04/09/08

So what do you think of the name??? I think it is aalright, but is a bit geeky (How many people know that Zero K is -273 deg C which is the point at which all molecular action stops?).  I would like to figure out a better name for my 1966 Chevrolet Crew Cab project, but this is the best I have come up with.  I want it to be something along the line of Cold, Snow, Wisconsin, Deer Hunting, "Old School", "Get it done", and/or Like a rock Attitude!!!  If you have any ideas, please contact me at gumbudah@charter.net

So, I am not sure how far this will go, but I am constructing these pages dedicated to my trials and tribulations to get myself a completely roadworthy "new-old" 1966 truck.  In 1994, while cruising down highway 35 in Cozy Corners Wisconsin, I spotted a 1967 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup, and fell in love.  I had to have it, and I did, eventually paying about $1200 more than I should have.  Since then it has been through four garages at three different homes (First, my parents, second, my grandmothers, and third, two garages at my place...).  It is now sitting in my garage in pieces as it has been since 1994 when I purchased it.  I had full intentions of doing a ground up restoration on it, but quickly ran out of money to do the job (I was in college at the time).  Because of this, it has sat, and sat, and sat... In the last couple of years, I have been very anxious to work on it, and getting out of school and now having a job (I am a Mechanical Engineer), I have had a bit more time to work on it, and a bit of money to do something.  While looking at parts and such for the 1967, I became attracted to the 1966 body style.  Over the last couple of years I have grown to like the 1960-1966 body style more than the 1967-72 style, and have lost some interest in the '67... My biggest problem with restoring an old truck like this is two fold.  First, I am petrified of putting as much $$$ into a truck as I want to, only to have it starting to rust out in a couple of years.  Second, since I have had my '88 extended cab, I have learned that I cannot live without the extra space.  I haven't been able to quite figure out what to do about number one, but I have a felling that something like this Precision Rust Removal, Restoration & Paint will work, but will likely be rather spendy.  As for the second, the only solution that I have found is simple: find/build a crew or extended cab in the 1966 body style.  After coming to this conclusion on number 2, I have looked for a couple of years trying to find the right one to buy, as opposed to make, as I don't have the skills to work the sheet metal like I would want...  I considered a couple of them, but mostly that consideration was rather quick, as they were already finished and in the $10k plus range and all 2WD.  I looked at many different resources such as 1966 Chevrolet C30 Crew Cab and 6066 GMC Trucks trying to find any idea as to where to get one of these things.  I traded a few emails with Van Pershing, on the truck in the first page above and planned on taking a 700 mile drive just to take a look for this truck to see if it still lives where he saw it, however a week before I was going to go, I checked Ebay as I had been doing for the last year and a half (According to my wife, I could be classified as an Ebay Junky) to see if there were any of these trucks listed.  Low and behold there was.  Unfortunately it's auction ended just two days before I was going to look for the truck that Van saw, so I would have to make a decision on trying to bid on the one on Ebay, or look for the other one.  Fearing that the one that Van saw would not be there anymore, I decided to buy this one on Ebay.  I guess when I say "I decided to buy" this one on Ebay, that is exactly what I mean (as opposed to "I decided to bid on"), as I had every intention of paying any price (I had actually put about a $7000 cap on what I thought I would like to spend) necessary to win this auction.  Well, the long and short of it, I won it. 

The fortunate/unfortunate part of the auction is that it came with two other 1965 trucks both of which are in piss poor shape, so now I have to pay to transport 3 vehicles back instead of just one.  This means probably an extra $800 over what it would cost to just have the '66 Crew Cab shipped. Oh well... The truth of the matter, is that the $3200 I paid for all three trucks plust the $1500 to ship them is still less than what I was willing to pay for this cab alone, so it's all good. 

So, here I sit, on Sunday night (9/5/04), waiting for my trucks to be shipped, as I hope they will be transported this week.  With any luck I will have them by this weekend. 

9/11 update-No trucks yet, they are still in Virginia (I am anxious as could be!)