New guy, old truck.

[Albert Blue]

Hello all. I've been searching for a GMC or chevy fender side for quite a while. Everybody has different taste but I tend to like the unaltered originals which are hard to find in decent condition. Found this 1963 here in Georgia. One long term owner, wearing its original paint and has minimal rust. It runs well and stops marginally. Going to be a fun project.

[GMCDAC]

Wow great survivor! I would love to see more pics and read more of it's story.

Welcome from the Black Hills (and Crawfordville, GA)-LOL!---my Dad's hometown!

DAC

[Ed Snyder]

Welcome to the forum, Albert. Congratulations on your new truck!

I'm sure most of the forum members would agree with me when I say that I hope you keep the V6 and don't Chevy-ize it with yet another boring sbc like so many people do. I like to call the V6 GM's most over-engineered and under-appreciated engine they ever built. With proper maintenance, these engines can go for hundreds of thousands of miles.

[aphaynes]

:welcome:
I'm in 'Bama now but spent most of my life in Savannah, Marietta, and Warner Robins, GA

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Welcome to the club Albert! thats a cool looking truck. I agree with Ed, you got a GMC and with it comes a hunk of power that can change the earths rotation if you can get the traction. That motor is a powerhouse.

Unaltered originals, you can't beat 'em. Now cross our eyes with more pics of your new baby :thumbsup: She's a beauty!

[Albert Blue]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I am absolutely gonna keep it as original as practical..

The truck was out of Ty Cobb's hometown of Royston, GA and spent its life on a farm there. I'm actually the third owner as the guy I bought it from purchased it from the widow of the original owner 2 years ago. He had plans to put the body on a 4x4 chassis he had. Mercifully the only thing he did was renew the seat cover and simple kept it in his garage.

I plan to just get the mechanicals up to spec and preserve it as is.. I looked for 5 years or better to find a decent original. If I had a nickel for every half-baked project I saw... I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Cayoterun]

Welcome to the site, Blue:
Nice truck, especially coming off a farm. Many times they are pretty rust free, but can look pretty "rode hard, and put up wet". Looks like you got a keeper.
Enjoy spiffing her up.

Welcome to the site,

[BarryGMC]

Thank you for wanting to keep it original. These trucks are good drivers if they are in reasonable mechanical condition. Barry

[GMCNUT]

seeing this original truck and hearing you say you are leaving it that way is music to my ears - I think I will start a "Patina Truck" picture thread so all the members who have one can post a shot of the ones owned in this group - to be a "patina truck" the vehicle must sport its original (or very old) paint which can be worn or baked off, or almost non-existent replaced by surface rust, but generally the more surviving paint the better. A patina truck will be all one color or all its original two-toned paint. This 63 you have is an awesome patina truck - I love it

[GMCNUT]

Albert, I did start a patina truck thread after seeing your truck here, so if you have some more pics of it you could post some to the patina thread - I know I'd sure like to see more of your truck....especially the plaid valve covers :)

[Albert Blue]

Will do G. I have several pics to share but they need to be smaller or something as they don't want to load from my ipad. Ill figure it out and post.

It's gonna be a bit of a challenge to find a good balance between leaving the patina and getting her cleaned up and in mechanical trim. I don't see 50 years of crud on the A-arms as patina but have to be careful not to remove the original chalk marks under the hood, etc..

[sodly]

Any progress on this one? Would love to see an original truck.