My '63 Restomod Build

[0ldSoul]

Where to begin? Well, the saying third time's a charm. I've had 2 other 63s prior to this one. The first one was a short bed, big back window, custom deluxe cab with many options. Swapped a 350/700 in it and came as close as needing a drive shaft and wiring to make it a driver before life happened. Wife and I needed to move out of state and sold that one for way too cheap.

Few years went by, we had kids and you know how that goes. Couple years later we found a project 1963, super cheap. Cheap enough that we brought it home and tore it down the next day just to find out it had a bent frame. Parted that out, made some cash while holding on to a few good parts.

Few more years went by. It's now been at least 12 years since the first truck. Looking back, I yearned for that same configuration. Short bed, big back window, deluxe cab. Man, you know the saying.. don't know what you got until it's gone.

I was searching the web one day just to see what was out there. Really wasn't even thinking about buying yet since I was about to leave on orders. I wanted something that was a driver so we could actually enjoy it while doing things to it here and there.

Then I found what we've came to call Ol' Blue. I know, very original right?

It's not a short bed big back window, but it will get there.

Anyway, everyone likes pictures so here they are.




Got it plated and took my oldest to the car wash

[0ldSoul]

Alright, the pictures are insanely large for some reason. Before I continue posting, I need to figure that out. Stand by for the rest.

[0ldSoul]

Our relationship with Ol' Blue didn't start so hot. 283 is reliable and starts on command, but the 4 speed wouldn't shift correctly. One day it stopped shifting all together and I took the top cover off to take a peak. This is what we saw.



Not sure if you can tell, but the plastic shift interlock plate broke.



Upon further tear down, I concluded it was beyond my ability and took it to a transmission shop.
Worst part about this, it happened the day before I left on orders.

[0ldSoul]

While I was gone, the truck got fixed and it was back on the road, this time from what I understand the shift interlock plate was replaced with a metal piece and it should last a long time. Haven't had a problem since.
Here she is back on the road.



Shortly later we got orders to move to Washington state.



Wife and I each drove a moving truck and towed our vehicles from Colorado.

[0ldSoul]

Cleaned her up one day and took it to a car show in town.





This is the last picture before winter



Since winter came around, she was parked in the garage and it was time for some winter upgrades

[0ldSoul]

Parts and tools began arriving

[0ldSoul]

Long term goal is to have it on air suspension, convert it to a short bed, and big back window.

For now, we're going to replace the worn out drums for disc brakes, lower the truck 4.5/7 with drop spindles and 2" lowering springs up front, 5" springs and 2" drop blocks in the rear, new shocks with relocated brackets, ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, adding a sway bar, and then addressing the engine bay.

[0ldSoul]

And so it began.. 10Mar20 marked day 1





Well, that escalated quickly

[0ldSoul]

Didn't take long before the first bolt decided to give me trouble



That guy right there. The bolt head sheared off from underneath and all that was left was the threaded part through the trailing arm.

[0ldSoul]

I tried penetrating oil, torch, welded a nut to the thread on top to turn that with a wrench, chisel, air hammer.... not even going to admit how many days were spent getting it out.. lost many battles but I did win the war. It finally came out
..... with the air hammer. alot of it. lol

[0ldSoul]

Speaking of welding, this finally gave me the last push I needed to bite the bullet and invest in a quality welder so I can pickup where I left off back in high school. 13+ years ago when I took metal shop class, I got pretty good at welding in various forms but foolishly didn't pursue it, even as a hobby..
Glad I bought this Miller, it's been fun so far and I know it will be invaluable for many future projects

[88Stanger]

Welcome!
Just a note, that background looks very very very familiar. Anyways, nice ride there sir. Not sure of your knowledge of this site or your mechanical skills, but if you have questions, make sure and ask here, lots and lots of great help!!

[0ldSoul]

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

Welcome!
Just a note, that background looks very very very familiar. Anyways, nice ride there sir. Not sure of your knowledge of this site or your mechanical skills, but if you have questions, make sure and ask here, lots and lots of great help!!

Thanks, appreciate it. I'll send you a message soon when the truck is back on all 4 wheels and the pandemic settles down. Your 66 is coming along very nicely!

[0ldSoul]

Point of no return

[0ldSoul]

Finished up the rear

Before


After

[0ldSoul]

And then about two weeks ago, not sure why I waited so long, I finally got myself into a Silverado
Absolutely love it!!

[0ldSoul]

Now onto the front

[0ldSoul]

Cleaned up the control arms

[Android04]

Very nice looking truck.

[0ldSoul]

double post

[lownslw64]

Looks Good! Very clean work. Your doing a lot of good upgrades to your rig to make driving it nicer. Nice truck to start with also

[0ldSoul]

Originally Posted by Android04

Very nice looking truck.

Thank you, love the patina on your truck!

Originally Posted by lownslw64

Looks Good! Very clean work. Your doing a lot of good upgrades to your rig to make driving it nicer. Nice truck to start with also

Appreciate it. That was the goal, to make it drive safer and nicer. There's a small oil leak that I'm going to chase down in the engine bay, and I got a few new gaskets on hand but besides that, she's a solid driver.

[0ldSoul]

So while working on the rear, I noticed the PO had botched up the tail light wiring harness. Yesterday after finally putting wires back together, my tail lights stay on even after the truck is turned off.

Turn signals flash on the correct sides but the tail lights don't get brighter when I brake and they stay on.

I've read countless threads where people state check your grounds, so I'll do that.. but I don't think it could be a ground since they actually work, just not correctly? I think the wires might be connected wrong.

To make matters worse, it doesn't appear to be the original wiring harness because the 3 wires running back are not yellow green and brown. They're purple white and black. Fun.

Anyway, any guidance would be appreciated but that's what I'm going to take a look at today.

[0ldSoul]

Alright, after analyzing the scope of how bad the rear harness was.. and not wanting an electrical hazard while cruising with the family.... we decided to order 2 new harnesses and a set of grounding straps. The first harness is the one that runs from the front of the firewall down to the inside of the frame and to the rear, as well as the harness which then connects to the tail lights and license plate light.

The previous owner cut and spliced back together the current harness countless times.. sometimes with butt connectors, other times with bare wiring wrapped around each other and covered with electrical tape

Waiting on parts..

[0ldSoul]

Pulled it out of the garage to tighten the bolts that secure the bed to the frame and couldn't resist taking it out for a short cruise around base




Also, just noticed I need to clean those white walls.. they're filthy! haha