"Mabel" 1962 c10 long bed

[virginiaslim]

Picked up a pretty original '62 long bed as a replacement for my '72 I regrettably sold.

Truck came from OREGON and was used on a ranch as a work truck and it shows, but surprisingly pretty original. Knowing it was original I wasn't sure the direction to go until I got into it and now have a plan.

Has the i6 with 4 speed granny gear and 3.90 rear. Everything works as it should but smokes a little on acceleration assuming rings. I drove it from Temecula to Long Beach but realized this isn't going to work for day to day at 70+mph so going to likely do a complete 73-85 swap, 350/350 or 700, disc/power brakes, etc.

The body has the usual rust and damage for a ranch truck but I think it adds character. If the inner bed panels and cross braces were not destroyed by the layers of plywood added on top of the original wood bed I would be less likely to change anything but it is what it is.

With that said the plan is to leave the exterior as is expect repaint white and repro shiny bits, and update to newer suspension, brakes, etc for daily driving.

I found this truck for sell last year but passed on it at the time due to logistics and when it came up for sale again I went and grabbed it. I found the pictures from the first sell and then the second which i'll start with for this build thread.