65 GMC SWB Father-N-Son Build

[ARG0220]

Hello everyone...I've been lurking on this message board for a long time. I've admired the talent and willingness of members to share knowledge and skills. To date I haven't had anything worthy of sharing until now... My oldest son is turning 15 this month and together we are beginning his first build. The project is a 65 GMC SWB we found in the back of a local tire shop near our home in Phoenix, AZ. The truck has been an AZ truck all of it's life and one day while driving home from work, I saw the truck tucked in the back of the tire shop with a for sale sign written in shoe polish on the window. After some back and forth, I was able to purchase the truck for 3k.

As with many of you, the truck sat for a little bit while my son and I decided on a direction for the build. At first we thought we were going to go the LS route but after attending some car shows locally and in CA. my son decided he liked a more stock appearance. In my opinion he has made the right choice. Besides after some thought it's probably best to limit the horsepower for his first vehicle. For safety we are going to add disc brakes in front with a dual master cylinder, add lap/shoulder seat belts and exchange the leaf spring suspension with a trailing arm setup.

We look forward to any input along the way since it's been awhile since Dad has tackled a project this size. Also, want to teach the boy how to learn/listen to others and not be an IKE (I know everything) kind of guy. So I'll attempt to post some pics and time and money willing keep making progress.


I'll start with some pics of how the truck looked when we purchased it.