1964 Chevy Step Side Pick-Up Truck, fresh in from Texas

[disasterbus]

I'm holding my old mate Grizz partially responsible for my latest impulse purchase. As you might know, he has a '66 C-10 Fleetside Pick-Up.
I've been a big fan of his truck since he got it and have been half thinking of getting something similar for a while.

I've never owned an American vehicle before but have owned lots of old and unusual European vehicles - mostly VW's (Beetles, busses and Beach Buggies) and quite a few old Mini's, capri's, XR2/3's and GTi's.

This week I saw an ad on eBay for a 1964 C-10 stepside for sale 5 miles from where I live. As it was local I thought I'd have a quick look and before I'd really thought about it I'd struck a deal with the seller and I'm picking it up tomorrow. This is the truck....



The pick up has only been in the UK for a month, I'm buying it from the guy who imported it. The story goes that it was a Texas truck from new until 2008, when it was sold to a guy in Nevada. He drove it around for a few years then stripped it all down for a total body off re-build. This took him 3 years and the engine and transmission were stripped and re-built, all new brakes and suspension and interior trim plus all the lights and rubber seals were replaced. It really doesn't look like a 50 year old truck underneath....



it's only an Inline 6 (3800cc), not a V8 but still seems to go really well and sounds almost as cool as the V8....



The paintwork is 'fake patina' over incredibly straight and solid metal, I can't believe how good it is. I wasn't sure about it at first but it's definately growing on me.

Sadly the owner in Nevada died just a few months after finishing the 3 year re-build and only got to drive it for a few months. The truck was sold by his family after he died.







Sorry the photo's aren't great - they are the ones from the eBay ad but hopefully you get the idea.

First thing is to order a fitted outdoor car cover for it to keep the English winter weather off the truck. Can anyone suggest anywhere that sells them in England (or Europe) or somewhere that will ship to the UK?

Thanks in advance.

[rodney]

that's just awesome , crying out for a big v8 td engine and side pipes , well done on a good buy

[Speedle]

Truck Yeah! That is awesome! Super Jealous!

[darrenh]

likey !

whats going on with the back axle? looks like a cross between de deon and live axle

[grizz]

I am glad your wife hates me now and the heat is off you.

You have done really well with this truck mate.

I hope it keeps you happy for a while.

There is nothing wrong with a good L6 motor.

Looking forward to checking it out some time.

[drdick]

Oct 30, 2014 18:25:31 GMT darrenh said:

likey !

whats going on with the back axle? looks like a cross between de deon and live axle

Live axle located on wishbones and a panhard rod.

Truck looks super original, I guess it still has the 3 speed gearbox and single braking circuit?

[duncanmartin]

That is so cool. If you don't mind, how much did it cost you?
Cheers
Duncan

[Deleted]

Looks awesome! Will you be keeping the whitewalls?

[disasterbus]

Nov 1, 2014 8:17:14 GMT drdick said:

Oct 30, 2014 18:25:31 GMT darrenh said:

whats going on with the back axle?

Live axle located on wishbones and a panhard rod.

Truck looks super original, I guess it still has the 3 speed gearbox and single braking circuit?

Thanks for the comments, not really had chance to do anything with the truck yet due to weather and work being manic all weekend but got a dew days off this week and have something planned for it tomorrow ;-)

Mechanically it is all re-furbished but left the way Chevy built it 50 years ago with 3 speed column change gearbox

Nov 1, 2014 17:20:13 GMT duncanmartin said:

That is so cool. If you don't mind, how much did it cost you?
Cheers
Duncan

Can't say (in case the wife reads this!!)

Nov 1, 2014 18:13:09 GMT @jxke said:

Looks awesome! Will you be keeping the whitewalls?

yes, I quite like the look of them

[drdick]

Oh and my mate got a good fitted cover from LMC truck. They will ship direct or you can get WASP in Wisbech to get you one, very quick and reliable (01945 588091).

[Mr S]

Nice looking truck, the more I see, the more I want to get my Blazer back on the road...

www.rockauto.com or www.summitracing.com both ship to the UK and may have covers

Cheers, Martin

[disasterbus]

The Chevy parked next to my other 'retro / classic'. Weird to think both were designed in the late 1950's and both were ordinary sized cars at the time in their respective homelands.

[disasterbus]

I’ve always loved old skool style pin-striping, but never previously had a car that had the right look to carry it off well.
I thought as soon as I got it that this truck would benefit from something to add to the overall look and that a bit of pin striping could be just the thing.
I’ve seen work done by Simon, a.k.a. Nefarious Pinstriping (www.pinstriping.co.uk) on a few cars and have always been impressed with the look of the work. Had Simon round this morning and he did this for me. Really pleased with the result.









And the finished article ............

[disasterbus]

When I bought my truck it had only been in the UK for a few weeks and the dealer didn’t know anything about the history of the truck. There was very little paperwork with it except a copy of the last US title.
I wrote to the name on the title document and asked if they could tell me anything about it and included a picture of how the truck looks now.
I got an e-mail back from them today. They were really surprised it had ended up in the UK as they sold it through an auction in Iowa in January 2014.
They were able to tell me it was originally a farm truck from Dallas and she still had the original salesman’s business card with the price of the truck written on the back.
It was sold new for $1632.89 including state tax and registration fee and an optional heavy duty rear bumper by Tom Wicker at the Earl Hayes Chevrolet Dealership in Dallas and it was white originally.


The truck was then sold to Miss Jessie C Ballard who also lived in Dallas and she used it for many years to tow her horse-box.
Jessie then sold the truck to the last owners in the 1990’s. They lived in McKinney, Texas.
The last owners did a total body off restoration over several years and have sent me many of the bills etc for the new parts fitted. They had the frame stripped and powder-coated, all new steering, suspension and brakes, new interior, the transmission and engine were stripped and re-built with a new head as the old one had a crack. After that they hardly used the truck and in 2008 moved to Iowa, taking the truck with them and just putting it into a barn where it stayed until January this year when they decided to move house and to sell the truck.
They were thrilled that their old truck has a new lease of life over here.
This picture is how it looked after they restored it

[orangecords]

Love it....bookmarked

[darrenh]

looking at that resto pic is cool but also sad, G3 might get the fake rust off? or do you fancy as it is ?

[slackerTHEpinstriper]

Lowered, metalflake. And lace pint theroof and job done

[disasterbus]

My truck spent almost all of it's life in Texas until a couple of months ago, so is totally solid and the chassis is like new.
This is how it looked underneath when I got it......




British weather and salt on the roads mean that it wouldn't have stayed that good for long now it's over here, so yesterday I had the whole thing steam cleaned and then Waxoyl protected, including inside the doors, insides of the wings (fenders to those over the pond) and all the cavities injected. It looks tidy but more importantly, it won't go rusty with a bit of luck!

[sb]

This might sound strange but did you drive this down a lane just out back of Hatfield because I saw this exact truck yesterday!

[disasterbus]

Dec 5, 2014 17:01:57 GMT sb said:

This might sound strange but did you drive this down a lane just out back of Hatfield because I saw this exact truck yesterday!

small world - that was me!