Help Wanted

Could use a little help in the garage if anyone wants to come over and get dirty! I was given some bad news today and it looks as though my engine is seized. Not that I was planning to use it anyway, but I was hoping to sell it and get some money to turn back into the truck. Now it's just scrap. "Hey Dad, what should Kimmie do with all of her scrap metal?" I'm making a pile of things to scrap and hopefully it'll make me a few bucks.

Was at Discovery Garage for only a little bit yesterday and today. I'm losing energy & enthusiasm. Sometimes I just sit there and stare at it, because it's kind of overwhelming! Almost done sanding the front end. I'm going to have to get a bunch of guys from the firehouse (that's your cue Joe) to pull it out of the garage and turn it around so the tailgate is facing out. Then I can start working on the back half. I also need to sandblast some stuff. Not sure if I'll rent a blaster or just have to wait until the funds are available to take it somewhere and pay for it to get done. I really want the pleasure of doing it myself, just makes such a mess! Soda blasting is also an option and who cares if that goes everywhere, it's only baking soda! The roof of the cab is really bad. The rust and layers of paint are so baked into it, I spent hours of sanding already and still haven't hit bare metal.

Anyway, I stripped the back half of the bench seat and sucked out all of the mouse poop & nesting. I've had the springs sitting outside to air out for a few weeks now and I guess I've gotten lucky so far. Today a man drove by and tried to take it. I said "no es basura." He said "lo siento," and drove away. I pulled it back into garage for safe keeping!

Yesterday it was my brother's bright idea to pull the fuel tank. I had to dump it into an empty Costco animal cracker container. I took it with me, afraid it would set the garage up in flames. So I drove around with it all day in my car and the fumes gave me such a freakin headache! Finally found a place that would let me leave it there - thanks Meineke.

Back tomorrow to see what else I can get myself into. Would love the help, come on by!

Mid Week Update

Took a break on Wednesday from working on the truck and ridiculously missed it. I'm guess that makes me a wrench wench. Worked a bit on Tuesday, mostly priming and undercoating what I've already worked on so it doesn't rerust so quickly. Tuesday night Jenna & I did a drive by at the "ski" Bald Hill cruise night. Nothing good there, just a bunch of loud mufflers and pumping bass. Last night I drove out to Deer Park to check out some of the classic cars there. Saw a 67 Chevy truck & talked to a few guys who were able to give me some information - he helped me understand my engine a little better. At least now I can name parts but understanding how they work is another story.

Then I met up with my brother and his posse so we could try an experiment. Saw it on You Tube that if you hook up a battery charger to a piece of metal and the other end to your rusty part, then soak it in baking soda, the process is called electrolysis and it removes the rust easily! We tried it and it started working, but the boys were hungry and they flat left me in the garage to go to Taco Bell. Apparently food is more important to boys than any experiment of mine.

Got to the garage about noon today and started to take off the frame supports of the front end and radiator so I could get at the engine. It was about time we see just how bad this heart disease really is. Under the rotted valve cover, which was pretty easy to remove, were a bunch of rusted springs with nesting and mouse poop all in between. Found a few bones in there too! Seriously, there are bones everywhere in this truck - what on earth was living in there? I vacuumed it all out and got it as clean as I could. Believe it or not, the spark plugs were protected very well and were clean! The oil in the carburetor didn't look half as bad as I though it would. The guy I met last night was explaining to me about how to take a bar thingy and stick it in other thingy and see if it turns freely. However I forgot the name of the bar thingy and obviously didn't have one handy. So, I still don't know if it turns. I got it all cleaned up and ready though, so whoever the first one to show up with the tool for my socket can feel free to crank my engine!

I spent the rest of the time sanding and re-sanding the hood that already flash rusted on me. Got that primed and out of the way now. Spent a few more hours sanding down the rust on the corner of the cab and removed the other half of the windshield. Truck is starting to look so bare now and I'm running out of room to store parts! I have the hub caps soaking in cleaner and I'm curious to see how they'll turn out tomorrow. One of them didn't match the other three. I'm gonna take it with me to the swap meet when I go and see if I can "swap it." What a concept!

Did a drive by at the Oakdale cruise night to look for a truck like mine, no luck. Still looking to make a friend somewhere on this flippin island who has the same truck as me! I need to see that the vision I have in my head is in any way, shape or form - possible! I'm now showered and cleaned off, getting ready for bed. Back to the garage in the morning.

Long Day at the Office ... Garage

Got there bright and early today, figured I might as well get as much done on this jalopy while I have the time. I noticed the slightest tinge of orange finding it's way back onto the fender I just finished sanding down, so I guess it's time to stop that rust dead in it's tracks! I hit the doors with just a Rustoleum converter, just to really stop the rusting process while I'm working on the rest of the truck. I was made aware today that I'll probably have to strip that back off when it comes time to paint, to make sure the lacquer of auto body paint adheres properly. As long as it doesn't get worse while I'm working on it, it definitely can't get any worse than it was when I started!! I'd just hate to be back at square one again in a few weeks.

Note to self, next time I restore a vehicle, start with a wire wheel. OMG that thing worked miracles today. Took about an inch and a half of grime out of my door jambs, so clean you could eat off em! That was my best friend for majority of the day, aside from some minor sanding and priming. Using the power drill that once belonged to my great grandfather! The drill is actually older than the truck I'm fixing up - crazy huh? And my nephew came into the garage today and said "Aunt Kimmie has a hair dryer." No buddy, that's just a really old & yet shiny drill.

