Tomorrow The '63 Comes Off Of The Hill

[magwakeenercew2jh]

I bought a long fleet '63 that runs. Smells like cat. It has a 327 and a 4 speed with a granny. Four may-pop tires. Broken glass all around. The rats have built several nests under the hood.

When I went to the dude's house - a really good guy I didn't know before this transaction - he told me that he rebuilt the 327, and the motor has about ten miles on it. All on his Llama ranch. And all in first gear...."wa, wa, wa" thru the mud at 200 RPM for six years.

I paid him and took the paper work to DMV...It was non-op'd. I paid $202 for

While I was gone, he pulled some ancient tool boxes. I came back the next morning with new plates and stickers good for 18 months. He told me that the Harley stickers were all mine. He said, "The glass for the driver's door is there, but it fell down in the door".

After about an hour trying to get it running, he gave me the keys to HIS truck (He'd picked me up a couple of miles down the dirt road to his ranch. That's where the Jeep was parked, so I was stranded)...I drove down and picked up a battery. We sprayed some starter juice in, pumped up the brakes after loading in some new brake fluid....I was off......

I hit Highway 41 and the motor purred like a kitten. Like the truck smelled. Ran smooth. Smelled like cat. Good thing there were no windows.

Really funny thing was that I was going down the road, hair (what's left of it) blowing around and catching ten or more years worth of leaves...Bull Durham wrappers and other junk flying around so much inside the cab I almost couldn't see the road. Plates taped on the tailgate and inside the on the dash.

When I was rolling through the 3 mile mark, about half way to my house, another Chevy...same year, I think, drove by the opposite direction. The guy waved. I waved back. Cool.

Tomorrow, I'll take pics and post them...She's a roach, to be sure.

Plans and help needed:

I REALLY want to make her short. Maybe Fleet. Maybe a Stepper. Somebody here was very nice on showing his fine metal work on the frame and offered advice. But his work was so good I could never even get close.

Does anyone know how to cut the frame down so I could get my ironworker friends to chop it and re-weld with some strengthening brackets or gussets...whatever... so I can use a stock short bed?

Next, I'll mock up a tranny...whatever good one I can find on a budget...350 probably because of the availability...Shorten the driveshaft. Take the long bed to the metal reclaimer. Look for a shortie.

You all know the rest.

Thanks for any help with the frame chop measurements.

[62 short step]

Nothing like a good story to go along with picking up a new truck! Awesome, post some pics when you can or the pic sheriff will catch you!!

[kizer]

Congrats man. I love those stories of an old truck up and going again.

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by magwakeenercew2jh

I hit Highway 41 and the motor purred like a kitten. Like the truck smelled. Ran smooth. Smelled like cat. Good thing there were no windows.

Good thing you didn't lick anything.

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Here are some pics.
http://magwa.smugmug.com/gallery/779...04779116_PPRoX

Didn't do much today. 5 gal of gas w/Stabil, scraped about thirty HD decals off, swept out the cab....found out my 5 lug Rallys wont fit on 6 lug plates.



The P.O. had mentioned it, but the red is ground and the black is positive. I forgot. Toasted a wire, but caught it before it shredded the fuse block.

Can you believe someone welded (sort-of) a bunch of horseshoes on to the sheet metal of the bed....Now *that's* a Farm Truck.

I guess I'll take the pressure washer to the engine compartment on Monday. The weekend is reserved for SWMBO...gardening season. I'm finishing her birthday present. Made a 10 x 10 greenhouse out of schedule 40 PVC.

When she came home and saw the '63 off of the hill, she thought someone was here visiting....Hahaha!!!

I said, "Pretty roachy truck, huh?". She said, "Yeah, your clothes are filthy".

Anybody know the best nasty-juice to splash on the motor before I hit it with the washer?

Still looking for that "where to chop the frame" advice.

