My 65 long stepper, "Ol' Blue"

[shp4man]

I've looked at all the different styles of pickups being refurbished on this forum, from Hot rods to lowered cruisers, to modern chassis/engine in the old bodys to 4 by's and everything in between. They're all cool!
When I was a kid, I loved riding in my Grandpa's old faded red '51 Chevy pickup.
So I'm doing this '65 in his honor, like a truck he might have driven. I will make it a dependable, safe driver, but have no plans to repaint it or change it's appearance. Well, maybe some OEM hubcaps and tailights.

So it looked like this when I drove it home, but it's beginning to look "right" to me now.


I cleaned it up and work is progressing. I thought my neighbors might be mad at me, but amazingly, they actually seem to like it. Just this morning, a nice lady and her husband were out walking the dog, and she said "I really like your truck. It's so pretty!" LOL

It was custom painted by God!

[TJ's Chevy]

Nice truck! Like the new tires.

[Bomp]

Great truck. They have the right character.

[shp4man]

So this last weekend, did a gravity bleed on the the brakes and the pedal came back nice. Somebody let the brake fluid level go below the point of no return.
Took out the radiator and thermostat, flushed the rust out, but checked out the radiator passages with a mirror, still partially plugged.
Put in some DIY coolant flush stuff, if that doesn't work, have some nasty, toxic stuff from work to try.
Cleaned up the front bumper, luckily had some flat white spray paint leftover from another project.

[shp4man]

After flushing out the radiator, I drove the old truck around for a few hours yesterday. The engine (230)is surprisingly eager to climb hills. May be something to do with 3.73 rear end gears.
Holy crap, the shocks are completely useless, and the rear stabilizer bushings are history also.
Here's the list so far:
Replace steering box.
Replace window regulators.
Rebuild carb/set timing to spec.
Replace all shocks and trashed bushings.
Replace cracked exhaust manifold.

I replaced the tailights and shot WD-40 into the turn signal switch area and got lucky, now have all lights working!

So far, have spent $650 on parts.

The truck makes such a cool sound when it's running, and I can't believe how many people like it, even with the "patina" paint job from God.

Getting there.

[rockridgemike]

really cool!

[RDrancher]

I like the way you're headed with this one. Do you have any interior shots?

[shp4man]

Originally Posted by RDrancher

I like the way you're headed with this one. Do you have any interior shots?

The inside is pretty ugly, but the great thing about trucks is it's just basically paint.

[RDrancher]

Looks like the perfect canvas for a personal touch.

[shp4man]

Well, got my new steering box and exhaust manifold in from Rockauto, still have more stuff coming. With the time change it's now dark at 5:00PM, so set up some lights.
The old AM radio in the truck actually works, so I took out the glove box and defroster ducts to get to the speaker.
Glad I did, cuz one of the wires in the engine firewall connector had at some point in history burned up- all that was left was a bare copper strand and melted insulation.
So I got out all my wiring diagram printouts and saw that the black wire comes from the starter connection and powers up the ignition switch! How that was still working, I have no idea, but I'm glad I had an unreasonable urge to fix an old AM radio!
I'll do the other parts at work- with a car lift!

[shp4man]

Working today, but tomorrow, plans are to fix the wiring issues and kit the Rodchester one barrel carb.
Off Monday, so will get the steering box in and the new shocks and rear stabilizer bushings.

[TJ's Chevy]

Looking forward to it.

[plainred65]

Good lookin truck.

[shp4man]

Just a bit of advice for anybody rebuilding a Rochester one barrel carb. There is a VERY small passage in the accelerator check valve hole that can get clogged up really bad.
I couldn't get the accelerator pump to squirt gas and had to take it apart twice. Ran a paper clip through the passage and now it works.

[TJ's Chevy]

I converted to a 4 barrel to fix the problem.

[shp4man]

Got the steering box in and the front shocks done. That was my lunch hour at work today.
It steers nice and smooth now, it's even the same ratio as the OEM one. Thanks to Rockauto for sending the correct new replacement steering gear!

This old truck is ridiculously easy to work on compared to modern vehicles.

[shp4man]

Replaced the parking light lenses, drivers window regulator and lubed the door components. I was wondering why the door rattled so badly when you shut it. Well, it was because the old, broken regulator was down at the bottom of it, along with about 5 old rotten shop rags and a Hershey bar wrapper from about 1983.
If you've been working out and have large arms, you might have to ask a small person to reach down to the door bottom from the little hole.

[shp4man]

Drove in to work on Saturday and replaced the rear stabilizer bar bushings with the press here. also did the rear shocks and rigged a license plate light. Don't want to get stopped with a fix-it ticket!

Also replaced the cracked/warped exhaust manifold to prevent death by carbon monoxide. The side effect of that is the 230 idles smooth as silk now. Must have had some intake leaks, too.

[shp4man]

The old truck is to the point now where it can be used as a DD. Just a few more things to do- exhaust repair (tailpipe/muffler), replace heater core, fix horn..
Gm built some tough parts- the blower motor was seized- took it out, lubed it and it works great- even the blower speeds still work. Amazing.
Wish I could afford a new steering wheel and horn switch/button. Maybe Santa?
Went to pick up the Christmas tree with it today and filled it with gas.

[shp4man]

Ol' Blue has become an enjoyable hobby. Probably driving it too much. The whine of the SM420 heavy duty 4-speed and the sound of the in-line 6 is music to me. Did some research on the head casting- it's a pre smog 1968 or 69 head, which is the best.
Behold the awesome and powerful 3rd generation GM inline 250CID 6!(ya, from the casting numbers), now with an OEM air filter I got at the swapmeet for $10.



In addition, the perfect interior paint color has been found- check out that passenger door! (OK, so it's not exactly Fawn. Whatever) Eventually, all the interior metal panels will be repainted. Also, Easy Rider Rifle Rack, yesiree.



An "as found" pic just for comparison. Nasty:

[66ChevyMax]

Gun rack is awesome!

[shp4man]

Finished the dash repaint last weekend- came out OK, I think.

[ChrisV]

looking good.

[TJ's Chevy]

Very nice!

[RDrancher]

What a difference! You did good.