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Frankentruck: 1963 Chevrolet C10 (long bed fleetside)
Purchased in 2015 283 small block Chevy, 3 speed manual with overdrive My dad and I found this truck in Jasper, GA where it had been off the road for at least 12 years. It was complete, but not running and didn’t have working brakes. Spent just under a year working on it in the driveway to get it running and driving again with all new brakes. |
The truck originally had an inline 6 engine and a Borg Warner 3 speed manual with overdrive, but the previous owner swapped in a 283 and a regular 3 speed. The engine was tired and leaky, so after about a year of getting 50 miles or so to a quart of oil, I found a running 283 for $400 and swapped it in. Later, I found a 3 speed with overdrive and swapped that in too. A whole bunch of other stuff has been done over the years, but the crown jewel was putting air conditioning in a cab with rusty rockers and cab corners. Frankentruck has body panels from about 12 different trucks and parts from every decade since the 60s, hence the name. Frankentruck needs some extensive rust repair in the cab, so that’s the next major project. I also built a matching truck bed trailer for Frankentruck a couple years ago after I swapped bedsides.
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Penny: 1981 Chevrolet C10 (long bed fleetside) Purchased in 2022 350 small block Chevy, Saginaw 4 speed |
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While attending college, I drove Frankentruck down there a lot. One of the members at the local church I attended noticed that and asked if I wanted to look at an old truck on his property. Of course, I said yes, and that led to having 2 project trucks. Penny still has what’s left of the original paint and was a complete truck down to the original hubcaps. Two of the wheels were damaged, so slot mags were an easy choice to make. The original 305 and th350 automatic were not happy with life. The 305 lost a couple cam lobes and the automatic was quickly losing reverse. I have only driven around the neighborhood because of the chewed up wiring under the hood and the drivetrain issues.. I am currently in the process of swapping to a 350 and a Saginaw 4 speed. Hopefully will be getting Penny back on the road by early summer of 2024.
