Project "Butters" - 1967 C20

[ButtersTheTruck]

Howdy all, and welcome to Butter the Truck's thread! While Butters is not as big a project as many of the other trucks here, I figured it would be fun to have a place to show off our truck as she's slowly fixed up and restored (and I mean slowly!).

A little background on the truck: Butters was purchased new at a dealership in the Dalles and moved to eastern Oregon (near Redmond) where it stayed for many years. The original buyer stuck a camper in the back and used it for camping excursions but otherwise kept it indoors or under cover. When he passed away, the truck went to his son or nephew (there is some debate about who it was exactly). That gentleman did not know what to do with it and kept it stored indoors for a number of years until he decided it was better to part with it. In 2002, he sold it to its third owner, a very nice fellow who bought it thinking he would restore it or perhaps turn it into a fun little hotrod. He stuck it in his garage...and there the truck sat. In 13+ years of ownership, he put a whopping 3k miles on it.

In early June 2015, the 3rd owner decided to attend a good-sized car show in Sherwood Oregon. And seeing that he'd owned the truck for so long and had never gotten around to restoring it, he thought he would stick a for sale sign in the window when he parked the truck in a lot adjacent to the show and see if he got any bites. Well, we've made it a family tradition to take dad out for breakfast and to the Sherwood car show to celebrate father's day for several years now. As a stroke of luck (or fate!), we parked in the same lot as the truck, and dad spotted it as we were walking in. He marveled at its exceptionally good condition, and knowing we had need for a truck and that we had a tax return burning a hole in our collective pocket, he encouraged my husband and I to call.

I called and texted the owner, hoping we would get the chance to check out the truck while we were at the show, but did not get a call back in the 90 minutes we were there. When we walked back to our car, the truck was gone, and my heart broke a little thinking somebody else had leapt upon her. I got home and started looking online for a similar truck, and realized after shopping around for an hour both what in good shape and good price she was, and my heart broke a little more.

Then my phone lit up with a text message.

The owner and I, along with my dad and husband, met up an hour later and we went over every inch of her. Dad kept marveling at her great condition. I kept telling dad to stop taking away every bargaining chip I had After a test drive, we agreed upon a price, shook hands, and the next day (Father's Day) we met with cash-in-hand, and I brought Butters home.

Here are some pictures from the day Butters came home:





We got the ugly canopy off her as fast as we could. Fortunately it was only on her briefly as we moved the canopy from point A to B.

And Butters first day of work on the job, hauling hay!



Obie the Dwarf goat approves of the new ride:



Last week Butters got her whites whiter!



More to come...

[ButtersTheTruck]

Today we got the uuuugly bumper off her and put on one to match the front. She looks so much better now!

[Elliot949]

SWEET truck... Glad you joined us here.... I am very partial to the 67's... mine started life as a 67 C-20 Custom Camper...

[redstevens]

Butters is my daughter and her husbands truck but I am doing lots of the work to get her running and looking good. This has been and will continue to be a fun project for us. I restored Packards for many years until it became work instead of fun and I left the car hobby for 30+ years. Butters has rekindled the fun that I used to have working on Packards. We are taking her to a small show next Saturday in Tigard Oregon and my daughter signed her up to be judged. I think having her judged will be a big eye opener for my daughter. It will give us a huge "to do" list. On another note, Elliot, your truck is just about my favorite on this forum. Your light blue and white color choices and clean classy style sets you truck apart for the others here. All I can say about your truck is "Wow"!

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by redstevens

Butters is my daughter and her husbands truck but I am doing lots of the work to get her running and looking good. This has been and will continue to be a fun project for us. I restored Packards for many years until it became work instead of fun and I left the car hobby for 30+ years. Butters has rekindled the fun that I used to have working on Packards. We are taking her to a small show next Saturday in Tigard Oregon and my daughter signed her up to be judged. I think having her judged will be a big eye opener for my daughter. It will give us a huge "to do" list. On another note, Elliot, your truck is just about my favorite on this forum. Your color choices and clean classy style sets you truck apart for the others here. All I can say about your truck is "Wow"!

Thank You for the kind words... I am actually doing two trucks right now... the 67 has always been my love for trucks... the 71 was just too cheap to pass on... LOL

[Justin@EntropyRad]

nice find!

[ButtersTheTruck]

Elliot, I do agree with my dad, your truck is absolutely beautiful! What a work of art! Thanks so much for stopping in

Thank you for the kind words Justin!

Butters got a wash yesterday in prep for the car show this weekend. Tomorrow is going to be a heavy duty detailing day. It'll be my first time showing a car, so I am very glad to have my dad to help and come with me to show me the ropes

In the meantime, here are some pics of Butter after the bath. Dad thinks the condition of her bed is pretty great so I snapped that for the board as well. The grey on it is residue from the old rubber we put down to protect the bed then we haul hay, something we'll scrub up as best we can tomorrow!

Hmm, seems like the option to post pics is disabled I will try again shortly!

[ButtersTheTruck]

Ahh now the pics work!

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by ButtersTheTruck

Ahh now the pics work!

This truck is a Great truck from everything I see in the pics... Please do not EVER put bed liner in this truck... LOL

[ButtersTheTruck]

lol, we have decided to not do a bed liner We're going to get some removable mats and use them as-needed when we haul things.

