'62 BBW SWB Highschool ride returns

[66Z71]

Is it wrong to start another project before the other('s) are done? Oh well I'm doin it anyway I bought this truck when I was 17 for $1,040. It was a root beer brown with cream upholstry, and a Cadilac tele column. The motor was a 283 with power pack heads and a cast iron 4 barrel intake. It had a holley carb and Crane roller rockers with a solid lifter cam. The guy had just put a Turbo 400 tranny in it, and with the posi it was a blast to drive. Since then I wore out the 283, rebuilt and wore it out again. About 10 years ago I replaced the 283 with a factory 350 crate motor, rebuilt the TH-400, and set it on a newer frame with disk brakes and power steering. Rebuilt everything mechanical, but left the body alone. It looked terrible, but the 3" exhaust with headers & flowmasters was enough to piss off the neighbors, and set off every car alarm I passed.

Two years ago I decided it was time for her next rebuild. With a wife, two kids, 3 malamutes, and a race car to tow, the old girl wasn't up to it anymore. I tore it down with the intentions of turning her into a crew cab ( http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=327242 ). But after I got her toren down I realized the cab was too solid to cut up. So I rolled her out into the back yard, and found a new cab. Well the crew cab has turned into a long term project, mostly being ignored. I haven't given up on it, but it will be a while before its done.

Last month I decided it was time to put the old '62 back together. I've been without a truck for too long.I felt bad for never painting her, and decided it wouldn't take much to clean her up a little while I put her back together. I know it ain't right, but I'm painting it one piece at a time. It's a sloid color so there is a fair chance it will look ok when I'm done. If I tried to get it all ready for paint at once I know I'd never finish it. Besides it works out great, I can lay down a coat of primer, then while it is drying I can go do some other task in the garage. Return later, and sand a bit, then go fix dinner. Go back and paint a little more, then go to bed. If I were 18 again and had nothing else to do I could paint the whole thing at once, but....

This isn't the first car I've painted. I painted two GTO's, and did a bit of touchup on some other cars, but that was 20 years ago. I did a bunch of reading, and asked some questions on a few forums. (How did we do anything before the internet???) Turns out the expensive Devilbis paint gun I bought back then is not worth using, Bondo is soo much easier to work with, and we never had poly-primer. I ended up buying a couple of new HVLP guns from Harbor Freight, and am absolutly amazed by them. I can't believe how little overspray these new guns put out. I was planning on spending $5-700 on a really nice gun for clear, but I don't know now.

Anyways here are the first pic's of my latest project...

What she used to look like:


Inside of the first door: