Lost My 65

[Woogeroo]

Congratulations... and remember; there is a fine line between mental illness and hobby.

he he he...



-W

[chevy_man5]

You could just change your user title from "Senior Member" to "But Now I Found it!"

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by chevy_man5

You could just change your user title from "Senior Member" to "But Now I Found it!"

That's a good idea.
I'll do that.
Posted via Mobile Device

[LostMy65]

Bought her and drove her home today.

The Brakes need help, and possibly the clutch needs adjusting.
Otherwise, she's in rather good shape mechanically and could be driven daily.

Cosmetically; you've seen the worst as I posted above.
First thing I did was crawl underneath with a flashlight and check over the condition of the metal. I was pleasantly surprised of how good of shape the rear fenders, inside and out were. The bed wood has been replaced with a full piece of diamond plate steel - Pretty practical I'd say - I can work with that. Tailgate is very straight.

Moving on to the front;
The front fenders are rotted where they all rot - bottom rear corner. Otherwise straight and good metal. Hood is straight - no bondo. It has some small portions of rot at the bottom rear corners and couple tiny spots at the front lip. Inner fenders are straight and clean.

The Cab:
Again, the metal is really clean. Even the floors - only some real small area of surface rust on the passenger side in that usual spot.
Crawling under the cab reveals that there is no rot through anywhere. Even the cab supports are clean. Cab corners are just barely starting to show some rot. The rockers; I was also pleasantly surprised.

The older man I bought it from said he bought it from his neighbor who had it stored in his garage since the early to mid 90's until around 2003.

I took some pictures, but they came out crummy because of bad lighting.
I'll get some better pics and post them.

The 327 engine has very few miles on the rebuild, and is also very clean.
Edelbrock Manifold and 1406 Carb. Another big plus is the MSD HEI Ignition.
Discouragingly, It only has the driver's side of the 2-1/2 in dia collector Ram's Horns I had on it - somebody replaced the passenger's with the 2". Also, the 62 shroud is gone.
Overall, I'm happy with what's under the hood.

The most discouraging as I mentioned before, is the buddy buckets are gone.
If "My" buddy buckets were still there, the joy would be complete. But I'll live.
The bench appears to be the correct bench for our trucks. - Again, I'll get some pics.

He had the rubber for the front windshield replaced, and put in a new rear window with rubber. Oh yeah, he put in a new gas tank too. I almost forgot; Rear Air Shocks.

I'd like to thank everyone again for the support and encouragement to not let her get away again. As I crawled underneath near the engine compartment, I saw a memory - a bracket my uncle welded on the frame for my clutch linkage, and I felt a lump in my heart
I know as I dig into her more I'll find more memories.

I worked all summer with my dad and he bought me this truck.
My Grandpa helped me build this truck. My Uncle and Cousin Mike also. And my brother-in-law helped hugely with getting it back on the road. And my sister for letting me store it at her house for almost 2 years while I was 18 and low on funds.

-Robert

[Greg63]

How far away from you was it when you found it?
Now that you have it, it would be cool to track it's movements from your selling it to your buying it.
Greg.

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by Greg63

How far away from you was it when you found it?
Now that you have it, it would be cool to track it's movements from your selling it to your buying it.
Greg.

It was about an hour drive from where I live and sold it.
I was thinking the same thing about tracking its history from when I sold it, to when I got it back.
I'll get in contact with his neighbor and that will get me as far back as around 8 years from when I sold it. Then I'll see if that neighbor remembers who he bought it from. It may be the girl from Napa Auto. I may even find out who got rid of my buddy buckets. Then I can chew them out royal.
Posted via Mobile Device

[niterider65]

Man thats cool on finding your truck .. so now you got two projects going now.. which one to work on now Cant wait to see the pics ..

Bill

[sigshooter]

Glad you bought it back, I had a 64 that I had almost completed, and hard times hit and I was forced to sell it. The guy I sold it to never did anything to it and it sat under a shed of a barn for 15 years. I was able to buy it back last year..... most of it had rusted and seized up and was in poor shape. The completely rebuilt engine and trans were fine, and a pickup load of new parts were stored inside an old U Hual trailer so they were ok. I regreted selling the truck all those years I didn't own it and I am so thankful I was able to buy it back.

I am sure you will be too, you made the right call

[LostMy65]

Here's the steel in the bed.
I'm actually good with the steel bed.


