ABOZ's 1963 Stepside

[aboz]

Just wanted you guys to see what I'm working with. I found this truck on ebay a year and a half ago. The owner stored it for six years after some detailing in the engine bay and installing a 250 six from a 1970 Nova. I drove it from W. by God Virginia all the way back to North Carolina with a leaky gas tank. Paid $4500. It is a solid truck with so much less rust than any '62-'63 that I looked at in the Charlotte, NC area. Turns out it started it's life about 35 miles from where I live. The original owner's dealership warranty info and registration was still in the glove box! So far I've replaced most everything under the hood except the engine itself. I replaced the grille with a 1960 four headlight set up. Just looks better to me. The price to re-chrome was out of the question so I had it powder coated silver. I put 5 lug Corvette Rally rims on the stock drum/drum set up. A power booster and a dual master cylinder will be installed some time this month. Having little to no mechanical experience I removed the Saginaw 3 speed and took it to a buddy who showed me step by step how to rebuild it. With much determination I re-installed it myself. It's amazing what you can do when a transmission is being held in place with your head! Body mods will come soon after I replace the floor pans, cab corners and rocker panels. I plan to fabricate a metal hood scoop like a '67 427 Sting Ray complete with the bumped out spear windsplit. Reverse louvers will be welded in behind the front wheel wells. If thats not enough, I'm designing a bed topper that will resemble a '63 Vette split window coupe! The extra dash and door panels are soon to be powder coated in black wrinkle finish. I'll post pix as the fun begins.