Hello from another Okie!

[Big_Mike]

Well, I finally joined after reading through several threads in several of the different forums. Seemed like every google search I did for information on 67 to 72 chevy trucks took me to somebodies thread on this site. LOL!

I own three trucks (I know, a little ridiculous). I have a '73 chevy that I bought when I was 17 or so, a '67 chevy that I bought a year or two ago from a kid that had parked it b/c he didn't know how to keep it running, and now I own a 70 chevy. Soon as I pull the motor and tranny (and anything else that I might want to keep) from the '73, it's going to the junk yard. There isn't a door, fender, or any other body panel on it that isn't rusted out. Problem is, growing up I learned how to fix engines, trannies, suspensions, swap them out, etc., but nobody in my family is a body man or knows how to do any body work at all. So my poor '73 just got worse and worse over the years and I lived in an apartment complex when I got out of school, so had no facilities (let alone money and "know how") to fix it.

The current plan is to eventually take the engine that is in the '73 (383 small block, comp cams 280 cam, etc.) and put it in teh '70. Problem is that the '70 has rust issues as well (what vehicle this old wouldn't) and so I'm back to having to learn to do body work. Not interested in paying someone else to do it b/c although I make reasonably good money I don't have that much and besides I don't feel like you can get quality work done anymore. I fix all my own stuff these days b/c if you take it to someone it comes back with more problems than it went in with (at least in my experience). Plus I don't like having to depend on anyone else, I like being able to do stuff myself. However I'm not a patient person and I look at a project like this and get overwhelmed. I see pics of people cutting out rotted/rusted panels and welding in patch panels and it looks like it takes incredible skill and ability to do and I'm afraid that I (and my friend who is helping me) don't have it. For instance we started on the drivers' side door of my '67 (before I bought the 70) and we still don't have that door back together. Learned pretty much everything not to do, but didn't really have anything that I'd call success with it. The botom outside of the door was rusted out, so I bought a door skin. We cut the door skin off and found that the bottom pan was rusted so bad that it was too flimsy, so I bought the "lower pan". Needless to say he cut that lower pan off the other day and went to put the new one on and some of the lines don't really line up (guess that's why people joke about "sorta fit"). Since neither of us has experience in this I'm wondering if we aren't in over our heads and how we will figure out how to do this so that I might have a truck one of these days.

I guess what I'm hoping to find here is help and encouragement. That's the one thing I've noticed reading through the build threads of others on here. People seem to give one another a lot of encouragement and I've noticed that people are really good about helping one another out. What I mean by help is advice, pointers, tips, etc., especially in the body work, metal work, etc., b/c for the most part I got the engine, tranny, suspension, brake stuff handled.

Goal: Create a nice daily driver using the '70 chevy. Not building a show truck and I have to keep reminding myself of that, just a nice daily driver that isn't going to rot away underneath/around me. Rust is mainly what I'm concerned with. If the metal isn't striaght or isn't all the same color, I don't really care, but rust has to be stopped so it doesn't rot away like the '73 did.

I know how you guys love pics so I'll try to get a camera and get some pics of the '67 and the '70 (and maybe a few of the '73 to remember it by, lol).

Thanks!

[Jerry Jones]

You have "stumbled" onto the right place.

Welcome aboard from Northern California!

[scotts62]

Wow I'm going to have to read all that sometime when I'm not on my phone


from your neighbor in OKC !!

[Liz]

nothing at all ridiculous about 3 you should get another to even it out
welcome!

[1ATony]

welcome to the site.

[JohnC]

Welcome from over in Noble, OK