I can't NOT tell you about the gauges I finally extracted today. Two side by sides in the dash. One speedometer and the other for gas, temp, etc. One of them looked spectacular when I got it cleaned up. The other literally disintegrated in my hand. The gentle afternoon breeze managed to blow all of the numbers off my speedometer! Seriously, how am I supposed to know how fast I'm going? Not to mention the needle crumbled into a fine powder. I just added a gauge cluster to my list of things to look for at a swap meet.

Another ah-ha moment was just a few minutes ago when I got out of the shower and noticed the black ring around the tub & all over my white towels. Yes, I said black on the towels AFTER I got out of the shower. Does this stuff ever come off? No those aren't tan lines around my ankles that's the layer of filth over my socks. Mind you, I've come home with every body fluid you could possibly think of after a good trauma - blood, brains, vomit, urine, poop, etc. This was after I sat at my parents' house for a few hours occasionally getting a whiff of something nasty. I thought maybe I stepped in something on the way over. Then I'd move across the kitchen and still smell it. Thought it was my brother's sneakers. Unless his sneakers followed me into the car and all the way home, I'm pretty sure that stench was coming from me! This auto thing is quite a dirty job. Where are you Mike Rowe? I learned my lesson.

Starting to See Progress

Today was a very productive day, thanks to Mike & the Mechanics at Discovery Garage. I don't think I've been there a single day when I didn't get comments from the passing traffic. Thursday the fire truck was screaming for me as they rode on by (thanks to Joe & Louis). Today a guy who looked like Santa Claus stopped to say hello. I was hoping he had a new grill in his sled for me - instead he carried war stories of his 48 GMC. I asked him what condition his was when he got it and he looked at mine, then back at me and said "not this bad." HA thanks for the vote of confidence dude! To sum up all I've done so far:
- stripped the interior, removed all forensic evidence, bones, rodents & seats
- scraped all layers of paint (red, blue, green, brown & primer black) from both doors, hood & front fenders
- sanded rust from both doors, hood & front fenders (have I mentioned how much I hate rust???)
- removed all wiring, needing to be replaced
- removed both doors, hood & front fenders
- ooh and that big ole dent right in the front fender of the cover shot has been removed :) My first real auto body work.
Looks like I'll be able to salvage a good portion of it. As far as the guts go, I'll probably hold onto it all until I'm sure the donor Chevy has everything I need, then I'll part it out at swap meets. As I was sitting on the front lawn surrounded by a graveyard of rusted parts, my Mom calls and has to add her two cents in to tell me that Kenny from up the block said I should only work on one panel at a time, so I don't get overwhelmed. I'm pretty sure I was already overwhelmed the day I brought this hooptie home. Unfortunately Knox Farm has a no return policy.

Bench Seat Removal

This was supposed to be an easy task. However it was the science lesson that apparently occurred underneath the bench seat that was most concerning! The stench was horrific. My brother Joe brought a hazmat suit - a bit much I thought. But when we lifted the seat and bones started falling out, I took that back! You can't make this stuff up, I'm telling you. Pics are up. I might just consider it a loss and toss the vacuum - don't really want to pass that Hantavirus all around! The structure of the seat is actually in sturdy condition, just not sure if it's worth picking nests out of and trying to refurb it. I think once I get it sandblasted it will be beautiful and ready for padding & upholstery! We'll see. Tomorrow's another day.

Days 3 & 4

I do realize that this blog is getting a little boring, but it's really just for my own personal account of daily work and I don't care if no one is reading it. That way when this beast is all finished I can look back and remind myself of how much work was put into this!

Opened the garage door today and found several flies buzzing around inside the truck. As I got closer, the smell was overwhelming. There must be a dead something back behind the bench seat. I'm afraid to find it. I'm guessing it must be a mouse or a bird, but like one of my other bolt buddies suggested, it could be Jimmy Hoffa. Maybe this truck was used to transport people back and forth to Gilgo Beach! We all know how that turned out.

Still can't get that one rusty bolt off of the passenger side door, so it is still attached. The hood is completely stripped of all paint and primer. A few rusty spots need to be sanded down still. I started stripping paint off the driver's side of the exterior cab and back towards the bed. However, I couldn't really spend a whole lot of time in that spot due to the odor of the rotting carcass. Heading back today with some more sandpaper and will spend a few hours there before I have to go to a 1st birthday party. No plans tomorrow so it's just me and my Chevy all day.

Check the updated pics. http://photobucket.com/Kims50Chevy

Day 2

After bringing home a bunch of smaller truck parts, I trialed a few different rust removers - CLR, naval jelly and chemical etch. The naval jelly seemed to do the trick on dissolving the first layer or two of rust, but didn't get it completely clean. The CLR did practically nothing, even on the very very lightly rusted things - such as my key. The chemical etch is sitting on my hood molding as we speak and I won't know how that turns out until tomorrow. However, I did manage to round up an extra set of hands today to help me get the doors & hood off. Thanks to cousin John for his muscles! With the exception of one stubborn bolt, everything came off with ease. The passenger side door is still on though, because of that one stubborn bolt. I hit it with some WD40 and I'm hoping that will do the trick when I go to give it some strength again tomorrow. Say a prayer! The paint stripper worked nicely on the hood. Will definitely need another day to get it sanded. Back to work tomorrow and hoping for some time this weekend to get back into the garage!