas tank was placed under the bed behind the rear-end.

Interior:

The entire inside of the truck was painted with the same care as the outside but it was even more challenging as the entire interior cab was painted Saddle leather color to match the Saddle leather bucket seats, dash, & door panels which created beauty greater than what came from the factory in these trucks.

The center console is also a piece of beauty that works perfect with the bucket seats and remaining interior, the console also houses the engine computer for those times when some tuning is required and you want easy access.

The Budnick polished half wrap 15” steering wheel sets on top of a brand new Ididit polished factory tilt column that gives this truck that modern high end look you want.

Clearly the Saddle leather bucket seats are the highlight of the cab, they are supported by door panels and a dash that has the same saddle leather.

The cab has the same saddle leather headliner trimmed in polished stainless trim. With a chrome rear-view mirror in the front window.

Cheyenne Super Duty trucks in 1971 came with some wood grain decals, that look was taken much further in this truck as real wood grain panels were created for the door panels & dash for that look in today’s new trucks.

Keeping with the original look a custom built wood grain gauge bezel was created and packaged with a complete set of Dakota Digital electric gauges that light up in blue.

When restoring a 46 year old truck it is important that all the 46 year old wiring is removed, a completely new wiring system was installed from master panel under dash to tail lights in rear to lights up front.

The floor & other areas inside the cab were lined with Dynamat insulation and then the floor was cover with high end carpet the matched the interior.

There are billet pedals on gas, clutch, brake, & e-brake along with that great Hurst floor shifter I mentioned earlier.

There 2 two more things that must be the cab of a truck such as this one to make it complete: First, air conditioning that really works. Check this box as the A/C is the best you can buy and it blows very cold. 2nd is a sound system with all the modern conveniences. The music comes from an Alpine unit that is MP-3 compatible so check that box also.

Summary:

There is a great deal of detail in this description because if you are interested in owning this truck you will need to compare every little detail in this description to other trucks you might consider owning.

This 1971 Super Cheyenne Deluxe truck is not only a stunning beauty it has been restored the right way in every detail to bring it to this final stage.