Here We Go - 65 C10 LWB - For the Kid

[ctandc]

Well we got it home.

Here’s my first thread HERE

Truck was a gift from a friend who works with my wife. It was his Great Uncle’s truck, which he bought new. Never been out of the family, until now.

He seemed thrilled that my son and I wanted to take on fixing it up.
Went over this morning, got the title went to DMV and got the tags. It took longer to get the DMV stuff done than it did to get the truck running. When I met the current owner he handed me a plastic envelope and said

“This is all the paperwork I have on the truck.”

How about the original protecto plate, warranty paperwork, license application, owner’s manual etc??















Truck was last inspected and on the road in ’09. The owner had paid to have some work done do it to get it roadworthy, and he used it to go to the dump and run some errands. He truly wanted to keep it, but eventually it sat beside his house.

So I raided my tool box, threw a bunch of stuff in a bucket, grabbed some starting fluid, carb cleaner and other essentials so I could get it home (only 6 miles or so). Also went by Autozone to pick up a battery. Since when did “cheap” batteries start costing almost $80? The last battery I bought was for my truck about 4 years ago. Decided to hit up O’Reillys (we just had one open a few months ago) and it was about the same price. Told the manager what I was looking for and he offered to sell me a reconditioned battery they’d taken on trade. It had been tested and charged, but we checked it and charged to make sure. Thanks for saving me $40, I’ll be giving you as much business as I can.

Got to the truck. Bolted the battery in. The original battery hold down was still installed. Newer terminals etc, and the wiring looks original (thank God – I hate undoing PO’s attempts at wiring). Pulled the air cleaner, hosed the carb down. Then yanked the coil wire and it turned over without any issue. Turned it over a bit, plugged the coil wire in, shot some starting fluid and she fired up. The original choke even works LOL. After some finagling, got it running, just like a 230 six should, like a sewing machine. Then I attempted to move it. Success. Next up testing brakes. It’s got great brakes (for a drum braked ’65, but solid nonetheless). Went back to the house, my wife took me back over there and my son and I drove it to the house.
Brakes lights, headlights, turn signals, emergency brake all work. Truck rides and tracks STRAIGHT. Actually rides pretty darn good (it is a ’65 truck).

On to the pictures:

In the driveway



I was PLEASANTLY surprise to see the rot isn’t as bad as I would have expected. The worst is the front leading edge of the hood, the fender rear bottoms, and a couple of small spots here and there on the bed. (I’ve already located nicer fenders and possibly hood)

The hood







The fenders:





The bed:



Nice dent in the bed – I wonder what house was totaled when this happened?



The doors look solid, a thin spot on each with a small bit of rust through but the rest look like just surface:









Rockers don’t look bad at all – I’m sure there’s some more to find underneath, but I’m really encouraged:





Tailgate is SOLID with almost no damage and what looks to be original chains and latches:



Cab:



Interior: (Came with a new glovebox)





Engine Compartment:









We’ll be digging in to see what lies ahead of us and I’ll hope to document everything along the way.

Project Total So Far:
DMV fees $90.00
Misc supplies and battery $62