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Hello,

A while back I bought a '65 GMC 1500. It is a California made truck that I bought here in the Netherlands. It has the 305E V6 and the SM420 transmission.

I've been looking for a 60-66 Chevrolet for a while, with either a straight 6 or a V8. When I stumbled upon this GMC I figured they swapped the engine, because I've never heard of a V6? After doing some research I discovered these interesting line of engines and decided to take a look.

The V6 runs great, the rust on the truck minimal compared to others that you see. The main point is the bed, it is in rough shape. The bed wood is gone, along with the bed strips. There are tons on bondo on the bedsides, to cover up dents and damage. The fact that the bed is sitting on wooden planks tells the story. There is a generic bed liner sitting in the bed, but there is nothing underneath. The cross beams are luckily still included, they are laying in the bed.

The brakes are non functioning, most of the rubbers are gone. A lot needs attention. I believe the original color to be red. A blue was on top of the red, and they later painted it black. The title that I have mentions the color blue.

Due to space restrictions I decided to park the truck in storage until I start working on the truck itself. We've taken off the bed from the truck to start the fabrication work required to bring it back in better shape.

I'm not planning it to be a show truck. I'll see what I'm going to do about the paint.

The main points are:
-Getting the bed back into shape so that it can be mounted back in the truck.
-Brake work, keeping the drums but upgrading to a dual master cylinder from a '67.
-Checking the engine, possible carburetor rebuild. Converting it to LP fuel. Ignition upgrades.
-Electrical, such as wiring to the lights, dash gauges.
-Changing the sealed beam lights to light that accept H4 lights as sealed beam lights are not allowed here.
-General maintenance.
-Possible repaint in the original color.
-Required welding work.
-Rustproofing

I've bought the X-6523 GMC truck maintenance manuals from Rockauto.com, they sell reprints for a fair price.

This is my first project and I'm learning as I go. I'll be sure to post the progress.

Thanks for looking! David