Better Late Than Never....

[redneckgirl]

It was pointed out to me today that there was never a build thread for my truck. This is because when we found the site, in June 2006, the truck was mostly complete...When we found the site we were trying to hurry and finish the truck for a show....It was a quick build, with nearly every evening and weekend dedicated to the truck. The only exception was a weekend trip centsless and MoreCentsless (my brother) took to South Carolina to get a replacement bed from member Bryan H.....

This is what we started with....these pics were taken after we had removed the 2X6 front bumper and the mismatched, rusty steel wheels...and all but one was taken after we swapped out the teal/white front clip for the all white one we had planned to use on another project when this one came along. The wheels weren't supposed to stay on the truck, they were just a set we had that fit with 4 tires that actually held air












We knew that the cab was rough and that the frame was bent. The truck had belonged to a man my father-in-law worked with. He had gotten into an accident after a girl failed to stop when a sign told her she was supposed to...We actually sold him the lovely teal/white front end
About a month later, he passed away unexpectedly and we got the truck from his daughter. Had we not stepped in, she was going to junk it....
What we didn't know, because the outside of the bed looked so good (for this area of the rust belt) was that the entire bed floor and inner bed walls were eaten up with rust...I don't recommend a bedliner for this reason....

[redneckgirl]

The bed:

[redneckgirl]

The tear down:

[redneckgirl]

more tear down:









Meanwhile....we pulled the frame out of a donor and started stripping it down as well....give the kids some wire brushes and they have a good time getting rid of the little bit of scale.....

[redneckgirl]

The frame was the easy part....I was able to handle most of that while cents and his dad did the hard stuff







The cab was stripped of every nut, bolt, clip, etc. Interior in a box anyone??

[redneckgirl]

Since the frame was shot anyway we chopped it right behind and right in front of the cab and made a pretty decent dolly out of it....







Then we could start the fun stuff

[redneckgirl]

Cut through quite a bit of sanding, cutting, torching and welding....and the cab started to shape up...

[redneckgirl]

The frame was getting some love too....
loaded the cab up on a 4X6 trailer, bolting the cab right to the trailer and off to paint

[redneckgirl]

I'll post up some more in a bit

[*Dylan]

Aww, you can't just tease us like that. We need more pictures! Please?

[Richard8971]

Sweet looking start. I feel better now, I think your cab had more rust in it than mine did!

Don

[redneckgirl]

It had some serious rust we didn't realize. The man who had it (God rest his soul) was a nice man, and loved his truck, but he was also a bit of a hermit. The inside of the cab alone was full of enough stuff that we filled 3 construction sized trash bags to empty it out...hundreds of magnets & stickers adorned the interior, including roof....we found literally dozens of pens and keychains inside....newspapers that were years old....then we looked in the bed....There was no wonder the bed was so bad. I don't think it had seen daylight in a decade.

Here's more rust we found in the cab...in places I wasn't expecting to be so bad....the inside of the cab, above the windshield was paper thin...we hadn't been able to see it for all the stickers and magnets inside....the metal around the windshield on the outside was gone in both upper corners, and pretty bad in both lower corners. We didn't see any of that until we pulled the glass...cents fabricated replacement panels using a donor cab that had little left but the areas we needed....The cowl was the worst. It was eaten away badly on both sides. The last pic here shows some of the worst....

[redneckgirl]

Well....the cab came back from paint. We had already sent the fenders, doors, hood and cowl (one piece at a time) to the shop. We had gotten some of it back, but not all of it. We ended up having to go with new doors, because mine were so far gone. It went straight from the trailer to the awaiting frame, where we quickly started adding the parts we did have back from paint.....

[redneckgirl]

We added parts as they came back from paint. At this point we were still without a useable bed, and no tailgate. When we sent the truck for exhaust (we couldn't wait for a bed...we had a deadline!) we had to put the old bed back on it so they could make sure everything would clear...It was a heartbreaking moment to put the old bed on the shiny frame with the painted cab...

[Richard8971]

Wow, love the color, even though it's not orange. Looks awesome so far.

