Lookie what I found ..

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Good looking truck thanks for sharing..

[Z10]

Originally Posted by Grandads71

Well, I finally made it onto here & hope I can fill in some of the mystery on my old truck.

As CCRAT69 said, it"s a 71 Cheyenne SWB 400 BB, TH400, 4.11 Posi rearend
Factory Air, Parchment interior, tilt wheel, no Tach & an old school hydro trailer brake controller mounted on the steering column.

My Grandad ordered this truck with the HD springs all the way around so he could pull the camper & boat back & forth to the river. He always had a work provided car for daily use so the 1st 20 years of the trucks life it sat on the carport thru the week & out at Highway 58 campground every weekend.

Some time around my 12th birthday (mid 1980's) I asked grandad if I could have his truck one day. He never gave me a full response to that question. When I turned 15 he bought me a 67 LWB stepside beater truck & said it was the closest he could give me to his at that time.

I drove that old beater 67 thru most of high school & every now & then grandad would let me drive Ol' Orange if i had somewhere important to go. Through out the years, any parts needed for grandads truck were run thru me. I bought him chrome valve covers, 8" Rallys & deep rings & a big K&N filter among countless other things.

Grandad continued to drive it after he retired in 94. but by then he had started referring to it as "My" truck.

When he passed away unexpectedly in 98 the 1st thing my gramma did when we left the hospital was called me into the back room & handed me the title to Grandads Ol' Orange 71. She said "It's always been yours, now go make it official before anybody objects". By the funeral, i had it spit shined & followed the hearse to the gravesite even ahead of the family car. My Gramma couldnt ride in it, just wanted to hear the exhaust ring in front of her. (whew, that took a bit to type. damn allergies)

Even though I had a nice Jeep by that time, I found myself driving the old truck at least a few days a week for years after that. In 2006 my truck needed quite a bit of work. Life had taken over & with way too may things on my plate I decided to drive it to the family farm & backed it into a stall in the barn until i had a chance to work on it.

That pretty much brings us to the present. I'm in a much better place in life & bought my family homestead including the old barn my truck had been waiting in for the past 7 years.

My plan is to have it running over the winter & then get started on an actual restoration. I'm not sure how long that will take because once i get it running I'm sure I'm not going to want to take it back apart anytime soon.

On to the pics! 7 years of dust

Damn! My allergies are acting up too.

That is such a great story, I have a treasured Winchester that my grandfather let me borrow once when he was around 80. When I asked him when he needed it back, he replied "I'll let you know". His way of giving it to me.

Take care of that truck.