70 SWB 'Grandpas truck'

[Jonny Hotnuts]

My grandfather purchased this truck new in 70. He owned a dairy/sheep farm and needed this truck to feed the cows/sheep. He was a very 'salt of the earth' sort of guy and got the truck with as few options as it could of. This was not because he didnt have the money; he would of viewed 'options' as unneeded fluff. He would of likely not gotten a heater, windows, seat belts or paint if they offered these luxurious options as well.

My dad bought this truck in from gramps in 80(ish). Both my sister and I learned to drive in this truck. It had a 3 tree shifter replaced with a floor shifter and the engine was replaced with a reman at some point. I 'think' the truck has in excess of 300K miles.

I elected to start a build today (12/5), however have been tinkering with it for a few months. I was finally able to make enough room in the garage to fit it. This was more difficult than it should of been, I have a number of other stuff taking up room. There was no way I was going to start getting deep into this project with it getting cold/rainy every day.

-I know gramps would be rolling over in his grave if he knew I was going to add 'fluff' to his old farm truck but its days of hauling hay are over and I like some tasteful updates.





Look! Plenty of room! LOL
The 1938 has been in the family since 65 when my pops traded two St. Bernard pups for it (champion level dogs). Not pictured is a 66 Porsche 356 and a few motorcycles. Clearly I have too much S*^t....



Check out this SPID!



Grandpa put this on the day the brought it home.



Im not sure but I think this squirrel is feeling sick. I hope he feels better soon.



Genuine cat tracks!



Fun stuff in the glove box.


Planning on:

Disc brakes and 5 lugs.
Fix rust (its not perfect but not too bad).
Fill holes.
Fix steering slack (balls, ties and linkages)
Engine swap- something elegant and refined without being overstated. I was actually considering [dont kill me, I elected to do something else] but install the supercharged Toyota 3urfe 5.7 [4 valve, all aluminum, VVT]) almost visible in the first pic. Likely I will do a boring LS yawn motor even though I hate the whole push rod, 2 valve thing.
Auto trans.
Lower it as much as it can without needing the frame cut or affecting road manors.
Wheels.
A little sound proofing.
Replace door/window seals.
Considering shaving all emblems, side markers.
Fix all interior issues.





~JH