New member making a big start!

[vinco]

Hi from Arkansas, I'm Vince.

I started lurking here about a month ago, so I guess I should take a minute to introduce myself and tell why I got here. My 15 year-old boy will be turning 16 in very early September, so back in June, the wife and I started asking him what kind of vehicle he wanted to start out driving. We happened to drive by an old beat-up truck down the street from home, and he pointed and said "I like that one." As luck would have it, it was sporting a faded For Sale sign hanging off the back end. So, we went up there and looked at it, called the number on the sign, and talked to the lady selling it for her brother, who had moved out of state. She explained that he had bought it as a project and that he looked specially for that style, which was apparently kind of rare. She had gotten a clear title from the state in her name, and she wanted $500 for the truck, since that's what she had spent getting the title. Well, she was mostly right, as it is a '63 Long Wheelbase Step Side, with a 230 and a 4-speed. The engine appears mostly original (though I haven't run the numbers on it), and the tranny definitely is, along with the rearend. But it has no brakes, and it doesn't currently run, and the dash is all torn apart, and there's no seats in it, and, and, and...

So although I've been scratching away at getting it going, it just isn't there yet, and may very well not be there by the first of September. Sitting around on the computer Sunday morning, I was perusing Craigslist, and I saw a nondescript ad with no photo, for a '64 Chevy Truck. Runs and Drives, for $1800. I texted the guy asking for some pictures, and I got back pictures of an actually pretty good-looking original-looking '64 C10, that was - you guessed it - a Long Wheelbase Step Side, with 6 in a row and 3 on the tree. So I called the guy and asked a few questions. Long story short, it didn't take much convincing of the wife that we should just go buy the darn thing, since it guarantees a running, driving truck in time for the boy's 16th birthday! We drove over, bought it for $1500, and I proceeded to drive it 60 miles home on back country highways, with her following! I only had to clutch start it once, when I let it die while I was getting gas, and it was too hot to jump start. But once I got it going again, it drove fine all the way home! It starts on its own just fine now, after I gave the battery a good charge with the drive home.

So within one month, I've all of a sudden gone from zero to two classic trucks in the family! I'll post some pictures in the 60-66 section over the next few days.

[1ATony]

Welcome to the site