New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Hi to all. My name is Tim. My 89 yr old father in law recently decided he no longer needed his old truck. The Mrs. wanted to keep it in the family, so it now sits at my shop.1978 stepside longbed. 350 small block, auto trans. From what I have gathered so far the long bed stepsides are kinda of uncommon. Anyway, all things considered the old truck is not too bad.It'll need new fenders on the front and rockers and cab corners. From there back it's solid.My father in law bought it used back when ever ?? , and it's been kept in the garage since when not being used. Most of the rust must have been already started when he bought it. Our plan is to not "restore" it as such. We just want to fix the rusted parts, clean it up, paint it, redo the interior, and call it a day. Right now we use it every now and then when we need a pickup for pickup stuff. I'll slowly replace stuff under the hood that my father in law has let slide (tune up, filters etc etc ).
I live within driving distance of Paul's Truck Parts ,Rockville Indiana, and that would make the needed parts for the body if I save the shipping. Have any of you dealt with him ? Good quality ? Any input would be appreciated. As I said I'll need two fenders, rockers and cab corners. Around here good,used solid Chevy body parts are an oxymoron. They just do not exist.
By the way, I should mention, I am an auto trim shop owner, been a trimmer for 41 years. I might be able to answer some questions folks have relative to their interiors. I'm sure I'll have more questions myself. Thanks, Tim

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Welcome Aboard Tim !

Ahhh..... We need to see some pics of this rig..... :smoke:

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Sure thing

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...MVC-003F-1.jpg

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

So cool ! I just got off the phone with my supplier for OEM vinyls. They recently bought out another company that had some NOS vinyls. They have what I need to restore the seat perfectly. It's the dark green solid vinyl with the Green/blue plaid vinyl inserts that Chevy used. I would never have guessed I could find that. Neat !

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

I'll do you folks a before and after

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...m/MVC-005F.jpg

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Nice truck. Every time I see those dog dish caps, I'm reminded of my 83 LWB C10 I-6 I had in highschool. It was a perfectly straight truck. Some beach took it from my house without permission and rolled it.

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Sweet bumper sticker.
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Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Any thoughts on how to straighten that step bumper ?

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Very nice looking truck, I would love to have a stepper long bed. Keep it original as possible. Peace.
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Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Welcome fellow hoosier! :metal:

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

That's the plan

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Looks good! Great to see other Hoosiers here too!

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Welcome Tim!
Wow, still has the factory tailpipe too! Don't see those oval'ed and slash cut tailpipes much anymore! Some had a screen in them to keep the critters out too....

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Welcome to the forum!

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Hey, Tim, welcome aboard from SoCal!

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Welcome Aboard nice truck

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

welcome to the madness...err I mean FAMILY!:metal:

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

Haha that's great, anyways there are a couple step-side long beds up here but I think they are 67-72. Good luck with your truck.

Re: New guy (and truck) to the forum
 

I need to get with my father in law and get the history on this thing. I have a guess that it was once a US Forest Service truck or DNR or ??. There's a hole that's been plugged on the center back of the cab roof and what appears to be a siren still mounted under the hood but the wires have been cut. Might explain the bumper stickers too.Usually service trucks get used up before they get sold.
He was backing it out of his garage once and had the door open. Caught it on the garage and peeled it backwards, which ruined the door and beat the hell out of the fender. Someone gave him a yellow door for it and he hung it and spray bombed it green.