Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

My Dad bought this truck in 1984 or so, it had 45,000 miles on it. It lived a pretty good life other than the ol' man was a bit of a pig when it came to the cosmetics. Mechanically though he was a fanatic. It had to drive right and run strong.

It's high point was the fall it headed down to Arizona for the winter with a Roadking in the bed and a 1975 Airstream 31 foot overlander hooked onto the hitch. In helwigs we trust! Can you imagine that pile of true American iron and aluminum? Brings tears to a guys eyes!

The truck is a 72 Cheyenne Super SWB with 350/350 showing on the SPID. Black exterior with the parchment interior.

We found a tach dash in the late 80's and a tilt wheel from the same truck and added both items.

The early 90's brought about a motor and tranny swap to replace the well worn original drivetrain.

Pops was an old hotrodder from way back so when he built the new drivetrain he made it so it'd run. It had a little 425 hp 350 running on a Holley fuel injection system and a hell for stout 700r4 to give it some legs.

He ran that setup for about 12 years or so and then got into a tangle with a horse trailer with no tail lights taking a left in front of him and the little black truck went for a ride out through the borrow pit.

The truck got parked and the drivetrain came out of it for a 28 model A pickup hotrod project.

In 08 the ol' man with some help from the big C decided to lay down and dry up. He left this truck to his best friend and mechanic. The mechanic, with a little prodding from me and my cousin decided he wouldn't have the time nor money to play with it so he sold it back to us.

So, it begins. The rebuild what's going to be the second life of a neat little truck. I'll try and be diligent on keeping you guys updated on the progress but bear with me if I get busy and miss a few weeks.

Here's some pics as she sat in the shed.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

The next few pics are of the mockup. Fitting of new doors and hood and after pulling the slightly bent pass. side a pillar straight.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

The next ones are up to today. In these you can get an idea as to how straight this truck really is. My builder is ecstatic in regards to how little time it's going to take to get it to the paint booth.

The bed floor is clean. Some of the more time consuming issues include all the old snap rivets that a PO had put in the bed for a soft tonneau cover. It'll take a day just to do the hole repairs.

We went through 800 lbs of sand for this phase.

Ya' can't be a guy and not appreciate that sandblaster/aircompressor rig. Sweetness!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Good story and glad you got your dads truck back

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Cool story but why did the mechanic make you buy it back if he was your dad's best bud?

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Leevon,
That's an interesting question. I guess it's because he needed the money.

To be truthful with you, he was real stubborn for quite awhile. Then last christmas I saw in the paper where he'd gotten a dui. I waited a few weeks and I guess you could say I caught him at a time of need.;)

Anyways, it helped him out when he needed it and everyone was happy.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

That is going to make one nice build, best of luck with the project!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Glad you got it back. Looks like you are making good progress. And I really like the Compressor set up.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Glad you have the truck now! looks like she's cleaning up real good. Best of luck with your build.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Will be following along. Looks like an excellent starting point.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

I cannot believe the amount of time I've got into researching parts prices and quality.

I'm at the point where I'm starting to believe that this site is just confusing me more.

It's simple really. I want the best quality and I don't mind paying for that. I wish places like LMC and Brothers etc. would rate the quality of the parts that they offer.

HVAC hose replacement kit for example, one's 49.95 and one's 79.95. Is it suppose to be self evident that the more expensive one is better? How about telling us what the thickness of the material is or something?

On a side note, Dad had enough forethought to buy all nos upper and lower molding. It's been sitting around now for 20 years but it's still in the packages.

More pics coming this weekend.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

I've been working on the interior this week. Doing research on availability of the door panels and trim I realized I'd better take a very close look at what I had.

Hopefully you can see in the pics how dirty every thing was.

Everything I've read screams "use your original door panels if you can".

The wood insert panels are toast but thankfully those are available. The chrome moldings have to be saved though, as they are unavailable as far as I can tell.

Some degreaser and neverdull saved the chrome pieces and I think that I got the panels themselves clean enough to repaint with colorbond. Has anyone had experience with colorbond interior paint? How close does it match?

The sunvisors were a bear! The pass. side cleaned up pretty easily but on the drivers side.....well Dad was a 4 pack a day smoker.....you can imagine.

A good scrubbrush and they look great, or at least good enough that I think a light coat of colorbond will make them look fine.

The brackets on the sunvisors are also the parchment color. They could use a freshening up. Can I use the same colorbond for them also?

When I refer to colorbond I'm talking about the stuff that LMC offers in their catalog.

The headliner cleaned up well also. Again a light coat of the colorbond is in order here but more importantly it needs a new backing to give it better rigidity. My plan there is to take it to the upholsterer that is redoing the bench seat and have him reback it if it's cost effective. The chrome trim for the head liner is toast so it's on the parts list.....150 smackers for that ouch!

So a few pics next and comments and sage advice are welcome and appreciated!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Just posting some update pics here. Lots of progress and a few snags. I went with all Bell Tech for the suspension. 3 inch spindle drop with stock springs and the pro form coils for the rear with the 1 inch spacers for adjustability.

