Not exactly a build thread...
 

I've had my truck for almost four years and I'm finally getting ready to fixing it up. Restoration my be overstating it, but by the end of the year (with a little luck, sooner than that), I hope to finally have it the way I want it.

My wife is having knee replacement next week, so I'm taking a few days away from the office to be with her. But I'm figuring since I'm going to be home I can take advantage of the time to do some parts swapping.

Over the last couple years, I've collected a rust-free bed, two pristine 72 doors and a right front fender along with an assortment of other parts and a little cash. My goal is to have all the "new" parts on the truck by the time I go back to work on June 23. After that, I'll need to find someone to replace the rocker panels for me as I don't have a welder. Then I can work on getting it ready for paint. My goal is to have it done in time for the Midwest All-Truck Nationals in September in Riverside, Mo.

Got started today by getting some paint and undercoat on a pair of new inner fenders. I used 3M undercoat on the underside and primed and painted the part that will show under the hood.

First photo is what I'm starting with. Next three are the completed inner fenders.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

Nice truck! A word of caution though. I have been through both knee replacements with my wife. For the first week I slept in the guest bed so I would not accidently touch her leg. Got up numerous times to give medicine and I never was away from the house for more then 10 min. It is not something they have done where you can leave them alone for very long at all. Give her all the help she needs and work on the truck later. Good news is that the new knees work well and my wife doesn't mind my being in the garage all the time now. Good luck with the wife and truck.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

I am guessing your wife has a new knee now. Tell her congratulations! All those exercise she was given to do are so important to a well working knee. Before long she will be on her feet and happy she got the courage to go thru the surgery. When you do get back working on the truck please post some pictures.

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Thanks for your note. She had the surgery yesterday and we're with the physical therapist as I write this. I'm sure it's no picnic for her but so far, so good.

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Give your wife your cell number and if she needs you call, welcome to the Forum, nice looking truck.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

Wife is on the mend and doing well, so today I was able to get outside to take care of some chores (read mow the lawn) and do a little truck work.

A couple years ago, I found a pair of rust-free 1972 doors from a guy that has a body shop at his house. The story he told me was that about 10 years ago somebody brought a truck to him to do a partial restoration, but never came to pick it up. Ten years later, he sold the doors to me.

Today I sanded out the road pits and other flaws in the paint then primed the bare spots. FYI, the only thing I had for a guide coat on the primer was some "Pimento" Krylon that the wife had lying around. For what it's worth, it's a spot-on match for 514 Red.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

Willie,

Glad your wife is on the mend.

The parts are looking good so far, keep up the good work.....

I'll see you in Sept.

LockDoc

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

Nice work Bill. I know you've been wanting to do this for some time now.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

Got a little bit done this weekend. More cleanup on the doors and wing-vents. Have rebuild kits for wings, just need to put them back together. This is going a little slower than I anticipated. Job and temperatures in the 90s has something to do with that.

Next goal is to get the new bed on the truck -- hopefully, this week. Then I'll have more room in the garage to work on other stuff, i.e. trim out the "new" doors and fenders, and start putting things back together.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

Slowly but surely, we're making progress. Rebuilt wing vent for driver's side. Passenger side was in worse shape than first thought so will be using vent that's on the truck right now. Have doors and fender ready for trim paint.

But the big news is I was finally able to round up enough help at the same time to swap the bed. Truck had a plastic bed liner when I bought it and now I know why. I knew the bed that was on the truck was in bad shape, but didn't realize how bad.

Hoping to talk with a guy tonight about replacing the rocker panels.

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More progress. Got the doors hung this week. You can see the old doors had were pretty much shot. Rockers were worse.

Found a guy last week to replace the rockers and cab corners for a reasonable fee. Dropped it off last night. Should be done in a week.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

Looking good Bill. Man your doors were in rough shape.

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Thanks Wayne. You should have seen the rockers! I think the reason the guy made a deal on the body work is that there wasn't much rocker panel left to cut off. :lol:

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

More progress. The truck has rocker panels again and new cab corners. But the big news is we won a trophy at the Midwest All-Truck Nationals this weekend in Riverside, Mo. Yep, despite blue fenders, red doors, green bed and various shades of primer, we won 3rd place in 1967-72 Street Class.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

Great to see you this weekend, and congrats on the hardware! Good solid parts!

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That's great Bill. You know we need more pictures right?

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It may be more lipstick on a pig, but it's progress nonetheless. Upgraded my stereo and added kick panel speakers. Mellancamp never sounded so good.

Also, I knew I wanted to put a bed cover on once I was done with the paint and pretty much decided on the Extang Black Max. It's a snap-down cover, which was all you could get back in the day and the price doesn't break the bank. Over Labor Day, they ran a special knocking an addition $25 off, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger. Since I had it I figured I just as well put it on instead of staring at it in the box taking up space.

Re: Not exactly a build thread...
 

When I ran soft covers, I always had Extangs. Good cover. Nice tunes!