Welcome, and that truck looks great!!!
Thanks for the flowers- it's going to look better though. A quick rundown on the history of the truck:
As stated in Original post- I have wanted one of these for over half my life. I have been a self employed welder for 14 years now and always wanted to find one to make a welding truck out of.
While this is a good truck- It will not be converted to a welding truck.
A quick history on the truck: (This is what I was able to put together through word of mouth)
The original owner (Have no idea who that would be) got the truck to this point in or around '99 0r '00... He then, as it was told to me, got into debt with an attorney at some point in time for about $12 grand. The attorney ended up with the truck and some dough. The attorney kept the truck for about 4 years and it sat..... Enter my banker into the picture... He did some trading and ended up with it and then it sat for another 3 years.
Now some where, between the creator of this race themed truck and my banker, the Hood and the interior trim, the data plates and the title vanished....... I have since gotten the proper paper work.
I would love to talk to the original builder of this truck as I have many questions as to his intentions when he started this build.
over all the truck is in really good shape- I probably would not have chopped the top, but it is done and is a pretty good job.
I intend to strip the truck down to a bare frame again and start again.
1- Go over the frame to insure weld integrity of all welds. this frame has a chevelle, manual steer, front clip. and the transmission cross member is grafted and 'molded' into the frame. While the transmission cross member is a nice job, it isnt very friendly when it comes to removing the tranny- I will correct this! The rear end is a late model, 10 bolt with 3.42 posi and a disc brake conversion. I am going to change this out in lieu of a ford 9 incher and a 4 link.. The entire frame has been boxed and over all, it seems to be a pretty fair job.
2- Re work cab to polish up all the roof modifications. The person that originally did this did a fair job, BUT, the gaps around the tops of both doors are not even throughout the radius of the curve. I have another cab ( bad floor and sheet metal) that I will use to donate the proper door jam and roof sections. The rear window is a real work of art. seriously, it made me scratch my head to think that somebody that could create such a beautiful piece of work on the rear of the cab, could screw up on the doors and top chop....hmmmm. The rear window frame is all metal and virualy no bondo.
3- I need to find: Hood assembly.
4- Interior of cab- The interior of the cab is pretty good, floors have been replaced and looks to be pretty solid. all of the interior trim is gone and I need to locate replacements. The original instrument cluster is gone and the bezel and bezel glass is painted yellow with the rest of the truck. Believe it or not, (I grew up in a paint and body shop and can tell alot about work quality.) the dash was removed from the cab and all was painted then re-assembled. But- it literally looks like a the original builder just opened the door and placed a yellow paint bomb in the floor and shut the door..LOL, its a nice finish but EVERYTHING is yellow (well except for all the bolts and screws.)
I have already removed the rear fenders and running boards and they are being worked now. I am tossing a coin on wether or not to use Mar K and replace the box. While it is solid, it has hundreds of tiny marks and dents all over it. No rust, no major damage, just millions of little pecker tracks all over it.
My intentions with this truck is to, basically, build a truck that, while it is original in appearance, it will be a warmed over street rod. I want this truck to be streetable and to be able to drive it across country, yet not be shabby on performance. Although the engine runs great but since I have no idea who built it, or what is in it, I plan to tear it down for a looksee. The tranny has to be torn down, somewhat, because it has leaks all over it- looks fresh and rebuilt, but it leaks...as does one of the rear brake calipers....8 years of sitting can wreak havoc on seals...
to be continued...
*EDIT*- I forgot to say that I traded my banker a 2007 Yamaha Vstar 1100 midnight custom for the truck...LOL
