Rusty old truck update

[guitar man]

An update to the thread I posted a little while back about the resurrection of my 1965 Chevy pickup.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=9497595&mesg_id=9497595

Since then I've managed to get all the junk , brush, weeds cleared away and block it up securely and remove the wheels and front brake drums. I'm in the process of looking it over front to back and top to bottom , making a detailed list of what needs to be replaced, reconditioned or left alone. Also compiling a list of custom parts that I want to use in place of originals.

 



Today I pulled out the seat and stripped all the floor covering and to my amazement , the floorboards are in much better shape than I anticipated, I was expecting to see the ground and only found a couple of small holes that are easily repairable.



It's slow going but I'm making a little progress every week. I'm still thinking about color choices. I originally was leaning toward a deep metallic purple but today my daughter mentioned an old truck she saw that was red with yellow flames. Candy apple red with yellow flames...it doesn't get any more hot rod than that. :)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. progress!

one thought:

how about the yellow with candy apple red flames...

either way would be awesome.

[guitar man]

2. With chrome reverse wheels and baby moon hubcaps

Yellow with red flames would look pretty cool too :)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. I have seen that model painted yellow with the red flames and it looked

really cool. I guess the other way around would look good, too.

[guitar man]

5. I saw a yellow '63

With purple flames at a car show a while back. It was really well done but he painted the interior the same as the yellow on the body. If I web that way I'd probably paint the interior black. But if I go with the red base, I'll do the interior red to match.

[lunatica]

4. Good luck on choosing the color

There are so many really cool ones. Right now my favorite color is a lime green

[guitar man]

6. I like that green metallic

It looks fantastic on the older rounder trucks from luk '47-54. If I ever do one of those that's the color I'd pick for it. ;)

[guitar man]

7. But then again

There's something to be said for a simple high gloss black :P

[Tobin S.]

8. I love black cars and trucks

I currently own a black car. I think a nice shiny black with lots of chrome looks awesome. Please keep us posted with your progress and keep posting those pics. I know a little about working on cars, but I wish I knew more.

[guitar man]

9. Me too

I had a '63 Ford short stepside that I built into a street rod back in the 80s. I shot it with 3 coats of black lacquer and 3 coats of clear over it. When I finished rubbing it out you could stand a ruler on the hood and see the whole thing perfectly in the reflection. I wish I hadn't sold it now. :(

[PJPhreak]

10. Hummm...

Black is Ok...But how about Black (With a Bit o Purple Flake) with Silver Flames.This is a close Idea...




And remember...LMC Truck Is Your Best Friend



Cuz They Got Stuff like this...

[guitar man]

12. Thanks

Thanks for the link, that's just what I needed, and I dig the colors on that truck too.

[PJPhreak]

13. No Problem,

Mine was a 66 GMC 3/4 ton Fleetside,383 Stroker,Granny Gear 4-speed,12 Bolt Posi with 2.91's (This Highway gearing made it I could actually use 1st Gear and made 4th almost an Overdrive) Two Tone Petty Blue under white.

Heavy as Hell and ran like a Scalded Rabbit!

Edit to add: A REALLY nice up grade is the 12 inch Brakes (Late Sixties/Early Seventies) From the 1 ton-1 1/2 Ton GMC's Usually found on Large hub Axels,These ole "Heavyweights" take a LOT of stopping power!

[guitar man]

18. I think I'm going to go with power brakes

Discs on the front and power steering, make it drive real nice. :D

[PJPhreak]

33. The 12 inch Drums are for the Rear,

My apoliges it was late (Early) lol,I should have said.

[guitar man]

37. Ahh

Yeah a big set of drums on the rear wod be really nice. I'm kicking around the idea of slipping a Ford 9" rear under it so I'll find the fattest drums for it I can.

[PJPhreak]

39. I used a 12 Bolt Chevy because there was no modification needed,

If you get one out of a 1 Ton Chevy/Gmc it will fit without having to change much at all (Most are stright bolt in) I swiped mine from a 71 C-20 and it came with the 12 in Drums and large hubs...All I had to do was have a welding shop move the shock mounting tabs. any difference in width can be made up with the correct wheel offset.(Generally minor) I do not know how much Modding you would need to do to a Ford 9 In. (housing + axles + Spring/Shock mounting) to get it to fit.

Most of these Big Chevy rear ends come with low ratios (3.73 or 4.10) perfect for that little Small Block.

One cavet,these things are Heavy! But then again so is that generation of Chevy truck!

The nice thing about Chevy/GMC...There is always a Low Buck/Low Tech option,FoMoCo not so much.

Tho the 9 inch is a very solid choice!

