Lost My 65

[Captainfab]

Let us know what you think of them.

[AzCountryman]

Just spent the better part of an hour here at work reading this thread. Awesome job finding your truck. Loved the whole google earth photos. Thats some good hunting. Looks like you are getting some work done to it. Keep it up and Congrats. Now off to read your service truck thread.

[LostMy65]

Took the smaller Shrinking Disc to an area on my hood that had a small dent and some 'Oil-Canning'.
It worked fantastic.

Posted via Mobile Device

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by AzCountryman

Just spent the better part of an hour here at work reading this thread. Awesome job finding your truck. Loved the whole google earth photos. Thats some good hunting. Looks like you are getting some work done to it. Keep it up and Congrats. Now off to read your service truck thread.

Thanks for reading.
It is great having having it back.
I tinker on it when I can.
Posted via Mobile Device

[MisterC]

I admire your willingness to undertake body work. I have zero confidence in that area. I have a buddy that's great at it, but I'm like number 12 in line to get his assistance.

[step65]

Great story look forward to seeing you bring it back to your own.

[jhrusk]

cool truck story,I bought the truck my Grandfather gave me 14 years later after I sold it so it is cool to see your progress

[Low Elco]

Glad to see this still Movin!

[Snailed]

Shrinking with friction discs is great! I do a lot of metal shaping and sheet metal repair at work and I use the big disc a bit. The little one is great if you know exactly where you need to shrink already, the big one will help you find the spots. Have you made or bought a good slapper? I find I grab mine more than any other hand tool when working out dents.

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by Snailed

Shrinking with friction discs is great! I do a lot of metal shaping and sheet metal repair at work and I use the big disc a bit. The little one is great if you know exactly where you need to shrink already, the big one will help you find the spots. Have you made or bought a good slapper? I find I grab mine more than any other hand tool when working out dents.

I do need to get/make me a slapper.
I do have a leaf spring I can make one out of.
I plan on attacking the body panels this winter.
I'm anxious. to get started.
Right now I'm working on getting some concrete down in my pole barn.
Posted via Mobile Device

[markeb01]

The patch repairs looks fantastic! There are so many things that can be achieved if a person has welding skills. Looking forward to more updates.

[Snailed]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

I do need to get/make me a slapper.
I do have a leaf spring I can make one out of.
I plan on attacking the body panels this winter.
I'm anxious. to get started.
Right now I'm working on getting some concrete down in my pole barn.
Posted via Mobile Device

Nice, a piece of spring is good. It can be pretty time consuming but it's so nice to use the old panels and minimal filler.

Good luck with the barn and the sheetmetal!

[LostMy65]

I have finally settled on a method I'm happy with for repairing the body panels.

Until I retire, (longways down the road) I won't be doing a frame off restore. Also, I don't want too much tore down for too long.
I want to keep it a driving restoration.
Also, i dont like different panels different colors.
Also, I didn't want a primer gray, red or black truck.

I like blue. Captn' suggested blue primer, but I read that primer doesn't protect metal. Later I realized he might have meant epoxy primer.
My truck is parked inside, so fading is no immediate concern.

Now, the next criteria for my attempt to tackle these repairs is equipment - I don't have the spray equipment - and even if i did, I don't feel comfortable spraying toxins (poison) in my garage. Even if I dress up in a full bunny suit, where do I ventilate these toxins? Also, I'll be doing a small repair, then moving onto another small repair. I dont feel like setting up everything for every small repair, and then cleaning everything up.
The solution; roll-on epoxy primer.
In my research, I found that the really fine foam rollers do a nice job.

Now, I do realize that rolled on primer on my truck will still look like primer on a truck, but I like the look of trucks in primer. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...84#post5077484
Also, getting the repair areas to blend with the overall truck would be a challenge. But about a month ago I remembered a look that I really like for a driving restoration.
MisterC's 66:


So, I now I have a method/direction/procedure that I'm happy with. This way as I repair an area it's done correctly for when I decide to do a frame off restore and give it a paint job with quality paint.
.
I had a local paint store mix up some enamel the same color as the blue epoxy.
The bottom right is the epoxy. - good match:




Here is my first attempt to emulate MisterC's truck:
(I really like how it's turning out.)




Posted via Mobile Device

[MisterC]

Looks nice! Keep up the great work, bud. I almost feel bad for starting to sand mine now. I needed to get down to the white parts underneath so that I could see if I wanted to go with the two tone.

