Slow but steady : 1972 C30 pickup restoration

[danelmer]

Ok so heres the deal...I found this truck at a local flea market (cowtown woodstown, nj)...i was buying an old vinyl record when i looked up and saw it: the truck of my dreams. At the time I had just realized that there was money to be made on storage bin cleanouts, however..I needed a box truck. I didn't have a dime to my name, so I ruled out the idea...but I saw the 1972 Chevy with a box on it and my heart was racing. I told the guy that the truck was "my dream" but couldn't afford it. I bought the record (CHaka Kahn's Through the fire) and just started talking about the truck with the guy. Apparently he had totally rebuilt the engine about eleven years ago, and had the truck up and running with no problems, when, by freak accident, he was trapped underneath of a car while working on it. The gas tank of the car exploded and the man was burnt on about 80% of his body. ( he showed me the skin grafts...) The truck sat for eleven years just after he completely rebuilt, repainted, and replaced the engine while he rehabbed.. anyway, he told me he was trying to get $2500 for it because his arms just weren't strong enough to steer the wheel anymore (no power steering.) After talking for a while about his homeland (jamaica) and how the world is changing, he offered it to me for $2000. I told him that this was an offer I was planning not to refuse, and that for the next month I would work at getting the money, and call him back in a month. That next month, I did more thinking than anything, and about two days before the month had gone by, I sold my 97 camry. Anyone who knows anything about toyota knows that these cars are SOLID. A woman came to my house the very next day and gave me $2200 for the car, on the spot. I was asking $2500, but 22 was the best she could do. Well, I call up the guy with the truck, and he wants $2500 again!! I said "hey man listen, I only have 22..." and with that, we agreed on 2200 for the truck. I went to look at it with my friend the next day...with the cash in hand...and it looked pretty rough. The one tire wouldn't hold air, it needed new plugs, there was plenty of rust,...but it started right up and ran strong. I went to register it at the dmv and came back and the man was crying. He told me that all of his friends thought he was nuts for selling it, because he put so much time and effort into it. I knew it was a good truck at that moment, and wouldn't care what many people said in the future, because this man was so attatched to this vehicle that he was actually crying.

After all was said and done, I took the truck home, and started to work on it.

It needed..(in order worked on)

*new windshield wiper motor
*new fuses for the dash lights
*new radio
*new interior light
*new tires (I bought three...the truck is a dually and after taking the tires off, we realized it was only actually driving on 4 out of 6 wheels...two were flat, however the others were new, so all new tires are on it now, with a new spare.)
*radiator
*thermostat and gasket
*timing adjusted(after changing the plugs it went from running cold to hot and the timing was off)
*vaccum plug(dont know the actual name)
*distributor cap and new plug wires
*new battery (of course)
*new box door (for the cube on the back...is an overhead type door..)
*new exhaust (hooker headers dual exhaust to match the hook headers...)
*new points (the old ones were completely gone...)


Now I have the engine cleaned up and am going to replace all of the gaskets, paint the headers a GM corporate blue and repaint the block a GM blue. I don't really care what the outside looks like, because it's all about how she runs. I do plan to take off the box and replace any rotted metal ribs for the box and repaint the frame, but besides that, it doesn't need much more than a paint job and she'll be finished as far as I'm concerned...I'm using the truck for a mobile food business that I'm starting, and as for now, it's a scrap metal machine...nothing flies off or out because it's a box..


here are some pics and videos


and video http://www.twitvid.com/4X7QT

[danelmer]

Ok so since the last post, a lot has happened. I have put a new set of Hooker Dual exhaust and am waiting to take the engine out to put the new headers on. The rims and mirrors have been painted. I've painted the air filter and now am just waiting for the weekend when my friends are ready to help me take out the engine, paint the bay, and the engine. Then, I plan to take the box off for a week or two while I paint the truck, and weld a lift gate up to the back, and patch some of the ribs on the box.

[danelmer]

So this will be a short reply to get things up to speed...things are moving on but not in the direction that I had imagined...there are so many possibilities on a truck like this that, after seeing the mini big-rig below, i decided to design my own flat bed. the dual exhaust from hooker came defected, as seen in picture 1..

the door was a full 2 or 3 month project, but we finally successfulcated the matter...for everyone thinking of doing an overhead door project, be CAREFUL because OVERHEAD DOOR SPRINGS CAN KILL YOU.

Ok moving on...the headers were brand new used craigslist finds actually, they came to me from louisville ? i believe...and after powder coat baked on blue, they came out pretty nice

The rims are painted flat white for when the lug nuts are changed, flat white is easily touched up. I also did the west coast mirrors that way...easy to touch up if or when i hit that tree :p have done that before. Anyway I'm going to see if i have anymore pics to put up and then put them up and come back later with more pictures to finish updating.

[danelmer]

besides me almost ripping the cowl off only to realize i didn't have to in order to get to the wipers, and the box knocking a tree branch off a tree and onto the truck, the body was in pristine condition when i got it..not a single dent or knick to be seen, and the body lines were all straight. I can't wait to show the next set of pictures......stay tuned

[danelmer]

The first post's pictures were all deleted, or I uploaded them wrong, so here are a few pictures of the truck! haha

[bollybib]

Interesting truck and having a box is different. Looks kinda cool that way.

[tanman722001]

Cool looking truck.Reminds me whem i was in high school dad bought a 72 chevy boxtruck.He too the box off and put a 12ft flatbed on it.I drove it too school everyday.And why are you or did paint the motor blue whem orange os the orginal color for the motor.Just wondering.

[danelmer]

ah as for the engine i just want the whole entire truck to be a corporate blue theme...the seatbelts are say GM, and the entire truck doesn't say chevy on it once. the only word on the truck is Custom...there is only a chevy emblem. i thought it would be a cool theme. pics coming soon...

[danelmer]

and here's with the picss....

[danelmer]

and a few more

[danelmer]

eventually the entire engine will be the same blue as the bottom of the block is now. and the bay area will be all black. typical rust on one of the cross members. remember this is the northeast we're talking about...but these last two pics are especially scary seeing as it's the load bearing cross member...