Been meaning to post this for awhile... Meet Roy!
For the past 4 years, I've been searching for a 4X4
<FONT COLOR="ff0000">I</FONT><FONT COLOR="000000">H</FONT> pick up truck. Problem is, in this part of the country they are either very rusty, or very expensive, or BOTH.
This spring I finally gave in and widened the search to other brands and 2WD or 4X4 trucks. It wasn't an obsession, just a casual search for the "right" truck. Finally a truck popped up on Craigslist late one Saturday night in May. A 1970 Chevy C-10 pickup. 350 V-8, and 4-speed manual transmission. The pics in the ad didn't look too rusty, and the price was decent so I emailed the seller and went to bed.
The next morning an email showed up from the owner and we agreed to meet at 9am. It was an easy meeting as the owner live a mile-and-a-half away! When I pulled in the driveway, an older gent (Roy) stood up from his weed pulling duties. We chatted for awhile about the truck, then I took it for a test drive. It ran like CRAP! After looking the truck over, it didn't have much rust (for these parts anyway) so I asked the guy how long he owned it. He looked up at me and said, "Oh, I've owned her since she was new. We used it on the farm in North Dakota until we moved here in the early 90's. I've driven it from time to time, but it just usually sits back there in the pine trees. Its time for someone else to enjoy it." We agreed on a price, then went into his house to sign over the title. His wife was baking cookies. While signing the title they reminisced about the truck from "back in the day". His wife even asked, "Are you ready to sell your old truck buddy?" He again said yes, and that it was someone else's turn to enjoy it. I felt bad as I pulled out of the driveway that day as the old man watched me leave with "his" truck.
The 1.5 mile drive was a true adventure. The truck barely ran, you'd have to keep on the gas pedal so it wouldn't die, and the brakes were NON EXISTENT the minute I left his driveway. You'd hit them once, and the pedal would go all the way to the floor, then double pump them again, and at the very bottom of the pedal travel, the right front wheel would lock up. Little did I know, NONE of the lights on the truck worked either. Thankfully it was only a mile and a half.
Over the course of the summer I slowly got her going. First step was to completely tear out the interior as it stunk like mice. After removing that and hosing out the interior with hot soapy bleach water, it was time to redo the drum brakes on all 4 wheels. Next step was to remove and drain the fuel tank from behind the driver's seat. After that it badly needed a carb rebuild. Then it got a new Heart-Throb exhaust including new cast iron manifolds, and finally a new rear light harness and some quick soldering on the front wires and we have lights!
Here is was the day in late July when I was finally able to take it for a test drive.
As you can see, she wasn't pretty, but it ran.
The next step was to clean it up. When I brought it home, the truck was covered in pine needles and mold. After washing the entire truck with hot soapy water, it then got an acid bath. (More on that later) then a buff out and a wax.
Here it is after that while visiting a friend. (I haven't cleaned up the bumpers yet)
If you need to clean up anything that has rust, but still has old (patina) paint, I'd highly recommend this stuff. I buy it at Menards.
It doesn't work fast, but it takes all of the rust off, and leaves the paint. After that you either just wax or clear coat it.
Here is a "before" shot of one of the hubcaps. Under all of that rust was plenty of original white paint, so after the acid wash, they got some rattle can clear coat.
Here are some "poser shots" as it sits today where you can see the shiny 46year old paint and the non rusty wheels. It still needs a LOT of work, but it's coming along. That hubcap in the pic above is the same one that's on the back wheel in this shot.
(For some reason the passenger side parking light quit working the day these pics were taken)
Thanks for listening!
