Cleaned up the back of the cab today. No idea how that metal got pitted, but since it's a straight and mostly flat surface I should be able to even it out fairly well with some filler. If you look on the lower right you can see a little of the blue that is the truck's original color. As I worked on this area I liked the look that was emerging, so I kept going...




I guess I got tired of looking at all the primer, so I ratted things out a little. There are a few small bare metal spots that I need to spray over just to keep the rust away, but this is mostly how it will look until I can afford a real paint job some day... My brother put the red door on when he had the truck, to replace the original that had rusted out at the hinges...




Found some old filler around the right headlight, indicating some really old collision repair. Whoever did the work did an excellent job, because you could never tell from looking at it. But you can see underneath where the bent metal had been straightened...

Tailgate is all primed and looks much better! Figured I'd try to tackle this mess on the back of the cab while the bed remains off the truck (until I can get the rear stake pockets and new front wall we need). Trying to keep the body work to a minimum, mostly because some day when we do a full blown frame off restoration the whole truck will be taken down to bare metal anyway, but also because I'm not very good with the filler...lol

A little aircraft paint remover, wire brush attachment for the drill and here we are! Uncovered a couple old welds on the inside that need a little grinding. I'll do that then hit it with some primer...

Gonna see if we can get the tailgate stripped down to bare metal today. It's a little dinged up, but that gives it the character we're looking for...

Funny how natural light reveals all the imperfections you can't see in the basement. Not so easy to see in these pics, but there's a good bit of sanding left to do...


Some of this primer will be sanded away to reveal as much of the old color as possible, until we can afford to get a real paint job done...

According to the calendar, Spring began nearly a month ago. Of course, WE know it's not REALLY Spring until the old truck fires up for the first time in the new year, which just happened a few minutes ago! Sounds good! Figured I'd just go ahead and do it between primer coats on the fenders, which I have outside today. More pics soon...

Got the workbench broken in pretty good! Work on the fenders continues... should have them done before long. Then it will just be a matter of getting the new front bed wall, two rear stake pockets, all the drums and front bearings when finances allow, putting it all back together and takin' 'er down the road! Well, I suppose registering and insuring the truck would be a good idea too...