Yesterday we took Butters to our first show! It was a very small gathering of about a dozen or so cars, which was great because the judge took the time out to talk to us about what judges look for, explain a common scoring system and point out a few things we could do to improve Butters without spending a fortune or compromising its ability as a working truck. He complimented her condition and told us we'd found quite a little gem in her, which made me really happy to hear.

Here's a pic of Butters looking festive with her balloon at the show

[68bowtie]

beautiful truck. curious what the judge recommended. it couldn't have been much!

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by ButtersTheTruck

lol, we have decided to not do a bed liner We're going to get some removable mats and use them as-needed when we haul things.

Yesterday we took Butters to our first show! It was a very small gathering of about a dozen or so cars, which was great because the judge took the time out to talk to us about what judges look for, explain a common scoring system and point out a few things we could do to improve Butters without spending a fortune or compromising its ability as a working truck. He complimented her condition and told us we'd found quite a little gem in her, which made me really happy to hear.

Here's a pic of Butters looking festive with her balloon at the show

Shows can be fun... Be careful desiring to compete... It tends to make the whole car show experience frustrating... Consequently it leads to burn out... Trust me I speak from experience... I have had several cars over the years that I did the whole car show competition thing... In 1991 I found myself dreading going to the shows... I sold ALL of my "toys" and haven't been to more than a handful of shows since...

"Raymond" is kind of my way back to do the show circuits again for a limited time (no more than 2 years) then it will be a driver and "Haulin" will go away...

I tell you this just so you can always enjoy your truck...

I love your truck and would be proud to have it with "Raymond"... your truck with a trailer behind it with Raymond on it would be really kewl.... Just so you know Butternut Yellow was the second choice for Raymond... I even did two test fenders with the Lt Blue and one with Yellow... The deciding factor was the frame... I decided that a light blue frame would look better than the Butternut yellow...

Have a Groovy day...

Dan

[ButtersTheTruck]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

beautiful truck. curious what the judge recommended. it couldn't have been much!

Thanks very much! The judge was very nice and went over several things that she needs, some which we knew and others we did not. We knew she needs a little bit of body work (when the first owner used her as a camper, he punched holes in her sides for the camper mountings), and a paint job after that. One fender being a slightly different yellow did us no favors! He also recommended we tighten her up a bit so all her panels met at they are meant to (the hood is just a teeny bit off, for instance). And then there was general cleanup; her engine needs a steaming and some components need to be cleaned/sandblasted and repainted. We also made a newbie oopsie and left some cleaning supplies in the cabin

We didn't win anything and we expected not to; mostly we wanted judge feedback on what to do to make her more presentable. And we got that so I walked away having enjoyed myself and feeling pretty positive about the direction we should take her.

[ButtersTheTruck]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Shows can be fun... Be careful desiring to compete... It tends to make the whole car show experience frustrating... Consequently it leads to burn out... Trust me I speak from experience... I have had several cars over the years that I did the whole car show competition thing... In 1991 I found myself dreading going to the shows... I sold ALL of my "toys" and haven't been to more than a handful of shows since...

"Raymond" is kind of my way back to do the show circuits again for a limited time (no more than 2 years) then it will be a driver and "Haulin" will go away...

I tell you this just so you can always enjoy your truck...

I love your truck and would be proud to have it with "Raymond"... your truck with a trailer behind it with Raymond on it would be really kewl.... Just so you know Butternut Yellow was the second choice for Raymond... I even did two test fenders with the Lt Blue and one with Yellow... The deciding factor was the frame... I decided that a light blue frame would look better than the Butternut yellow...

Have a Groovy day...

Dan

You know, my dad and I stood around yesterday and discussed painting Butters in a similar scheme to your truck, only keeping the yellow in stead of blue. But we both really like the clean look of the white top and along the bottom, with color in the middle!

Haha, I agree it would be very neat to see the two side by side!! Or one towing the other We just bought the rigging needed so she can pull a horse trailer with horses, can't imagine towing a flatbed with another truck on it would be any heavier than a full 3 horse slant...

My dad experienced burnout when he was showing years ago, and I have experienced it with horse showing myself...chasing the ribbons and accolades turns into work instead of fun, and instead of friends you end up with competitors, some of whom aren't so nice. We discussed that the other day and thought maybe instead of showing Butters we'd display her instead. Go to shows and just not be judged so we can enjoy the show and chatting with others about their cars and ours, without all the pressure of competition. That also takes some strain off my husband and I to constantly keep Butters in show condition and relieves some of the worry about using her as a truck!

[swamp rat]

It would have been tough to pass that truck up, congratulations!

[ButtersTheTruck]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

It would have been tough to pass that truck up, congratulations!

Thank you! I am so glad we didn't miss out on her. She has been so much fun and I am looking forward to doing more with her. Another show coming up on the 26th, we're looking forward to it. It will be a bigger show so lots more to see!

[tune_1]

Great looking truck and great story. Have you considered having someone spot in the holes and fender? As great a shape as that is in it would seem nice to keep it as original as possible and just refurbish and clean the parts that are worn. It will be great whatever you do.

Dwight

[redstevens]

Repairing the holes and having the fender painted to match is what we would like to do. If we knew someone we could trust to do it right in the Portland metro area for a reasonable price we would probably have it done. Anyone on the board that knows such a person could private message me with the contact info or post here.