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This 65 is what my dad was working on in his retirement. He took it down to the frame and pretty much all that is needed is all of the body and cosmetic stuff. The truck has a 300 and 5 speed manual. Sadly dad passed recently and he was unable to finish the truck, however my mom has turned it over to me and my son to carry on the mantle. The radiator has some holes so I pulled it and I am having it fixed and will then transport it to my house to begin the process of finishing this up in his honor. I'm sure I will have many questions on this as we go and I look forward to getting going on this and learning. Thanks for reading.
Also sad to hear about your father, he certainly has done an outstanding resto and it does not appear to need much more to complete. How cool your family will be able to enjoy this treasure!!.
You have my condolences on your loss. I know your father would be proud of you taking the mantle and finishing his work out. Good luck to you. I'm working on a '66 myself with my FIL. We used to use it as a farm truck here in Kansas. As we've been working on it he used to ask me if I was going to sell it when we were done. Finally had to tell him "Terry, I believe my casket will fit between the wheel wells."
Thank you guys. It should be an easy build from here as dad got all of the hard stuff done. There are a couple of rust spots behind the headlights in the gravel pan, but not too bad. My boy is very excited to get this home and get going. It'll be mostly stock looking, but since I do custom audio installs I have plans for the stereo once the time comes.
I hope you continue to share your quest to bring your dad's truck back on the road.....
Originally Posted by jjriley97
Thank you guys. It should be an easy build from here as dad got all of the hard stuff done. There are a couple of rust spots behind the headlights in the gravel pan, but not too bad. My boy is very excited to get this home and get going. It'll be mostly stock looking, but since I do custom audio installs I have plans for the stereo once the time comes.
For custom audio - what are you thinking of doing/installing?
It is going to be a slow journey, but I'll share as I go. As far as audio goes since the truck has to be true to what dad might have done and not a salute to my minitruck days I can't give it the ground scraping stance and 4 15's in the bed with a blowthrough into the cab that I would love to. This isn't the truck to do that to. There is a lot of space without the gas tank so I will probably end up with a fiberglass ported enclosure for 4 8's behind the seat and either custom kick panel enclosures for a nice set of either 6.5 or 8" components or a set of compression horn drivers tucked under the dash. I'll have to play with the space and see what will work best. I currently have a Clarion CZ702 head unit that is audiophile quality in my car that will probably end up in the truck as the dash was already cut at some point. Not sure what drivers I'll go with when the time comes, but I like Sundown Audio subs since they can work in a smaller volume and can take a healthy amount of power.
The audio will definitely be close to last on the list. I plan to start on the body work once the truck arrives home. My neighbor is a welder by trade and is going to help me with welding up the body trim holes. There are a few small dents I'll finesse and then I'll shoot the paint at some point.
It is going to be a slow journey, but I'll share as I go. As far as audio goes since the truck has to be true to what dad might have done and not a salute to my minitruck days I can't give it the ground scraping stance and 4 15's in the bed with a blowthrough into the cab that I would love to. This isn't the truck to do that to. There is a lot of space without the gas tank so I will probably end up with a fiberglass ported enclosure for 4 8's behind the seat and either custom kick panel enclosures for a nice set of either 6.5 or 8" components or a set of compression horn drivers tucked under the dash. I'll have to play with the space and see what will work best. I currently have a Clarion CZ702 head unit that is audiophile quality in my car that will probably end up in the truck as the dash was already cut at some point. Not sure what drivers I'll go with when the time comes, but I like Sundown Audio subs since they can work in a smaller volume and can take a healthy amount of power.
The audio will definitely be close to last on the list. I plan to start on the body work once the truck arrives home. My neighbor is a welder by trade and is going to help me with welding up the body trim holes. There are a few small dents I'll finesse and then I'll shoot the paint at some point.
Well your audio system is well over my head! I wish you the best!
So where is the gas tank now? Did your dad relocate it to between the frame rails and has the filler spout within the bed?
I was able to get the radiator patched and I am picking it up this Friday. I will have it in the truck the following weekend and the plan is to bring it home after some test runs. Don't want to get stranded on the two hour trip.
I need to find a few small odds and ends for this engine. I know it isn't original to the truck and I'm not sure of the year. How do I determine what parts will work on this motor? I assume there is a number on the block somewhere to decode, but don't know exactly where it would be located. Same for the trans for informational purposes. I think it is a ZF5 (not sure of the year), but need to know how I can verify it. Any help on this would be appreciated.
I was able to get the radiator patched and I am picking it up this Friday. I will have it in the truck the following weekend and the plan is to bring it home after some test runs. Don't want to get stranded on the two hour trip.
I need to find a few small odds and ends for this engine. I know it isn't original to the truck and I'm not sure of the year. How do I determine what parts will work on this motor? I assume there is a number on the block somewhere to decode, but don't know exactly where it would be located. Same for the trans for informational purposes. I think it is a ZF5 (not sure of the year), but need to know how I can verify it. Any help on this would be appreciated.
JJRiley,
Did your dad have a favorite, local mechanic or parts yard that he may have confided in, asked for pointers, or may have even assusted your dad with the installation of the engine and transmission? You may be able to get some good information from him..... If not, I'd suggest you take a couple of good pics from both sides and post the pictures here. There are some sharp fellas here that may be able to identify what you have.
There are a couple of local guys that helped him out from time to time, but dad rarely farmed out any mechanic work. I'll get some pics of the engine and trans next weekend when I go back over there and hopefully someone will recognize them. Thanks for the assistance.
Got the radiator in today and got to fire it up finally. Man it runs like a new truck and drives oh so nice. I wish dad could have enjoyed it more.
I found out the motor is from a 78 van. Not sure on the trans, but the man that may know is coming tomorrow. If he doesn't know, I'll get some pics and maybe someone here will know.