[Low Elco]

You know, that's kinda neat. Almost like built in patina. And well protected. Nice work!
Posted via Mobile Device

[LostMy65]

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

You know, that's kinda neat. Almost like built in patina. And well protected. Nice work!
Posted via Mobile Device

.
Yeah, MjsterC's is blue primer with a black guide coat.
I'm just faking it for now.

Originally Posted by MisterC

This is the way I got it. Blue primer with a "dusting" of black. I don't do body work, but I'm assuming that has a purpose. I'm planning on putting all of the trim back on, as paint will be the last thing I do to it.

Posted via Mobile Device

[LostMy65]

Another huge reason for the direction I'm going with the paint and body is when I first decided on getting a classic to tinker on, I settled on a truck for the practicality of it.
I want to be able to use it as a truck.
This last Wednesday was the perfect example.
I went to pick up a big steel gate. It didnt quite fit in the bed.
It caused some pretty good scratches.
No big thing. Just hit it with some sandpaper, and touch it up.
I own a truck.

.
Here is a post Mark made quite some time back that stuck with me and convinced me of the direction I wanted to take for the body and paint:

Originally Posted by markeb01

That’s exactly why I used it, I've had more fun with the truck since the blitz black than I ever did when it was wearing shiny paint. I drive it everywhere now. Before I used to worry about the paint getting scratched.

I originally painted the truck in gloss black lacquer (which chips easily) nearly 15 years ago. It was my daily driver for a 72 mile commute for 9 years and we lived on a rock road, so the paint really took a beating. Due to the number of chips, and since I didn’t want to disassemble the truck to strip all the lacquer I just feather edged everything and then surfaced the bad areas with U-Pol primer (applied with a roller). I also removed all the seam sealer on the roof and resealed it with self-leveling Evercoat Maxim.

I bought two gallons of paint (just in case) and used about 5 quarts to paint the exterior. I didn’t paint inside the bed. It was either $30 a gallon or $50 a gallon. I don’t remember for sure and lost my receipts in a computer crash back in August. With all that, some thinner, Rage body filler, and sand paper I probably had another $100-$150 dollars invested when it was all done. So it cost somewhere a little over $200 for the whole job.

Posted via Mobile Device

[T Smith]

Looks great! Reminds me of the flat denim blue that was all the rage on Harleys a couple years ago.

I do love a blue stepside.....

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by T Smith

Looks great! Reminds me of the flat denim blue that was all the rage on Harleys a couple years ago.

I do love a blue stepside.....

Thanks for the compliment.
I hadn't heard of denim blue as a paint color.
I googled it and found these:
(I like it)



Posted via Mobile Device

[T Smith]

One of my riding buddies has a Fat Bob that's denim blue, looks good but it really shows fingerprints and stuff.

[LostMy65]

Winter Goal

I've decided to go with an Automatic Tranny.
Driving around this summer in the curvy hilly stop-and-go Portland OR area was the clincher.
I'm tired of shifting up and down and up and down.

So this winter I'll be putting in an Auto.
My 65 is on a 62 Frame,
so this will go a little different than those who have the 63-66 frame.

I'm currently rounding up the parts needed to go from my sm420 to the th350.
I acquired a nice original 3-speed auto column sometime back.
I'm sure glad the offers I got for it were lower than I knew it was worth, otherwise I might not of held on to it.

I'm looking forward to this upgrade.

Here are some pics of the column:

[66-PMD-GMC]

I am building a 62. Using a 350/700R4. Modified a Camaro trans x-member to hold the trans.

[A.T. RockDriller]

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

I am building a 62. Using a 350/700R4. Modified a Camaro trans x-member to hold the trans.

That did wonders for my vertigo......
How bout some pic's of the '62, Chris...?

[66-PMD-GMC]

I have the chassis almost done.
Static coil drop. (no more torsion suspension)
Disk front and rear and epoxy coat chassis paint.

It's a ground up build...
Nothing is done on the cab, bed or front clip...

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

I am building a 62. Using a 350/700R4. Modified a Camaro trans x-member to hold the trans.

That is a long tranny dipstick tube.
I'm going to need the same thing beings I need to get past the heater box in the engine compartment.
Do you remember which one you have?
Do you know if the th350 will accept the same one?