1953 Chevy 3100 Project

[TheQuicksilver]

Time to break myself in on the forums and make this post #1. I closed the deal today on my "new" truck, a 1953 Chevy 3100 (for those interested, it cost me a cool $3000). It's running, and has been converted to 12V and had an engine swap out to a 261 with a 235 head at some point in the past. The same guy has owned it for the past 37 years (he paid $125 for it in 1971).

My immediate (as in tomorrow) goals to address are the three on the tree shifter, which seems to have something binding the linkage preventing it from going into neutral, 2nd, or reverse (thoughts, suggestions, or advice welcomed). No gear grinding or anything, the shifter just don't wanna go there. The other is I want to hit some of the surface rust with some sandpaper and seal it with primer.

Long term, she'll get painted back to a rich, dark green. New tires and hubcaps, a new wood bed with some wood side highteners (is that even a word?). New furniture most of the way around (handles, trim, etc). Going to update the interior just a little with better insulation and upholstery, even considering bucket seats, though that might be a bit too far from stock for me. I'll also probably install power steering at some point, on consider updating the transmission to something more highway friendly.

My ultimate goal is to have a good, daily driver truck. Not a show truck, not a hotrod.

I have a Flickr set with plenty of initial photos that I'll be keeping up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fienen/...7608722892176/

Here's some to show it off: