first pick-em-up project 72' c/2500

[exmonkeypunk]

I was raised around all sorts of hot rods, rat rods, kustoms, and vans. When i was in like 1st grade, my dad was in a serious motor cycle accident leaving him, well, basically a vegetable until a couple years ago when he passed away. Growing up with a huge passion for all things vroom, i had no instructor or teacher, so, with inherited tools in hand, i taught myself to wrench. When i was 22, i got my first classic car, a 65' corvair 500 as a birthday present from my girlfriend. I was able to get the car to run and drive for a few short weeks, but, the overall age of motor components kept her off the road since those few short weeks. Cover on the car and keys collecting dust due to lack of work in this area, she has stayed in the driveway for the last 4 years now. Then comes another project. While taking one of our country drives, my girlfriend and I spot an old truck sitting out for sale, so we turn around and take a look. What we saw was a late 60's early 70's GMC 2500 lwb 2wd truck sitting with minor body dings but almost no visible rust. half way decent looking small block under the hood with those much loved ram horn manifolds peeking out at us.
Auto trans, great looking interior, brand new bf goodrich tires sitting on stock 8 bolt wheels, and dual exhaust with chrome tips.... The price was what got both of our attention the most. With me out of work for the past 6 months and her working full time, our budget was limited but not dry, so we scraped up what cash we had and made the guy our offer. to our surprise, later that day, we were driving this truck back home to stay.

The first thing to get some attention was the exhaust. There was some leaks around the manifold, so, with a trip to the local parts store, i had a new set of manifold gaskets to install. After installing, i ended up finding some exhaust donuts in the garage that just happened to be the right size, so i threw those on as well. Crank of the motor, and, wow, solid, leak free dual exhaust. Good start if i say so myself.
Next, was the coolant. I'm not a save the planet sort of guy, but, i also don't like watching coolant dump onto the ground, so, i had to come up with some sort of radiator overflow tank. A quick look through the recycling bin got me an empty bottle of Whiskey from my girlfriends moms, so, with some old rubber hose and empty bottle of whiskey in hand, i had a radiator overflow.

A week later, i had a temp job at a print shop, which got me enough cash to buy a dozen cans of House of Krylon flat black paint, which gave the truck an even coat of paint for the first time in who knows how many years. So, now with the truck having a half way decent appearance (at least from 20 feet away) i was able to drive around town with head held high.

That was the last thing i've been able to do so far to the truck. I spend alot of time just sitting and staring at her, coming up with ideas and plans that may or may not look good. I'm planning on lowering at least a couple of inches all the way around, which, with a budget of zero, will most likely be cutting coil springs and doing some hillbilly thing to the rear end. I'd like to keep the primer for a while, i might try out some of that chalk board paint, so i can draw stuff with chalk and have the rain wash it away, it might be fun. I dunno. Let me know what kinda ideas anyone might have, i'm always open for thoughts.

I forgot to take pics of before the flat black, so you'll have to take my word on how crappy it looked.
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