Green Gus the 68 shortbed convert

[rusty76]

Gus is going to enjoy the summer for sure.

[hewittca]

Thanks guys!

Here's a before/after photo for the new page. The before is from about 10 years ago. This is a Google Streetview photo from the truck sitting neglected out front of the previous owner's home. The after is the truck in its current state.

[rusty76]

Very nice.

[hewittca]

Getting some of those summer miles on the truck. Took it out the other night for a cruise and had to stop and take a photo. It was a beautiful night here in NC. You'll notice I also tested the look of whitewalls again with chalk. I think I liked this look more than the white lines I tried a while ago, but I will probably still stick with the blackwalls. Plus, the whitewalls were promptly washed away after this photo from a pop up storm that rolled through. Not a durable solution by any means, but it does look convincing and its fun to try something different for a while.

[rusty76]

I like the white walls. I bet your kids are having fun letting you use their sidewalk chalk. Lol. You could try red walls. Blue ones. All sorts of colors this week. They’ll definitely get washed away by all the rain we’ve been having.

[Mikes68C10]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Getting some of those summer miles on the truck. Took it out the other night for a cruise and had to stop and take a photo. It was a beautiful night here in NC. You'll notice I also tested the look of whitewalls again with chalk. I think I liked this look more than the white lines I tried a while ago, but I will probably still stick with the blackwalls. Plus, the whitewalls were promptly washed away after this photo from a pop up storm that rolled through. Not a durable solution by any means, but it does look convincing and its fun to try something different for a while.

Very cool old school-cool look.
? ever try the redline tire look, like the old red line tires. I think it might be a sweet color contrast while tying into the red Chevy emblem on the hubcaps.
Anyone got photoshop skills to pull the look together?
Me, no photoshop skills - see attached for a rough (very rough) idea of what I was thinking for the "Red Line Look"

[hewittca]

I have thought about red actually, but my kids only had pastel colors and the closest they had was pink Didn't look too good...

[hewittca]

It's been another few months since my last update. I'm still here! I brought the truck out to the Piedmont Traction show in Mooresville NC in June which was awesome, but then I had to go to Paris for work, then had surgery, and then we got a puppy so I've been too busy/distracted to do much of anything with the truck. Plus, surgery has severely limited what I can physically do during recovery so I don't have any plans on the truck for the foreseeable future. I'm hoping to be back to normal towards the end of the year.



To be honest, I'm also seriously considering selling the truck. I love it but hate that it just sits unused 95% of the time, and at this point in my life I can't practically commit any more seat or project time to it. I'm thinking I may need to let the truck go to someone who can get more use out of it. That way I can consolidate my vehicles down a bit so that I can get a daily driver that's practical for the family and fun to drive that I can also upgrade along the way. So far the Volkswagen R32 has risen to the top of my list. Here's the truck sandwiched between my other Volkswagens.



At this point it's all still just hypothetical until at least November because the truck is scheduled to be used in another Christmas photo session this year. That will give me a good 3 months to think over the decision and possibly come to my senses!

[1968 baby blue C10]

Sorry to hear that you’ve had to have surgery and stuff man that sucks. I hope you have a quick recovery.

But man I would not sell the truck. You will regret it possibly the rest of your life. Even if it doesn’t get used as much as you’d like now you could run the tires off it once you retire. And I’m sure your kids would like nothing more than to someday inherit the truck they grew up with.
I don’t mean to try to make your decision for you, just my thoughts. I may recommend replacing the Volkswagen R32 with a skyline R32 though haha

[CG]

I get where the truck is a little small for a family of four. But you obviously have a love for this style truck. And you have the skill set and family help to pretty much build anything you want. Maybe buy a burb and shorten it up like Frizzles? When you need to haul more than the shortened burb will hold (seldom Im sure) maybe a neat little matching truck bed trailer. There ya go I covered all your bases for you lol. You did a nice job on this build.

Here is a link to Frizzles build ... http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=239896

[rusty76]

Sorry to hear about your surgery. I hope you recover fully and gracefully. I really hate to see you sell your truck. I’ve had my rusty pile since I was nineteen. It took me several pay checks to buy it. I never thought I’d sell it, but life got in the way. Practicality got in the way. I considered selling it at least a half dozen times. I even wanted to trade it at some point. It’s been a love hate relationship. When gas got almost 4 bucks a gallon I was like I need to do something different. I bought a cheap car to scoot around in. It was a wagon. I could still haul stuff. I’ve owned no less than seven other vehicles while owning my bucket. I haven’t driven it on the road since 2004. So honestly I can’t say why I have that rusty bucket of bolts. I think really the reason is that it’s the first vehicle I cut my teeth on and while life gets in the way I don’t want to give up on it. And believe me life is a stinker. Good luck buddy and hopefully by January you’ll be saying glad I didn’t sell it. But if you need a place to hide it bring it to the house and it can sit quietly by my ole truck.

[hewittca]

Thanks guys for the encouragement!

I have run through many scenarios while I sit and contemplate life as I heal, haha. CG, I definitely seriously considered doing a build like the Tahoe in the past, and that would be something that would fit perfectly for what I need/want. My only hesitation there is by the time I finished it my kids would be moving out and then I'd want a truck again!

Over the past week the whole photo session thing has started to take on a life of its own and now the truck is going to be used as a prop in three different sessions over the next three months. That's forcing me to get the truck out and get it cleaned up which I'm actually looking forward to. It will get hands on the truck without much physical effort so I should be able to do that no problem. I think I'm also past the peak desire to sell and am coming back down from that crazy idea. Maybe I just had to get the thought out of my head and type it out to realize I'm crazy! I'm still considering it but I also realize I'd most likely really regret it too.

