Once we had "Mrs. T" at the house, it soon became apparent that the truck was going to need some work. Knowing that the roof had been leaking, I fully expected the floor and rockers to be Swiss cheese. That was not the case; the floors, toe boards and rockers are perfect.
What wasn't perfect were the "Knee Knocker," A pillars and the upper door jams. The A pillars must have collected water that just sat in the area. They are rotted thru and thru, from above the door sill to the dash. The upper door sills are rusted thru and paper thin in many places.
The seat had been removed and some clean up work done on the floor and dash. The dash looks to been primered. The interior is stock, nothing cut, nothing butchered.
Moving to the outside. The wood in the bed is toast. It's basically Balsa Wood, well rotted Balsa Wood. The truck had been used to haul hog's. There may have been some sort of pin that stayed in the bed to transport them. Linda can remember riding great Uncle "W.J." to sell hogs on many occasions. Whatever sat in the bed of the truck allowed it collect moisture and held it. The rotted bed floor led to rotted rear frame rails and trailing arms.
The rear section is beyond repair and will require some steel to be sectioned in behind the rear shock mounts. The trailing arms are separated and need to be replaced.
The bed sides are rotted at the base. The front bed panel is also rotted. All this can be repaired and have new steel welded in.
The tailgate has been repaired a few times in its life. That we will replace. I told Linda I would build her a bench or swing from the old tailgate just to have for the memories.
The front grille has some issues. The rust has eaten thru the lower portion. The headlight bezels are rotted thru. These are proving to be a hard item to locate -- well at a decent price. As this truck has many "one year only" parts, it is going to take some searching. The parking light bezels are a one year part; the grille as well. Many of the '60-'62 parts are interchangeable.
All of this was just on a walk around. I'm sure "Mrs. T" has some more surprises.
~ Craig 1958 Viking 4400 "The Book of Thor" Read the story in the DITY 1960 Chevrolet C10 "A Family Heirloom" Follow the story in the DITY Gallery '59 Apache 31, 327 V8 (0.030 over), Muncie M20 4 Speed, GM 10 Bolt Rear... long term project (30 years and counting)
If you don't like driving yourTruck, you won't drive yourTruck..| Living life in the SLOW lane