D

[redneckgirl]

Right about this point in the build is when we discovered our new second home After searching, to no avail, in the rust-eaten area we are in, cents decided to go online, beyond eBay and search.....enter the greatest source of Chevy & GMC truck info available....we told everyone how we had found this site and if there was a question to be asked about the truck....we could find the answer....cause this place rocks

Ok....back to the truck
centsless stumbled on an entire truck in SC owned by member Bryan H. It was less money to buy the truck from him, drive down and get it and drive home, than it was to find a relatively rust free bed in our area. I cannot locate the pics of the truck, but it was in great shape. We wished we had found it BEFORE we tore into mine

So we work on the bed...it didn't take long...it was in really good shape. Once again, we bolted it straight to the trailer and away to paint it went....we were coming down to the wire....the show was in a week, and the bed was at paint. We buttoned up everything under the hood, got her purring like a kitten...with a 66 283 Power-Pack engine that had come out of his dad's 41 Chevy Sedan.....a little low on oil pressure, but sounded wicked....
With days to spare, the bed comes back...we couldn't touch it until the next day so it got put in the garage next to the truck....sorta reminds you of a Love Bug movie, doesn't it??

[redneckgirl]

At this point we had days til the show...I'll still explain why it was important in a few posts.....
The inside of the bed got a spray-in bed-liner...it wasn't completely cured yet when we bolted it to the frame. We still had no tailgate, but we were out of time. A friend convinced cents to take the new Impala SS wheels off of his car and put them on the truck and put the old SS wheels on his car....we thought it was a temporary thing.....2 1/2 years later they are still on my truck

[Spray-Bomb]

Coolness

But I am gonna have to give you flack over that ridiculous alty bracket

[redneckgirl]

Now... a little more information...whether you want it or not...

The PO and my father-in-law both worked for a Chevrolet dealership. Most folks who had been there any length of time knew we had been trying to get Jimmy to sell us that truck since the day he bought it. It was mint when he had gotten it. ten years later, it was in the shape you saw in the first pictures.
Everyone at the dealership thought we were crazy for still wanting it. I think one response was "that old truck ain't worth anything but scrap metal" We were determined to have the truck in the dealerships 2nd annual all Chevy show. It was the first week of July. We had pulled the truck out of the backyard after it was stored there for the winter with a blown transmission in late February....the truck went from this:



to this....in less than four and a half months...

[redneckgirl]

It wasn't 100% done when we drove it to the show, but there were still alot of folks that looked at it with jaw dropped and said "THAT is Jimmy's old truck??"

There was some satisfaction there.

more to come........

[redneckgirl]

Originally Posted by Spray-Bomb

Coolness

But I am gonna have to give you flack over that ridiculous alty bracket

No Need Matt.....that bracket....as well as the 283 will not be seen in the truck ever again.....they are currently collecting dust in the corner of the garage.....but...you have to wait for those details

[Spray-Bomb]

Few !!!
I was starting to wonder if you were gonna do a lil bump in the hood like the ricers do to clear it

[redneckgirl]

Originally Posted by Spray-Bomb

Few !!!
I was starting to wonder if you were gonna do a lil bump in the hood like the ricers do to clear it

it ran like that for over 2 years no clearance issues at all....


Now the interior still needed help. The Suburban seat, while very comfy in a Burb, was not so comfy in a 72 C10....it sat upright too much, and hurt my back...made you feel too cose to the wheel....so we recovered the original seat....




The next thing was a 2/4 drop.....( I still think she needs more meat under her, but the drop helped it from looking quite so tire anorexic )


Then came the cowl hood (and a tonneau cover)





And of course...much to 5150's disappointment ( )
the LED taillights we won in Norwood

[redneckgirl]

Then some pretty kickass (IMO) doorpanels that a member here made for us





Then....this past July, while on our way to my cousin's for a family reunion....she started rapping....and not in a cool way either....we aren't talking Dr Dre here....we're talking Vanilla Ice....the old 283 decided it was a fine time to try spinning a rod bearing......while I was quite saddened by the cruizin season being cut short....I am willing to wait until spring (very impatiently, but waiting ) for her to come out of the garage with her new powerplant....a 454 with a small B&M blower





I'll keep ya'll posted....if cents ever gets her running

[Hyspeedz]

Redneck...I just sent you a PM.

Hyspeedz