The Gallery | ||||||||||
1956 Chevy 3600 NAPCO 4x4 |
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# 2728 & 2729 From Dave : Wanted to provide an update on the NAPCO. It's DONE! (Never thought I'd hear those words.) Just over two years, a couple bumps along the way but we are pretty darn happy with how things came out. It's been a lot of work - and a ton of fun. Also happened to be great therapy last year when I had a few "health challenges" -- amazing what working on an old truck in the garage can do to clear your mind...
Great truck. You really did a nice job. Definitely a great update for the Gallery. Trucks like this one inspires the rest of us. ~ J. Lucas, Stovebolt Curator [an error occurred while processing this directive]
From Dave : I was always one of those guys who would double-take a nice old truck as it drove by -- but I always thought they were "out-of-reach" for me. Then a good friend, who had been restoring Army jeeps for years, suggested we do an old truck together -- and the idea took off. We had never done anything that required this level of detail and effort before. So we were in for class at the school of hard knocks but were looking forward to it. After a little more research, we made the five hour ride in a snowstorm to check it out this Chevy Task Force truck. The following weekend we were there picking it up. On the ride home, we kept staring at it in the mirrors. It sat high, but had a front-heavy stance that gave it an attitude. Suddenly my buddy blurts out "B-U-L-L-D-O-G!! It looks like a damn bulldog!!!" And the name has stuck. That was March '08. Within three weeks we had it down to bare frame. Sandblasting projects every weekend [ Frame sandlbasted ] - prime, paint and hang parts waiting for enough to put it back together (stock - want it to look original). By August we had a rebuilt rolling chassis. Frame back together The last week of March '09 my buddy helped me set the cab back on the frame (in primer - I think he was humoring me) just before I left for surgery.
It was a couple months before I could do anything real in the garage. As soon as I was back to near-full strength, things started to fly. Engine in, interior painted, exterior cab painted, fenders fixed and painted. It was REALLY starting to look like a truck again. By December we got electric in, doors on and are revisiting some mechanical issues (leaks, etc.) that we thought we had left long ago.
After that? I just bought a 1955 2nd series 2wd shortbox that we are going to be "wilder" with (already have a 4 speed from a '70 Chevelle, will be chroming it out). It's the same color as the NAPCO. We may have "Goliath" pull "David" to the shows?
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