I've been out of the game for a while, been busy with school and life. Haven't had the time or extra cash for a project. Well I just finished the prerequisites for my program this last semster and have some time before I get into my program so I thought I might start looking for a quick low budget build. Meanwhile other things were taking place. My Grandpa has alzheimers and doesn't drive anymore. My Grandpa also has a '63 Chevy pickup just sitting in his garage, wasting away. He bought this truck brand new in '63, custom cab, big back window, factory tach, chrome rear bumper, the works. When he bought the truck he tried to get it with a 327, but apparently they weren't putting 327's in the trucks in '63 so he settled for a 283. Not long after he brought the truck home he had the 283 pulled and had a built 301 put together to take it's place. He also added a dual glasspack exhaust. At some point after that he had the truck painted candy apple red, and had a custom black cloth interior and black toneau cover stitched up for it. He drove the truck like this for years and this is how I remember it growing up. At some time in the mid nineties the engine was worn and the candy paint was faded and flaking so it was time for a rebuild. The 301 was pulled and replaced with a crate 350 with an HEI and Corvette rams horns. The truck was repainted in a dark green/charcoal color combination along with getting rid of the toneau cover and adding some modern sort type mirrors and a smoothed tailgate. This is how my Grandpa drove this truck until about 4 years ago when he stopped driving. The truck had been pretty much sitting since then. We would go out occasionally and start it up, and once I took it around the block a few times, but other than that it was just sitting and being neglected. About six months ago a family member borrowed the truck and it was involved in a traffic accident. This broke my heart because this truck had 100% original sheet metal, no rust, never been wrecked. Accidents do happen though I suppose. So again the truck sat. This brings us back to the present. No one else in the family wanted the truck, or even knew what to do with it. I told them if they wanted to give me the truck I could fix it and bring it back to a former glory that the whole family could enjoy again. So now I've got my new project. This truck has huge sentimental value to me. This truck is my Grandpa. I can remember sitting in his lap and steering this truck down the road when I was little. I partially blame this truck and my Grandpa for my automotive sickness. Despite the damage from the accident the truck is in amazingly good condition for it's age. It's fairly mechanically sound, it still has a beautiful original coat of fawn beige on the interior sheet metal, it even still has the original wood in the bed. My plans for the truck include repairing the damage, de-smoothing (sp?) the tailgate, replacing the sport mirrors with originals, and repainting the truck it's original factory green with white top. I also want to put stock steelies and caps back on the truck and adjust the altitude a little. Other than that I just want to drive it and enjoy it. At some point I might consider updating the front suspension with discs and power steering, and maybe adding an overdrive trans, but I'll worry about that kind of stuff later. For now I just want to get this thing back on the road where it belongs. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Here's a few pics of the truck in it's current condition.
Here's a few pics of the damage. I've already found a good replacement door, but still need a fender so if anyone has a good drivers side 60-66 chevy truck fender let me know. The grill I'm having straightened and polished, and the bumper I'm having straightened and rechromed.
great story i dig a vehicle with family history , that ride will cause you to grin a lot over the years with good memories ,
Those panels don't need replacing! A good panel man will bring those back to "as new"condition without too much work at all!! Fix what you have, don't replace! Hey great truck and great story! I am very envious. My Grandpa's Model AA truck is in a museum, and I would love to have it at home so it could see more road time!
Want an opportunity to continue with past memories with your Grandpa's truck. Being a Grandpa now and having a great relationship with my grandson I only hope he will have the same chance as you to do something like this. Oh and by the way what a nice truck Good luck.
Great story! Glad to see it stay in the family. I agree with Woodbox, try to fix the original panels if you can. I like that you'll be going back to those original colors. Good luck with your project and make your your grandfather proud.
Thanks for the kind words guys. I'm trying to dig up some old pics of the truck from when it was new, and in it's second incarnation. I know we've got some laying around here somewhere. When I find them, I'll post them.
Cool pickup,Great story reminded me me of my dads 1964 chev pickup 283 3spd on the tree. We all learned to drive a stick with that pickup, thanks for reminding me!
Nice ride and great story. Do your grandpa right and take him for a ride again. All my grandpa had was a salmon colored 59 Rambler Ambasador. I drove it after he died but I could not get a date when her parents found out the seats would fold down into a bed.
Great that you got the truck and have good plans for it. Truck shows that your Grandpa was a true truck guy. Sorry about him having Alzheimer's, it is such a terrible disease. Show him some of the pictures of truck and he might remember a little. Keep us posted on project.
Great history to a great truck! Don't change those panels, spend what will be lots of money and have a high quality metalman repair those. This truck is worth the big bucks to keep it original. Glad you are it's new caretaker.
Thanks for all the kind words guys. The parts don't look as bad in the pics as they really are. I actually do body work for a living, but these parts are too far gone for me to want to try and tackle. Got a little bit done on the truck this weekend though. I started with the tailgate, got the panel cut out that they had welded in to smooth it. Took about three hours as I had to be careful not to damage the tailgate. Not surprising to me when I removed the panel, there was some of the candy paint still hangin' out underneath. I also got started on the door that I bought. Got it sanded down and was actually pretty happy with how clean it was. A few small dents, and a few small areas of rust that will be cut out and replaced, but overall it's in pretty good shape for it's age. Now that I've got the ball rolling I'm going to try and keep moving along on this and hopefully make it a pretty quick project.
barncor, If you are a body man I hope it wasn't you that poked all those holes in the door to use a slide hammer on that dent. That is why the nail gun was invented to eliminate those. I agree with other posts that you should repair the original parts, your a body man and it would be excellent practice for you to hone your metal working skills. Use the replacements for now, but take the time and effort to repair the originals and put them back on and make your grandpa really proud!
Ha ha, no. That's what was underneath the bondo that I ground off of the door. I have actually used a stud gun to pull that dent out and have welded up those holes since that pic, I just forgot to take pics. Maybe the original parts are salvageable, but it's more work than I want to do. What you can't tell from these pics is that the inner structure of the door is actually crushed as well and the A pillar is tweaked slightly. I'm also going to have to replace the outer rocker on the drivers side as it is caved in too. After working on other peoples crap all day I want to make this project as easy on myself as possible.
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