Patrick Cable's 1963 Chevy Short Wheelbase Fleetside

Canada Day
01 July 2007
# 1981

From Patrick :

           I found the truck for sale for $4500 in front of a Safeway grocery store in April 2006. It was in Kensington, Maryland which was only about 20 minutes from me. I talked the owner down to $4000 and within a few days, I was the proud owner of a nice looking old green Chevy truck.

           After driving for a few weeks, I was rear ended pretty badly. I was fine from the accident. It felt like someone just shoved me in my seat actually. I wasn't thrown around or anything. That was pretty amazing because I was on a major highway (the Rt. 495 Beltway around Washington, DC, if you've heard of it).

           This truck is actually my second. I bought a 1964 C-10 for $500 from a guy when I was in 9th grade which was 2004. Basically, I disassembled the whole thing, planning on doing a restoration but it was just too far gone. I didn't have the money either.

           So I eventually found the 1963 for sale for $4500 a few months after I started driving and convinced my parents to throw some money down for it. I picked it up and then was rear ended literally three weeks later. It was a heartbreak.

           The entire bed was destroyed and there was some frame damage. I was told by the insurance company of the woman who hit me that I would need estimates to prove how much money was owed for repairs. This was the hard part. Almost every body shop I went to basically gave it one look and said they couldn't give me an estimate because they wouldn't work on it.

           So, finally after a few weeks, I get a few estimates from some places and get it to the insurance company. I ended up with a check for $4100 (more than I bought it for ).

           We decided to rip the bed off and replace everything. By the end of the paint job, I had the entire truck disassembled like I had with the '64. So taking apart that '64 really helped me learn how to disassemble/reassemble everything for paint.

           I took the bed off the frame and eventually found a place to tweak the frame back to where it needed to be. Next, I made a few large orders of parts from LMC and Mar-K. I took a trip to Pennsylvania for some new bedsides and a tailgate (which I have yet to paint / put on). Also, the bed wood was just red oak from home depot which my Dad and I milled and finished ourselves. It was a big task but I really enjoyed it. It's great when I look at the bed and know that I did it myself and didn't get the precut stuff from Mar-K.

           After a few months of sanding, sanding, bodywork, and more sanding, I put a few coats of John Deere Blitz Black paint on it. It's not the greatest paint job in the world. I painted it all part by part (except the cab) inside my co-workers garage underneath a few hanging drop cloths -- believe it or not. It's good enough for me. I was really looking for an old hot rod look with the flat black. I just wanted something to cruise in that would really turn heads.

I used some more of the insurance money for a set of Flowmaster Super 40's which sound awesome! The other $2,000 I had left from the insurance money my parents took because I still owed them that from the original purchase of the truck (I'm 17).

           I had the truck done just in time to drive it for the last few weeks of high school, and man did it turn heads. I love it.

           There's still some things I'm planning on doing to it like dropping in a 350, painting the wheels black, and other things, so there will be some updates. Also, yes I am planning on putting the rear bumper on, I just forgot to order a bolt kit.

           I love the site keep up the good work!

Patrick Cable
"63custom"
Bolter # 10863
Maryland