The widow

[64 wedge]

One night in December I was surfing the interweb and I came across this girl that had lost her owner. She had worked on the farm for many years before she retired and moved into the barn. Her owner bought her new in 66 and taken care of her pretty good through the years but she always stayed on the farm playing in the mud and fields. 20 years of work does take a toll on your body and she showed it so her owner gave her some new makeup for her to look pretty again but in the 70's that what you did when the old girl looked bad. She stayed in the barn for almost 30 years until her owner died.



I went on a blind date with her and ended up bringing her home to stay for awhile (the wife was not to happy but that is another chapter). She has only 20 thousand miles on her so she is pretty tight in alot of places but worn in others. Being in the barn had helped alot with no weather getting to her. She had not run in 28 years so that was the first order to take care of, went through all the fluids and some of the wiring, pulled the tank and cleaned it out but sending unit was bad. Orderd a new one and got everything back together and she was running (it was alive again)! Now it was time to adress her stopping (none) so I put all new lines, wheel cylinders and a master cylinder in. She moves good and will lock all 4 tires up. It is a 283 with 3 on the tree that runs very good and smooth after I rebuilt the carb. She came with some extras from the factory bumper guards, cab lights and a factory gm spotlight. She had all her paperwork with it( build sheet, manual that has been wrapped in plastic so it is like brand new). She does need alot of work but I think she might stay around for a while, it will be a driver for awhile then I will see if I want to go all the way with her!! After all she is a widow and I want to take my time.

[NEWFISHER]

Too cool! Looks like that dealer installed molding along the sides. She was the bell of the ball at one time!

[pdxhall]

What a great find and welcome to the board. How about some pics of the interior when you can.

[markeb01]

Nice looking truck. Good for you. Enjoy, and welcome to the forum!

[64 wedge]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

What a great find and welcome to the board. How about some pics of the interior when you can.

Have not done much to the inside yet just taken the seat out to get the tank out. She still had the cardboard separator behind the seat to cover the tank. It needs a good cleaning inside but I did find two silver coins under the seat. Floor is pretty solid with just a couple of small holes on the edge by the door. Radio still works as well as everything else so far.

[TJ's Chevy]

Nice truck! I envy the spot light! LOL! Look forward to watching the build!

[64 wedge]

Thanks, I like reading about the different projects on here and everybody seems very informed. Hopefully my Widow build will come out as nice as alot of the trucks on here. Being here in the salt capitol of the USA it is tough to find anything that is still alive because of rust or the scrappers.

[McMurphy]

Wow....
A good candidate for a full on restoration !!

Welcome to the site and good luck with this, no matter what you do

[64 wedge]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Wow....
A good candidate for a full on restoration !!

Welcome to the site and good luck with this, no matter what you do

Maybe someday I will do the full original restoration but for now I think I will just have some fun with her and learn from her.

[64 wedge]

I have gotten the truck running real good so now it was time to play underneath. Took the rear springs out and put some jeep ones in that I had around, that seemed to drop it down a little. When I was under there the spare was in my way so I pushed up the tire and unscrewed the wingnut off by hand, not bad for 48 year old truck. Notice all the red dirt, IT IS EVERYWHERE.



Then I did the front with some lowered chevy springs I had laying around. Primered the rims and will get them painted this week so I can get the tires on to see how it stands

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by 64 wedge

Maybe someday I will do the full original restoration but for now I think I will just have some fun with her and learn from her.

Fair enough, but if you keep hanging around here, ~someday~ may come sooner than you think !!
If you want to see an awesome back-to-factory, look at Astronauts build of Goldilocks.... very inspirational

[64 wedge]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Fair enough, but if you keep hanging around here, ~someday~ may come sooner than you think !!
If you want to see an awesome back-to-factory, look at Astronauts build of Goldilocks.... very inspirational

I am keeping all the original parts and not going to do anything other than some cosmetics so it still can be a full resto someday.

[dwcardfan]

That's a nice score! Congrats

[64 wedge]

The widow got her first valentines day present in thirty years. I spoiled her with some new shoes and got to see the new lowered stance.

[rusty76]

Oooh me like.

[Bigru]

That's nice.

[Low Elco]

Nice addition!

[Zane M]

Very Nice!

[64 wedge]

Finally got the widow on the road this week and took it out for her first drive in thrity years. With the jeep springs in the rear and cut ones up front she rides like a caddy, I could not believe how nice she drives and stops with no pulls or wobbles. Very happy with her and she gets people looking and stopping to look at her. The 283 runs real smooth and she shifts like it was new.

[litew8]

She's a looker, and a flirt, for sure!

[TJ's Chevy]

WOW shes looking perrty! Can I buy the spot light?

[McMurphy]

Well if she wasnt the Prom Queen, she should have been !!
Looking Good

[1963c-10]

Great looking truck and history. Glad to see its back on the road

[Ta2Don]

Late to the party... but I'm along for the ride...