Bringing my '66 1000A back to life...

I went and picked up my new pickup yesterday- a 1966 1000A.



She's had an interesting life. It was a single owner truck- It spent the past 6-8 years or so 'parked' in the front yard of the owners house, under a tree. He went out to celebrate a little, came home drunk, and ALMOST made it into his garage, but was stopped by a large oak tree alongside his driveway. He banged up the front end a bit, and pushed the radiator up in to the cooling fan. He turned it off, and it sat there until we picked it up.

I plan to TRY to get is running. I'm not going to restore it, at least not right away. I plan to get rid of any rust so it doesn't get worse, and leave it pretty much as-is. Down the road somewhere, as time and money allows, I MAY do a complete restoration. I'm going to document my progress as I go, both so I have a record of what was done, and also hopefully anyone else that is attempting a similar project can use it as a resource.

The door tag-


It's a '66, 1000A, with a 4 speed manual transmission. It has a 304 V-8 engine, which at the moment isn't running...

First order of business is cleaning it all up. It's a MESS!


Mmmm... Mixed nuts. And cold medicine!


Lots of great stuff in the bed, too. Plus, a GREAT topper.


All the trash, the seat, and the floor mat out. The floor is pretty decent. A few small areas to patch on the drivers side-



The bed is almost perfect, a little surface rust but nothing major.There was a sheet of plywood down to protect it, plus it's had a topper on it since it was 3 years old-



Next- Trying to get that beast of an engine running.


I've got the cylinders soaking with Marvel Mystery oil, hopefully I'll get it free... If, for some reason I can't, I'll probably start looking for a wrecked s-10 to swap frames. I REALLY don't want to do that, though.

Thanks for posting the pics and giving the back story. Seems like every truck has a story with it.

Dean

I've got the cylinders soaking with Marvel Mystery oil, hopefully I'll get it free... If, for some reason I can't, I'll probably start looking for a wrecked s-10 to swap frames. I REALLY don't want to do that, though.

I really don't understand that statement? If your roof had a leak, would you knock down your house and build another or would you fix the roof?
SV's were made in the 1000's and are available everywhere. Even if the bores are shot it is still less work to sleeve the cyl then do a frame swap.
If you really want to do a frame swap, then be honest about it a do it, it is your truck afterall, but I will never understand "having to do" a frame swap.

Hey CB, I GOTTA do a frame swap. Like, yesterday!

Honest enough?

Hey CB, I GOTTA do a frame swap. Like, yesterday!

Honest enough?

I know it is your "stock and trade", but you never say "I have to" like you don't want to, it is your choice, and I can respect that even if it would not be my choice.
I don't know why some feel it must be, rather than it is a choice of theirs.

Sorry, CB, I'm just being my usual smartass self. this one got past my "filter".

You have a Filter If we can't have a little fun once in awhile, Life would not be worth living.

SV's were made in the 1000's and are available everywhere. Even if the bores are shot it is still less work to sleeve the cyl then do a frame swap.
If you really want to do a frame swap, then be honest about it a do it, it is your truck afterall, but I will never understand "having to do" a frame swap.

I plan to get it running- Hopefully I'll be able to do so. If not, The swap is an option, but it's not my first choice.

Looks like a good solid truck for the age. You said you had the cylinders soaking, is the engine locked up?

Looks like a good solid truck for the age. You said you had the cylinders soaking, is the engine locked up?

Yes, it is. I didn't really try too hard yet, I have learned that patience and penetrating oil are your best friend. I don't want to break anything yet. I'm going to get her up on my lift in the next few days so I can get a really good look at things...