To start with, I am the owner of Protocol Automotive, a repair shop in Floyd, VA. I am NOT soliciting business; this is a build thread for a forum member who will chime in when he feels like it. This is simply an informative build thread showing what was done to his vehicle. This truck belongs to a volunteer firefighter, and over the last few years he has been learning the love of old Chevrolet trucks. He purchased this 66 with intentions of doing it as a slow restoration himself; however after deeper looking he realized the depth of the rust damage on this truck. Suffice it to say, it was realized that the amount of metal replacement needed would be way beyond the typical home garage restoration. This is the truck the day it was dropped off. We found out many things on this vehicle during the stripping process, which is the part I love the most in a restoration. Why? The reason I LOVE old vehicles and equipment is they have a story to tell. You just have to pay attention and it will tell you everything you wanted to know, and then some, about its life and times. As you can see, there are many bits of rust on the exterior, and the trim removal was started by the previous owner. Most of the trim and brightwork was gone, and due to the costs of obtaining correct trim that looks good on the truck, the decision was made to shave it. And by shave, we got rid of everything except the door handles. Trim, rocker molding, emblems, and even the antenna was removed. We began with removing the cab, since we knew the floor pans and cab mounts would have to be replaced. The cab sat 2 lower on one side due to this, and a previous owner had attempted to make on-truck replacements of the mounts out of thin gauge sheetmetal. Well, obviously this did not work .. Before any work begins here, we get every part as clean as possible. On this particular vehicle, the best stripping method was 3000psi water at 250 degrees. Wet steam has incredible paint removal abilities while minimizing metal damage, and with a little aircraft stripper on stubborn areas, we had the cab down to bare metal in a few hours. Once the cab was off, we took to redoing all of the floor pans, rocker panels, and cowls.
The door bottoms were replaced, unfortunately with aftermarket pieces that were not rolled the same for the interior, but that problem was solved with a custom made door trim panel that cleaned it up nicely. We continually mounted and demounted the cab to verify the measurements, and to make sure fitment stayed right. This is why having a forklift comes in handy. Originally we were going to do just cab metal work, but we started looking at the bedsides that were just fixed before he purchased the truck. I dug down ½ of filler and still had not found metal yet .Time to replace the wheel arches. It took a full day of using a blasterwheel to remove the body filler, and then we fixed the repair correctly. After the metal work was completed, the long, tiresome process of bodywork was started. Thankfully, the metal work was done with pretty strict standards, and the amount of filler needed was minimal. A week later, we had the truck in its first few coats of K36 High Build primer. The truck was guide coated and hand blocked till it was straight and smooth, then the pieces were rolled into the booth for paint. The owner wanted to go with a satin black, and I suggested doing a white top to break it up a little bit, plus the fact that the solid flat black fad was getting a little played out IMO. I also decided to shoot it with a little different technique, which resulted in a more satin finish than flat.
Once painted, we ***embled the truck and did a bunch of upgrades. Mostly they were functional, such as the safety upgrade of installing a dual reservoir master cylinder and relay controlled headlights, but some were cosmetic. The hidden relays, horn, fan controller, and wiring is one example. That is when we decided to have a little impromptu photo shoot done of the truck after it was completed. We met up with Chris Mills and headed toward some old buildings for this set.
Basic engine specs: Warmed over 350, standard H/C/I mods. Working on getting engine shots, we wrinkle finished most items on the engine. TH400, stock rear for now. Currently on stock suspension and drum brakes, over the next year or so its getting a disc conversion (probably a later model crossmember/control arm swap and five lug rear) and a much better suspension setup. We got a few things left to get knocked out, but overall he is pleased with the results. I got a few more builds going right now, I should have time to get them posted soon. I'm waiting for a car to flash in the paintbooth so I can go lay some clear and happened to remember being a member here.
That's exceptional! I was into the old C10 and C30 trucks in my youth. Parts are still available and almost anything is around regarding patch panels. I can see myself getting another one down the road at some point. Bob
Not bad for an inexpensive gauge. He got them off a forum used, and other than having to figure out the resistance variance on the sending unit for the fuel gauge, they are working fine. Eh, while this is true that most of the panels are available, I will say that the quality and fitment ****s. Bad. Everything we were able to get for the truck was imported, of course, and we spent the same amount of time fitting the panels as we would have making new ones. The inner fenders were the worst, we wound up having to section 3/4" out of them cause they were made incorrectly and threw the whole front end out of square. Took a bit to figure it out, but once we pulled some new measurements we realized the problem. I guess I have been spoiled on some of the other restorations using parts from Dennis Carpenter, their stampings were EXACT.
The Jalopy Journal
