Well I’m new here, so I’m gonna spell out a bit about me and mostly about my truck I just purchased.
My name’s Daniel and I’m 20, soon to be 21 years old. I live 9 months out of the year in San Luis Obispo, CA going to college. The rest of the year I return to my family’s hometown in the Southern California desert. I’m new to owning a classic vehicle, but I’ve been drooling over hotrods since as long as I can remember. Currently attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studying civil engineering. Eventually I’ll be heading off to Quantico, VA to hopefully become an Officer in the USMC. Between the times I’ll spend working towards those goals and my future career in the Marine Corps, my father and I are going to rebuild my 1953 Chevy ½ ton pickup (3 window).
I bought my truck about two months ago; after a little over a year of looking through craigslist and visiting trucks, I found a good starter within my price range. I towed it home from Bakersfield, CA and spent my last two free weeks of summer cleaning it, making a needs list and trying to get it to start. I never did get it to run before I started school again, but I know the battery is no good. I lose charge without putting load on it, in less than a day. No parts stores in my valley had the brains or ability to test a 6 V though, so they told me it was good.
When I got the truck, for whatever reason I thought it deserved a good name. His name is SEMPERFInk, a combination of my pride in the Corps and the traditional hot rod attitude Ed Roth ushered into American culture with Rat Fink and the hotrod weirdos. I hope these two ideas are combined in the outcome of this rodded truck.
Current state of the truck isn’t too bad, but it does need work. The motor, at some point, was swapped out. It has a 216 in it with a vacuum repaired crack in the block. I just want it running so I can move it around the driveway, but I know I’ll need a new engine. The paint on it was just sprayed over the original paint with no prep work. With the surface rust and, unfortunately, spots of cancer I can see, I’m a bit concerned about the condition of the metal under the paint. It’s been in a dry climate and the cancer is small, and only on the floor of the cab. Two holes are the size of a dime and one the size of a quarter. There are a few holes cut out of the bed, it looks like someone tried to install an external gas tank or something of the sort. There is rust on the brackets for the front fenders. Some interior is missing, the grill is missing one bar, and the front bed panel is bent towards the cab. Those are really the major issues with the truck. Most of my work, I feel, will be in upgrading.
Engine: I would ultimately like to have a Stovebolt 235 beefed up to 400 HP under the hood, but I’m finding it difficult to find performance parts to do so and I’m on a very tight budget. I know it’s possible, but it may not be financially feasible. If I go with the Stovebolt, I’ll likely have a tri-power setup so I can have reasonable gas mileage at normal rpms and get extra fuel and air when I put my foot to the floor. If I go the other route I’m considering, I’ll put in a Chevy Small Block. There’s no cheaper bang for your buck on the market, so that’s a real possibility too, though many changes will take place for the truck to accept the V8. If the V8 is the case, I plan on putting in one of the new Holley carbs that have a quick change jet system, so the motor can be set up for economy or performance within five minutes. Though gas prices are ridiculous, I want this to be my daily driver, considering it’s the only vehicle I own and that’s what I intended from the beginning, but I’m willing to sacrifice gas mileage to have something that can burn up the ¼ mile reasonably for a daily driver without slicks.
Paint and Interior: I have two paint schemes in mind, and the one I do is dependent on what types of paint exist. I want to have a matte forest green body with matte black fenders and running boards; the emblems and grill would be high gloss black. If there is no such thing as matte paint or no way to make a primer protect like a paint, then I’ll have the same colors, but in a gloss finish, making the emblems and grill stainless or chrome. The interior I want to be a light green, almost with a brown earth tone, with grey accents. The original bench seat is in good shape; I just need to get it reupholstered. Lastly, once the cab is rust free and prepped, I’m going to Rhinoline the floor and firewall for protection and insulation. Not the sharpest or classiest look, but it’s tough, clean and usable and does look nice for what it is.
Bed: Once I patch the bed, straightened or replace the front panel, I’m going to Rhinoline the interior sides of the bed. I’m going to use either teak or mahogany for the bed floor and also going to use longer bolts so I can use 2 x 6 instead of 1 x 6, giving me more refinishes and less chances of cupping from heat in the desert.
Misc: Other things I want to do are disc brakes in front, power steering, open driveshaft, higher geared rear end, put my column shifter on the floor, 12 volt conversion and a stereo system that fits in the factory slots.
That’s all I can think of to introduce myself and the project. I’m going to try and use UBBCode to post some images of the truck below.
- Daniel
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This next photo is the before and after of SEMPERFInk’s first wash. The photos were taken in different light, so it’s hard to know what the difference in the paint was after the wash.
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Took off the carb and cleaned it up a bit to make sure gas was flowing through properly.
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First truck I found with a completely unmolested dash!
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