Shortbed 63 GMC fleetside build by jcox68rt

[Jcox68rt]

Been on here lurking for a little while and pulled the trigger and bought a 1963 fleetside shorty. I probably overpaid for it a little but the drive train is sound and mildly built so it is what it is. Typical rust in passenger side rocker and floor pan & front fender tips.

Bringing her home back in April:

[Jcox68rt]

It's got a mildly built 350 with a 700r4 with a shift kit. A 10 bolt rear with 3:08 gears and leafsprings (with most of the leafs missing for rear suspension drop) Haha! The front suspension was already dropped with 3" coils from western chassis.

[Jcox68rt]

First order of business was 2.5" drop spindles and disk brakes up front. Still had original spindles and fairly new drums and shoes when I tore into it. (Which are available for free if anyone near me wants them.)



Which resulted in this stance

[Jcox68rt]

I drove the truck around for a week or so before getting the alignment done and completely obliterated the front tires...oops. Grabbed a couple used 16" tires and had them mounted, they are a little lower profile and resulted into a heck of a rake on the truck. Makes it look means and pissed off. Haha! Will get some skinny whites put on it when money allows.

Raked out

[Jcox68rt]

Next came rust repair...never done this kinda work before. I've been welding for years but mostly on farm equipment and frame stuff but never on sheet metal let alone thin sheet rust repair...

Tore in and cut rocker out...found more rust...of course! Haha!



Made new piece for inner rocker and tacked in (sorry about grainy pics, iPad)



Started on floor patch



Welded up 1 million holes drilled in floor pan over the years and bobbed the old gas tank brackets

[Jcox68rt]

Here is a pic of the interior when I got the truck



I was wondering why it was so loud and drafty in the cab...couldn't be that much rust right?! The rust wasn't terrible as you saw above, however, somebody had put a high hump tranny tunnel in. Cool right? Well if you put in a high hump in while retaining the low hump firewall side... You guessed it...about a 2-3" gap between the two!! Plus the high hump was rusted and mutillated beyond repair. Luckily a WTB ad placed on CL awarded me a nice two piece set of high hump from Jeff in Bakersfield about two hours away from me. Luckily he had a friend that was visiting him that lives near me bring it over! Thank you Jeff! Bolted and welded with por15 over all the floor...now ready for new carpet and my freshly upholstered seat!







Here she is back together inside







Lil helper

[Eazyrider111]

Nice looking truck! Glad to see another 63 out there. I'm down in Santa Maria. Looks like you got a good start on the cab. Mine is still in pieces.

[Jcox68rt]

While we're at it lets weld old gas tank hole up..

[Yelcamino]

Looks like a decent truck to have fun with!

[Jcox68rt]

Originally Posted by Eazyrider111

Nice looking truck! Glad to see another 63 out there. I'm down in Santa Maria. Looks like you got a good start on the cab. Mine is still in pieces.

It certainly isn't that bad of starter truck considering some of the amount of rust I've seen repaired on this site. I'm headed to Grover beach today to pick up some rear bumper brackets. Now just need to find a rear bumper.. Lol

If yours is still in pieces just bolt it back together and you are back in business! Ha! Just that easy right?!

[RANDY COX]

Hey and welcome glad you joined...Looks like you have a good candidate to work with.. Alittle at a time...

[Jcox68rt]

Originally Posted by RANDY COX

Hey and welcome glad you joined...Looks like you have a good candidate to work with.. Alittle at a time...

Thanks for the kind words... Oddly enough my Dads name is Randy Cox. Haha! And we used to live in Burke, VA when he was stationed at the pentagon.

[RANDY COX]

Yep fall over, there's plenty of us out there...

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

Hi Jcox68rt,
You're making some nice upgrades to your GMC... looking good! I like '63's the best.

[Jcox68rt]

No real updates lately. I did get a rear bumper from LMC, now just have to pull bumpers and grill and paint them satin white and reinstall. I've decided on a paint color! My sister down in Texas sent me pics of her new truck, a 2015 Dodge Ram and the paint color is called Dark Ceramic Blue...it will look killer on my truck with a satin or flattened clear coat on it and whitewalls! Next month should be headed to paint! Woo hoo!

[Eazyrider111]

Man that is going to look awesome! I feel you with the flat paint job. I was thinking about doing OD green with black accents. What about you? you going to do your bumpers white or black? Chrome? Endless options. You have great taste sir.

[Jcox68rt]

I'm gonna do the bumpers and grill in white. But will keep the rims black with pinner whitewalls. :-) I can't wait!

[Eazyrider111]

That's going look clean. Good choice. So here is my truck, told you it was in pieces. And a picture of the garage truck is that retro baby s**t yellow and bright blue with a little sea foam green some red and rust with a hint of gray and white and baby blue with brown interior of course.[ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[Jcox68rt]

Hey there is something to be said for ground up builds...it has taken every ounce of my being to NOT strip mine down to the frame. I have done it enough and have a 51 Studebaker truck in my shop that's stripped down for a full build... It's hard to stay motivated on those builds. I have really been enjoy this truck in the fact I can put a days work into it, button it back up and drive it to work the next day. Keep on that truck, and stay motivated and get to back on the road and we will catch up in SLO someday soon and have a beer while checking out our trucks!

[Eazyrider111]

Thanks for the encouragement. I definitely appreciate the build. It has taken a lot of time and will continue to do so but in the end it will be worth it. I wish I knew how to weld my dad has a really nice mig welder but his is set up for wire feed. Would be nice to meet up can pick your brain.

[vdawg]

Nice foundation to start your build...lookin good

[Palf70Step]

That color should look great on the truck. Looking forward to more of your build.

[RDrancher]

I like that color. Reminds me of Dupont Federal Blue from back in the '80's. I first saw it on a fleet of Peterbilts and always thought it would look sharp on a pickup.

[Jcox68rt]

Originally Posted by vdawg

Nice foundation to start your build...lookin good

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

That color should look great on the truck. Looking forward to more of your build.

Originally Posted by RDrancher

I like that color. Reminds me of Dupont Federal Blue from back in the '80's. I first saw it on a fleet of Peterbilts and always thought it would look sharp on a pickup.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone! Hopefully next week I'll get my rear bumper on... Oh wait, im working 6 24hr shifts this coming 7 days, I might not have time. Crud.. MiVidaLoco

[Jcox68rt]

Board member virginiaslim did a photoshop rendering of my truck for me



He nailed it! And the options he threw out there tells me the white roof to tie the grill and bumpers in will be a must!

Thank you virginiaslim!!!