A guy I worked with several years ago told me his brother died and he had an old Ford truck the family didn't know what to do with. He knew I worked on cars and trucks and asked me if I would like to buy it. It was about two hours away in another town. I asked him what year it was and he said he didn't know. I told him I wasn't really into Ford trucks. He said "all I know is it's a V8, 4wd, and a stick shift. My brother has been working on it and I think he almost has it back on the road He had another guy rebuild the engine." I told him I'd give him $500 sight-unseen. Well, upon taking a trailer and a buddy to go get it, this is what I found: I was not thrilled at all. Neither was my 90 year old neighbor lady when she saw it coming off the trailer. On the positive side of things it came with four new tires, a new-in-box Edelbrock 600 carb, new alternator, and some other odds and ends. I really planned on keeping the new stuff and s****ping the rest. As I kept looking it over I realized it was remarkably solid frame-wise. I then decided to get it running and use it for firewood hauling. As with a lot of projects the snowball mentality of 'if I've fixed this I might as well fix that too' took over. Replaced floor pans, one cab corner, both rear wheel arches. Spot welded old nails to dents and used a harbor freight slide-hammer to pull them out. ***-load of sanding and grinding stuff. Completely rebuilt the 360 FE. The previous owner had paid a guy to rebuild it and apparently the guy had just spray painted the valve covers. Took the bed and cab off to clean up and POR the frame Rebuilt the front-end with all new tie-rod ends, bushings, etc. Rolled-on Rustoleum Gloss White and a custom blend green I made Put all the trim back on and had totally decent little 4x4 for around $2,500 total investment with the engine kit, machine work, sheet metal patch panels, brake parts, etc.
Did essentially the same type of stuff to this Chevy, except I've owned it since 1992, when I was 14. A guy at the factory my dad worked at told me I could have this truck if I came and got it out of his yard. I did. It is a 283/3 speed (still running the orginal drivetrain to this day) I drove it off-and-on my whole life and always felt that the frame was too crusty to justify fixing the paint/body and the body was too dinged-up and rusty to justify fixing the frame. Finally gave in and did some work to both. Now I drive the Chevy a lot. the truck had a few rattlecan primer jobs between this photo and the teardown. Even put some shop-truck door art on it for a while
Toms Dogs Every time you post this pic I smile and think of the "Furry Freak Bothers", "ZAP" and all the other Under Ground Comix of the '70's. Still have a box of them in the closet.
The Jalopy Journal