Here's another one of the new pup. She looks sad because I told her I was thinking about selling the truck!

[67ChevyRedneck]

She looks like she wanted to go for a ride and you said no...

[Dads79GMC]

Just went through all 13 pages! Great attention to detail! Love the truck!! Mike

[Graham57a]

Dude you can't sell it! Just get a VW and keep the truck. I promise you will regret it and then 5 years from now you will end up buying another one and spending more money trying to get into half the truck that Gus is.

[knomadd]

With how these trucks are doing, you'll be money ahead by keeping it instead of trying to buy another even a year from now. It's one thing if you planned on flipping it to begin with or just hate the truck, but if you even remotely think you'd like to have it around for a while, it's worth holding onto (at least it is for me).

[ShortHaul]

Originally Posted by Graham57a

Dude you can't sell it! Just get a VW and keep the truck. I promise you will regret it and then 5 years from now you will end up buying another one and spending more money trying to get into half the truck that Gus is.

I second this... See the smile on your kiddo's faces in the pic above? No VeeDub will ever replace that!

[hewittca]

I definitely agree with what you all are saying in terms of valuation of the truck and that I'd be taking a big hit if I sold and then eventually wanted another truck. I think the honest truth is I'm just scared to drive it these days. Growing up I didn't think twice about the safety of my vehicle and drove old cars for years. Now that I'm older and especially since I have kids, all of a sudden the risk is starting to outweigh the joy of driving old iron. I know there's risk in driving anything, period, but I can't get out of my own head that the truck is a death sentence waiting to happen. And I especially don't want to subject my kids to that by taking them for rides, even if I know they love the truck. I don't know, maybe it's just an existential crisis I'm going through, but at present I'm feeling like once I finish up a few things on the truck I will most likely let it go...

[rusty76]

If you do sell old Gus at least buy another truck for the kids to ride in. Be it new or old they’ll have and hold onto memories of a truck much longer than some sedan. Me personally I’d end up being selfish and keeping Gus. I hope there’s some middle ground there.

[knomadd]

You know you can always upgrade things to make it safer, like brakes, headlights and taillights, things like that. If you're more worried about impacts, you can add bracing to things like the doors for side impact protection, but even a new car isn't completely safe. An airbag can injure someone too.

I'm not trying to downplay your concerns. I do understand where you're coming from. I don't have my own kids yet, but I grew up with these old vehicles and I know you have family that can tell you about how they used to ride around laying in the back window of a big car, or never wore a seatbelt in the back seat, or rode in the bed of a truck... Everyone has a relative that has done something most parents would freak out about today. Just make sure you aren't going to sell it without really trying to analyze it completely.

[Slowguy]

Wow. Also went through the entire thread last two days. What a journey. It’s funny, I had the same concerns with safety. I’m upgrading the brakes, shoulder belts, steering, and everything will be new but it still lacks airbags, traction control, abs, and head rest for rear impact. I guess it’s just one of those thing that you take a chance with. I remember being little, riding through Chicago with the driver having a beer in his hand sitting on a milk crate. Literally. I made it this far and it’s by shear chance but it is what it is. I don’t have children to consider so I hear you there. Don’t know where the market will go but it seems these trucks are at a premium right now? I’d think it’d be a good time to recoup your costs but man, you did some nice work.

I’ve also been in the Audi/vw world for the last few years. I’ve had 4-a6’s, s4, 3-rs6’s, Jetta tdi, and an s6. They make some really safe cars. I have an s6 right now. With winter tires, it’s the best vehicle I’ve ever driven on slick roads. I wanted the wife to have a super safe car so I got her that.

If you need the money for the next vehicle I’d sell it. But...if you don’t I’d hang on to it for a bit longer. I think it will be difficult to find one that has the exact modifications you wanted done to this one.

[hewittca]

Well, I think it's time to update my thread to put some closure on this C10 journey for me.

I ended up letting my photographer friend borrow the truck for two months. While she had it, we visited once to do our own photo session. I realized during this time that I could live without the truck and I didn't really miss it too much. I also healed up from surgery and now feel better than ever so I'm refocused and ready to work on something again.







I ended up getting the truck back this past Sunday and on the ride home I just didn't feel that rush to be driving it again like I thought I would. I decided to follow through with my thoughts of selling and threw it up on Craigslist to see what would happen. Well, within 30 minutes someone contacted me and asked to come by and see it later that afternoon. So he came by, looked it over, beamed with restrained excitement, and said he'd be back the next day with cash. And that he did. So within 24 hours of listing the truck, it was gone! I don't think I was ready for a lightning quick turn around but he did not haggle me on price and he seemed like a genuine guy so it didn't bother me to see it go. I think I'm still surprised, but I'm happy to have it move on to someone else who is going to be excited about it.

From it all, my biggest disappointment is that I've lost the connection that introduced me to so many great people at various events and random interactions while out and about. I plan to still check in from time to time here on the forum and contribute when I can, but I fear I will end up like I did with my participation on previous forums related to my other projects, fading into irrelevance. Well, I guess we all have to move on at some point. For now, I will consider at least this thread complete from my perspective as my truck rides off into the sunset. Farewell!

[preacher anthony]

Hated to read this, but I completely understand. Sometimes the building is the "fun" part of the project. Seems like that's all I get to do w/ the ones I've had. I fix them for someone else to enjoy.

[rusty76]

Hate to see the truck go. But some day you’ll be back. Trucks haul you back in. Just wait and see. Really glad we got to meet and look forward to seeing you around again soon. Stay in touch.

[Janz99]

Sad to see this truck go. I loved following the build.

Any idea if the new owner knows about or is a member of this forum? It would be great to see the transition and follow along with his build.

-Ryan