Finally started body work!

[Barnfind46]

I have owned this truck for about 15 years. It has looked the same except for the right front fender was changed two years ago. The old one was crunched and I found a nice,rust free fender for $50.00. My wife said it looked better wrecked. She hated the gold fender. I have been a paint and body guy all my adult life. You know the story. The shoe makers kids never had good shoes. The mechanics car was barely running. I am making the time to do the body work and will hopefully get paint on it before the end of the year. My wife loves old trucks and is wanting it to get done. Now that I have told all of you I better get busy and get some pictures up!

[Sparky dave]

I’m electrician and fuse box cover has been removed for over 10 years at my place with temporary wiring, we’re all the same! Nice work by the way

[Barnfind46]

I'm just glad my Wife likes the truck. With out her I may never get it done! I should get more done tomorrow.

[rjs53]

Nice work! just be careful, I just finished my truck about a month ago and haven't gotten to drive it yet. Wife likes it and wont give up the keys.

[70LonghornCST]

Great work! Your solid truck and fresh progress is inspiring. I can't wait to see as it transforms. It makes me want to go out and tinker with my truck

[Barnfind46]

Thank's for the nice comments! I was optimistic about working on the truck today. We got rain then fathers day stuff then rain. There is always tomorrow.

['68OrangeSunshine]

As a fellow Orange '68 with-a-strange-RH-fender sufferer, I share your pain.

[Barnfind46]

Nice orange stepper! Unfortunately the orange will not survive. I plan on painting my truck two tone aqua and white. White roof with white bottom with '68 trim. I have a 50's camper in those colors and I would like the truck to match.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by Barnfind46

Nice orange stepper! Unfortunately the orange will not survive. I plan on painting my truck two tone aqua and white. White roof with white bottom with '68 trim. I have a 50's camper in those colors and I would like the truck to match.

Noooo... So glad I'm not married. Orange is why I bought it.
Just kidding. It's your rig. Knock yourself out.

[68Gold/white]

So, I see it's a C20. I like those wheels!!! Did you get special lug nuts to fit the taper of the wheel...maybe obviously???

Have you posted any more about this gem here?

[Montierth]

Looking good. Looking forward to seeing the paint!

[Barnfind46]

I did a disk brake conversion from an 85 C-20 and bought lugs to fit. They are available with the outer threads to hold the lug covers and center caps. The conversion pushed the wheels out about an inch and a half on each side. I changed the rear end to a 2004 Silverado 14 bolt and bought metric lugs for that. The rear end pushed the rear wheels out about two inches on each side. The late model Chevy truck wheels have a lot of back space but they work well with the modifications. The wheels are not very wide but work well with these tires. I like the look and I ended up with four wheel disc brakes.

[Barnfind46]

I finally got some progress done. Welded up the unused holes from the dozens of mirrors my truck had. Next is the bed side.

[bill3rail]

Keep those pictures flowing!

[Barnfind46]

Hope to get more progress this weekend. I did get more paint materials coming. Painted the grill and front edge of the fenders and was not happy with the white I had. It was too yellow.Looked like french vanilla.

['68OrangeSunshine]

You going with White? Wise color choice for the Southwest. I had a '67 K/10 Suburban that was white. My '65 C/10 Stepside is Orange.
Even though the Sub had a lot more surface area of sheet metal to cook in the Arizona sun, it was always cooler to the touch than the Stepside.

[Barnfind46]

White roof and grill. Some shade if light green or aqua on the rest.I will be adding these emblems to the front fenders. My dads 68 had something like these with "396" on his.You can almost make them out on this old picture. Mine has a new "350" so I went with these.

[Barnfind46]

Got back on the truck. Started stripping the paint from the bedside. A replacement bedside had been installed at some point. The paint has been original on this truck but the right bedside had signs it had been repainted. The paint was cracked and was thicker than the rest. When I got down to metal you could see gold paint was the original color. Still rust free so I'm not complaining. I welded up some holes in the side of the bed that were anchor points for a slide in camper. I hope to get the dents taken care of this Sunday. At some point I will need to remove the shell. Right now I am storing the parts I pulled off. Wife wanted to go camping this weekend. Told her the truck was out of service until further notice! At least she likes camping.