Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn

[NewType72]

So here begins the story of my great grandfathers legacy, left behind on the other side of the family for the past 40 years as a so and so driven truck on their farm. Joe (great grandpa) was a good ole boy here on the west coast living the farmers life raising his family as all others were. The family had many GM vehicles through the years leading to a sale of the more than reliable 1953 Chevy pickup they used on the farm for the much more conventional 73 c/10 cheyenne he purchased shown shortly after. Boasting better mileage, quieter cabin, and much more fishing and camping trip friendly with the added wooden frame camper shell, she was ahead of her time for the year, at least for the good ole boy enjoying his later years. Spending his weekends taking my father out to the rivers and lakes to fish or camping and being sure to stir the pot and pull over after being a block away from home and letting my father learn how to drive to their next adventure at the age of 12/13 fully capable and completely fearful while flying down the freeways on occasion. That sure did rile up grandma and great grandma more than well enough I'm sure anyone could agree. Sadly that December of 73' Joe passed on leaving behind the truck, wonderful memories, and heavy hearts.

Supposing that eventually when he turned 16 the truck would be his, my father bided his time filling in on the farm for his aunt and uncle and coveting the truck as he went, but when the time came the truck stayed and it continued on for the 41 years after arriving in the family to aide in hauling, construction work, and occasional small trips. So begins the return of the truck that started it all for my father as he now, at the experienced age of 54, fully reunites with the truck of his boyhood dreams forever more. Through years of daily wear and tear and missed maintenance days and fender benders for body shops to poorly repair the truck finally sat for near seven years of recent before we were able to attempt reviving it with the blessing of some fossil fuel, new battery, and a little "think I can" she roared to life leaving smiles all round. Boy was she rough and on her last leg though. So begins the countless sleepless night of what to do on fixing her up.

[Ronzo]

I love it, and thanks for sharing the link on the FB page. Wish more people did.

[77K10Silverado]

Cool truck!

[NewType72]

Thanks Ronzo I never understood why we don't see more links to all the true builds on this site. It's a shame. More to come from this truck you'll love the engine detail.

Thanks for swinging through 77k10Sikverado I appreciate it!

[NewType72]

Homebound she came sitting in the street for a bit before getting a free weekend to finally tear into it all, after removing the camper and moving it on to another life with another local farm truck, we dive head first into the engine bay. Ridding ourselves and getting plenty of pictures of the previous setup of vacuum lines and oil pools galore we began seeing the worst, bent pushrods, sludge to no end and disappointment. So out she goes along with countless other operating systems such as worn starter, leaking radiator, and decrepit points distributor (which I chucked in an upcoming video)

[Hankster]

Cool story, Will be following! Love the 73 front special with that color 2 tone!

[NewType72]

Green and white have always ran in the family whether it be by previous vehicles or last name so we can definitely dig it thanks for joining with us on our journey Hankster!

[Hankster]

No problem! Thank you for sharing.

[NewType72]

Here comes all of the cleaning.. Oh joyous hard scrubbing minutes, elbow greasin hours, and detail days worth of time. But boy is it all worth it in the end.

[chuckmc8]

Ive also had trailer tires do that for seemingly no good reason

[NewType72]

Chuckmc8 so have we but that's simply from the weight of the trailer sitting on them constantly during the time they aren't being used. We've had many travel trailers through the years and the best way to store them is to lift the whole trailer off the ground at that point. We planned on new wheels and tires for this ride and the time being anyway.

[Wrecked1982]

nice truck body looks in really good shape

[NewType72]

Very clean indeed, aside from the repaired damage to the passenger side bed and cab corner she's fairly straight, no big dings though it has the Normal battery rot in the fender cup rom the other side of the family leaving it in the tray and the acid seeping out. Nothing a bit of body work and fab can't fix. Here's a shot of the inside of the bed which is flawless from my great uncle leaving exact size plywood on the floor. Thanks for checking it out Wrecked1982

[mattcrp1]

Nice truck and great story. That engine looks like my first engine did, "Pennzoil". LOL Can't wait to see how it comes out.

[NewType72]

The other side of the family were firm believers in "tractor mechanics can fix it all" and "never change your engine oil!" but I believe you are right sure looks like a pen soil job to me as well. Thanks for checking it out mattcrp1

[LSX408]

Nice truck!

[shawno72]

Looking good. I'm in

[Palf70Step]

I'm in. this should be another good build.

[NewType72]

Lsx408- appreciate it brotha!

Shawno72- welcome to the square side

Palf70step- glad to see you joined in the watch as well. She'll be a fun ride.

Got a ton to update still and even a huge step forward this Saturday to include through this week. Shall be fun for now and then more wait for parts. I'll try to keep it as interesting as possible for everyone but we all know builds hit speed bumps haha.

[Hankster]

That bed looks amazing!

[83swb]

That truck is gorgeous, I'm beyond jealous. Great story too.

[NewType72]

Originally Posted by Hankster

That bed looks amazing!

Probably the cleanest metal beds I've ever seen from these old trucks. We were stoked.

83swb
That truck is gorgeous, I'm beyond jealous. Great story too.

We thank you so much for checking it out. We're just so happy to have her back on the right side of the family to get taken care of and a bit spoiled

Hart_Rod
Nice truck. Are you keeping the camper top?

Much appreciated brother, unfortunately the camper is outside of our plans so it moved on from the truck after 40 solid years of service. Probably a main reason why the bed was so cherry.

[Hart_Rod]

Nice truck. Are you keeping the camper top?

[aggie91]

Great story so far and the trucks looks really good and should make for a super nice finished truck.

[bnoon]

Wow, I've never seen such a dirty ratted out engine come out of such a beautifully preserved truck!!! Amazing! At least you're handling it the right way by pulling it all out and going to seal her up all good n tight. Love the story too!