The Wedding Project

[65VOL]

Alright, Its taken me some time to get to the point where I am actually making progress on my 65 long bed. And I'm feeling its now time to start a build thread. Here's the reason for the title. I'm graduating from college this coming May and will be getting married in July, and my fiance and I plan on driving this away from the wedding. I also plan to drive it from Knoxville to Virginia where we'll be having the wedding, and for this high demand I'm going to need to be in a reliable place with my truck.
The truck is original from 65 as it walked out of the factory with a few exceptions. One of these being the column shift having been moved to the floor, but I don't mind much. The engine is the original 230 inline 6 and the odometer reads 56 and some change...Which is more likely 156 and some change haha.
Anyway, I have all kinds of motivation to get this truck back on the road soon, and my only enemy is that which we all know...Time. My plans are to get it back to an "updated original" state. I'll be painting it an original paint scheme ; white on top w/ dark green on bottom, but It'll be flat/satin paints instead of a glossy finish. Also I'd like to install air bags for ride height adjustment as well as load capacity, but that will have to wait for a bit.

Enough of that; questions/comments/suggestions are welcomed. Here are some pictures.














Thats all for now.

65VOL

[TwiggyTheDrummer]

Originally Posted by 65VOL

Alright, Its taken me some time to get to the point where I am actually making progress on my 65 long bed. And I'm feeling its now time to start a build thread. Here's the reason for the title. I'm graduating from college this coming May and will be getting married in July, and my fiance and I plan on driving this away from the wedding. I also plan to drive it from Knoxville to Virginia where we'll be having the wedding, and for this high demand I'm going to need to be in a reliable place with my truck.
The truck is original from 65 as it walked out of the factory with a few exceptions. One of these being the column shift having been moved to the floor, but I don't mind much. The engine is the original 230 inline 6 and the odometer reads 56 and some change...Which is more likely 156 and some change haha.
Anyway, I have all kinds of motivation to get this truck back on the road soon, and my only enemy is that which we all know...Time. My plans are to get it back to an "updated original" state. I'll be painting it an original paint scheme ; white on top w/ dark green on bottom, but It'll be flat/satin paints instead of a glossy finish. Also I'd like to install air bags for ride height adjustment as well as load capacity, but that will have to wait for a bit.

Enough of that; questions/comments/suggestions are welcomed. Here are some pictures.


Thats all for now.

65VOL

Photo's aren't working so check your code. But congrats on the upcoming wedding and the rush on the truck. I'm actually graduating from High School in May so I'm hoping to have mine ready by a few weeks before so it will be rolling into the stadium blasting music and screaming like a raped date. We've both got alot to look forward to and even more work over the next few months.

Now get those pics working!

[jgarverick]

Awesome man. Congrats on the wedding. Can't wait to see the pics. O and Twiggy you shouldn't rape your dates they don't like that...

[TwiggyTheDrummer]

Beautiful custom interior. Are you going to move the gas tank, put in buckets, bench, etc.?

[TwiggyTheDrummer]

Originally Posted by jgarverick

Awesome man. Congrats on the wedding. Can't wait to see the pics. O and Twiggy you shouldn't rape your dates they don't like that...

Oh come on man, what's the fun in them being willing?

[65VOL]

Its hard to make an interior look quite so perfectly...tore up. haha I'll be putting the original bench back in as well as keeping the tank where it is. There is still some major cleaning and filling to be done in the cab, but my main focus has been getting it running again. It sat for about 3 years or so in all without being started, but now it runs like it never stopped. I got the insurance reinstated on it today, and hope to be back in a reliable driving state by next weekend. By "reliable driving state" I mean lights working, new tires, and seat back in. I'm a simple guy.

[TwiggyTheDrummer]

Originally Posted by 65VOL

Its hard to make an interior look quite so perfectly...tore up. haha I'll be putting the original bench back in as well as keeping the tank where it is. There is still some major cleaning and filling to be done in the cab, but my main focus has been getting it running again. It sat for about 3 years or so in all without being started, but now it runs like it never stopped. I got the insurance reinstated on it today, and hope to be back in a reliable driving state by next weekend. By "reliable driving state" I mean lights working, new tires, and seat back in. I'm a simple guy.

It's good to be a simple guy. If I were smart I would have kept it simple but I wanted a customized show truck. So here I am almost a year down the road.

[19GMC63]

I'm guessing by your username that your a UTK student/alum?

[protrash64]

Ive heard of using crate motors, not seats, though.........

[65VOL]

Originally Posted by 19GMC63

I'm guessing by your username that your a UTK student/alum?

Yes indeed I am. In May I will be graduating from UTK with a degree in Psychology. Once I don't have my undergrad studies to worry about, I'll be able to work on the truck a lot more. That's the time I'll get to the airbag suspension. At least that's the idea.

[retodd7711]

Your truck's not that far from a driveable condition.
It's just time and money.
If you've got enough of one, you've got none of the other.
And you'll never have enough of both.
Is the fiance helping?

[Hoser's Girl]

Oh my God! That is the perfect love story......a truck, a guy and his gal.......and a wedding!!! Congrats!!!! I'm jealous!!!!

[4dranch]

Originally Posted by Hoser's Girl

Oh my God! That is the perfect love story......a truck, a guy and his gal.......and a wedding!!! Congrats!!!! I'm jealous!!!!

All that's missing from the story is his dog...

I agree, congrats on the wedding and finishing school..


Ooh Hoser's Girl, you dropping Joe some hints???

