Rusty76 and his '76

[rusty76]

I decided that I would finally start a build thread for my old pick it up. I've been saying I'm going to start one any given day, well today it is the day. My truck is a '76 Chevy Silverado 1/2 ton shortbed fleetside pickup. I've had it for about 18 years or so. I've owned a bunch of vehicles while having this truck but never considered selling it. Well that's not true I did one time think about it but changed my mind quickly.....lol.

A little history......My uncle bought this truck in the early 80s during his first marriage. It had a 350 4bbl in it at that time. He drove it daily and used it daily. It was in pretty good shape at the time. He was really proud of it. It was and still is one of the coolest trucks I'd ever seen at that age.

After the first marriage went astray my uncle sold the truck to my mother for one dollar so he wouldn't loose it. He was an alcoholic. My mom drove it for several years and it stayed in her name till I got it in '97.

During this time the truck changed hands from my mother back to my uncle for his second marriage. He drove it a bunch and used it like a truck. The 350started smoking and giving trouble so the hunt was on for a new engine. My uncle met a man with a '72 Impala that he was going to make into a demolition derby car and he wanted to sell the motor in it. He told my uncle it was a 350. My uncle bought the motor and brought it to my moms house. We put it in the garage and my uncle inlisted the help of my other uncle to help him change it. I was 14 at the time this happened. My other uncle didn't show so my uncle and myself changed engines in our three wall shack with a come along and lots of work. We started on Saturday morning and by late Sunday afternoon it was running.

It ran real good and he let my mother drive it to the church which was about two miles from the house. We took off down our street towards the church. She ran like a champ. On the way back my uncle told my mom, put your foot in it. It threw us to our backs and off we were.