Another Newb Here...

[firefighter736]

Hey guys (and gals?). Completely new guy here... just joined the '66 club. Found this truck on Craigslist for $5000 and was able to get him down to $4200. Fresh rebuild of a 350 bored .30 over.. new exhaust. Only rust issue is the size of #2 pencil between the rocker panel and the floor and the rear outer floor by the seat belt buckle. Oh, the tail gate is toast, too

I'll try to get more pics of the rust and the engine bay.

I thought the price was a little high until I got to looking around what others were asking for a similar truck... thoughts?









Thought I'd throw a pic of my brother in law's '66 frame up resto in there as well

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

That's a decent looking truck. Does it seem mechanically sound? Does it have power steering, and power disc brakes? That price seems a little high to me for not being all one color, but the going prices on these trucks vary from area to area. But then again as long as there aren't any hidden rust issues, it is probably worth the price. What really matters is, are you pleased with what you got for your money?

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Hey welcome to the forum neighbor. I live in Buchanan and I saw that truck when it was sitting in the Sunoco station in Daleville with a for sale sign on it.
I stopped to take a look. The main thing I didn't like was the fact that either the front or rear coils (can't remember which) was heated so much that the coils are actually touching each other. I didn't spend a whole lot of time looking at it since I really don't need another truck. But it looked real solid.

[firefighter736]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Cap'n - truck has power steering but no power brakes. Def something I will look into real soon. Maybe 63 and 64 can echo (or maybe not, haha!) but it's rare to find a truck that doesn't have rust around these parts (mountains of SW Virginia). If you do find one then the price is usually astronomical. The body was real straight and had minimal rust (although it obviously had some spots fixed previously) so I'm hoping this is a good start.

63 & 64 - nice to see a local on here! I'm actually from Floyd but work in Salem. The body is real solid on this truck which kind of had me sold. I figured the coils had been heated but I'm going to be replacing those ASAP. I do like the stance of the truck but not at the detriment of safety and smoothness, haha!



I got burned on a 70' Ford Torino about a year ago.... bought it online and it showed up COVERED in rust. Learned my lesson on that deal real quick... what I also found is that those cars have absolutely no repro parts making it impossible to fix it for cheap. That's what I like about these trucks, it seems like almost every part is still being repopped.

[firefighter736]

Drove her home today - about an hour away. Was very pleased that it ran very well all the way home (heated up a little going up a mountain, but cooled off when I hit the E-Fan). Held about 30psi oil pressure all the way home... even got a thumbs up from an older gentleman at the gas station.

Checked the coils and were pleased that they weren't completely flat (haha). Coils will def be in the plan but it rides OK with them in the current condition.

I think the first thing that needs to be changed is the instrument cluster... Everything seems to be working alright (except for fuel gauge) but my speedo was almost pegged when I was doing 65. I was thinking about doing an aftermarket cluster... any thoughts on a good one or is it easy to make a custom cluster?

[Captainfab]

There are aftermarket dash panels available that make it easy to make cluster with aftermarket gauges. I like the ones available from Boese engineering.

http://www.boeseengineering.com/

Of course you can make your own if you have the skills and tools to make one. There is a thread on here that shows some custom instrument clusters.

[jyaughn]

very nice looking truck

[firefighter736]

Quick question for anybody that can help. I'm looking at what I need to fix in re: outer cab floor, rockers, a pillar. What I noticed is that there is some rot at the Fender Shield bracket. How exactly is that attached to the truck? Is it bolted behind the lower a pillar? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[shortbed70]

First off nice rig reminds me of when I bought mine 6 years ago for 5k. Now doing the whole thing over (correctly) Second welcome to the board. As far as the rust issue look at lmc,earlyclassicenterprises,chevyduty,cpp,or my favorite for body panels browns truck parts.

[firefighter736]

Thanks, shortbed. Just looked through your build thread. Amazing truck and amazing fab work.

I'm going to be buying my parts from Top Banana as they are local and have better prices + no shipping compared to Brothers and LMC.

I'm a noob to this all so I'm trying to figure out where that Fender Shield Bracket fits in. There are three bolt holes and I'm just thinking that it fits between the A pillar and footwell? Or does it attach to the lower cowl?

[ChiefRocka]

Nice truck man ... welcome aboard !!

[Rusteeze64GB]

sweet truck ready for some work

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by firefighter736

I was thinking about doing an aftermarket cluster... any thoughts on a good one or is it easy to make a custom cluster?

Here are some earlier threads that should provide a bunch of ideas, along with suppliers of custom gauge panels:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...strument+panel

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ht=guage+panel

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ht=guage+panel

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ght=dash+panel

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ght=dash+panel

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...h+panel&page=2

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ght=dash+panel

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ght=dash+panel