Pzary's '63 Chevy Build Thread

[Pzary3233]

Was cruising craigslist the other day and happened upon this little truck. It reminded me of the two my had had bought years ago and since sold. So I went to take a look at it seems like a mostly original truck with the deluxe and custom options. 230/3 on the tree.

The story: The previous owner bought it in '91 in Alabama, as a complete (supposedly original) truck for $10k. He then drove it for about 10 years and wrecked it. After it was wrecked it has sat for another 10 years or so.

The damage is quite fixable and nothing to worry over. The owner even included many of the parts to fix it. I also think that with the help of a guy at work I can probably save the original aluminum grille.

The worst part about the whole truck is the driver's side floor board where it has rusted through. That should be a pretty easy patch. It rusted because the door on the driver's side will not latch and did not seal.

Alright enough typing on to the photos. These were just after i got the truck back to the shop and found a storage spot at the end of the lot.



Who knows about the winch, all I know is that it works and it is not a warn. It's HUGE and rated for about 8k lbs.












This last shot has me confused... I do not see any sort of heater or anything... No blower motor, no nothing, but I do have two heater core lines coming out of the firewall.
Also the beige color must have been the original color?

I'd like to turn this truck into a decent daily driver and possibly down the road swap in a 5.3 and an NV3500 to motivate it a bit more so that I can haul my other toys.

I've got a '72 frame/parts truck so I am going to go the easy way and swap everything over for instant 5 lug and disc brakes. I've been looking at the static drop thread and really like what I see. I might add some helper air bags when the need for towing arises. I want the truck to handle and brake well. I am thinking about hydroboost from a newer Silverado as they are easy for me to grab.

Project list is starting to shape up, first part of it is to get it going in it's original form.

*Carb Inspection
*Clean fuel tank and lines
*Inspect/rebuild drum brakes
*Sort out turn signal wiring
*Clean Clean Clean
*Drive it completely "stock"

I'm new to the world of trucks, but I've had a few projects, here are the ones that are still in my garage:

Here are some past projects:

99 BMW M3 with an L33 5.3 and a T56:






After a little offroad excursion, excuse the lack of trim and parking light being held in... Memphis International Raceway claimed a few pieces that day at the track...

'68 Pontiac Firebird 350ci Pontiac and a Richmond 5 Speed



First car and will NEVER get rid of it. I am currently prepping a Pontiac 400 for the car and assembling a bunch of suspension goodies to make this car handle well. we'll see what happens!

[awbrown]

Heater is under the dash , you can see the 2 lines for it on the firewall where the PO hooked them together... It looks like a solid truck !! I have 2 63's ... Yours also has the custom steering wheel ... the heater is the economy heater the deluxe heater would be on the firewall side ..... Dont forget to clean the heater out before using it most have rodents that have taken up residence...And if the PO hooked the hoses up it must have a leaking core , or the PO just got tired of the heat being on all the time ... if the controls get rusty that is what happens.. the deluxe heater has some advantages over econo heater...

[Pzary3233]

Originally Posted by awbrown

Heater is under the dash , you can see the 2 lines for it on the firewall where the PO hooked them together... It looks like a solid truck !! I have 2 63's ... Yours also has the custom steering wheel ... the heater is the economy heater the deluxe heater would be on the firewall side ..... Dont forget to clean the heater out before using it most have rodents that have taken up residence...

Ah! Ok that makes a lot of sense then... After all the truck spent most of it's life in Alabama from my understanding. I was intrigued to see the custom steering wheel and the arm rests. Thought it was pretty cool.

Thanks for your eye!

It's really not a bad little truck and I can't wait to start working on it.

[1963c-10]

Nice truck. Has some great options too. The aluminum grill should be easier to work out than the steel ones. Good luck and nice find.

[hopped up]

nice truck! you got the rear bumper too! good find.
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[Pzary3233]

Thanks guys, the rear bumper is near spotless, and the chrome is perfect on it! Come to find out the tag light even works.

The winch is going away and might return on a 4wd build later down the road.

[McMurphy]

In the photos it looks like neither of the doors close.
Are you sure the frame is not tweaked from the crash? That would partially explain why the door will not latch and get a good seal from the weather.
Hopefully if it is just the frame that has some undue torque in it now, the cab isnt permanently twisted as well, and would settle on a straight frame no problem.

to the board, and good luck on your build, it should be fun to see what you do with this!!

[Pzary3233]

Frame is straight got it in the frame machine tonight. In the picture the passenger side door is actually unlatched. It closes as it should otherwise. The damage is only skin deep, the radiator support wasn't even damaged! The body bushing is still straight as well.
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[awbrown]

Aah ,another 63 rescued ... PZ you deserve a medal.....

Question , what rear axle did you put in the beamer???

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

That is IMO the nearly perfect truck to build.....a '63 short fleetside, custom cam with a big back window, and a nicely optioned one at that. I'm glad to see that you rescued this one, and are going to get her back on the road. I'll be watching this one......

[Pzary3233]

Thanks guys for the comments.

I agree Capt' this is probably my favorite year of the body style. I was not expecting to find a big window truck either! It's pretty clean/straight for a 50 year old truck. I also noticed you now have a booster bracket for the 60-62 trucks. I like having a hyd clutch and think that would be better for my needs (as any transmission I would swap in uses a hyd throwout bearing). Do most of the holes line up on the '63 trucks or is it completely different? I understand that the clutch is mechanical on the 63.

Took the seat out last night and had this little surprise:



Could that REALLY be an original jack and tool kit for the truck???? everything seems to fit where it should...

I then used purple power and a steam cleaner to get the floor looking better. Man it's in AMAZING shape everywhere except for a little bit on the driver's side and in the toe board area of the passenger side.

Pics of the floorboard tonight!


As for the M3, it's the stock diff with stock axles. They are known to hold up to 700hp of abuse with turbo motors, so I figure my little LSx isn't going to be an issue without slicks. A 3.91 ratio diff is going in pretty soon. Can't wait!

[Pzary3233]

Took a quick stock of the parts I have for the truck. It looks like I need to find a passenger side fender, driver's side door, and get some patch panels for the floorboard to get this truck rust free.

I'd also be interested in trying to find another bed side for the passenger side as this one is going to take a LOT of work to straighten.

[Pzary3233]

Cleaner floor board shots:









Then I found this bit of rust here: not sure how to go about fixing it other then trying to form a new panel...



Then I found this old spot light in the glove box:



Door Rot... ugh...

[Captainfab]

I have the parts to make some hydraulic clutch conversion kits for the '63-'66 trucks. I've just been so busy I haven't had time to put one together.

If you can't find one locally, I can likely provide a patch piece for the rusted out area in this pic.

[Pzary3233]

Apparently the truck DOES have it's original paint:

[Pzary3233]

This weekend I didn't get a whole lot done on the old girl...

Swapped out the fuel pump and got her running. That's about it. Runs great though!!!

[BLK2K2SILVY]

Come on Paul, time for some updates?!

[markeb01]

First time I've seen your build. Nice to see it has the rare deluxe trim around the back of the cab and the radio hole isn’t chopped up. That’s a sharp looking Firebird.