It has been molested, painted with a paint brush and generally abused. But I picked it up as a running and driving vehicle for $900. It has an automatic transmission and a 352 2 barrel motor. Supposedly it is a camper special, but not sure how you would tell that. It has all the original chrome, but it is not in very good shape. It has been painted over

So far I have switched the wheels over to 2004 Chevrolet chrome 8 lugs (took some work to get them to fit the rear hubs, but for $40 for the set with tires it was worth the work), a pertronix ignitor with an Accel performance coil. It seems to run quite a bit better with the new ignition set up!

Now it is time for the restoration....and the stripping of the paint. I have done it once before, but it has been about 16 years since I last did body work. But here is a picture of the truck from the day I bought it:

 

i like it. looks pretty straight. what did you do with the old wheels and hub caps?

 

Still have them. Most likely going to sell them. I am not impressed with the tire selection for the 16.5" wheels.

 

Well, tonight Bertha hauled home her new engine and transmission. It is a 1978 460 and C6 transmission I managed to pick up for $250. Both will more than likely need rebuilding, but that is not an expensive option. The 460 had all the brackets and accessories from AC to PS to smog pump! I thought it was quite the find.

 

Looks like a good truck!

 

Well after looking into forged piston and rod costs I decided to just spend the bit extra and go with a 535 CI stroker kit made by Probe Racing. Think we are going to end up fuel injecting it and trying to scavenge as many parts as possible from a fuel injected 460 for now with some slightly larger injectors.

 

Everybody knows you use a sponge roller to paint a truck or car.

 

I thought spray guns were the rage these days. The spray paint is quite popular in many areas of Georgia, lol.

 

Only if your a graffitti artist.

The rest of us must use proper Home Depot technics.

 

Look forward to seeing your progress. She is a bute!

 

the tool box in the bed made it a camper special, i believe. i could be wrong, usually am.

 

They were an option as I have one in my F100 CC.

 

Well, I was told it was a Camper Special, but have absolutely no documentation to back it up. As far as I can tell, there really is no good way to tell. I "hear" that the only way to tell was a trailer wiring harness or some other option under the dash, but it honestly does not concern me enough to try to get it documented. I do not have an original window sticker or anything like that.

 

Well, hopefully over the next week I will be throwing the 2 barrel Holley fuel injection kit on it to just play around. I will let you guys know how it goes.

 

Well upon starting to strip everything down to metal, I found the chome to be in quite good shape!

Before:



After: