Task Force Buyers Guide?

[Turbokidd]

Good morning everyone!

I'm a newbie to this forum and to working on early GM trucks. I'm thinking about buying a Task Force truck in my area, and was looking for a guide as to what to look for, what to avoid, where these trucks rust, etc. Is there a FAQ for this?

I'm coming from modern, import cars but have always wanted a classic, as well as to restore and personalize a classic from the bones up. On those websites there are lots of FAQ's as to what to look for and how to do certain things.

The truck I am looking at is a '56 shortbed small window with some modifications already complete- Camaro front clip, camaro rear, 283 V8 and turbo 350, modern fuse box, GM power steering and tilt wheel, and gas tank relocated to the rear. The truck is somewhat rough but it "looks" like a decent base to start with. The body seems solid, it starts, stops and drive okay (the steering feels a bit overboosted and the brake pedal has some travel but stops firmly). It has a nice "rat rod" look to it.

My plan is to start small, fix and improve things that will make it safer and useful as a driver, and work my way up to a modern drivetrain, A/C, and cosmetics.

Before I sink any money into this, I'm just trying to cover all the bases and learn as much as I can.

I value your input!

Thanks,

Reid in Georgia

[Chevette]

They rust in the cab corners, the bottom of the front fenders, lower cowel boxes, bottom of the "A" pillar, the running boards and sometimes at the headlights. That sounds like a lot of rust, but I don't mean to say that every truck would have rust in all of those locations. Don't worry too much though, because there are plenty of patch panels availible at decent prices. I may have missed a few areas but in my experience that's most of them. You would also want to check for front clip alignment but I wouldn't think that would be a deal breaker, as most clip problems can be corrected. As for a buyers guide? I've never seen one and that certainly doesn't mean there isn't one.

[Turbokidd]

Thanks for your input; this truck had no obvious rust or bondo/patches, but I'm sure when I strip it, I'll find something. The inner running board are on both sides looked really good; I've seen pictures where the seems are really eaten up with rust.

The door bottoms look okay as well; some scale, but overall solid. The door gaps are really off, and the door edge on the lower right corner sticks out a bit. The doors are a but difficult to close- the owner says that's due to new weatherstripping.

Is it difficult to align the doors?

Thanks again!

[Chevette]

"The door bottoms look okay as well; some scale, but overall solid. The door gaps are really off, and the door edge on the lower right corner sticks out a bit. The doors are a but difficult to close- the owner says that's due to new weatherstripping".

I forgot to mention the door bottoms. There is a fellow that posts in this forum that did an exceptional re&re on his doors and posted the pics (you'll need to search because I can't remember who it was) but if you follow his pics and advise you'll have great doors. As for door gaps, they were terrible right from the showroom floor. There is also a thread posted by a fellow/fellows who did great panel alignment and gap fix. Wish I could tell you who it was, but they don't caall me "Al" for nothing.

[Turbokidd]

Thank you for the info; I'll do a search on those subject.

I appreciate the responses.

[Kim57]

Welcome.
You can check out my build thread. The link is in my sig.
You can also check out these two build threads to see what they did to repair the door gaps.
It takes time but is well worth the effort.
Kim
Kabwes build.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=440079
Tri5 nerds build.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=371513

[_Ogre]

front fender to door gaps can also be from the rubber cab supports collapsing from age/oil soak.
also saggy frame mounts from the trans x-member being cut out.

new rubber can make the door tough to close

[fabguy]

Door sag or misalignment could either be rusted hinge mount area or worn hinge bushings. I rebuilt my door hinges instead of buying new hinges (11.00 ea. Vs 60.00 ea). Then powdercoated them, Lower hinge pockets are extrememly common to rusting and so is the lower rear cab corners, not to worry though. Follow "Kabwe's" build and you could fix anything on your truck. I found ancient leaves and dirt in alot of hiden places on my cab and did alot of cleaning before it went out to paint, I want this Pickup to last through my son as he gets older.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Russell Ashley]

Hello Reid, if you would like to drive over to Lawrenceville sometime I can show you first hand what to look for. If you drive over in the truck that would even be better, I'd like to see it. I have replaced my door bottoms, inner and outer hinge covers, lower fenders, and drivers side hinge post, and rebuilt my hinges. The hinge rebuild probably should be the first step in getting the doors aligned and closing properly, but be aware that perfect alignment and even gaps were of little to no importance to GM when these trucks were being built. If you want perfect gaps you have to work for it. The good news is that if you do need any patch panels they are fairly inexpensive.

[Turbokidd]

Wow!

Thank you everyone for all the great information and guidance. I'm very impressed with this forum and it's members. I'm going to go back and look at the truck soon and look at it with a more critical eye.

I talked to the owner again; he said the truck has a working heater and the wiper motor worked (not sure if it's the vacuum system or an upgraded electric version), but he said it has no parking brake. It's got a Camaro rear axle with drums on the back. Question- would it be difficult hooking up a new parking brake, and is there some sort of kit out their? I ask, because I have a fairly steep driveway and frankly, I don't trust the transmission to hold it in place.

Thank you all again!

[mr48chev]

The guys pretty well covered every issue that you usually run into on that series of truck that might be hard to fix. From reading their build threads you probably know where most of the rust issues are.
On the doors, lift up on them (or have someone else lift up on them so you can watch) with the door open so you can see if there is movement in the hinges. That isn't a deal breaker though and is pretty well normal.

I'd also check on how the subframe was mounted and if the welds look good and the install it's self look good. If it doesn't look right that would be a deal killer as you would almost have to start over with a new frame.

On the park brake, if the cables are still on the rear end and the ends haven't been worn off dragging on the pavement you should be able to connect it to the original setup on the truck by making up a cable and hooking things up. You can usually have ends swagged on a cable at machine shops.

[Turbokidd]

When I looked at the truck last Sunday, I tried to check out how the Camaro subframe was attached and check out the welds, etc. It was difficult, because the truck was so low and was sitting on grass, but nothing looked obviously wrong or unsafe. However, I can't be 100% sure.