Questions – Looking at buying a 1966

[NorthshoreChevy]

I'm looking and buying a 1966 Chevy pickup. The cab and body look to be in good shape with minor rust spots at the base of the tailgate and some blistered up rust on driver side fender under primer. The motor is the six cylinder that's pretty much the same as original.

I would want to paint it, put the wooden slats in the bed and a few other things. What type of money am I looking at to paint and fix the bed? What other things usually come up in a truck this age?

[Budman56]

depends on what you want to do with it, i would suggest making a list of everything that you can find wrong with it then a list of wishful items, then when your all done only tackle what really needs to be done to make it safe to drive. as far as painting it, your looking at about 1k to 3k and up for paint depending on what kind of paint. as for the usual thing wrong with these trucks its mostly grounding issues, rust at the doors, fenders, and roof line, pillars, and floor boards. I would suggest looking really close at the all these areas for rust, because even it you dont think you see any I can bet there is rust hiding there somewhere and unless you are a body man and can tackle the repairs that can get expensive. other than that these are great old trucks, I can say that because I have had nine of them and currently am working on a 65 3/4 ton.

[NorthshoreChevy]

Originally Posted by Budman56

depends on what you want to do with it, i would suggest making a list of everything that you can find wrong with it then a list of wishful items, then when your all done only tackle what really needs to be done to make it safe to drive. as far as painting it, your looking at about 1k to 3k and up for paint depending on what kind of paint. as for the usual thing wrong with these trucks its mostly grounding issues, rust at the doors, fenders, and roof line, pillars, and floor boards. I would suggest looking really close at the all these areas for rust, because even it you dont think you see any I can bet there is rust hiding there somewhere and unless you are a body man and can tackle the repairs that can get expensive. other than that these are great old trucks, I can say that because I have had nine of them and currently am working on a 65 3/4 ton.

I'll try to make a list of things that I want to do. It's a safe driver now, so I can move on to other things that need work. I wouldn't be in a huge rush to complete it. I'd rather take my time.

[AcampoDave]

A bed re-do can be cheap as exterior plywood with the stock strips bolted on the top using hardware store carriage bolts. That's what I did. When painted nicely, it looks good and the casual observer would never know its not planks. I guess I spent around a hundred bucks on that job start to finish. And that's buying 2 sheets and hiding the seam under the middle bedstrip.

[kieth]

Originally Posted by NorthshoreChevy

I'm looking and buying a 1966 Chevy pickup. The cab and body look to be in good shape with minor rust spots at the base of the tailgate and some blistered up rust on driver side fender under primer. The motor is the six cylinder that's pretty much the same as original.

I would want to paint it, put the wooden slats in the bed and a few other things. What type of money am I looking at to paint and fix the bed? What other things usually come up in a truck this age?

I have a inexpensive tablesaw that I got at Harbor Freight a few years back. cost about $100.00. I went to Mar-K's website and got the dimensions of the boards for my 66, bought white pine at a local commercial lumber company that were large enough and long enough to cut down. cost $55.00

Borrowed a set of old dado blades from a friend, cut the boards as shown on Mar-K. painted them as shown in Mar-Ks instructions.

cost total about 150.00 for wood and paint.....

saved enough money to splurge for polished SS hardware and bolts..

total about $ 350.00

after cutting to spec's:
http://kieth.smugmug.com/Trucks/66-G...rLzpm&lb=1&s=A

installed and painted:
http://kieth.smugmug.com/Trucks/66-G...6113&k=DZW9XDm

If you reused the existing bed strips and only new bolts it would cost less.

Kieth

[spacedebris]

Paint, depending on what quality of a job you want (rat rod, driver, show and shine, or concourse) it can get very expensive.

You can always try those cheap Macco or Earl Scheib paint jobs for under 1K (although I dont recommend it, if they last 2 years your lucky). For a typical driver quality job, your likely looking at somewhere in the 2-3K range.


As for other things to look for or that crop up. Even if the truck is a driver now, take a hard look at all the "rubber" on the truck. I'd spend money on things like...break lines, radiator hoses, fuel lines, body mounts, and suspension components. Unless they've already been replaced in the last 10 years or so, I'd replace them or at least give them a good inspection.

Also inspect the wiring very closely. No telling what kind of shape the wires are in or what kind of hacking has been done in the last 47 years. Most wiring is out of sight and frequently overlooked.