[Hoser's Girl]

Originally Posted by 4dranch

All that's missing from the story is his dog...

I agree, congrats on the wedding and finishing school..


Ooh Hoser's Girl, you dropping Joe some hints???

Ha ha ha Do you think it will work?

[4dranch]

Originally Posted by Hoser's Girl

Ha ha ha Do you think it will work?

If it's what you want,,,I sure hope it works...JOE hint....hint..

Sorry, 65VOL didn't meen to highjack your post.....

[65VOL]

Originally Posted by retodd7711

Your truck's not that far from a driveable condition.
It's just time and money.
If you've got enough of one, you've got none of the other.
And you'll never have enough of both.
Is the fiance helping?

Yeah she is! She's excited about cruising around Highland Co in it. Technically its drivable in that I have driven it up and around my street lately, but until I get new stamps for the license and my lights working its staying put. Hopefully I'll get the lights worked out tonight. I just have to find the original taillights.

My Dad and my brother originally purchased this truck for 800 off a guy west of Nashville, and they drove it to my grandmother's house there. It drove well, but needed some cleaning up so they put it on a flatbed and brought it to Knoxville. The two of them did a nice job of tearing it down, but it soon found a home under the back yard shed. Now that was in 2003. Since then I have purchased it from my Dad and brother and towards the end of last year brought it outta the backyard workspace. Its a lot easier to work on a truck when you're lying on concrete than lying on dirt. So I made a deal with the parents that if I can move it to the driveway I'll work on it more.

Fast forward to today and my parents said yesterday when pulling in from work, "I can see it. I really can see it being finished." A nice operational definition for "finished" at this point is driving to VA for the wedding. "Finished" will have a new definition when I'm passing the truck down to my son. That's how it was gonna be when my family first had a 65 C10 back when I was about 9. Sadly that one has been buried, but this one has risen in its place and I couldn't be more excited for it.

Enough of that; Anyone ever used the wiring sections from LMC?
If I can't salvage the wiring that is existing I'll be looking for something like LMC's wiring sections. Any other ideas on wiring?

Oh and have any of ya'll upgraded your headlights to accommodate new bulbs?

Thanks for all the encouraging words!

[retodd7711]

Here's some headlight info.
Cruise through this guy's tech pages, lot's of good tech advice and FAQ
http://www.6066gmcguy.org/HeadLights.htm

[65VOL]

Update!
I got some new headlights to supplement til I make my mind up about transitioning to a new bulb system. I also pulled the bed wood and bench seat out of the shed and am getting it cleaned up and prepped to be put back in. Oh, and I have an idea for the exhaust that's going to be sweet if I can make it work...Wait on the picture for this one.
Now a few questions.

Question; Should I refinish the bed wood, or keep it as is? Its gonna be used as a truck, and show quality finish and sheen is not important to me.

Question; Any suggestions for repairing foam of the bench?

Question; Which do you prefer? The satin or the Flat Black? Flat is on the left, Satin on the right. I'm still debating on whether to paint black or the flat/satin hunter green. I'm fairly certain I'm going to go with the green, but I wanted to get ya'lls opinions on the colors.

Ah and a quick picture of Dad's Sunday driver.



Take Care

[kizer]

Man your lumber looks way better than mine did. Mine literally fell apart when I touched it. Worst case slap some sealant on it and roll with it. Or you could sand it and make it all pretty, but if you don't care about appearance seal it and go. I'd personally sand it all down, but I'm going for that nice and pretty looking truck some day when I buy new boards.

I'm kinda digging the satin black. I don't know how its going to look in the sun on a full length panel like the bed. Meaning I don't know if its going to show every flaw or not like the flat can hide a bit more.

[65VOL]

Finally got some parts in from LMC and waiting on a few from the Truck Shop, but here's some pics as of late. I've been toying around with colors and seem to like the original green color of the truck. I'm so ready to graduate so i can have more time devoted to working on the truck, enjoying the truck, and less time studying for finals and the GRE.

I'm losing the front wheel when I get new tires put on the stock wheel. I'm still debating on white walls or not.




This was the most recent development with this project. The seat rebuild and covering. The seat has some crummy repair work done previously, so I cut all that out and put in some more even and comfortable padding. I used 18x18x1" squares of foam from walmart and some 3m adhesive spray.


Here's the lower half


Aaand the finished seat.


I'm graduating in just a few weeks, and hope to drive the truck round campus then. All I'm waiting on is the taillight wiring harness to come from Truck Shop.

Adios

[Old School Kid]

That seat turned out great..... hmmmm might have to be the next thing on my long list! I like the green and white..

[jason65]

Looking good! I think you should get the wide whites.

[TimE]

Nice job on the seat. That looks great!

[65VOL]

Thanks thanks! As soon as it quits being rainy in Knoxville i'm gonna do a lil wetsanding and throw on another coat of color. Another new update! I finally got my parts in from Truck Shop in Cali and now I'm ready to get a day of work in. The Truck Shop had the best prices on wiring harnesses and a new turn signal switch. By the way the steering column was one interesting breakdown. My brother and Dad had moved the shifter to the floor from the column, and when I opened up the steering column to check the signal switch I was working blind as to how the column shift should be. However, I don't think its going to be too much of a problem. With my trusty shop manual in hand I feel pretty confident about getting this ole guy back to the column shift.


Jason65, do you have any good examples of wide whites? By wide white do you mean having almost all of the sidewall white?

[4dranch]

Any progress updates....the wedding still on....