Someone save this truck

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by BigBird05

Does the blue paint go all of the way to the windshield?

On the exterior, it used to have the white top that someone covered in the new lighter blue when they did the overall respray. On the interior, that's the original color right up to the windshield.

If that's not what you meant, show me what you are looking for and I'll get a picture for you.

[LT7A]

Cool to see this connection made and a truck get saved. Nice work fellas.

[toolboxchev]

I am heartbroken and ecstatic all at the same time. What great thing has happened here.

Saved from reincarnation as a chinese refrigerator!

Lets see the progress!

[REDROCKER652002]

When my son is ready to pull the trigger on a motor, or when I get my dead ass up and moving on my dad's 56, these are the guys I am likely to go with. Check out their youtube video tour of the shop. Seem like a good company and reasonable prices.

https://blueprintengines.com/

Not cheap, but in my mind, a good motor is worth it. Good luck with the truck.

[57taskforce]

This seems to have ended up being a great deal for the truck and Thundarr. I’ll be honest if no one had ponied up and saved it, I would have stepped in with in a day or so if it was still there. I refuse to let a perfectly good truck in that shape get scrapped. Luckily that yard is pretty good about selling specimens like this whole rather than parting them out initially. I would have slapped it back together and sold it off, as I’m not really into keeping another truck right now.

[Thundarr]

Just a heads up to those anxious for updates. My progress will be slow other than the professional help I'm ready to invest on the body, paint and motor. Can't do the work myself until I retire in another 10 years.

But I promise, I will post updates with the plan to have it on the road in less than two years.

[Getter-Done]

I am following along

I like your truck








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[Thundarr]

OK Gents,
Just had to clear the garage space and get the bed lift system setup. I don't have a hoist so we rigged some sturdy racking with a come-along and 2x4 inner bed framing. I've got to grab some quick clamps to hold it onto the bed rail, but should I add a couple more supports further out or will this do? Plan to do it tomorrow.



Question for the historians.
What are these layers of paint? Clearly this truck was repainted at some point, poorly at that. But I see, dark brown, white, grey, yellow and then blue. So, was this originally a two tone yellow and white truck? Because I found the same on other panels than just the tailgate.

[Thundarr]

Could it have been one of these?

[LT7A]

To lift my bed I did something similar to what you have but I ran 2x4s longitudinally to spread out the weight along the bed rails so I ended up with a big H with two crossbars.

[57taskforce]

It’s not likely that the yellow was a top coat in my opinion, more likely a sealer or primer. Reason I say this is because there’s no primer layer between the yellow and blue. The spid will tell the tale on it(I don’t remember what it said from when I looked at the truck)

Dark brown is the factory primer white is likely the original color on the top of the gate, then the grey primer and maybe a yellow sealer or high build primer, then the top blue. If I Remember right that truck looked to me like it was originally medium blue and white two tone. I remember seeing the blue and white behind the door weather strip I think.

I’d bet a dollar that the dealer on the 30 day tag under the seat was the one who painted it. They were a pretty big flipper around here for several years.

[davischevy]

The racks will support it easily, but I would put a spreader between those 2x4's so they don't roll.

[Thundarr]

Awesome. Thank you.
The interior original color is definitely blue, you can see it is factory sprayed all up under the dash. I was just worried that the bed was not original. That yellow layer confused me.

I'm encouraged, because I've recruited the help of my facility manager, Chris, to stay after work a few days a week to help me.

Bed comes off tomorrow. We'll start to disassemble the rear section behind the cab. Clean and repaint that half of the frame with Duplicolor Frame Paint.
Got an orbital sander today with multi-packs of 120 and 220 sanding discs, so we'll start taking the body down to bare metal and uncover the areas of bondo.

Hope to save some money on the body and paint by doing the paint removal first. For the deep corners where I can't reach with a sander, what medium would you recommend for grit blasting? I've got a setup form Northern Tool that worked pretty good with walnut shells but that was for easier paint to strip. I just don't want to mess up the garage with that Black Diamond stuff.

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by LT7A

To lift my bed I did something similar to what you have but I ran 2x4s longitudinally to spread out the weight along the bed rails so I ended up with a big H with two crossbars.

Originally Posted by davischevy

The racks will support it easily, but I would put a spreader between those 2x4's so they don't roll.

Thanks guys, never done it and it felt like I needed a bit more structure/support. Glad I asked.

[Thundarr]

Even with virtually no rust, the bed mounts were stubborn so we went at them on top with grinder:


Lifted out with ease:


Under side view of the tool compartment:


57taskforce on point again. Originally Blue but with a two tone white stripe. That is definitely coming back on this big boy:

[57taskforce]

Awesome work! That’s actually a really smart way to lift the bed, I think I will copy in the future.

[Getter-Done]

Thanks for the Pictures or the rear brackets of the Tool-Box

This is the first time I have seen these.

Great progress






.......

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Awesome work! That’s actually a really smart way to lift the bed, I think I will copy in the future.

Thanks, I was going to use two come-alongs but decided to just try it out with the one. It was a little awkward reaching in to the handle, but I got lucky eyeballing the center of gravity and it worked great.

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Thanks for the Pictures or the rear brackets of the Tool-Box
This is the first time I have seen these.

Let me know if you need any others. I'll be pulling it apart soon.

[Thundarr]

What about these brackets circled in red? The bed mounted to the spaces in front and back in the picture, but these were unused.
What are they for?

[YellowK5]

The second cross brace just sits on them

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by YellowK5

The second cross brace just sits on them

Makes sense, but it sure feels like an opportunity. I'm thinking maybe set in a few stainless rivet nuts. Could be use for internal tie down or mounting a temporary hoist.
Anybody done that before?

[Ol Blue K20]

I never though about it. It might be a great idea.

[Thundarr]

Until we get going on paint removal, I went after the ignition lock.

This truck had, at some point, four separate keys (ignition, drivers door, passenger door and tool box compartment. I had keys remade for both doors hoping that one of them would fit the ignition. NOPE.

So I ordered a new matching set of ignition and both doors and then found the thread that describes drilling out the ignition to remove it.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=510685

To my amazement it all came out in about 5 minutes with three increasing sized bits. Once again, the forum comes up aces.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Nice when a plan comes through, this is very cool. 3K was a great buy.

[Ol Blue K20]

Good job! Progress is happening!