Topic: Slow n Low + A Poll

[SubieRoo]

Chapter 1: Wut do ya figur?

I've wanted an old truck for a long time. Years. Never really knew when or if it would happen but that didn't stop me from occasionally just sitting down and enjoying looking at them.

Last week my wife let me know there was an estate sale and he had a few hot rods on his property, some fixer uppers etc. and one included a 1957 Chevrolet 1300 short box. I was interested in seeing more of it, but didn't want to get my hopes up - we were expecting a newborn at any moment. Because of the newborn my mother-in-law was in town with her boyfriend who spent the last 40 years of his life doing bodywork including his own frame-off restoration. You couldn't ask for a better person to go with and check out a 63 year old truck with.

This is what we found,



It was in overall really good condition. Floor boards are awesome - aside from one gun shot wound and a few spots of more major rust, I was super pleased with it. Ended up picking it up and bringing it home after 2-3 days of discussion.



The odometer shows 49,999.9 currently. Curious if that's rolled over a few times or simply just that.





Getting loaded up,





Ready for the trip home.



Thankfully only a 10 minute drive. My 4Runner is rated for 5000lb and I was pulling about 4-4500lb with the truck and trailer.



Now the fun begins.

[SubieRoo]

Jesus, how do I make these photos not massive?

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Chapter 1: Wut do ya figur?

I've wanted an old truck for a long time. Years. Never really knew when or if it would happen but that didn't stop me from occasionally just sitting down and enjoying looking at them.

Last week my wife let me know there was an estate sale and he had a few hot rods on his property, some fixer uppers etc. and one included a 1957 Chevrolet 1300 short box. I was interested in seeing more of it, but didn't want to get my hopes up - we were expecting a newborn at any moment. Because of the newborn my mother-in-law was in town with her boyfriend who spent the last 40 years of his life doing bodywork including his own frame-off restoration. You couldn't ask for a better person to go with and check out a 63 year old truck with.

This is what we found,



It was in overall really good condition. Floor boards are awesome - aside from one gun shot wound and a few spots of more major rust, I was super pleased with it. Ended up picking it up and bringing it home after 2-3 days of discussion.



The odometer shows 49,999.9 currently. Curious if that's rolled over a few times or simply just that.





Getting loaded up,





Ready for the trip home.



Thankfully only a 10 minute drive. My 4Runner is rated for 5000lb and I was pulling about 4-4500lb with the truck and trailer.



Now the fun begins.

Sweet uckfaying jesus my eyes

[jellynuts]

Sweet uckfaying jesus my eyes

Yeah, my monitor was about to have gunshot wounds.  Pretty sweet project and your mom's boyfriend sounds pretty cool.

What's the story behind the bullet holes?

[SubieRoo]

HOW DO YOU MAKE THEM SMALLER!?!?

Just a good ol' farm truck. Was in a barn for 15 years and then spent some time in a field, but guessing some kids had a .22 and felt like having fun.

[jellynuts]

HOW DO YOU MAKE THEM SMALLER!?!?

Put an "L" (doesn't have to be uppercase) before .jpg

Massive:
[img]https://i.imgur.com/nw5A8TR.jpg

Smaller:
[img]https://i.imgur.com/nw5A8TRl.jpg

...but guessing some kids had a .22 and felt like having fun.

I hate kids.

[A.J.]

That's awesome, I've always loved the mid 50's stepside chevy pickups. If I needed another project it would definitely be one of those. Nice find, looks pretty good. What are your plans for it?

[SubieRoo]

Ah, the plans! That's the exciting and scary part. Exciting because I'm stoked, scary because although there's a budget it's also in due time. I'm in this for the long haul.

Suspension:
Mustang II front end
4 link rear suspension
Airbags

Drivetrain -> Huge learning experience for me. I know the EJ platform well and variants, but domestic territory is relatively new for me. Sorry for lack of info but I'll
LS1 or variant
Auto tranny
Staying RWD

Interior:
I'd like to keep as stock looking as possible. It'll be a more updated bench seat, but I'd like to keep the shifter on the steering column so that my wife can snuggle up beside me on drives.

Exterior:
Running the petunia look for quite some time. I love the look and eventually it'll be resto'd right back to it's original colour, but the priority is getting it road worthy and ****** fast.

[SubieRoo]

Back to pictures!

Interior is honestly minty.



