Doug Kershey's 1966 Chevy C-10

From Doug: 

       This is my 1966 Chevy C-10, originally purchased by my Grandfather on January 10, 1966 at Matway Chevrolet in Donora, Pennsylvania (I don't know if they're still around). I remember riding around in the back of it when I was a kid ... back in the time of lead-based paint, lawn darts and steel slides. You know, when parents didn't really care about their kids' safety. ;-)

       After my Grandfather's death, it sat in the garage in PA for about five years before my Dad brought it to Ohio for light duty work. He used to take it to craft shows and such. He purchased a new 1998 Dodge Dakota (which I don't recommend to anyone) after deeming that the C-10 was no longer "reliable." Saving it from the scrap yard, I had him sign it over to me and stored it in the garage at my apartment building for another four years while I desperately tried to save up enough money to get it restored.

       After purchasing my house (another project), I finally found someone that would help me take on the paint work without cleaning out my bank account in the process. It has been down in my friend's machine shop for nearly two years slowing getting brought back to life.

Quarter panel - before		Quarter panel - after
Front - before		Front - after

       We didn't do a complete frame-off restoration, but removed the bed to strip and POR treat the frame. I purchased a new pine bed floor, which I stained, polished and eurothaned. Polished some more. Eurothaned. And so on. We removed all the bumpers, grille, chrome and such, which I have purchased all new replacements for.

      The bodywork is actually being done at a Savage Engineering in Garfield Heights, Ohio -- a plant that manufactures industrial hydraulic presses. The owner, Dan Wolbert, is a huge 'car nut' himself, and has space set aside for automotive work (mostly mechanical though). Don Kastelic, who is doing the body work and paint, is an employee there and does the body work on the side. He has done a great job of fixing a few minor rust spots. The most noticeable ones were the holes in the quarter panel behind the front wheels.

       I'm just appreciative that Dan has allowed me to use his facilities for this project.

       The new color will be Prowler yellow, which is looking great so far even though it seems wrong to be using a Chrysler color on a Chevy. He's since finished the door jams and inside sides of the bed, but I don't have pictures yet. He's real close to finishing it up. I'm hoping by the end of month. So I might have some updates soon.

       The whole thing for me has been a 'learn as you go' process, with help from these guys, your website and others. I'd like to be more involved with the body restoration, but I want it done right, which is why I'm leaving it to the pros.

       Once Don is done with the paint, I'll be tackling most of the engine work, even though I'll be the first to admit that I'm no master mechanic. I'll start with new gaskets, radiator, washer pump and all that fun stuff. Lucky for me that these older vehicles are relatively easy to work on and the truck was in pretty good shape to begin with.

       I've thought about replacing the straight six with a 305 or 350, but with only 32,000 original miles on it, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe later. For now, I just want to get it cleaned up and running good.

       The interior is in pretty good shape, so I don't have any immediate plans to redo that until I get my bank account back up again (as I had to build a new garage to have enough room to store it when it's done).

       I guess that's about it for now. I'll hopefully have some updates soon.

       I love the site ... great info and galleries. I'll send updated pictures as it nears completion.

Thanks!

Doug Kershey
"dkershey"
Parma Heights, Ohio (about 20 miles south of Cleveland)