New Old Parts and New Prospects

Some time ago, I was able to get the rear-end out of the same truck that supplied my front end. That way the bolt pattern stays the same. It's a 12 bolt heavy duty 3.73:1. It should really help out my highway speed and mileage.

A good friend of mine recently made me an offer. He has a late model 4.6L V8 and matching automatic transmission. It came out of a wrecked vehicle. The guy who bought it only needed the rear-end out of it. I'm selling my motorcycle soon, which may give me the money to make that happen. It sure would be nice to have a reliable late model motor in that thing. I'll keep you posted.

Progress Report / New Parts

I just made some real progress on my list of parts needed to complete my truck. I got a complete front end w/ disc brakes, power brake booster, power steering pump, & steering box. I'm hoping to have a 3.73:1 posi rear end soon to complete the rolling chassis. The next few weeks will be spent cleaning, prep'ing, & painting parts.

Progress Report / Color Scheme Ideas

The frame and bed have arrived. The frame is from an old Suburban. It was just recently sand-blasted, so all that's left is to remove the extension rails, clean off the surface rust and shoot it with black Rustoleum. The bed needs some work, but it's far and away better than the one it's replacing.

The next step will be to build a rolling chassis. I plan on converting to an 200R4 automatic transmission, disc brakes in the front, and a more highway friendly differential. Once I have a rolling chassis and I've acquired all the parts I need, I'll start sending body panels off to media-blasting, transfer the powertrain, bodywork and paint, and finally, reassembly. That way I'm not without a functional truck until it's absolutely necessary.

There are two different color schemes I've been kicking around. Coincidently they happen to correnspond with color schemes used by Fender on the Stratocaster.

Sea Foam Green / White	Lake Placid Blue / White

While doing research on the web, I happened upon a picture that's really close to what I'm hoping to accomplish. There are a few subtle differences, but you get the general idea.

Prologue

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I'm having to sum up quite a bit to bring you up to date. I'll do my best to make it an interesting read. Let me start by giving you a brief history:

As it once was.	Nice shot of the front end.

This 1964 Chevrolet C-10 Pickup has been in my family since my Dad purchased it in 1967. Most of us siblings learned how to drive in it. I remember hauling loads of trash to the dump in it when I was 12 yrs. old. My brothers and I all drove it in high school. We believe the frame was bent when Steve ran over a horseshoe stake. It has become a member of the family. As a consequence, it has more than it's fair share of wear and tear. I drove the truck up until I left on my mission in April of 1995, when it was parked behind the garage at my parents house.

This is how I found it 2 yrs. ago.	Interior.

Moving on. Sometime around the middle of July, 2005, a very good friend of mine offered to help me rebuild the engine and get it going so that I could use it for work. I dug it out and hauled it up to Gilbert. We used a 350 out of a 1977 Chevy Caprise Classic. I kept the intake manifold and valve covers from the 283 that replaced the original 292 inline 6. We tore the engine down to the nuts and bolts. The engine was in great shape. We polished the crank shaft, replaced the rings, bearings, and lifters, put it back together, and gave it a slick Chevrolet Orange paint job.

The original 283.	The 350 we rebuilt.
After a fresh coat of paint.	As it sits in the truck now.

I used it for work for quite a while, until I got a Chevy Astro to replace it as a work vehicle. Since then, it has been sitting in my driveway, occasionally being used for work or a trip to the dump. I've always had aspirations to restore it, but the need to use it for work and the lack of resources kept me from proceding. Recent developments, however, have acted as a cattle-prod to the backside, as it were. Let me 'splain... no, there is too much. Let me sum up;

While my in-laws were down from Washington for Christmas, my father-in-law introduced me to a fellow Chevy truck enthusiast. I mentioned that I was looking for a frame and bed for my truck. It turned out that he had a frame, fresh from the media-blaster. Wanting to get it off his lot to make room for other projects, he sold it to me for a song.

A few weeks later, when I went to arrange delivery, we realized there had been a miscommunication. This particular frame is a short-bed, not a long-bed. I was a little disappointed, but after clarifying that I needed a long-bed frame, he offered to sell me a short-box bed to go with the frame. This was a very difficult decision for me because I've been a long-bed fan for years. I was also hoping to keep the truck as close to original condition as possible. In the end, however, I decided to go ahead and convert it to a short-bed. I figure this will allow me to get started and I can always go back to a long-bed later, if I so desire.

I never thought I'd be able to get started on this project this soon so, needless to say, I'm pretty stoked. I'm expecting delivery of the frame and bed early this coming week. Cindy and I are in the process of preparing the garage. As soon as it's ready, we'll bring the frame in and start building a rolling chassis. Stay tuned for updates.