A boy and his 1972 fleetside restoration

[Hayseed4]

So, I suppose I should start at the beginning of my truck project, but if you are interested in the pictures please scroll down. A few years ago I was living in Utah and was looking for a decent truck to use while fixing my house. I was interested in the older trucks from the 40's to the 60's. To be perfectly honest I was not even looking at a 67-72 truck, but I found a 72 Chevy fleetside with new tires intake manifold, carburetor, top end work and minimal rust for $1200. Pretty reasonable since it ran and didn't need any work so I bought it. Other than that I didn't know anything about these types of trucks.

After driving the truck for a while it really started to grow on me and I decided that I wanted to keep it and do a restoration. I started with a few repairs by trading some work on a 1950 60KW generator for some welding work with a friend. Just saw I had the truck almost all apart, I was noted that I needed to move to Indiana for my job so I quickly reassembled the truck to move it across the country. I then drove it for about a year before I was able to start the restoration earlier this summer.

Unfortunately I don't have the original SPID for the truck, but I am pretty sure everything but the engine and steering wheel are original

Here are the specs for the truck so far.

Badges Custom Deluxe C20 with a 350 (current 350 is out of a van according to the engine ID)
TH350 transmission
4 season AC (non functional)
Bedside toolbox (door needs some work)
Either dealer installed or RV dealer installed KH electric brake setup (still functional and marked '71)
Aftermarket Auxiliary fuel tank and valve from Colorado Leisure products. Tank was missing when I got it.
Step and tow bumper that can be adjusted farther back from the truck and was added after the truck was purchased.
Camper wiring harness I think. It was modified for a regular 4 pin trailer light connection
Heavy Leaf springs
Dana 60 rear end
Color medium green.

I am looking to get all of the stuff above working and add the following
Factory aux fuel tank. I picked one up in the junk yard for $50 with the filler neck. Unfortunately the sending unit switch is missing.
Aux Battery and wiring
I currently have a 1970's Teaberry CB that matches the truck interior colors.
ARB locker for the rear end.

Anyway on with pictures. If anyone can make suggestions on what would look good or anything else let the comments begin.

[Hayseed4]

More pictures

[cooperhw]

First off let me say welcome to the club. Glad to have you here. Nice truck. Glad to see you are keeping it running. So many rip em to shreds and then start pushing. Or let em sit till they get tired of looking at em and sell em off for a lot less than the original purchase price.
Keep up the good work keep posting pics. We love em.

[flashed]

Welcome ,like your story and your truck ,keep at it .

[70LonghornCST]

Hello and welcome to the site! That looks to be a very cool truck and a fun restoration project. Keep us posted with pictures. Also, watch the 67-72 parts board for some of the parts you are missing. They do come up. Or, by becoming a subscribing member, you'll be allowed to post a Want to Buy (WTB) thread for parts that you just can't find, but need. Good luck, and have fun!

[Hayseed4]

On the front quarter panels are some stickers with the Utah symbol and 9000. Maybe for showing total weight of the truck? The other sticker says Merrill Bean Chevrolet Ogden Utah. I found this when I took the back bumper off, which means that the truck probably shipped without a bumper. Should I make a repro sticker and put in a visible place when I do the bed? It is kind of a cool piece of history for the truck. The dealer is still open at the same address but under a different name.

[slowcpe]

Welcome fellow Hoosier. Cool looking truck.

[72 tigger]

Welcome to the forum and Indiana! Nice project- l like saving the dealer sticker idea. Is that a factory AM/FM l spotted? I live just south of Ft. Wayne- where are you?

[Hayseed4]

Thanks everyone for the welcome. I have followed the forum for a few years, and am glad to be able to contribute. I am located just north of Lafayette, but will be outside of Fort Wayne in the beginning of October. As for the radio that is a great eye. It is not a factory AM/FM but a very very good reproduction from Antique Automobile Radio Inc. It is a stereo with aux inputs and sub outs. The radio is digital tuning, but utilizes push buttons. I have a few AM radios, but have been unable to get them working.

The attached pictures show the cab removed and frame sand blasted. I then primed it with a zinc based primer that is a "self sacrificing" paint. Basically that means that it forms a chemical bond to the metal and will allow the primer to be consumed by rust rather than the frame. I then put undercoating on it to add more protection. It is the same system that is used for vehicle that are exposed to salt spray near the ocean. I think it will be sufficient for winter roads in the rust belt.

The engine is off to the machine shop and should be back in about 3 weeks. More to come on the engine and transmission later.

Just about have the cab all blasted, should have it done by the end of the week

[Hayseed4]

So I am looking for some opinions on the set up of my cab. I have a cab that was not originally set up with a cargo light. I picked up one at a salvage yard but am not sure I should put it on. Does anyone find them useful? Would it be better to use some lights mounted under the bed rail? Opinions are welcome.

[72 tigger]

I have a cargo light & like it (when its dark out- I installed mine on my cab

[flashed]

I installed a factory type cargo light on mine and its very handy and bright.

[brown7373]

Good Luck! Nice truck, but I guess I might be slightly prejudiced.

