In May of 2009 I bought a 1966 Chevrolet K20 longbed fleetside.
http://s809.photobucket.com/home/wilkinst/indexThe truck has a 283 V8, 3 speed on the column, and 107k miles on the original engine and driveline.
My interest in old Chevrolet/GMC trucks was sparked by the purchase of a 1957 Chevrolet 6400 dump truck by my dad around 2006. After spending many hours looking over all the trucks on this site (mostly the NAPCO and 4x4's), my dad told me about a truck that was, “Just like the ones you’re looking at.” This was in 2008.
The first chance I had I drove by the house where the truck was parked under some pine trees, about 100 yards off the road. I knocked on the door several times but nobody answered. It was on the other side of the fence, and I could only see the back of it, so all l I knew about the truck was that it had a GMC tailgate. Finally, I stopped by when someone was home, but they said they weren’t interested in selling the truck at the time.
Six months later, I drove past when they were having a yard sale. I pulled up and asked again whether they would be interested in selling the truck. This time the answer was yes! I immediately asked if I could take a closer look at the truck-- I still hadn’t seen the interior, the engine, the front, or the passenger side. Upon closer look the truck had sap and tree residue all over it, the (brand new!) tires were sunk into the ground 4 inches, and the wooden bed was pretty much gone (with six inches of pine needles on it trapping moisture). The owner said it had sat in that same spot since 1998, right after the tires were put on.
After assessing what the truck was going to need to be roadworthy, my dad and I spent about 5 hours over the next week working on the truck to get it running. After draining the gas, cleaning the carb/fuel filter numerous times, putting new spark plugs in, and adjusting the timing, the truck was deemed ready to drive home. The trip home involved many long, anxious pauses in the middle of the road hoping the truck would restart. Amazingly enough the master cylinder and all the brake cylinders lasted the whole way home even after not being used for over 10 years!
Over the summer of 2009 I cleaned the truck inside and out, changed all the fluids, rebuilt the carb., cleaned the gas tank, took the bed off and painted the frame underneath, put a temporary plywood bed in it, and painted the grill, rims and bumpers.
The truck needs all the usual rust repair work for the ‘60-’66 trucks. I’ve never welded sheetmetal before but plan to learn and to do all the repairs myself.
Some history:
The truck was originally bought by the Waynesboro Public School system here in VA to plow the school parking lots. The next owner (an employee at Baugher Chevrolet in Waynesboro, VA) then bought it and repainted it the color it is now (it used to be a light green). The third owner then also used the truck to plow driveways, roads, etc.
I don’t plan on doing a full restoration on the truck; in my opinion the truck has more character like it is! Almost everything on it is stock and I intend to keep it like that as much as possible. The truck will be a work/farm truck and a weekend driver, so it won’t be perfect but it’ll hopefully be pretty solid. Progress is slow right now with school taking up most of my time, but I hope to have the truck done by the time I graduate in 4 years!
Thanks for the great site!
Trey Wilkins
Mt. Sidney, VA
wilkinst@vt.edu
