05 March 2015 Update
# 2793

From John:

Sold "The Ole Orange Crate" to a fella from New Zealand. Loaded it onto a semi this morning, headed for Long Beach California, then onto a ship for the long journey to the land of the Kiwi bird. Saying goodbye to an old friend is never easy.

Have fun my friend, you are in for quite the adventure!

Hope we hear from the new fella ~ Editor

12 April 2013 Update
# 2793

	Owned by John Simmons "Hot Rod John" Bolter # 18462 Denver, Colorado

1965 Chevy SWB Stepside

"The Ole Orange Crate"

Check out "The build thread" for more details and pictures

From John :

I purchased my truck in August of 2008. It was hot rodded many years ago and was / is in need of a lot of attention. It is planned to be a long-term project, working on it as a hobby during my semi-retirement.

An original "straight 6 - 3 on the tree" truck, it now has a 1970 350 V-8 and "4 on the floor" 1965 Muncie car transmission shifted via a Hurst 1957 Chevy Passenger car shifter.

When I bought the truck it had a 1967-72 Stepside bed on it. I have since swapped out the fenders for the correct 1958-66 style.

The dash was in bad shape when purchased so it now has a 1967 Camaro dash that I stretched to fit the width of the cab.

I have also customized the grille to feature five stainless horizontal tubes instead of the stock cheese grater look. Wheels are aluminum slots all around, 15 x 8-1/2's in the rear with 33x12.5x15 Goodyear rubber.

I widened the bed (not the fenders) four inches for additional tire clearance and so the bed overall width matches the front overall width.

You can find more details on my build thread, with lots of pictures and details.

John

05 July 2010
# 2793

From John :

The good list:

• 350 4 bolt small block Chevy, '70 vintage
• M-21 4-speed, '65 vintage
• Short Bed
• Some rust, but better than average

The bad list:

• Wrong bed (67-72)
• Shifter hangs in second gear
• Flame wrench drop job
• Leaks oil big time
• Turquoise truck rallies

Here is the description of the truck off the Craigslist add dated 08-13-2008

1965 Chevy Short Box Stepside. This truck is 43 years old and has its problems but they are small things and one good days work without spending any money would fix 98% of it. The chassis and body are solid and it’s a kick in the pants to drive.

I hate to see it go but it’s not practical for what I need in a shop truck. It’s powered by a rip’n 350 four bolt with a Muncie side loader four speed, three inch Flowmaster exhaust, 12 bolt rear end and brand new tires with less than 1000 miles.

As for cosmetics, the only thing I have done is reupholster the 1990 Chevy bench seat. The body has the common rust in the bottom of the fenders and a couple bubbles in the bed but not bad overall.

Like I said, it’s very solid. Great platform for a muscle truck, hot rod or rat rod and very dependable. I have let it sit for months at a time and it always fires up on the first crank

You can find more details on my build thread on the 67-72 Chevy Trucks forum .

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