65 Just bought,were do I start?

[djzphotos]

Im new to this forum and a complete amature when it comes to restoring classic trucks. I have no clue were to start and I need some advice. The engine is a 283 with 3 on tree and runs strong. I have some dents that look like they will give me some issues being in tricky spots. I have a few small rust holes on the passenger side floorboard and one on the drivers side, a chewed up bench and a demolished wood bed floor with a good amount of rust. Sounds to me like a lot of work but I've always dreamed I would own a 63-66 style chevy truck and my fiance finally gave me the go ahead. any advice on where to start??

[jocko]

marry her quick, she sounds like a keeper.

[djzphotos]

we'll see if she's still willing after this project

[neto]

Don't do what I did. Leave it in one piece and just pick one thing you can do and put back together within two days. Enjoy driving it. Make it safe. Tune your engine, check to lights, do your brakes, good tires. Drive it! I had to get another one because I couldn't stand not driving an old truck, in this case a suburban. Nice truck.

[djzphotos]

Thanks neto, that is my ultimate plan. My day today consists of getting a new battery and removing the rust from the chrome light fixtures (thats why theres no fixtures around the front lights in my pictures). Im thinking of stripping my front bumper down to its chrome, do you have any ideas on how to do this without scuffing up the chrome to much?

[djzphotos]

I short of feel like a sucker after seeing all these guys picking these up for 500-600 bucks. I paid $2,400 from his asking price of $3,000.

[blackedoutharley]

First thing is to have a plan... one that you can live with forever.

This is what works for me.

If its a driver while being restored start with the immediate stuff such as:
Change oil and filter, flush coolant system, tune up etc... then:

Start at one end of the truck and work towards the other doing the mechanical things. Brakes, suspension, tires, Rearend etc...

Once the chassis is sound start on the driveline... new u-joints, clutch and fresh oil in the transmission.

Basically working from the ground up doing things as time and $$$ allow. Looks may be important but crashing a nicely painted truck because the brakes don't work or the truck isn't controllable probably sucks. Make it safe then make it pretty.

[iehotrod]

Great advice Neto.... upon making safe and reliable you can start with the nickle and dime items. start with the inside its cheap. Get your plan together or otherwise you go crazy spending money where it dont count. If you dont mind me asking how much did you pay?

[iehotrod]

That is a good deal here in S. California for truck that is not all hacked. I two trucks one a 63 long bed with rust in the floors I paid $1,300 no trans and a 62 short bed with complete running gear for $3000. you got a good deal.

[72lb4x4]

Clean and detail it some, change the fluids (oil, trans, diff).

Fix (and flush) the brakes, steering components, and battery box area. These always seem to be problems.

Then drive it around some, and give it a tuneup.

[Blue Heeler]

Slam her...... Cuz when yer on her stay on her! cuz it's a honor to be on her:{

[QUAD"62"DUCES]

I found a 1965 GMC 4 door pick up. The guy who owns it said it was and original factory 4 door. Has anyone else ever seen a 1965 GMC 4 door?
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[awbrown]

Sure quad ,thats one of the hottest topics on here ... get some pics ... other than that ., think this 65 , if you can drive it is a god deal ... I paid 800 and now I have 2050 in it and I am just starting to drive it ...some times it is better to buy a driver than one that someone has"worked on ".... Some people just are not qualifed to work on vehicles....

[markeb01]

First of all, welcome to the forum. I agree with what's been offered above, develop a plan and start on small projects that can be completed over a weekend (or so). Nothing will kill enthusiasm quicker than turning a running vehicle into a big pile of parts. Also, buy a digital camera if you don't have one already and take lots of pictures. Photos of the overall truck, problem areas, items you'd like to replace or improve, etc. It's very frustrating many years in the future when you've put years of effort into building something, only to realize you didn't have the foresight to take a bunch of "before" pictures to go along with all the progress photos.

[Rich 5150 69]

Good advice Mark, when I bought mine I blew it apart for painting, dropped a 350/350 combo in slapped a seat and cleaned up the dash and installed the diamond plate all in a month, never took one pic, not even when I bought it, but I was never in to pics when I was younger, to busy doing it. LOL

[djzphotos]

Originally Posted by Rich 5150 69

Good advice Mark, when I bought mine I blew it apart for painting, dropped a 350/350 combo in slapped a seat and cleaned up the dash and installed the diamond plate all in a month, never took one pic, not even when I bought it, but I was never in to pics when I was younger, to busy doing it. LOL

I too was thinking of diamond plate sheet metal for the bed due to the fact that the truck will be my tinker toy and the home depot run truck for me and my fiance's new home. That of course will be somewhere very far down the road, once I hit that road I will have to hit you up for some good advice.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by djzphotos

I too was thinking of diamond plate sheet metal for the bed due to the fact that the truck will be my tinker toy and the home depot run truck for me and my fiance's new home.

If you want a relatively simple way to install a solid bed floor, here’s how I did mine. I bought two pieces of ¾” marine plywood, cut lengthwise about 25” wide. They were coated on all sides with fiberglass resin and tucked up under the side angles with the split butted together down the center. The diamond aluminum was simply bolted down on top between the angles. I also replaced every other fender bolt with an eye bolt so I’d have multiple locations to tether the load.

I always intended to run a bed cover so I was more concerned about durability than appearance. It looked pretty nice when new. Not so much anymore but it certainly has been maintenance free.

Here are a couple of photos showing how it looked when new, and today:

[djzphotos]

That looks great. Did you pull out all the metal wood fastening strips or lay over top?

[chad64chevy]

i agree with markeb01 and everyone else! my truck 'was' a running truck! when i bought it it didn't running but had a rebuild 230 l6 and just needed a few things for it to run so i got a carb and a starter and had it running within two weeks off a one gal. gas can and a electric fuel pump! that was 6 yrs ago before i took everything off the frame and had a pile of parts now i've lost parts and sold the 230 l6 to buy parts!! i wish i could go back a few years and it would be driveable and look better!! but until they build a time machine good luck with your truck your in good hands on this site! i'm still new but have learned alot and pictures are worth a 1000 words!!!

[djzphotos]

Thanks again for everyone being so insightful. I will for sure take plenty of pics Mark, not just to look back at and see where it all started, but to also post on the forum and have you pros inform me on what type of mess I have on my hands. I was curious if anyone had any good books to buy on the mechanics of the 283. I've already incurred my first issue with my truck, dead battery. There has gotta being something drawing power from the battery since I just replaced it two days ago. Im actually kind of excited, time for my first learning experience.

[61_FL_Apache]

You west coasters find these things everywhere!!!! Awesome find!!

[DPowers]

Welcome to the site- some good advice given.
Also read ALOT about what others have done and use their experience to assist you.
Some websites that you may find helpful:
http://www.persh.org/pickup/IdeaPage.htm
http://www.6066gmcguy.org/
http://www.persh.org/pickup/Links.htm

[djzphotos]

Thanks dpowers, these sites are great. I think I will get a lot out of them.

[markeb01]

Well first of all I remembered incorrectly about the wood. As shown in the photo I didn’t split it down the center, I placed strips about 3-4” wide under the side angles, and then filled in the center with a single sheet. I left all the side-to-side crossmembers in place, but did not use any of the skid strips that originally held the wood in place. The plywood duplicated the thickness of the original boards and the diamond plate sits flush with the side angles.

[djzphotos]

Looks great, I might have to steal your idea when I get to that part on my truck, just with a little extra measuring and cutting for the wheel wells.