[guitar man]

53. Yeah the 12 bolt is really good

But I've hung a 9" ford rear in every car I've ever built, I just have a sneaking suspicion this one might wind up with one too. It looks like it would be a snap to put it in, the rear axle is just u bolted to the arms (it's a coil spring rear suspension) so all that's left is maybe fabricating a bracket for the stabilizer bar and welding up shock mounts. I'm kicking around the idea of switching it to leaf springs.

I'm also studying the feasibility of putting a complete ford mn 12 independent rear suspension under it. That way I would get the superior handling of an independent suspension , disc brakes on the rear plus i'd still be running a ford 8.8" posi pumpkin in the back :evilgrin:

[PJPhreak]

56. "Putting a Ford mn 12 independent rear suspension under it"

Now thats an intriging thought,gawd talk about making an old hevyweight tank turn corners! Plus the discs would be Phat!

[guitar man]

57. I've seen it done

On a ford ranger and an old f-100. I've had the measuring tape out crawling around under the wife's mark viii, it doesn't look like it would be a bad fit :)

[old mark]

11. Going to be a project, but I have seen worse - there's a lot left to it...

Enjoy it and please keep the pics coming - this is going to be fun!


mark

[guitar man]

16. Yeah it's not too bad

The frame s in perfect shape, transmission and rear axle are good and the engine has never been overhauled so the cylinders, rods and mains are still at standard. Once I weld a few patches on the body it's going to be on it's way.

[Orrex]

14. That windshield looks to be in primo condition

Fun project! Way beyond my means and ability, but I enjoy watching the progress of undertakings like this.


Best of luck with the resurrection!

[guitar man]

17. Yeah all the glass is good

There's a tiny crack in one corner of the back glass but I don't think it will be a problem. And don't sell yourself short, most of the stuff it takes doesn't take a ton of skill, just a lot of elbow grease. ;)

[ChoralScholar]

15. My dad had one just like it -

Baby Blue and everything. He had to sell it after he got fired for union organizing.

I have a lot of great memories of that truck, sitting in my dad's lap, shifting gears on the column. <sniff>

Here's the best of luck in your restoration!

[guitar man]

19. Thanks

Dad had a '60 Dodge and I used to do the same thing, he'd let me steer and shift gears just about any time we went anywhere :)

[A HERETIC I AM]

20. Hey! You found my hammer!

I was wondering where I left that thing.






Looks like a cool project.

[guitar man]

21. Finders keepers!!

Every project needs a BFH. :D

[A HERETIC I AM]

22. Do you subscribe to the "GABFH" concept?

If at first you don't succeed, Get A Bigger Fucking Hammer!

I know I do. Damned few difficulties can not be solved by either the proper application of high explosives or a bigger fucking hammer.

[guitar man]

23. Yep

And if the bigger fucking hammer doesn't work, out comes the cutting torch! :evilgrin:

[A HERETIC I AM]

24. There ya go! "Righty tighty, lefty Lucy" is for people with no creativity...

or an acetylene torch handy.

[guitar man]

25. Exactly

I remember one time years ago I was trying to get some rusty lug nuts off an equipment trailer and they just wouldn't budge, not even with an impact. So I whipped out the cutting torch and smoked them off. As I was driving them out and putting new lug bolts in, my boss walks up and says " you do know those lugs are left hand thread, right ? :rofl:

[A HERETIC I AM]

27. That's the kind of thing that takes the wind of accomplishment....

right out of the sails of effort!

That's sort of like taking something completely apart, putting it all back together again only to see you have left out the one, tiny little part that goes in the middle that makes the whole thing work!

Yeah, I think anyone who has ever worked on anything mechanical has done something like you describe.

[guitar man]

28. Yes indeed

Been there recently. Changed the stock exhaust on my Harley to drag pipes a while back. Of course, you have to re-jet the carb to get it to run right. So I pulled the carb and it was pretty dirty, decided to go all the way through it while I had it off. Put it all back together, put it on the bike, all buttoned up and getting for a test ride when I noticed it... The brand new idle jet sitting on the workbench!

:rofl:

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. At that point, I would say "Time for a cocktail" .lol & n/t

[Amaril]

26. I am in awe of anyone who has the kind of skills.....

....needed to do something like this. Me, I'm pushing the limits of my mechanical apptitude when I put air in my tires.

I will enjoy watching your journey with much envy. :)

[guitar man]

29. Welcome to DU!

I'm in awe of anybody who knows what half the crap under the hood of these late model cars is for. For an old farm boy like me working on an old truck like this is just second nature, and with no deadline to have it running by it's rather therapeutic.

But if one of my later model vehicles craps out, I'm left guessing. I fo my own brake jobs and stuff on my layer stuff bit the engine/electrical work, I take that to the pros ...

