Well after my original introduction to the site in 2009 it is finally time to crap or get off the pot and get to working on this thing for real. I have finally made the decision to do a budget "frame off" restoration. A lot of the sheet metal (all four cab corners, bottom of doors, fender eye brows, floor boards, etc) is too far gone to try and just update it, plus the rear suspension is held on with a chain. The patina on the paint is killer but I think it will look pretty sweet all cleaned up with fresh paint throughout. The way I am looking at it is I have seen some pretty good results that have started off way worse than my truck. I really want to keep the cab since it is a family truck, to me swapping cabs makes it a different truck.
Back in the fall of 2020 I did get the motor running, rebuilt the entire brake system, had all the drums turned, pads relined, and made sure the hydraulic pump worked. It has some pretty good bones and all the major systems still seem to work but will need cleaned up and most likely rebuilt.
I did buy a donor parts truck out of Nebraska, a pretty clean 1956 6400 that is missing the motor but has good front fenders (some dents but not missing metal due to rust), 6 one piece steel rims, good rear springs and under axle shackles (mine rusted to dust), plus other miscellaneous parts that I’m sure will come in handy, like steering parts and a spare set of brake drums and pads.
Currently I plan to get it all torn down to the fame and get that sandblasted and painted before snow flies. Then just start working on it one small piece at a time and putting it back together. The plan is to convert it from a dump truck (already torched off the dump bed) to a flat bed, however I am going to keep the hydraulic pump functional. On our small hobby farm a flat bed is more useful than a dump truck. I plan on keeping it all "original" as in putting it back together as it would have been back in the day. Rebuilding the 261 motor, with maybe a few upgrades, and the SM420 4 speed transmission with 2 speed rear end.
Anyways I keep this post updated with progress photos along the way, I know how you all like photos.
