Returning to a 45 Year Old Project

Sold my old 69 Chev step side about 45 years back.  Recently, we were looking to upgrade our 2003 Ranger.

The Ranger was, primarily, used to haul trash on community cleanup day, carry a new mattress, haul wood and so on. 

The problem we ran into was, the bazzillion dollars they want for a new truck, making that a non-starter. Even used was absurd, in light of the fact everyone wanted 14k and up for something with 100 k miles or more. Inasmuch as they were so high mileage, it was a safe bet we'd, not long after purchase, would need to dump some big money on needed maintenance and repairs, probably, adding thousands more.

AND there was that I was tired of the technological nightmare tied to all "new" rigs. Even with my $500.00 Autel code reader, Dodges and other rigs want to resist telling what's ailing them.

So it was I, eventually, decided to step backward, instead of forward, and looked for another 69 step side Chev. The idiot selling one was too stupid to answer his ads, so I ended up with the 78 in the photo, instead.

I love a muscle car, just like I love other people's little kids. They're fun to watch. Especially, since someone else has to take them home.  To be more clear, I like driving past gas stations.

That old 69 in the photos ran a 250 six popper, and offered far better mileage than any muscle ever could.

I'd boosted power and mileage with a mild RV cam, headers, a bit of play with the single barrel carb, and a 62 Chev wagon 3speed with overdrive.  I actually broke 25MPG one day (yeah, I have to granny it).  With today's technology, I don't doubt I could have broken 30 (throttle body, air dam, higher air pressure than the stupid 28 PSI crap of the day, etc.).

Oh, and the old beast had a 413 rear end, so could haul my loaded truck and camp trainer in the five lower gears.

Many of the photos of my first project truck are long since lost, but, if you look close at the ones I posted, you can see I replaced the dash, glove box cover, ashtray cover, and instrument panel with wood.  Not visible is, the mirror backed cut-through lettering (1969) and Chev emblem in the glove box cover.

I covered the Hurst floor shifter, I installed, in wood. A flare at the top allowed me to inset lit a rocker switch, so I could switch in and out of overdrive at the touch of a button, without letting go of the T-handle shifter.  

Visible too, with more effort, was, the wood console housing the stereo and equalizer-amp. It all fed damn good sounding K-Mart speakers mounted in the bottom wood panels added to the doors (also barely discernable). They paired nicely with Ultraliners (a kick butt speaker, back in the day) in behind the seats.

ALL the gauges (switched to electronic), except fuel and speed, got moved to the overhead.

I never had to change and instrument light after my mod. I'd used 24 volt bulbs from work, so, at 12 volts, they weren't burning out any time soon. In spite of the voltage reduction, they were light enough I never had a problem knowing if they were activated.

The turn signals had nice, aluminum hoods, suspiciously similar to what you might see on electrical equipment the U.S. Navy might use.

I installed racks that proclaimed the name of my business (Imagination Unincorporated)  on a single, mahogany board just big enough to handle the job. It was raised lettering, compliments of my first 690 router.

Because I could, I etched all the windows, as seen in the photos. The etching even went down into the mirrors.  The etching at the top of the front window toned down the sun as well as any tint, AND, it turned whatever color the traffic light was.

ANYWAY, it's my hope and want to repeat most of what I did back then on this "new" 1978 C15 Jimmy.  I've learned a few things since the days of the old 69, and I have a lot more equipment, so etching should get more shading and other details. It's just down to what I want to display on the road.