There is a method to this madness........

Removed all doors, fenders ., left the hood on thinking it would be easier to work on it while it had a place to sit....Started working on the hood.,



two little inverted dings thanks to a broken fan blade...not the first one I've seen...Randy said it broke when the engine was idling so it didn't pierce the hood, just made two little impressions...Easy fix.... I also filled in the hood seams. It looks much much better now.. did not get around to taking any pictures after I put primer on the hood yet.....

Tear Down!!!!

Got the bed off the frame, pressure washed everything., TWICE... Then used I don't know how many scotchbrite wheels...After two 18 hour days here is the result....

Got me a nice shiny frame...I still have to do under the engine bay., I decided not to remove the cab or the drive train once I stripped inside the cab and pressure washed underneath the truck. I don't see the point, especially since I don't have a proper shop or the means to lift anything heavier than the hood... I started on the bed panels., removed the old front panel and replaced it with brand new sheet metal. On the sides, just stripped the paint since there were too many scratches inside the bed, stripped the tailgate too. Once the paint was off it didn't look bad at all..Few dings here and there, not intimidated by this kind of body work. Already hammered most out and applied filler. Tailgate is all done and primered, will finish the bed after I get the cab done...

..............and the work begins

First thing I did was grind the welds off the steel plate in the bed. Looking under the bed, I knew the original wood bed was still there so I was dying to see what it really looked like. Well., it wasn't all that bad.... The wood had rotted, the front bed panel had rusted in the corners where it met the bed sides and the front cross sill was starting to rust. Nothing beyond saving but the front bed panel only costs 99 bucks so I went ahead and ordered one when I ordered new oak and polished SS hardware all around. I didn't really expect to save the wood after 42 years but I was really happy to see that there was no rust anywhere else. Frame was absolutely perfect with just a little surface rust here and there. Mr. Baxter had reeally taken good care of the truck. BTW., I bought the truck from Mr. Baxter's son in law who had been using it since Mr. Baxter passed away a few years ago. Mr. Baxter bought the truck new in 1966 from the Chevrolet dealer in Alex City, AL. He must have gone ahead and coated underneath the truck right away which clearly saved the truck from rust. No rust anywhere, not cab corners, not inner fenders, nothing whatsoever other than front bed corner. The sides cleaned up nicely with no holes after i put the grinder to it with the scotchbright pads...I believe the 78K miles to be original. The numbers match, no leaks anywhere and truck drives like the GM engineers in '66 intended....Clutch seems a little tired, dang :-)) Everything other than the heater fan seems to be working just fine...Ohh and the green light in the dash which is supposed to come on when the engine is cold doesn't come on either. I may have to call Randy (Mr. Baxter's son in law) and ask for some of my money back. What's up with all the defects., it's just 41 years old, should be good for at least another 20 before I have to change light bulbs and fan switches.....