[Redline novdog]

I'm glad that a '72 found you.Sounds like you will take very good care of it! It's all about passion. The people that flip cars don't have it!!! Make it what you need and can use!!

[hugger6933]

Redline, I don't know weather to take offense to your statement or not[ probably not]. My passion for cars and trucks is what lead me to be in the car business. I'm sure I'm not the only one on here that once they are built I don't care as much for them in building them is where I find all or most of my enjoyment. Once a project is built I'm pretty much through with it and would rather it go to a good loving home where someone who can not do what I can is able to through a check book.
I know mostly all of my stuff is later model but I do work on the older stuff as well and that is the reason I am in this section to help farther the hobbies of the 67-72 trucks and their owners.
Really no harm done and no offense taken but not everyone that builds a truck is building a keeper. Look at it this way, if your weren't able to build one but you could write a check for it wouldn't you hope someone would sell?

[Redline novdog]

No offense intended hugger6933. For me I had been in the car business for around 20yrs,in parts,service,mechanic.
Yes I can see your point view. I just saw way to many repairs done hastily because the flat rate time was so low.There were also people like you that went the extra step to make sure the repairs were correct.
Sorry for the miscommunication.

[Hayseed4]

Well, I guess I should share the updates to my project. I have been busy sand blasting the cab and all of the front sheet metal components, I expect to have them completed in the next few days and should be ready to paint them next week. I bought some industrial paint that is a match for the GM medium green and white codes. I color matched the green on the inside headliner since it did not see much damage or sun, and it was just about spot on. The white was another matter since there was no place that the sun didn't seem to fade. I am going to hope for the best on that since the green seemed to be right. If anyone wants more info on the paint I am using let me know. The paint for the whole truck, 1 gal of primer, 1 gal of green, 1 gal of white, 1 gal of clear and all of the 2nd components was only about $400. Not too shabby compared to the expensive Napa or ditzler paint. This paint is the same type of stuff that is put on quarter million dollar semi trailers, so I expect good results. But of course any paint job is only as good as the prep work even if it is tedious. More pics of the blasted parts to come soon. In the mean time enjoy the paint draw downs and the paint build sheet.

[Hayseed4]

So I sent my engine and transmission off to be rebuilt in the middle of August and they are just about done with them, I have been eagerly awaiting them to be completed as they are taking pictures of the whole process. The transmission is a TH350 that will have all new guts and have a few extra clutch discs which should handle the low end torque of the rebuilt engine and handle quite a bit of towing capacity. The engine is going to cost more than anticipated, but will be well worth while when it is done. While I can't exactly remember all of the specs right now, I think the biggest shock was how bad the heads were and how much of a ridge was in the cylinders. I knew the cylinder needed some work from when I took the oil pan off a while back for some seal replacement, but was surprised that it needed to be done .040. apparently lots of desert dust must have gotten into the engine from it's years in Utah. Definitely goes to show how important it is to change the air filter I guess. Has anyone else seen something like that in other engines? The guys I bought it from said the heads had been done recently, but the machine shop said the last time they were done, they didn't grind the valves right because they gouged into the seats, the valves were loose in the guides, and the springs were all worn out. That necessitated new valves and springs, but when the heads were cleaned and magnafluxed, they found they were both cracked, so I had to get a used set of heads that the shop had and had them completely rebuilt with new valves, springs, guides, ect. I don't know how the engine kept on running for so long with those type of problems. Must be that the engine was just so use to running it didn't know how not to run... Either that or the four bolt small block 350 is practically indestructible. More to come on the engine rebuild later.

[Hayseed4]

So I have a question, and hope that those who are knowledgeable on thing can share some insight with me. The rear bumper I have is a step bumper and has a riveted tag on it that is mostly illegible, but I could make out safe-t bumper on it and some city in California. Is this aftermarket or dealer installed? Does anyone have a good legible picture of what the tag should read and look like? I think some of the small details like this would really make the truck stand out and would like to find a good one or make a repro. I have a good lead on a place that can make it if the picture is good enough.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Hayseed4]

So I stopped by the Diamond Engine Machine Shop yesterday to see the completed engine. The owner Aaron was really great and took time to show me all of the things that were done to my engine and showed me the worn out and broken parts. They also gave me the pictures from the tear down and rebuild. They were pretty good with taking lots of pictures and letting me stop by occasionally to see the progress and explain things to me . With no further ado, pictures of the engine rebuild.

[Hayseed4]

More Engine rebuild pictures.

[Hayseed4]

I will make sure to get a final picture with the carburetor and air cleaner on when it is all done. I expect to have them deliver the engine next week Monday which should give me enough time to finish painting the cab and fenders.

[Redline novdog]

I see they decked the block I can't remember is that block original to the truck? If so they just milled some important digits off the block

[Hayseed4]

Redline, They did deck the engine, I think it is standard practice for the shop, but am not sure. The engine is not original to the truck. The numbers on the engine make it from a 70's van. What type of information would have been removed by the decking?

[Redline novdog]

The "pad" on the passenger front is stamped at the factory,better tying it to the vehicle.If it not an original engine then no problem. Yes it is a good idea to mill the block and cyl. heads for a good long term seal.
Good looking engine by the way !