I've always wanted an old pick up and a couple of months ago I finally got one. At last, I own a vehicle older than I am! The day I got it my neighbor came over to admire/shake her head at my new purchase and asked me, "Wow, do you know how to do this kind of work?" I looked her in the eye and said with supreme confidence, "Nope, don't have a clue." Well, after two months of work, I now have a clue. Don't get me wrong, I have skills. I can swing a hammer, work a saw, and, in my younger years, could throw a shovel around with the best of them, but this whole wrench turning thing is new to me. I like learning new things though, and I'm fortunate to know two people in particular who have been helping me out a lot; Cam, a neighbor kid whose been working for me for years on side work and other projects, is almost as clueless as I am, but is, like me, excited to learn. He's put just as much time into the truck as I have. He's also the son of the guy I bought the truck from. Ulises, my neighbor next door, is a young guy who just bought his first house at 22 years old. He's also a body man. He's more excited about this project than I am. He keeps talking about what "we're" going to do next. So far, he won't take any payment above booze either, so I guess I'm pretty lucky.
At this point, we've been working on disassembly. We started at the front with the hood, grill, fenders, radiator, and engine accesories. While we were working, I kept having this familiar feeling that I couldn't pin down. I finally realized what it reminded me of. College Calculus. Every night the instructor would assign a set of problems. About half were hard, but doable based on existing knowledge. About a quarter were really hard and you had to just work through them. About a fifth were insane and took every bit of brain power, outside the box thinking, online help, and emotional strength I had to solve. The remaining couple of problems were migraine headaches on paper which were impossible. This is the exact experience I've had with breaking fused and rusted bolts. There were nights when I started that I'd get home from work and spend an hour breaking three bolts. Ah well, baby steps, right?
Things have picked up though. So far I've learned that PB Blaster should come in 1 gallon buckets, that angle grinders come with different wheels for cutting, heating a bolt with a propane torch helps but using a MAP torch REALLY helps, an impact gun is a wonderful thing, and that, when drilling through steel, you use low speed, not high speed. I also learned cobalt drill bits are expensive.
Anyway, we pulled the cab last week (now sitting under a tree in my backyard), so hopefully tomorrow we can get the engine and trans out. Then I can learn how to rebuild an engine! I'm excited because I can do this in my basement which, unlike my garage, is actually heated.
At this point, I have only one question for you guys that really has me stumped. I'm sure there will be many more, but right now I'm looking down the road and I have no idea what I'm going to do about inner fenders. Mine are coated in scale rust and are completely gone in areas and paper thin in the rest. I can't find any salvage or after market replacements, even in PVC. Do I have to figure on fabricating these on my own? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Sounds like a fun time to me. Glad you have help and aren't afraid to learn new things. Junk yards are probably your best bet for inner fenders. Remember that trucks up to F500 will have ones that will fit. Often the bigger trucks have had less miles but hauled more resulting in less rot sometimes. If you can buy yourself a parts truck you will be ahead of the game as many little things will be missing that you don't think of ahead of time. You can always store extra parts and then scrap out the hull if by then you can bear to part with anything!

 

Hope that you're taking photos as you go. We Like Photos!

 

+1 on Spur's idea of a parts truck. You will be amazed at all the little pieces you'll salvage, and not have to source elsewhere. Currently, there are a ton of these out there to be had. That won't be the case in a few years.
As far as "breaking bolts" goes, remember that "heat cycling" with a torch and soaking with PB Blaster will loosen every one of them, if you're patient.
Have fun, and good luck!

 

Yeah, the heat cycling has been a revelation. I used a MAP torch for the first time and I felt like I was the god of fire. It was awesome. It freed up the idler arm bolt I had been working on for two days in about ten minutes.

 

I gotta think about the parts truck idea, primarily because I don't know where I'd put it. I will be doing some junk yard field trips in the spring though. Also, my neighbor was telling me about a vintage car related swap meet he wants us to go to. I can't remember the name, but he seems to think we should be able to find some good stuff there. Thanks for the tip about larger truck models. I'll be putting that information to use.

 

Swap meets are fun to go to to look around but lots of folks want to charge you for the time they have into the parts plus what the part is worth. Some junk yards if close enough to you will sometimes let you leave your purchased parts heap in there yard for the exchange of the hull when you are done stipping it. Just throwing ideas out for you to think about.