[protrash64]

I have used Oil Eater for years. It works really well at getting grime off. DO NOT get a good whiff of it.....it burns your lungs. Seems I always get a whiff when Im sprying it and the breeze catches it....other than that it does wonders for drying out your hands too.

The frames I have seen shortened are not cut straight. You will want to go from 127" to 115" wheelbase, usually done on the straight section behind the cab. They cut vertically down, horizontally across about a foot, and then vertically down again. Remove a section and make a new cut the same and butt them together. I think this allows for greater surface area on the weld. I have not done this, just seen it, so you're on your own from here on out........

Congrats on getting the party started.........

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Thanks much, Pro.

I'm looking forward to de-farming the '63. $lowly, but $urely.

I'm pretty good at cleaning, so I'll stay on that for a while. It alays makes the fun part a little more fun when the grease is at least "minimized".

[protrash64]

By the way.....the O/E Ive used for years is the same jug!!! Pour it in a squirt bottle and you can cut it with water. I usually keep filling up my bottle when cleaning up a bunch of parts...when it gets weak I top it back off with some more O/E.

Yes, clean parts are nice, but you can use the O/E on your greasy clothes, too!

[old Chevy guy]

I hate you guys on the west coast,you buy the old ratty farm truck and its stiill 100 times nicer than any truck you can find for any amount of money over here in the east coast rust belt! LOL

[TwiggyTheDrummer]

Man, that's not bad to start with. You didn't happen to find a petrified cat under the seat did you?

[daverod]

Nice old truck !! Congratulations on your find. It sounds better if you say it smells like *****. Good luck Later Daverod

[magwakeenercew2jh]

A very little bit of work on the '63 today. Powerwashed the engine compartment. The 2" of thick grease has now turned to 1/2" of caked-on grease.

I added a few pics to the first ones here:

http://www.magwa.smugmug.com/gallery...5_wtWGk#P-1-20

I don't know what I'm gonna do with this truck. The motor is slimy. But smooth.

Of course, she didn't like the high pressure wash...even though I hid all of her private parts, some water got in and caused some serious "popping".

I used some paint spray cans to do my kind of body work today. No sand paper. No bondo. No nothin'...just wash, dry and paint. Maybe I'll make a 30 footer out of her.

Oh, I opened both doors and had at the cat-smelling interior with the power washer, too.

I can tell you all that if I'm gonna keep working on this truck, I'm gonna need to find a hood spring somewhere. I looked in LMC and they don't sell 'em. Someone on ebay had a hinge and spring...He was reasonable on the parts, but made up for it on "shipping and handling"...and was quite clear the hinge was a dog. I think my hinge is okay. But a spring is a must.

Oh, something "funny". The PO used an axe handle to hold up the passenger's side of the hood. Probably did that for 20 years.

I laid it across the motor the long way on the driver's side while I was in there cleaning up. Later, I decided to start the truck...or see if it would start.


It started. Also the belt kicked that 4' pole right at me and down under the truck in less than a second. Broke the clutch linkage loose. So I pulled my fat (trying to lose weight), 62 year old body under the truck. Found the culprit and patched 'er up. Stupid move on my part. But a truck that has a four speed with a granny needs a clutch.

Some day not too far down the line, I'll have a different tranny in this truck. But not now....

[chevroletrestoguy]

Looks good. That engine compartment cleaned up good. I like the wheels and tires on that truck. It reminds me of my grandfathers.

[chevroletrestoguy]

Here's a picture of the tires and rims on mine before I tore it apart. Rust was taking them over.

[daverod]

I'll have to get me some of those horse shoes and weld them to side of my work truck (it's a ford) , good for carrying that extra long stuff

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Yeah...I'm thinking about using the long bed and doing a cartoon-type truck...That is, cutting 12" of the back of the box. I found a big crack in the sheet metal that I could get rid of by doing that. Then I photo-shopped a member's truck and cut off the rear end. (Pic attached)

Looks funny in a strange way. I thought, "Lower and tubbed...Big 'ol tires...long wheel base...Cool cartoon"......I don't know!

For right now, I'm busy with some cans of rust-cover, which are great band-aids for making her a 30-footer until I'm ready to dig in. Oh, I also photo-shopped the rust down in the front fen...er, you all know where....and I blurred out some rust on the front bumper so I could decide if I want to put the work into trying to reclaim the chrome or go gray (and later...much later...) with color the way I did with the '72.

If that 327 didn't run so sweetly, she'd still be up on the hill. But never crushed....

[protrash64]

I used to see a bobbed truck running around here about 5 years ago...that pic totally brought me a flashback.

[aboz]

Hey man...if you still need hood springs I'll gladly send you the extra ones I have. I assume the're good. Just pulled the inner fenders from a junk yard '60 and the hood was missing so I don't know how they'll do under a load. All I would ask is that you pay the shipping. Shouldn't be more than $10. Probably less. I can't bear to let a fellow '63 go without.

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Great. Thanks. I'll PM you with my address. Let me know the shipping cost. And when you get out here, I'll buy you dinner. What great people we all are!!!!

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Proud of myself for really no reason...Most of you guys are so tuned in to the technical aspects of these trucks, or incredibly talented metal or paint artists. So I am not about to crow over fishing a window out of a door.

But here is what was cool. The window on the driver's side was GONE...something was clanking around in there. The passenger's side glass is broken....but rolls up and down if I have to...I DON'T have to...I'm not driving this truck.

I pulled the rusted up inner door panel off of the driver's side. Turns out...it was only a little rust and five coats of different color paint.

In the bottom of the door "well" was the window. Took me a while, but I figured out how to get it out. Sideways...straight up... and out.

Then I weasled a Maglight thru a hole in the inner door "skin" and saw (among other gross stuff), a bar that apparently holds the window. Laying in the bottom of the well.

Fished it out with a bent coat hanger. Now I had a puzzle. "Ask the Forum?"...Naaawww....

Pull the other door panel and check out how it works. I pinched some fingers and pulled a bunch of rot out....Stuff that looks like it costs $$$$ to replace, as I looked on LMC Truck...But replace, you got to do....

Lined everything back up, slipped the window into the "traveling beam"...or whatever it is...rolled it all the way up and took the window winder handle off so I don't get stupid and try to raise and lower it with no felt in there. And with all the other stuff stripped out.

I thought it was cool that I could figure it out. That's what I love about these trucks....

A little at a time.

[protrash64]

Sounds cool to me......every time I mess with a door it turns into something frustrating....and your sportin a 2-tone primer paint job!!!!

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Originally Posted by protrash64

Sounds cool to me......every time I mess with a door it turns into something frustrating....and your sportin a 2-tone primer paint job!!!!

Yup. Just me, some 3M tape and my new friend Rustoleum. Roughed up the front bumper and gave it a Rust-O bath today. Next is the grille.

I painted the headlight rings the gray and am thinking about the red for the grille. It's either that or white, but I'm leaning towards the red. Then, I'll finish the roof, start the sanding to even it up. For me, it's something to do while I'm doing more important stuff. Like figuring out what to do with the bed. How to fix some of the rust without trading in my grandkids, looking for a carb that makes more sense, sourcing a tranny (thinking about four speed these days ...dumping the one with a granny that's in there), fixing the side glass and windshield, attacking the cab interior....And when I'm done with all of that....it'll probably come apart and get a proper rubbing starting with the frame.


What do y'all think on the grill color?
As they say, "It's All Good".

[protrash64]

Are those the original wheels from the first pics??? They look really clean or new.

[killthewabbit]

Nice find, and the horseshoes made me lol.

[Old School Kid]

The best part about the rattle can is if you don't like it , pull out another 5$ and try a different color....... I Would try the red, if it looks a little Mickey mousey you can always try a different color.... might take a few coats but hey, thats the fun part!!! Lookin good!