'86 3+3

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Inspired by the TV shows "American and Canadian Pickers", I've been driving aimlessly around looking in back alleys and acreages, and right on the edge of town in an unmarked, fenced off yard is what looks like a late 70's squarebody sticking a little out of the years of grass and shrubs overgrowing it.  The truck is parked behind a few other old trucks, I assume in order of their demises or retirement.  This one has a nice looking flatbed on it and is a dually,  regular cab but there may be a few other parts that I can scavenge.  We'll see if I can find who owns the lot and see if they want the truck hauled off thier property....

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After a goose chase twice around town, talking to 4 people, I found out that the donor I wanted isn't for sale, they plan on putting it back on the road.  But, I found some "old school Chevy truck" guys as they call themselves, and they are calling everyone they know to find stuff for me, they even had dually rims for me but I didnt want 16.5's because of the difficulty of getting tires, plus the whole tire bead safety thing, but they have my number and are keeping an eye out for me.

Anyhow, long story short, no new flatbed so I carried on and painted my box sides.








That little black box is actually larger than it seems, I can usually get most of my groceries in that box

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It took quite a bit of searching, but I've found the top brackets I need to install west coast mirrors using the factory tripod mount.  I'll have to measure the legnth I need, but they have 2 separate ones each with separate adjustment lengths.  I'm sure some bending of the brackets with a torch will be needed, but I can re-finnish the rod easily enough to make it presentable.  The good thing about this type of truck is it can only get better!http://www.finditparts.com/products/492047/truck-lite-97722

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Picked up the new grille, it's from a single square headlight truck so it doesn't bolt directly in place, I have to make some adapters when I get a chance.  It also doesnt have provisions for turn signals, so I'm going to buy some small trailer marker lights and bolt them to the rad support, hidden from view but not when lit.  I also have turn signal assemblies from an '87 Honda CRX in my shed that happen to fit nicely between the low and high beams... I've been toying with ideas for the headlight surrounds since I don't have any.  As a minimum I'd get factory style replacements, but I was also thinking of making my own from aluminum bar to match the grille.  The biggest idea that will probably not come to life it making headlight doors controlled by an actuator to flip them open at night.  We'll see, this is a budget build after all. 

As a side note, I offered to take whats left of the truck off his property for free and he seemed open to the idea as long as he could get the tranny out.  It is a regular cab long box, very rusty, no windows, no motor and standard tranny.  I'm thinking no windows would make it easier for body work since I wouldn't have to work around window seals, I can keep it in storage at the base auto club until I get my work truck to where I want it.