Here's the only thing left of my work in the cab.
The chrome ashtray with oak I took from my backyard oak tree.
I know some may think all oak knobs is totally 80's but I liked it.
Even the gearshift knob was from that old oak tree.
The ashtray is all that's left.



I do like the wheels
Hopefully they will work when I go to front discs.
295/50 R15


Here's these pics again and additional ones.
That's all for now.
I've parked it away until I get my 66 all back together.







The dark blue showing under the peeling light blue was the color of my original cab.


Some others

[chad64chevy]

thats awesome you found! glad to hear you got it back, and its still in pretty good shape! good luck with it and cant wait to see what it looks like when you get done with it!!

[protrash64]

Very Cool!!!

[ChevyTruckGuy]

I am so happy you got it back. I reread this whole thread =) Amazing.......
It looks great and for the cheap price. Congratulations

[losthope]

HELL YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im stoked for ya....I guess the google imaging guessing paid off LOL.....Right on !!!!!doesnt look that bad and those buckets did look good in there hope you find another set......

[markeb01]

I’m so glad its home where it belongs, and to see your new avatar acknowledging the success of the mission! This has been one of the most captivating stories on the forum. To have it gone all those years and come back in such remarkably good condition is amazing. Also worth noting is how generously supportive the previous owner treated you. I can’t remember the last time I saw a short step in similar condition for anywhere near $1500.

I’m really looking forward to whatever happens next.

[Dub_X]

Robert, I never actually subscribed to this thread, but I have been watching it. And I've got to say, this is one of the best damn stories I've heard, man. Congratulations. From the day you registered on this site, you've been looking for that truck, and you found her. It may not have everything you put into it, but you have it back, and you get the chance to do it all over again.
Makes me wish I could track down my dad's old '65, but it wouldn't look the same. The guy that bought it said he was going to strip it down and rebuild it from the frame up as a '61, which is what the frame was. My dad just had a '65 cab and front clip. But congratulations, man. After all the searching of that truck, and finally getting it back, you deserve it.

-Will

[62 Longbed]

Congrats on getting your truck back !!!!

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

I know it must feel good to have her back in your driveway.
She looks good and I like the stance.
What is your plans with her now you have her back?

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by 1Bad62Pro/Street

I know it must feel good to have her back in your driveway.
She looks good and I like the stance.
What is your plans with her now you have her back?

I've parked it under cover until I get my 66 back together.
I originally planned on doing all the patch panels on my 66 after I got it back together and mechanically sound, but instead my work on the 66 will stop at being a safe and reliable truck, but cosmetically lacking.

Then, I'll pull my 65 into my shop/barn and start taking her apart and clean her up panel by panel.
Mechanically my old 65 is good enough for now. The previous owner put a lot of work into the mechanical portion. Although; the brakes need help.
My focus, however, will be to get it cosmetically preserved.
From what I can see at this point as far as patch panels is the bottom rear of the front fenders. I'll see as I dig into it. Most likely cab corners and rockers.
I'll keep the wheels because I want to preserve features the previous owner put his heart into. And I really like the way they look with the truck.
The older man was so glad it was going back to me.
His change in health prevented him from completing his vision, so the wheels will remain for him.

Yes, the stance is perfect. Exactly how I like it.

[Captainfab]

I think that it is great that you are going to keep some of the older gentleman's vision on your truck. That says a lot about what kind of person you are

[Str8axle]

I had a '67 CST that had those in it from the factory. They themselves are pretty comfortable, but because I'm 6'1" they put me too close to the wheel for my liking.
Posted via Mobile Device

[LostMy65]

I knew I had this stashed away somewhere.
I kept a piece of the old oak tree branch that was in our backyard that all the knobs, blinker knob, and gearshift knob were made from.
I'm glad I found it.
I won't be replacing the knobs with oak again, but I think I'll use this for the gearshift knob.

[Dub_X]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

I knew I had this stashed away somewhere.
I kept a piece of the old oak tree branch that was in our backyard that all the knobs, blinker knob, and gearshift knob were made from.
I'm glad I found it.
I won't be replacing the knobs with oak again, but I think I'll use this for the gearshift knob.

That looks pretty neat. I can't wait to see how it comes out when you're done carving.

[Chad215]

I had been watching this one too-

Congratulations on getting the truck back. I bet it feels great!

[LostMy65]

I found this pic of it right after I wrecked it in 83:

[66-PMD-GMC]

I noticed that your truck was a long bed and it looks like a short bed now.
The front bumper hangs low, so did you do a frame swap to a 67-72 frame?