Ragged to Running
 

Well after three years MATER is on the road! Special thanks to my Dad and all the guys on this site that unknowing helped me.

Ready to cruise once I hang the exhaust and get it licensed!

Re: Ragged to Running
 

A few more pics of the drive side. Yep, long stepper with a side mount spare. Not super sexy but kinda unique...fits me well.

Re: Ragged to Running
 

Looking great, have fun cruising it.

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I like it! Very cool truck

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Wow, that truck is FANTASTIC! Great patina. I love what you did with the engine bay clean up. (That's exactly what I'm doing with my own)

Do you have a build thread somewhere? I'd love to read about all of your progress on this one.

Re: Ragged to Running
 

Cool truck, I like it!! Congrats!

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Very nice truck... great Patina!

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Looking good! Great shot at Beam.

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Sweet truck and great pics you took of it! Love the Jim Beam picture.

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Beautiful truck, I hope you never decide to paint it!

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Thanks for the feedback fellas. This site was so helpful in the build. I don't have a build thread but will post pics in chronological order with comments.

So day, #1 Jan 11th, 2014. I'm drinking a cup of coffee and scrolling through CL. Had been looking for a while but was never fast enough to pick up a good deal or folks wanted way too much $$ for junk. Totally dug this one and so did the fam! Told the guy I was on my way with a trailer + cash and away we went.

It must have been in high demand because the guy had 5 calls that morning and 2 others were on their way. Luckily, I beat them to his house.

Day #1 pics

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Nice find. Enjoy.

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With a new battery and some tinkering, I was able to get it running well enough to back it off the trailer. Stopping though was another chore! Once in the garage we started assessing the issues...YIKES

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Very cool! What caps are those? I'm going steelie and those caps look great.

Rg

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I see a lot of folks calling them COPO caps. Here is a close up.

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A couple more "rot" pics. Trust me...I didn't want to start off with something this rough.

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Pic from the tear down. Note the look on pops face in the far left of the pic.

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That's a nice old truck- "I don't care who you are!" Mater

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Floor repair was next.

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Way to start tackling it. That's what you got to do. It's very fixable and like you said lots of help here. When I get overwhelmed I write things down and prioritize $$$. Good luck.

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Hey, I wish my truck was long wheel base. Mine is stepside with spare tire on side.

I think spare tires on the side make for a convenient place to have them, I wish my car's spare was so easy to get to.

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March 1st, 2015 - with floors in and a limping motor I decided to hit the road. Dog house was held on with a handful of bolts. Wanted to test the clutch, brakes, rear-end, etc. Honestly, I was on the verge of selling it at this point because of the amount of time, money and work still needed.

Kinda surprised it made it out and back...so was Dad (last pic)!

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Those thoughts of selling your gem will happen now and then. Unless you really need the dough and the space it takes up just take your time and spend money in increments. I've been working on mine since 1991 and I'm starting to see light at end of tunnel.

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I was confident enough with the drive line components after the ride. Now time for the REAL teardown. These pics were from about 2yrs ago. Truck was an org 6cyl (250?) but had a '73 2bbl 350 when I got it.

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Made the decision to simply clean up the bottom end. Happy with the internals once we started tearing into it.