Dingbot65

[Ryan99]

I’ve always wanted an old truck to work on and fix up. I finally bought this truck about a year ago and have been slowly working on it. It’s a ’65 long bed with a 327. I know most people love the short beds, but I just really like the look of a long bed truck.

This is my first time ever working on a project vehicle so this thread will probably move pretty slowly as I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m also on a pretty tight budget so it works out well that I move slowly. I’ll probably have a million questions. I’ve been reading this site for quite a while and I’ve learned a ton of stuff here to get me started.

Here’s a few pics from when I picked it up and put some new rear tires on.

[Ryan99]

I pulled everything off forward of the firewall, cleaned it up and painted it. This thing covered in grease and oil and was just disgusting.

[Ryan99]

My immediate plans were to drop the front end, swap to front disc brakes, replace steering components, rebuild the 327. I also need to swap to 5 lugs in the rear and replace the rear brakes. So far, I’ve finished with dropping the front end.

[Ryan99]

So it's almost been 4 years since I've posted on this thread. Wow.

Gotten some stuff done since then so I thought I'd bring this thread up to date.

New front tires/wheels


Brought it home, cleaned up and painted the frame and rear end. Put new shocks and 3" drop springs.

[Ryan99]

Dropped in a rebuilt 350 with a Muncie M20 transmission.





Swapped out the heads:

[Ryan99]

I don't know how to weld (yet) so I'm not really tackling any body work or rust repair just yet, but I did just want to clean up the interior and lay some paint down just to make it look a little cleaner and nicer. I ground down all the rust to shiny metal, primed and painted (rustoleum). You can see some dents and dings, but its looks a million times better than it did, which is good for now. These pics aren't the best...

If I ever decide to do real body work, the whole cab is gonna get blasted, but for now, I'll keep the "patina" look on the outside and the spray bomb interior.

[Ryan99]

Got the American Autowire classic update kit and started wiring. Working on getting everything squared away in the engine bay so I can reassemble the front end.

[66ChevyMax]

Coming right along, trust me you are not the only one here to take a leave of absence HA!

[Bomp]

Wow, diggin' your build.
Sub'd

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

Welcome back!

[RANDY COX]

WOW she might be sun baked but she doesn't seem to have much Rust....looking good it takes time especially if your doing everything yourself...

[Blessed66]

4 years isn't bad... I'll be finished with my trucks by noon on the day of my funeral...

Edit: And atleast you have some amazing progress to show!

[siggyfreud]

Looking great! I think most all of us have had breaks in the build process. Mine lasted about a year . . .

As for short bed vs. long bed . . . I'm in the long-bed camp all the way . Looking forward to following this build!

[namloc]

Movin along.You must be a meticulous individual as the Q-tips are out on the tire tread's .Doin' some detailing.

[northern 85]

Nice work!