My story, my project, my pics

[PonyX]

So I have never posted here before. I came across these forums a couple of weeks ago and I have been lurking around a bit. I saw some other project threads so I thought I would post my own. I have included some pics of my project. Any feedback or advice would be welcome. I am from Calgary Alberta and I have a 1971 GMC 1500. It needs some work to get it to pass safety inspection so that is my first goal. Once it is running I will contemplate a frame off restoration but that is in the future for now. BTW I did not mention that this is the first time I ever take up this kind of project.

A bit of history
I bought the truck in '99 from my stepdad for $800.00. I drove it the way it was for awhile then the tranny started leaking then the brakes went. No money, no tools, no place to work on it caused me to park it. Until fall '05. I had a friend bring the truck to me on a trailer from Saskatchewan (where I am from and where the truck was parked.) I finally have a double garage and can begin to think about fixing up the truck.

My stepdad bought the truck in the mid seventies. When he and my mom got together in '79 he already had the truck and used to use it to deliver mail on a rural mail route. That is why the doors are so mangled. From all the rock chips. Anyway the truck has a lot of sentimental value. We used to go camping with it and my brother and sister and I would take turns riding the box. My stepdad passed away in February so unfortunately he will never get to see his old truck fixed up.

My plan
The truck has no brakes so I figured that would be a good place to start. Then I was thinking of getting it inspected then fixing whatever the inspection said it needed to get it road worthy. Once it is road worthy I will fix/clean up the interior and maybe try to do something with the rust. Once I feel confident I will attempt a frame off restoration. Oh yeah, it likely needs a transmission.

Good things about the truck.
-Rebuilt engine 350 INVADER. The engine runs good and does not burn any oil.
-Although there is some rust the body panels seem solid.
-Despite the rust the truck was well taken care of and was not worked overly hard.
-It was never in an accident.
-Everything inside including the cigarette lighter works.
-Original wood in the bed is in good shape thanks to the topper that was always on the truck. I do not know about the underside though.

Bad things about the truck.
Rust
lots of dents and dings to fix.
manual steering
no AC
Needs new steering components
I hate the big steering wheel and steering column. I would like to replace those.

Anyway for now that is my story. Once again any feedback or advice is welcome. I am new at this but I must say my confidence has already grown a great deal just from reading the forums. Thanks. For some reason the pics won't go into the threads so you can see them at the url below.

http://usera.imagecave.com/Den/truckpics/