Project 67' C10 LWB Mistress Build

[nsuengineer06]

Hey guys, I have wanted to start a build thread for a while now, but didn't have enough done to constitute doing so.. Since I appreciate your build threads so much, and finally have a tiny amount of progress on mine, I figure its due time to start the thread. Here goes.

Ever since I was a little kid I have always wanted to build a 67-72 LWB truck. I don't know why, but I have always had a thing for the LWB trucks in this body style. I guess they just flow right or something. I have been a gear-head since I was born, thus, buying one and driving it was out of the question.

About the end of January this year, I happened across an ad in the local Thrifty Nickel that read, "1967 Chevrolet LWB 350 Motor/ TH350 Trans, 50% restored. $1200.00" Now at the time, I didn't have the money to buy the truck and really had no way of getting the funds. My wife knew how much I wanted one of these trucks and insisted that we go look at it. So I eventually gave in to the little screaming demon in my head, (and my wife), and went to look at the truck. Turns out the truck was in pretty good shape. The body was mostly solid, except for the usual stuff such as rockers and a couple little places on the front fenders. This in turn pretty much sold the truck by itself, but when the guy pumped the gas pedal a couple times and turned the key and it rattled to life I knew I was sold. It was missing a brake setup on one wheel, but all the parts to fix it were included in the deal. The front bumper was dented bad, but he also had a brand new bumper to go with it. I made a few pictures of the truck and left.

Now we are back to the story about the lack of funds.. I had just finished doing my taxes for the year and would have enough coming back from Uncle Sam to pay for the truck. Problem was, by the time I got it, the truck would be gone. Naturally I turned to my father for a loan. The only problem with that was the fact that he was somewhere in a jungle in Peru at the time. I managed to contact him and he said he would send the money. Somewhere along the line we lost communication and I couldn't get him the info that he needed to send it. Needless to say, I was pretty sure there was no way I would have the money in time. Later that day I was talking to a friend of mine, telling him the story of how everything went down and he's like man that's a good deal.. The next day I stopped by my friend's house after work to have a brew and help him work on a bike. While we were working and bs'in his dad stopped by for a while. As I was gathering my stuff to leave his dad says, "so you gonna go get that truck or what?" and I begin to tell him my story and he stops me and says how much do ya need? Long story short, a man that I have met maybe 5 times in my life, hands me $1200 cash and says go buy that truck. If you don't you'll regret it the rest of your life. I reluctantly took his money and ended up buying the truck for $1000. I paid him back in about 2 weeks when my check came in, and I'm sure that I'll be thanking him for the rest of my life.

Now, back to the build. I get the truck home and almost immediately begin tearing it down. I don't get very far before I realize that the 50% restored was total BS. Nothing these people had done was complete. For every 4 bolts there would be 3 of one size and one odd ball.. The transmission cross-member was held in with 1, FREAKING 1, 5/16 bolt. The primer on the body was rattle-can, only where it was easy to spray. The so called freshly rebuilt 350 motor turned out to be a 327, and the list goes on.. LOL

I know this ran on way too long, but I felt I had to tell the story behind this.. I hope you guys can tolerate my rambling. I'll update more later, for now just some pics to get you pic hounds started!!

P.S. I know how much the project title "mistress" has been ran in the ground, but this project was dubbed with that name long before I knew anything about this site! I can't tell you how many times I have already heard the phrase "That damn truck" LOL