Getting Started With a 1978 Chevy Pickup
The 1978 Chevrolet Pickup is one of those trucks that falls right in the weird middle of the K5 generation. It's not as clean as the late sixties design, but it's also not the fully reshaped 1980s model yet. That means you get some of the best structural features and some of the worst rust zones in one body. If you are looking to buy one, you need to know where to look and what to skip entirely. Restoring a truck from this era is mostly a rust management project, not an engine bay show piece. The frames on these are thick and generally survive, but the inner rockers and the floor pans forward of the rear wheels are known failure points. I bought a '78 in 2019 that looked solid on the surface. The seller had undercoated everything, which is always a red flag. Once I cut away the undercoating on the driver side rocker, I found the metal was completely powdery underneath. It took a full day of cutting and welding just that one section before I could even think about the rest of the truck. When you are buying, focus on the frame rails. Look at the inside of the rails, not just the outside. Surface rust on the outside is normal and cheap to fix. Rust that has caused the rail walls to delaminate from the inside is a deal breaker unless you want to spend four thousand dollars on a replacement frame. Also check the firewall for bubbling paint. Those trucks had a habit of letting water sit in the cowl drains, and by 1978 General Motors was already cutting corners on some of the seam sealing compared to the earlier years.
The 350 small block that came in most of these is straightforward. The real issue is the casting date versus the vehicle production date. In 1978, Chevrolet was transitioning from square bolt to round bolt valve cover blocks, and some parts cross over while others do not. If you are pulling an engine, mark which year your truck actually is before you start ordering replacement gaskets. I once ordered a complete front seal kit for a '78 and it did not fit because the block was actually a late '77 casting that had been sitting in a bin at the assembly plant. Three hundred dollars in wrong parts. Buy vs restore decision: A survivor truck with original matching numbers in decent condition will appreciate faster than a restored one in most cases. Numbers-matching '78 C10s with the 350 and automatic transmission are still reasonably available. Expect to pay between eight and fifteen thousand dollars for a solid runner, depending on whether the paint is original or new. Trucks with the 454 or the diesel option command higher prices but are much harder to find parts for. The diesel in particular is a liability unless you already know what you are doing with the injection pump. The suspension on these uses leaf springs in the rear and coil springs up front. The front upper control arm bushings fail consistently around seventy thousand miles, and the replacement parts from the cheap catalogs are softer rubber that will fail again in two years. Spend the extra money on the polyurethane or the factory style bonded rubber from a reputable supplier. For the rear, the axle location is handled by the leaf springs themselves, so if your truck wanders left and right at highway speed, the leaves are probably worn or the shackles are sloppy. New shackles and bolts are a twenty dollar job that makes a huge difference.
I keep a folder of scan tools and forums specifically for these trucks. The problem is that every general reference book treats the 1978 model the same as 1977 and 1979, but there were real differences. The emission control setups changed between model years, the wiring harness got revised, and the brake master cylinder mounting bracket moved slightly between the two-stick and three-stick dash configurations. If you are doing a full restoration, buy the wiring diagram specific to your month of manufacture. The window sticker or the VIN decoder will tell you the build date, and using the wrong diagram will waste hours tracing wires that don't match anyway. Interior parts are surprisingly easy to find for the door panels and trim. The seats are where things get expensive. The vinyl on the bench seat cracks almost universally, and reproduction covers exist but the foam underneath is another story. I reupholstered my bench using a local shop and had them install new high density foam. That ran about four hundred dollars and it held up for over a decade. If you want the bucket seat option, good luck. The reproductions are hit or miss and the bolsters are never quite right. One thing nobody warns you about is the fuel sender unit in the tank. The '78 tanks have a tendency to collect debris at the bottom, and the pickup screen on the sender clogs over time. Your fuel gauge will read empty or fluctuate erratically when you hit the brakes. I learned this the hard way after installing a brand new tank and still having a dead gauge. Took the tank down, cleaned the debris, replaced the sender, and the whole system worked fine for years after. Budget two hundred dollars for a rebuilt sender unit and do not skip cleaning the tank before you reinstall it.
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The cost of owning a '78 Chevy pickup is moderate compared to earlier years. Parts availability is excellent for mechanical components because the same engines and transmissions carried over into the eighties. Body panels are the weak spot. Fenders, doors, and hoods are available from repro suppliers, but the quality varies wildly between vendors. I have had good luck with some specialty repro companies for the outer rockers and lower quarter panels, but the cheap ones will warp after a week in the sun. Spend an extra fifty percent on quality steel and save yourself the frustration of trying to make a floppy panel fit. There is no real shortcut to finding a good one. Drive a few, inspect the frame thoroughly, and be willing to walk away from any truck with active rust in the floor pans. A truck with frame rust can be fixed, but a truck with rotten floors is either going to cost you ten thousand dollars to do right or it is going to sit in your driveway forever. The market for these is stable but not hot. You will not get rich restoring one, but you will have a truck that drives well and is cheap to maintain for the next person who wants one.
