1960 "Black Phantom" progress
 

Well, I have owned the 1960 factory solid Black short wideside Greg Mead dubbed "the Black Phantom" for over a year and she's been patiently sitting waiting for her day, and it looks like over the coming few weeks we are finally going to get some important steps made. For those of you who didn't see my initial post a year or so back, this is a 1960 Custom Cab big window truck that was bought new in the Florence / Muscle Shoals area of North Alabama and has only had 3 owners. It came loaded with factory options like the rare stainless side trim, big window, custom cab, chrome bumpers and guards, radio, power steering, power brakes, hood jet, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.
Anyway I bought the truck from its second owner, and he had dismantled it for a repaint and never reassembled it, so while the original 305A and power equipment is all running beautifully and in tact, the glass is out, and everything is stripped so not driveable. So, we are getting started, and I have rebuilt the cast iron Hydramatic 4 speed automatic transmission, and we got it connected to the 305A this week. I have already disassembled and sandblasted and powdercoated the entire frame and have bought NOS V6 engine mounts for it, so we are about to set the engine and trans in place and mock up the front end enough to set the radiator so we can crank and move it around the shop as needed until we get the body painted. I did not necessarily "need" a cab, because the original simply needed the usual stuff like rockers and maybe a cab corner, but I could not resist when I discovered by accident a beautiful 100% rust free 1960 GMC Custom Cab w/ big rear window for sale in California. So I bought that cab and am going to simply media blast the dirt and surface rusty areas and get it ready for paint. So, I am just getting started, so not much to show, and I only have this one single pic of the truck from when it was still whole with my buddy Josh Quillen (second owner) and his family, so I'll attach that and these other shots are of the California donor cab, Hydramatic attached to the 305A, and a Hydramatic equipped 1960 GMC parts truck we are robbing any hardware, special parts, or wiring etc as needed from it to help complete the project for whatever might be missing. Will add to this thread as we get some momentum....

Re: 1960 "Black Phantom" progress
 

here's a few more - the donor cab from California as a factory automatic Custom Cab so all the holes for my stainless paint divider trim and fluted upper cab mouldings are there, and the original fabric still exists just enough to serve as a perfect correct pattern for my upholsterer to go by when using the NOS fabric back on it. The parts truck is too badly rotted to save, so we are going to try and re-assemble the bulk of what someone would need to build a similar 1960 GMC using the original not-too-bad Black big window cab, and a short wideside bed I have extra, and an extra 60 GMC hood and front sheetmetal. We'll have any buyers choice for engine to go with it - we have a 305A, 305E, 351C and a 351E to couple to a 3 speed manual trans we have extra, so someone might want to build something great from all the leftover stuff I'll have when I am done.

Re: 1960 "Black Phantom" progress
 

I'm jealous about that rust free cab. Good find!

Curious to see how your build progresses.

Re: 1960 "Black Phantom" progress
 

Thanks 60 short step; I will have the original minimal rust big window cab for sale after this is all done - not sure you need one, but mine might be better than yours if you have floorpan or above visor rust etc....

Re: 1960 "Black Phantom" progress
 

That's is a nice truck! Can I have the 351E? LOL!