[Amaril]

42. Thanks for the welcome!

I was married to an (industrial) electrician once upon a time.......and lived for almost a year without a functioning light in my kitchen (ballast in the florescent fixture blew) because he didn't want to fix it and wouldn't let me call an electrician (even though I honor bright swore not to tell said electrician that HE was an electrician - LOL). Yeah, so, even electricians don't like to do their own electrical work. :)

I imagine that -- when you know what you're doing -- a restoration project like this would be very therapeutic. Needlepoint is more my speed. :)

[guitar man]

52. I couldn't do needlepoint

to save my life! Lol :rofl:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. I'm no expert, but ...

is that truck missing its motor?

:rofl:

Keep the progress reports coming. This looks like an interesting project. Except for the "scraping rust" part.

:hi:

[guitar man]

35. Yes

But it's close by so they can keep in touch! :rofl:

The engine is in the shed soon to be hoisted onto the engine stand. It's the original 283 with power pack heads that came with it. The next time the two are reunited the engine will be sporting a roller cam and three deuces. :evilgrin:

[jobycom]

32. Slap a boom on that puppy and it will sound like Larry the Cable Guy!

Yeah, I know it's a different vehicle, but it was the closest thing to a joke I could come up with. Good luck and keep posting. I love car projects.

If you ever want to rebuild an old Fairlane, let me know. Sucker's just rotting away in my dad's yard. :)

[guitar man]

38. Haha

It does look like that lol :)

what year Fairlane? I'd love to put something classic together for my wife.

[jobycom]

40. Well...

It looks like this, only one of the windows was broken after this was taken. Probably more of a mess than you're wanting, though. :)

[guitar man]

41. Shit

I've seen a hell of a lot worse than that revived, if the other side looks as good as that side, it's a good candidate ;)

[guitar man]

43. Damn

I just realized, that's not a fairlane, that's a falcon, looks like a '63 model. That would male for a real sweet ride :evilgrin:

[jobycom]

44. Other sides.

[guitar man]

45. Oh man

That's a '63 Falcoln Futura Sprint. It's pretty rough but from what I can see , it could be saved and made into a really nice shiny machine. :)

[jobycom]

46. My dad had it running for a while about 20 years ago.

he wanted to restore it, but as you might be able to tell from the state of the yard around it, he's not a finisher. Now he's not capable of it. I've asked him about selling it, and he was lukewarm about the idea. I've almost put it on EBay or Craigslist a few times, but haven't so far. It's in Gulfport, MS, and I'm in Austin, Texas, so things like that are hard to orchestrate, since someone would have to pick it up.

So you think it's worth enough for someone to buy it and pick it up, I take it?

[guitar man]

47. Maybe

What I can't see is underneath the car, how rusted and rotted out the bottom is can be a big factor since the falcons were unibody construction. The body on those is also a big portion of the frame so the structural integrity of the car depends on it. Just about anything is repairable given enough time , effort and resources. If it were sitting in my yard, I know I would be working on it.

I

[jobycom]

48. If it were in my yard, I would be, too.

I'd at least get it off the ground. But it's not. Until after Katrina, we could barely even get to it. And the bottom is likely to be a mess--that part of the world is terrible for rust. There are probably entire cultures of critters living under it. And I swear I think I saw Jimmy Hoffa snooping around it just before he disappeared...

[guitar man]

49. I know how it is down there

I graduated from Gulfport High in '82 and still have a lot of family down there.

Anyway, I sure hate to see such a cool piece of American automotive history just rust and rot away. I wish I could save them all lol

[jobycom]

50. Harrison Central, Class of 83 here.

I might have even run into you at a skating rink or arcade or even a football game, eh? :) Or given your handle, at a concert at the Coliseum.

[guitar man]

51. It's a small world

We left Oklahoma in 79 and moved to Gulfport. I was part way through my sophomore year in hs when dad got laid off and hit the skids in OK. I always loved it on the Gulf Coast but I grew up most of my life in Oklahoma , it's always been home I guess.

[Callalily]

34. Gosh! You have done a lot

of work already!

I went to a car show the other day, and took a million ;-) photos. Here's one of a truck that may just give you a little boost. ;-)

[guitar man]

36. Thanks

I had a couple old Fords like that back on the day. I had a '63 shortbed stepside that I wish I had never sold now.

I'm just getting started with this one, it's the first chevy truck I've built so there's a little learning curve involved moving over from Fords and Dodges, but it we'll get there :)

[underpants]

54. mudflaps

gotta have the mudflaps

[guitar man]

55. I love 'em !

A must have item, especially if I do the stake bed, they'll be perfect :D