The Bigelow Family’s Patina ’68 C10

By the CTP Team & Mike Bigelow   &#8211   Photography by Grinder Television

Each and every operator/builder will get a tech sheet to fill out immediately after their truck’s been photographed for a feature—it’s SOP (typical working method) in the magazine entire world. Some opt for to fill it out with a “yes/no” for, nicely, very considerably every thing, leaving us to do the investigate information-smart, although some others acquire the time to go earlier mentioned and over and above answering the simple “why/how” questions. A good example is Mike Bigelow with his slick C10 “Sweet ’Tina.” Since he said the details oh-so make any difference-of-factly, we figured why not let him inform his personal tale. Just take it away, Mike!

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CTP: Why was the truck at first built?

I always favored the ’67-68 C10 entire body lines and I knew if I at any time created a 2nd-gen Chevy truck it would be a shortbed Fleetside ’67-68. So, following I sold my ’55 Apache at Mecum in Kissimmee, Florida, back again 2017, I went in look for of a ’68 job.

CTP: Who participated in the develop method?

I did virtually anything. On the other hand, Metalwork was all done by Josh Hart of Hart-Fab in Liberty, Pennsylvania, which included the front interior fenders, smoothed firewall, trans tunnel, shortening the longbed to shortbed, and rear tube and tunnel. The truck was sent to Road Machinery in Canton, Ohio, by Hart to have the Patina match paint carried out on the exterior the place the modifications were being built and Jerome/Boris nailed it. The inside was carried out domestically at PP Tailor made Upholstery. The shade options have been all by my wife Paully just pulled it all together with a tiny flare, as constantly.

CTP: What can you notify us about the heritage of the truck?

Record that I know of is the truck was traded in 1974 at Lambrecht Chevrolet (Google it) in Pierce, Nebraska, and was later aspect of the &#8220Discipline of Dreams Auction&#8221 in 2013. Immediately after trade-in it was parked in the wooded good deal as all the trades had been at Lambrecht Chevrolet for 40 decades and auctioned off by VanDerBrink Auctions in 2013. The truck was acquired at the auction by a man from Michigan who towed it back home and parked it in his garage. There is actually a time-lapse movie online of him loading the truck onto a trailer to him backing it in his garage. (Really cool!) He later on outlined it on Craigslist in late 2018, which is when I purchased it. The seriously interesting point was he didn&#8217t even wash it or nearly anything the total time he experienced it, so when I bought it it was just like it was at the auction in 2013. It nonetheless experienced Large amount No. 53L on the windshield, about 40 cigarette butts in the ashtray, and a 1974 newspaper less than the entrance seat total of Nixon-Watergate article content! It was a time capsule for certain. The bed of the truck was comprehensive of barbwire, metal fence submit, and hog wire. I uncovered a several receipts from components stores dated 1973-74 for concrete and fencing products. I&#8217m guessing the truck at first belonged to a farmer or a fencing enterprise due to the fact if you seriously glimpse at the bed you can inform the truck was used for get the job done.

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CTP: Give us some perception on the make method alone.

I didn&#8217t intend to do a patina truck, but this 1 had these brilliant OE paint I just had to keep it that way. I needed a certain appear, which was as initial-hunting as feasible on the exterior but with all the modern day technologies in and underneath it. I commenced with a Roadster Shop SPEC chassis. I required an LS3 motor and the fuel injection that arrived with it, but I needed to make it search as outdated faculty as achievable. So, I painted the motor Chevy Orange, included valve include adaptors with the Chevy script valve covers, relocated my coil packs guiding the heads, then additional classic-looking exhaust manifolds and an old-college air breather. The thought was to clean up it up underneath the hood and the interior but maintain almost everything else initial hunting.

The difficult aspect was what to do with the bed as I required to continue to keep it old and defeat up, but we had to create even bigger rear tubs and a hump to accommodate the suspension increasing and decreasing. Hart and I ended up talking about it and I instructed him I needed to retain the rust and dents in the bed but don&#8217t know how we pull that off with all the new metalwork we experienced to do. He told me he had a man who could match that patina if I wished to try out it. I explained it&#8217s well worth a try—if it doesn&#8217t operate we have been going to have to paint the within of the mattress in any case. Soon after he concluded all the metalwork, he sent the truck to Avenue Equipment/Patina Plantation for patina match. When I went and picked it up I could not feel the patina match—it’s thoughts blowing. If I didn&#8217t explain to you it was at the time a longbed you would never ever know it Jerome with Road Equipment killed it. It is a piece of artwork, in my belief.

I also preferred a manual transmission for the reason that to me almost nothing screams “hot rod” additional than a stick change. But once again, I wished as present day as I could get, so I went with a TREMEC 6-pace.

All the dash instruments I preferred as unique-seeking as feasible, so I went with a Dakota Digital RTX instrument cluster with authentic ’68 script and colors but with all present day electronic functions. For the radio I went with RetroSound—again, seems initial but has all modern-day features, Bluetooth, hands-absolutely free, and so on. All the chrome trim was initial ’68 trim from another truck. I had it fixed and repolished and I experienced to repaint the black stripe myself. I trapped my AccuAir e-Level press-button controls in the ashtray so that if I want to cover them for the original search I just have to slide in my ashtray. The seats are a Slosh Tubz Bench Buddy seat frame that match the original solution available in 1968 (the truck in fact came with a bench seat) to maintain with the primary theme. The ’68 seats were readily available in white vinyl with a material insert, so with that in thoughts my spouse proposed white leather seats and door panels with fabric inserts. The fabric is not circa-1968 but it matches the interior/exterior colours best (I believe it’s from a late-’50s or early-’60s Bel Air).

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All the wiring/air traces I ran by the frame to continue to keep them concealed I place all the electronics, air/valve controls, and fuses at the rear of the seats and designed a valance to disguise anything and address it with custom made, environmentally friendly-dyed leather that beautifully matches the 503 environmentally friendly inside paint shade. You received&#8217t see any of the contemporary engineering except you actually look for for it. Also, Alpine amps and (two) 10-inch subwoofers had been all concealed under and driving seats.

Just one of the objects I’m most proud of is really the first factor I did when I received the truck. I cut down the unique 17-inch steering wheel to 15 inches. There was no just one producing an authentic-on the lookout ’68 Cl0 steering wheel in that diameter at the time, so in keeping with the truck’s unique-hunting concept, I established out to make my very own 15-inch steering wheel. I created a spherical jig and begun reducing the initial steering wheel down and resizing it. I had under no circumstances done it before, so just after I would say at the very least 100 manhours, mainly sanding, I have an unique-hunting 15-inch ’68 C1O steering wheel. Now when I exhibit the truck, only about 1 out of just about every 500 folks who see it check with me, “Where did you get that steering wheel?!”

By the way, as for the identify, my wife named the truck “Sweet ’Tina,” which I completely adore!

Click on on this issue’s deal with to see the increased digital model of The Bigelow Family’s Patina ’68 C10.

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