Neglected 66

[XtechX]

I found this neglected '66 on my way home from work the other night. I just happened to catch a glimpse of it in the dark in my rear view mirror as I was driving down a side street.(It's funny how your brain can spot these trucks once you've been bitten by the bug). Some people save puppys, I cant help but to save these old trucks if I'm able to. It's pretty rusty and sad looking, one of the worst bodies I've seen and I live in Michigan! My goal is to repair it with a small budget and use the truck as a driver. Just to haul things that need hauling, etc. I want to weld up the rust, make it all one color and make it mechanically sound and just enjoy it. I found a good deal on a 72 disc front end and a 72 rearend to replace the drums on the front and get rid of the 3/4 ton rearend thats in it now, its just not pleasant to drive with all the low gears in the rearend and the creeper 4 speed. It has a 250 inline 6 in it that runs pretty good so thats staying in it. The front fenders need to be replaced, they're even rusted in the front where they wrap around behind the bumper so Im hunting around for a set of those, the doors are saveable and I have a better long box step side that Ill use on it (note the passenger side fender thats on on it.....lol). The floors are pretty bad and I'm not sure how to tackle it's severity. I'll plug away it and get it done, if you all want to tag along and watch my progress and help me by making suggestions as I go, that would be great!

[XtechX]

A couple more...

[Bomp]

Im along for the ride.

[TJ's Chevy]

I'm in to! Looks like you need a new fender for the passenger side..shoot..I only have one for the driver's side. lol Nice truck! The 250's are good little engines.

[Ta2Don]

I'm in too...
Glad to see another one saved...

[rusty76]

Interesting rear fender treatment there. Kool truck. I'm in.

[XtechX]

Here's a better pic of the custom fender work! I wish I find another one for the other side...lol It would be a true one off rear fender mod...lol

[TJ's Chevy]

LOL! Good one! It'll look like a dodge then.

[1963c-10]

Welcome and cool truck. The bed fenders and front fenders should be fairly easy swaps for you and will change the appearance a ton. Interesting bed rails too..

[Klasic knut]

I am looking for assistance on how do you remove the taillight panel on a 66 gmc long bed? Any body have any info I would greatly appreciate it.

[XtechX]

I haven't done much of anything with the truck for the past week due to harsh wind and rain storms and not to mention the power was out for 3 days. I did find a line though on a '72 chevy 5 bolt rearend with some good highway gears in it and a the matching disc brake set up off the front for $250. I figure thats reasonable enough. I have a 3 speed Saginaw trans in the shed that I'm thinking about putting in the place of the creeper 4 speed thats in it now, just because I have it and that fits in my cheap budget...lol
The guy with the parts also has 4 ralley wheels (7"), a power brake booster and a front sway bar for an additional $100.
I still need front fenders and have been searching the internet for some repairable ones cheap, but no luck yet. I've been looking over the rusted out floors and rockers and it's surely not going to be a pieces of cake to repair them. I just need to repair them to be presentable and solid and remind myself that it's a driver truck and not a show truck.
I'll get to spending some time on this project soon and get some progress pics posted.

[XtechX]

I was going to punt this project because it's in such bad shape, but I'm getting back on it with the attitude of "It's a challenge". A BIG challenge! There's no way to brace the cab where it should be, because it's already jacked as far out of shape as it could be. Here's some pics of what I'm dealing with....

[XtechX]

Here's what I did today, I cut out the rotted apart floor pan cab support and replaced it with some 2x2 1/8" angle iron. It's a step in the right direction to getting it sturdy again.
Please don't laugh at my bird poop welds. The best I can do with a 110v flux core welder running off an extension cord. Now when my new rocker shows up I can weld in the the perpendicular brace/mount that attaches to the inner rocker and the worst will be over, I hope. The other floor pan is no where near as bad.

[TJ's Chevy]

No laughs here...welding isn't as easy as it seems..lol I am not looking forward to the welding I might be going through.