Finally Mine After 13 Year Quest! (and a few questions)

[mdwilf]

I've been "lurking" on here for a few years, doing a lot of reading but never posting until recently. Anyway.......... I just have to tell the story of my 13 year quest to get "Jean" (named for the previous owner). It's a long one, so run to the bathroom if you have to & get a beverage on your way back.

Jean is a 70 1/2 ton LWB. 350, auto, factory air. I got her (indirectly) from the widow of the second owner, who acquired her in 72 or 73 and loved her (so I'm told). I've loved the 67 -72's since I was a kid and it was love at first sight when I saw this truck. I had to have her. As soon as I knew the lady of the house well enough (her husband had alzheimer's by this time), I told her I would like to have a chance to buy the truck if she ever sold it. With a loud sigh she said "That truck. Everyone wants it, but I'll add you to the list. You'll be number 6. The first few are nephews & family. The rest are neighbors & friends." (I guess she literally had a list) Over the years, I would drive by the truck nearly every day for my job and cast long loving looks, and if the opportunity presented itself I would remind the owner of my interest. Steadily I worked my way up the list to #3 (!!!) I went on to restore a 72 with a friend & started acquiring parts and pieces for my own restoration "someday".

Fast forward to 2008. I had several parts of trucks sitting around, nearly enough for a truck of my own, and I was driving an unrestorable rust bucket 69 with a 67 front clip. I was hip deep in a family toy project & since gas was $4 a gallon, the budget was already tight. Of course, as life goes, that is when the phone rang. "I'm ready to sell my truck & #s 1 & 2 have passed on it." My heart sank - I just couldn't do it right then. She asked if I knew anyone else who might be interested, so I gave her number to a friend that owns several 67 -72s in hopes that at least she would go to a good home. He bought the truck, so my chance was gone - this guy NEVER sells anything. I ended up building a very solid cab out of two cabs in my spare time & was hoping to finish my restoration later this year.
I started a restoration on a 68 swb for a friend late last year, only to discover that the cab was not worth saving. The owner made me an offer on my cab sitting in the corner, and before I knew it I was hunting for another truck for myself. As I was passing the word around that I was looking for a solid cab, my friend told me he would consider selling me "the gold truck" because he'd gotten sidetracked on other projects and "after all the previous owner will be happy knowing you have it". Yes!!!! A second chance!!! He was kind enough to let me buy it for what he had in it. A true friend - you know who you are. I keep looking in the yard to be sure that after 13 years of drooling, hoping, dreaming, I finally have her!!!!

To be honest, she's not quite a cherry as she looks. Underneath it needs the floor supports, and just a little floor work - but not bad. At some point in the past, the rockers have been replaced and the whole truck was repainted. There's some rust bubbling on the quarters and the tailgate, but its complete & pretty much unmolested. The only thing not original is the motor and the carb, which was replaced with a new GM motor in the mid 70's because they had it in the dealership for service over the weekend & someone broke in and stole every v8 out of every vehicle in the service department! The carb is some sort of an old Holley.

Well, if you haven't quit reading by now I have a few questions: on the tag in the glovebox (see pic), I noticed the option codes have more letters than others I've seen. Anyone know why? Also, the trans (turbo 350) seems to have a drain plug on the front of the pan - anybody ever seen this before?

As far as my plan, she'll get a frame off sometime, I'll convert her to 5 lug, keep the trim, probably move the gas tank, and keep the gold & white, but change it up a little - maybe with some sort of blue accents or something. But for right now, I'm going to do what it takes to get her on the road & enjoy the fulfillment of a 13 year dream!!

Thanks for reading my post & feel free to chime in. Ignore the dates on the pictures.