Rising from the ashes- a replacement '63

[63whoopie2]

Hello Y’all-
Greetings. I am actually not a new member, but an old member that was inactive for a long time and was not able to access my old account (63whoopie) because my old email address in now inaccessible due to having switched internet service providers. I also sent a few messages to the forum trying to get it reopened, but had to luck getting a response.

Anyway, enough of that. I have an interesting story that brings me to my re-registration with a username that both mimics my old name and also makes sense once you read the entire post.
Soon after my 15th Bday (2005), my mother purchased for me a 1963 C10. Shortbed stepside 2wd 250 I6 w/ 3-on-the-tree- I’m sure I wrote about it on my old account somewhere. It was a good truck and I drove it frequently. However, I learned to drive a stick in that truck, and it took a while of adjusting to get the column shift to not hang up and leave me stuck in a gear, so the clutch was toast. The U-joints also started squeaking, so the summer before I went off to college, I took the driveshaft and trans out to replace them. I had almost0 mechanical experience, and trying to do something the first time with the internet as your only guide can be frustrating lol. I stored the truck at a friend’s vacant house in exchange for keeping the grass cut. One thing led to another with college and all, and it sat neglected and forgotten. Fast forward abt 6 years to mid-2014. I decided I would drag it to my house and get it running again (I moved off-campus after 3 years into a family-owned house with a 2 car carport and a 1 bay shop/shed in back). My friend (who I am helping build an S10 V8 conversion) and I checked the plugs, oil, installed a fresh battery, and fired it up with a little carb cleaner. It still ran great. We planned to do a 5-speed swap, disc brakes, and get it on the road again. It had really cool patina’d paint where the PO had shot it in Fire Engine Red over the original Seafoam green, which had weathered.
Well, one night about a month ago, my roommate woke me up at 2:00 am shouting that my truck was on fire. Indeed, it was in fact on fire. Something had happened and a fire had started in the bed of the truck while sitting in the carport. That’s a whole different story and not the point of my thread, but it was narrowed down to either an accident with a cigarette butt or a totally random unprovoked act of arson. There was a set of old wheels and tires and some junk sitting in the bed, and whatever started the fire got the tires hot enough to catch them on fire, which made it REALLY hot. The firemen came and put it out, but not before the fire jumped from the bed into the cab. Long story short, my truck bed and cab are toast- literally- but everything front of the firewall is fine, including fenders, engine, etc. I was left with the charred remains of my dreams and a scorched truck. The most important thing is that no one was hurt, the house didn’t catch on fire (it was very close to doing so) and the truck that burned wasn’t worth that much $$$, mainly just sentimental value.

After some deliberation, I have decided to put her back together with another body. As luck would have it, I found another ’63 shortbed stepside that was red over green and located just a few hours north, and the price was right. Only difference is this truck is a GMC, meaning diff grill, hood, dash, and rear frame. I purchased and dragged it home yesterday. I am currently thinking about how to best combine these two trucks into one running, driving, non-crispy pile of Detriot goodness. The goal is to have it roadworthy for the southern leg of the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour this summer- http://www.hotrod.com/events/hot-rod...ation-and-faq/

Sorry for the long post. Details to follow.