Here's some pics men, enjoy!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

More

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

nice project, great history...

did you put an entire floor in because of a few little rust spots?

of course, NOS is your best bet for parts but that's a given... everything else is average to crap... but my sheetmetal except doors is aftermarket due to my fear of rust and budget..

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

More.....

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

More.......comin' along huh?

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

You're tired of these I know....just kidding, we're such pic mongers here eh?

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

This should be the last for awhile. I picked up the paint last week and with the chassis ready we'll jump off that and get some paint on her. I went with ppg concept single stage. Paint code 500, of course! Stay tuned.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Msgross,
No new floor, just had to replace the right front cab support. The black color is smooth spray on bedliner material. After being primed and painted of course. Trying to quiet the cab down and fix any future corrosion issues. We'll also do the inside of the cab floor the same way.

Thanks for the look!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

looks like new then.. what brand of liner did you go with?

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

wow, wow, wow! nice buildup. nothing prettier than a fresh rolling chassis!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

:agree:

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Duramat inside the cab will also help with reducing road noise.

Use board vendors for parts when you can. Most of those are smaller companies and when you call them you will usually get a real "truck guy". Customer service is usally great. There are a couple board vendors in Washington, and maybe one in Oregon too.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Thanks guys.

The liner we're using is a simple rattle can product from NAPA. As a matter of fact, almost all of the chassis finishes are purchased at NAPA. I wanted a truck that I could refreshen easily.

I'm not sure what Duromat is. I was going to go with lizardskin and ran out of budget. That's easily done in the future though if deemed needed.


As far as vendors go. I tried a small one down in texas for the first 2700.00 on interior parts and woodgrain restoration. 5 months later and I still don't have all of my parts order that I prepaid him for. He won't return e mails etc. so I'm going to have to order the next 3000.00 through someone else. I'm going to order from someone in the northwest and see if I can save on shipping somehow. Things like grille shells and inserts add up fast!

Should see some blackness splattered on 'er soon!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

When buying a lot of parts this board can really help. Please tell me that guy's name isn't James Blanton. If it is, you probably won't ever see your money. You may want to check this thread out: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ad.php?t=83878

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

No James Blanton screw up here thankyou. This was a VERY reputable builder and parts vendor. A true truck guy. I really don't know what happened. He sent me the first part of the order and my restored parts in record time and needed to get the rest of the order. 4 months later I get another few parts and now 5 months later I'm still waiting on a few miscellany. No e mails, no phone calls, nothing. I paid for everything up front. It's too bad because I really like the guy and his son, and even though his parts were as expensive as anywhere, I felt that it was worth it for the invaluable advice he was able to give. Just a live and learn deal.

I really am hoping that it's just a matter of, on his part, going through these rough times and just needing some time to make it right.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

I know when dealing with CSM, you always need to call them. His wife handles the emails and is very slow and rarely responds. Can you get better pics of your restored woodgrain for me. I want to see the color of the woodgrain. Trevor

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Trevor,
I was pretty careful with the name of the vendor, but yeah, you got it.;)

I'll get you some more pics of the woodgrain but it'll be next week sometime before I get a day off and get over to the truck.

I'm guessing that when I see it next, there's going to be a whole lot of black going on!


I could sure use some help with the wheel and tire sizes, especially back spacing decisions.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Great build! i like the history in it too.
keep at her

the frame motor and trans all look really good!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Thanks Threeonthe tree! It's coming along nicely. Next week or 2 will be the real difference.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

I need some advice fellas.

Dad had bought back in the 80's alot of the NOS trim and put it away. With out looking at it I thought I had it all. When I really pulled it out to see what exactly I had, I found that I was missing a bunch. I have over half of the trim needed.

In pricing the replacement stuff I got a shocker.

So, do I sell all of my NOS and go with repop? And if so, who do I order it from to get the quality?

This is such an important part of this truck I hate to make a mistake.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Some of the repop mounting abilities are quite lacking but the main decision will be up to you and your budget. Depending on what pieces you are lacking you will probably end up spending double for NOS (if not triple) than what you would pay for repop stuff.

Now... here's my recommendation. Become a site supporter for $25, help the site that supports your hobby, and then place WTB (want to buy) ads for the NOS parts you need. There's not better source for parts than this site, guaranteed.

By the way... you have made some great progress on the project; nice work!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Okay 72blckbeauty,
Now then, wheres the best place to advertise all of my NOS trim? Notice the kewl " site supporter blue"? Point taken!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Thanks for supporting the board! :D

I would put it in the 67-72 Parts Board on the site, and help offer some parts to fellow board members and their projects. :D

Now... just to clarify, you might want to consider other opinions and that being locating the finishing NOS pieces you need.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Here's some update pics fellas. Blackness!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

She's cleaning up well!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Thanks killer71! Yes she is. I'm seeing the end coming on this project. My parts room is bulging. The jewelry is next.

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

A few update pics here. The single stage ppg has been worth every penny spent. Quality product and a perfect example of getting what you pay for.


This week we'll do the bed. Getting the cab on was a huge milestone. Enjoy the pics!

Re: Worth Restoring- Dad's old truck
 

Lovin the progress! Looks great!