[thebooger13]

Fourspeed- I've been putting in alot of time thinking on what I want to do with the truck and I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to keep it original, or as original as possible. The 4x4 idea would be cool, but not for a truck in this good of shape and also one this rare(being a one ton). I can't even tell you how many people give me a weird look when I tell them it's a one ton truck. They look at me all funny and say "Really? It's a one ton? Don't see too many of those around." And the heck of it is, they're right, you dont see many one ton '51's around. Or even the 3/4 tons for that matter.

When my Grandpa would restore the trucks he had, he would really only take apart what he had to. To either get it working or to get at something he needed to get working. And he never seemed bothered by how much time it took him to get something fixed. He'd just keep chipping away at it until it was done. Like the transmission in his '28 Chevy truck, it was completely siezed and full of crap, like walnut shells, dried up oil, dirt and rust. He soaked the thing for about a month in some homemade penatrating fluid made of Coke and molasses I think, if memory serves me correctly, and when some of the junk would loosen up he'd dig out what he could and soak it again. He finally got that trans all cleaned out, pulled apart, cleaned up, reassembled it and got it working.

Like you said Fourspeed, it doesn't make sense to tear down the whole truck to the last bolt right away or to chop it up in to some sort of franken-truck. I've had my fair share of projects that I've dropped due to lost interest, time, money, or just being over whelmed or in over my head on them. I think I would start by pulling the motor and trans, tear them down to see if they are salvageable, and go from there. Get the trans rebuilt, and the motor running, put them back in and get the rest of the essential mechanicals working, like brakes, steering and such. Once I do that, then maybe start pulling a body panel at a time and get them straightened out and ready for paint. Then go into electrical wiring and other odds and ends.

I just need to find the time and money to start doing it...