And we were curious if the engine would turn over,





I was originally going to keep it all original, right down to the engine - if it ran, or was salvageable. Downside to that is its only 140hp stock and not really anything to call home about. Upside is it's staying original.

Ripped off the valve colour



Then pulled off the heads. We don't have an engine hoist (Yet) so I ended up straddling the engine bay and lifting this off. It was not an easy task.



Cylinder walls are rusty, one piston slaps back and forth and another has a crater in the middle. This is the time where I decided to go with a 350 small block.

You can see the amazing patch job below,



An old Texaco can that they peeled apart and riveted to the fender on both sides, same spot. I'll be cutting that metal right out and putting in a proper patch.

Injury #1 as I sliced my finger on the can lol. I'll be counting the number of injuries and hospital visits for this project as I'm sure I'll hit double digits, fingers crossed that's not the case, but I have knack for these things.

Original badges for the front fenders - a lot of guys shave these off but I think it looks too bland. These are in awesome condition so I'll polish them back to their original glory.



Popped her up to remove the tranny and driveshaft,



The bolts turn better on this than my old Forester STi conversion. Driveshaft is out.



Wooden boxes are my favourite. This wood was pretty rough in some spots specifically near the exterior. I put my hand right through some spots with ease.



Plan is to bring the rest out in it's original condition. I think I'm going to build a picture frame with it (Basically the way it is now) and then put a stencil of my truck on there and hang it in the garage.

Last but not least here's the original tranny,



Beastly right? Three on the tree manual tranny. In comparison to a pop can,



Slid right out and straight onto my chest haha. Probably no more than 100lb if that. Big difference from my old STi 6 speed.

Well.. that's all at the moment. Researching LS engines, looking for donor trucks and I'll likely get started on the interior right away as it's relatively inexpensive.

Pick n pull is going to be a good friend of mine!

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Let me know if you track down the Mustang II parts. I'm still keeping an eye out for some 302 Mustang II engine mounts, in case my current ones don't work out.

[RedBimmer93]

Epic project! Looks like it would fit right in at the Great Beater Challenge 
(Google it)

[tperkins]

This is super cool. That is an impressive find, my friend brought one home and I didn't have the heart to tell him it was probably a project I wouldn't take on personally due to the condition of his. Yours looks very salvageable, and patina looks awesome.

[seat safety switch]

This is a big project. Good luck with it!

[thedude]

This will be a wicked project! Subscribed to updates and looking forward to even more pictures.

[SubieRoo]

Poll at the top!

Option #1


Option #2


Option #3


Option #4


Not that it's getting colour anytime soon, but curious on your thoughts.

[Asstuna]

There's no rat rod option

[SubieRoo]

Closest to a ratty will be the petunia slammed to the ground

[DaDuke99]

Gunmetal! But with the white walls 

[jellynuts]

I like 4 and 3 in that order. 

[VTAKLOL]

Exterior:
Running the petunia look for quite some time. I love the look and eventually it'll be resto'd right back to it's original colour, but the priority is getting it road worthy and ****** fast.

Closest to a ratty will be the petunia slammed to the ground

 

Unsure at this point if this is a build thread for a truck or if it’s about to turn into a discussion with helpful gardening tips haha.

[VTAKLOL]

Also, I vote 1 or leave it at 4. There’s just something about 50’s Chevys in that colour, it’s so right.

[SubieRoo]

Haha, apparently it's spelt patina. I've never heard of it prior to owning this so I was going off of phonetics.

[SubieRoo]

Continually just pulling her apart since there's not much else I can do ATM.



The wooden box is out. A lot of rot and the entire box was barely hanging on



Leaving the frame out and exposed. Makes it nice and easy to work on the diff now.



I'll be doing a 4-Link suspension in the rear with bags.



That'll help update the handling a lot, along with the new rear diff / brakes.

And pulling out my inner creative side I didn't want to just throw the box to the garbage. A lot of the wood is rotten, but I wanted to do something a bit different.. so I build a picture frame out of it.



Now I just need to coax my friend who has actual artistic skills in doing a sketch for me, which I'll share once it's done.

[jackal]

I'm diggin the patina look on her.  I figure she spent a long time looking that good.

[diamondedge]

I'll get flamed for this but.

Chuckles Garage / Hoonigan. Fill up the arches with meaty tires.