Grandpa's old chevy pickup

[Barn-core]

I've been out of the game for a while, been busy with school and life. Haven't had the time or extra cash for a project. Well I just finished the prerequisites for my program this last semster and have some time before I get into my program so I thought I might start looking for a quick low budget build. Meanwhile other things were taking place.
My Grandpa has alzheimers and doesn't drive anymore. My Grandpa also has a '63 Chevy pickup just sitting in his garage, wasting away. He bought this truck brand new in '63, custom cab, big back window, factory tach, chrome rear bumper, the works. When he bought the truck he tried to get it with a 327, but apparently they weren't putting 327's in the trucks in '63 so he settled for a 283. Not long after he brought the truck home he had the 283 pulled and had a built 301 put together to take it's place. He also added a dual glasspack exhaust. At some point after that he had the truck painted candy apple red, and had a custom black cloth interior and black toneau cover stitched up for it. He drove the truck like this for years and this is how I remember it growing up.
At some time in the mid nineties the engine was worn and the candy paint was faded and flaking so it was time for a rebuild. The 301 was pulled and replaced with a crate 350 with an HEI and Corvette rams horns. The truck was repainted in a dark green/charcoal color combination along with getting rid of the toneau cover and adding some modern sort type mirrors and a smoothed tailgate. This is how my Grandpa drove this truck until about 4 years ago when he stopped driving.
The truck had been pretty much sitting since then. We would go out occasionally and start it up, and once I took it around the block a few times, but other than that it was just sitting and being neglected. About six months ago a family member borrowed the truck and it was involved in a traffic accident. This broke my heart because this truck had 100% original sheet metal, no rust, never been wrecked. Accidents do happen though I suppose. So again the truck sat.
This brings us back to the present. No one else in the family wanted the truck, or even knew what to do with it. I told them if they wanted to give me the truck I could fix it and bring it back to a former glory that the whole family could enjoy again. So now I've got my new project.
This truck has huge sentimental value to me. This truck is my Grandpa. I can remember sitting in his lap and steering this truck down the road when I was little. I partially blame this truck and my Grandpa for my automotive sickness. Despite the damage from the accident the truck is in amazingly good condition for it's age. It's fairly mechanically sound, it still has a beautiful original coat of fawn beige on the interior sheet metal, it even still has the original wood in the bed.
My plans for the truck include repairing the damage, de-smoothing (sp?) the tailgate, replacing the sport mirrors with originals, and repainting the truck it's original factory green with white top. I also want to put stock steelies and caps back on the truck and adjust the altitude a little. Other than that I just want to drive it and enjoy it. At some point I might consider updating the front suspension with discs and power steering, and maybe adding an overdrive trans, but I'll worry about that kind of stuff later. For now I just want to get this thing back on the road where it belongs. If you made it this far thanks for reading and I'll be posting updates as they come available.

[Barn-core]

Here's a few pics of the damage. I've already found a replacemnet door (thanks 62-one-ton) I'm trying to dig up some earlier pics of the truck too. When I find 'em I'll post 'em.

[Captainfab]

That is a very cool story about your Grandpa's truck. I don't think many truck owners back then thought about making these trucks something 'nice'. The truck was still nice before it was wrecked......that's too bad. The hard part to replace is going to be that aluminum '63 grill. It might be easier to try and fix that one. What ever you do, don't scrap that grill. Even if you don't want to tackle fixing it, someone else might.

I admire you for taking on the job of restoring Grandpa's truck. I am anxious to see this one progress.

[markeb01]

What a beautiful truck and great story (sorry about your Grandpa’s health). Too bad it was wrecked, but the damage doesn’t appear to be all that severe. What an incredible piece, you just don’t see things in this condition belonging to an original owner very often. Air conditioning, automatic transmission and customized since new. Good luck with the repairs, and look forward to updates and more photos when you find them.

[Barn-core]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I do intend on having the original grill and bumper straightened. Got a little bit done on the truck this weekend though. I started with the tailgate, got the panel cut out that they had welded in to smooth it. Took about three hours as I had to be careful not to damage the tailgate. Not surprising to me when I removed the panel, there was some of the candy paint still hangin' out underneath. I also got started on the door that I bought. Got it sanded down and was actually pretty happy with how clean it was. A few small dents, and a few small areas of rust that will be cut out and replaced, but overall it's in pretty good shape for it's age. Now that I've got the ball rolling I'm going to try and keep moving along on this and hopefully make it a pretty quick project.