Rising from the ashes- a replacement '63

[63whoopie2]

Hello Y’all-
Greetings. I am actually not a new member, but an old member that was inactive for a long time and was not able to access my old account (63whoopie) because my old email address in now inaccessible due to having switched internet service providers. I also sent a few messages to the forum trying to get it reopened, but had to luck getting a response.

Anyway, enough of that. I have an interesting story that brings me to my re-registration with a username that both mimics my old name and also makes sense once you read the entire post.
Soon after my 15th Bday (2005), my mother purchased for me a 1963 C10. Shortbed stepside 2wd 250 I6 w/ 3-on-the-tree- I’m sure I wrote about it on my old account somewhere. It was a good truck and I drove it frequently. However, I learned to drive a stick in that truck, and it took a while of adjusting to get the column shift to not hang up and leave me stuck in a gear, so the clutch was toast. The U-joints also started squeaking, so the summer before I went off to college, I took the driveshaft and trans out to replace them. I had almost0 mechanical experience, and trying to do something the first time with the internet as your only guide can be frustrating lol. I stored the truck at a friend’s vacant house in exchange for keeping the grass cut. One thing led to another with college and all, and it sat neglected and forgotten. Fast forward abt 6 years to mid-2014. I decided I would drag it to my house and get it running again (I moved off-campus after 3 years into a family-owned house with a 2 car carport and a 1 bay shop/shed in back). My friend (who I am helping build an S10 V8 conversion) and I checked the plugs, oil, installed a fresh battery, and fired it up with a little carb cleaner. It still ran great. We planned to do a 5-speed swap, disc brakes, and get it on the road again. It had really cool patina’d paint where the PO had shot it in Fire Engine Red over the original Seafoam green, which had weathered.
Well, one night about a month ago, my roommate woke me up at 2:00 am shouting that my truck was on fire. Indeed, it was in fact on fire. Something had happened and a fire had started in the bed of the truck while sitting in the carport. That’s a whole different story and not the point of my thread, but it was narrowed down to either an accident with a cigarette butt or a totally random unprovoked act of arson. There was a set of old wheels and tires and some junk sitting in the bed, and whatever started the fire got the tires hot enough to catch them on fire, which made it REALLY hot. The firemen came and put it out, but not before the fire jumped from the bed into the cab. Long story short, my truck bed and cab are toast- literally- but everything front of the firewall is fine, including fenders, engine, etc. I was left with the charred remains of my dreams and a scorched truck. The most important thing is that no one was hurt, the house didn’t catch on fire (it was very close to doing so) and the truck that burned wasn’t worth that much $$$, mainly just sentimental value.

After some deliberation, I have decided to put her back together with another body. As luck would have it, I found another ’63 shortbed stepside that was red over green and located just a few hours north, and the price was right. Only difference is this truck is a GMC, meaning diff grill, hood, dash, and rear frame. I purchased and dragged it home yesterday. I am currently thinking about how to best combine these two trucks into one running, driving, non-crispy pile of Detriot goodness. The goal is to have it roadworthy for the southern leg of the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour this summer- http://www.hotrod.com/events/hot-rod...ation-and-faq/

Sorry for the long post. Details to follow.

[63whoopie2]

Here are my plans. I have decided to keep it low-buck, as I am reinvesting most all my money into my business and cold months = my slow season (I’m a landscape contractor). We have until about the first week of June to have this thing running and roadworthy for approx. 1,500 mi of cruising:
Frame/Body Switch- undecided what is best, but am planning to switch the GMC sheetmetal into the C10 frame so I’ll have the trailing arm & coil setup in rear. Leaving all the body as is with patina, rust, and all. Probably put my C10 grill and tailgate on the GMC, which currently has a wooden tailgate (darn rednecks). May try to get a body guy to weld in totally new floors, as they were rusty and patched with some thin steel by someone with a combination of Ray Charles’ eyesight and Michael J Fox’s steady and patient hand. 5-lug disc conversion by taking entire front suspension from an ‘73-’87 truck and purchasing drop spindles, maybe cut a little original coil in front for abt 3”+ drop. Jeep coils in rear, not sure best way to convert rear axle to 5 lug. Going to price drilling existing axles or finding a 5 lug rearend. Need some sort of gas tank relocation, but don’t want to pay $300-$400 for a kit. Will look for some steel 15” or 16” and put a cheap set of new tires on it. One day I’d like some American Racing 17s”, but I’ve got to leave some money to spend in the future!
Engine/Drivetrain- If it goes on the C10 frame, the 250 will be checked and once again pressed into action, as it previously ran beautifully. If I can find used, would like a Clifford 4-bbl intake and split headers. S10 or Camaro T5 conversion w/ adapter plate as necessary. Cut and rebalance driveshaft. Stock rearend.
Interior- Rewire entire truck, as a little investigation shows GMC’s rear taillights might be wired with typical orange extension cord? (damn those same rednecks). My neighbor has a lot of confidence in his electrical abilities and we will be wiring his S10 with one of those universal cheap harnesses, but I’m not sure what to do abt mine. Need to find something to do for gauges in the GMC dash, but may end up with a cheapie oil and temp gauge and use my phone as a speedometer if a decent cluster can’t be had. Would like to get a late-model Silverado 40-20-40 bench/bucket combo seat thingy, but if they’re all $300-$400 + some welding, we’ll grab a cheap bench seat somewhere and Mexican blanket it. My C10 windshield exploded in the fire, and of course the one piece of glass the GMC is missing is the danged curved-expensive-and-hard-to-deal-with-windshield. Will talk to local glass companies about that.

[Ronzo]

Glad you were able to save your house, tough news.
Might be to soon... but if you need a project name, might I suggest "Phoenix".

[Captainfab]

Welcome back

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but it sounds like it is all coming together with a good plan.

[Coltronist]

There's a guy his name is Dennis, he sells old and new parts for our trucks for a pretty decent price, including a cab and a bed. Probably save you a TON of money and time to restore/weld/pull dents out of your truck. Including a 63 grille, which is pretty damn hard to find.

http://www.dennischevytruckparts.com/%2760-%2766.html

I ALMOST caught my 63 truck on fire because I thought my "cigarette" was out. 20 minutes later while driving around my truck smelled like I was throwing a tailgate party.

[63whoopie2]

Thanks, y'all. I have already purchased a '63 GMC that has remarkably similar features- red over green, short/step, etc. Everything on my C10 that burned that is forward of the dash is fine.
I tried to post some pics (made sure they were correctly sized) but it gives me an error message saying that I don't have the correct security token (?) and to contact the forum admin. ??

[63whoopie2]

^Anyone happen to have any ideas as to what is going on with my ability to post pics?