The wifes truck

[longbedlgheadache]

Well,....Im not sure I really belong on the rebuild posts as my mechanical ability clearly has no comparison to most of the posters on this website. I have found a great deal of very useful knowledge on how to do things that have absolutely frustrated me over the last 6 months that I wish I would have known about this site when I began....Dont know how to really start outside of I hope some would enjoy seeing a classic being restored and the story is great for all the women who have lost their husbands time to rebuilds.

THE TRUCK;;; a 1969 regular cab longbed with a shot motor bad transmission and the best piece of metal on it looks like a fat ladies ass with shark bites all over it..natural a/c via the holes that have happened through the course of a bad life. color....rust brown/gold depending on the lighting

THE EMOTIONAL ATTATCHMENT: my wifes first truck in high school who absolutely loves the truck, the memories and everything about this truck.

My original plan: sell the truck or salvage the truck and put it to rest in a car graveyard.

last 5 years just to keep the truck running where I wouldnt feel like my wife would get stranded with our children..I painted a very ****ty black and white paint scheme just to not look at the hideous color replaced the motor with a current 350 motor and Holly carb which caused the transmission to fail and break teeth resulting in transmission rebuild....which lead to the gauges not working and replacement of the dash cluster and install of a/c and various other components.....2 years ago in an attempt to make her forget about this lost cause of a truck I bought her a new Escalade which she loves and I hauled the brown bandit to my shop to store and collect dust...didnt last long she kept coming to the store and taking it out for drives....so I had one of my employees park it in their spare garage so she would stop driving it...I know I have been a bit of an ass about the truck but I was looking at it from a dollar point of view and not the emotional importance to my wife so 6 months ago I started buying parts that could not be salvaged. Dont know if is important but I am fairly sure I am one of LMC largest customers now.,.lol I have finally convinced my wife that I am just parting out the truck for as much as I could get with the functional parts that are on it...when in reality I am trying to completely restore the truck to better than new condition..she has been very sad but understood it made no sense to continue to hold on to this truck after owning it for 17 years and not being able to park it at our house....a great set up I am hoping when it is done.

Parts that had to be purchased
EXTERIOR TRUCK RUBBER kit
FRONT FENDER SEAL SET
WINDSHIELD TRIM KIT-SS
REAR WINDOW TRIM KIT-SS
both doors and complete components and hardware and vents
hood
hinges and latch for hood
front chrome grille with bezels and all lighting
WINDOW CHANNEL KIT
DIVISION BAR W/FELT
both SASH CHANNEL ASS
both VENT WINDOW ASSY
COWL PANEL-OUTER
both inner fenders and outer fenders
complete bed assy including floor...wanted to put wood in but couldnt find a kit
SLIDING REAR WINDOW
RADIATOR CORE SUPPORT
both rocker panels and
complete floor pan
and many more to vast to list in bolts and assemblys

I was so ignorant about it I ended up buying two tailgates with assemblies
Today I got our fellow member Jeff from CPP to hook me up with a 4 wheel disc brake kit and 5 lug axle conversion as well as a tilt steering column

Estimated time to completion....3 weeks?