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!

Day 1

I woke up this morning barely able to get out of bed. Being so insistent upon pulling the truck on the trailer by myself, my back is definitely screaming at me. I took a cocktail of Multrin & Tynol and washed it down with a cup of coffee. Headed for Discovery Garage for restoration day one. When I got there I opened the garage, secretly praying that someone had stolen the truck! The sight of that jalopy in the morning left me thinking "what have I gotten myself into?" Marlene showed up with something nice and a much needed iced coffee. After using several of the sand papers I had, nothing seemed to be working as well as it did on the tiny corner we had tested last night. A tiny corner is all fine and good, now I had to figure out how the do the whole damn truck! We ran to Home Depot for more supplies. Plan A - fail. Plan B - fail. Plan C - Home Depot. Plan D - paint stripper = success! Applied that stuff three times - one for each layer of blue, green & red paint. Worked like a charm, but still left me with quite a bit of sanding in the end. My fingertips are raw and my hands are tinted a lovely shade of filth. Should be very appealing to my patients tomorrow when I have to go back to work as Nurse Kimmie. I must say that I impressed myself with a completely stripped driver's side door, down to the bare metal and spit shined! I drove home with all three colors of paint on my clothes and skin. After a long hot shower, shave & filed nails, I feel almost like a girl again. Time for the truck & me to rest for the week. Back on Friday for day two!

Towing & Tailgating

So Mike & Marlene offered up their towing expertise to bring this bad boy home! I rented a U-Haul trailer and we were set to go. As of the night before, Marlene's Uncle Joey got roped into coming with us. I guess Mike figured he needed another set of hands, since we had absolutely no clue how we were going to get this truck pulled up the huge hill in the yard, let alone up onto the trailer. We met at 7am and breakfast was the first item on the list. Finally on the road, we were Plumsted bound. The U-Haul rental process was an experience all in itself. Mike had to leave to find another store to find the right trailer hitch. It was just as well because the guy doing the paperwork couldn't get the damn computer working, so it took over an hour! Now we're hooked up and ready to go. Knox Farm was just a few minutes down the road. Much to my surprise, the truck was in the driveway waiting for us when we got there. Such a relief that we didn't have to drag it up the muddy hill. We laid down the ramps and I was insistent on using the come-along myself to pull this thing up! After all, the best man for that job is a woman and I refuse to let anyone make me believe that I can't restore this truck with my own two hands! We got it up there, secured it and we were on the road. By the way, I arrived home with one less tail light on the truck.

Mom agreed to let me store it in the garage at the preschool, which is now known as Discovery Garage. This is where I'll be spending majority of my free time for the next ten years! I decided to throw an impromptu tailgate party, however I wouldn't recommend sitting on the tailgate - because it might fall off. Everyone invited to the party was required to have an updated tetanus shot. I ran and got some hamburgers and hot dogs, with a little charcoal grill. We set up chairs and drank beers in the driveway like WT! It was a great turnout and I had an overall great day. Now that the novelty has worn off and everyone offering to lend a hand, let's see who shows up with sandpaper tomorrow when the real work begins!

Purchase Day

You Bought What??

I've always been fascinated by old things and I'm convinced my past life must have been within the previous two or three generations. More specifically, I'm drawn to rusty old gas pumps and abandoned trucks. Really, who else do you know with a mural on the wall of their grandfather handing them a Hess Truck? Of course, complete with a gas station scene and pump on the opposite wall! Something I've always wanted to do is ride around in an old truck. Instead of keeping it a dream, I'm making it a reality. The decision was really between a 1949 Studebaker and a 1949-53 Chevy. I found a 1950 Chevy 3100 1/2 Ton Pickup on Craig's List. On the Fourth of July, my brother Joe & I drove out to Plumsted, New Jersey, to take a look at it. Spoke to the seller, "John," on the phone a few days before. He told me that it was his son's bright idea to restore an old truck. That was 25 years ago and the truck has been sitting in his yard ever since, completely untouched. When we got to Knox Farm in Plumsted to look at it, John left out the part that there were 44 other trucks in his backyard just like it! He had practically every make & model of cars and trucks I could think of. As we took the tour to the sound of gobbling turkeys, he walked us down the hill, over the bridge and through the creek. He showed us cars with live frogs under the hood and trees growing through the floorboards. I even saw a hint of a '47 Ford peeking through the bushes. It was a graveyard for the souls of old cars. Now I've moved onto automobile genealogy! Anyway, I fell in love with the truck and left him a deposit. Now the only obstacle was figuring out how to get it home!