1965 Step-side 305 V6

[TomWhis]

Hey Guys,
I live in Oklahoma and I have a 1965 Step-side with a 305 V-6 I've owned it for 17 years now and it hasn't been started since 2012. I'm new to the Forums and I'm wanting to do a full restoration on it. I'm looking for any advice on where to start on it and things that I could do to make things easier. And good places to get parts from.

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[Ed Snyder]

Originally Posted by TomWhis

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Hey Guys,
I live in Oklahoma and I have a 1965 Step-side with a 305 V-6 I've owned it for 17 years now and it hasn't been started since 2012. I'm new to the Forums and I'm wanting to do a full restoration on it. I'm looking for any advice on where to start on it and things that I could do to make things easier. And good places to get parts from. [IMG]https://

Welcome to the forum, Tom! You'll find lots of helpful people here. There are many sources for new parts for our trucks. Two of the most popular are

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and

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. If you're looking for something particular, and don't mind getting a used part, someone on the forum may have what you need. Just ask!

Personally, I would start by removing all the sheet metal from the firewall forward for ease of access to clean and paint things. Keep posting photos of your progress. Looks like you're starting with a decent truck.

[Walys60]

Welcome Tom!

I'm not one of the experts on here...definitely a LOT of knowledge monitoring these threads, but I am a little ahead of you on the same process so happy to share anything I've learned.

I say a LITTLE ahead of you cause I notice you don't have any bed wood which slowed me down to a crawl! Once I hit that bed wood I actually took about 2 years off from it

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. I made my son get under there every now and then and take a few off for me over the couple years but that was about it. Really it was other projects getting in the way, but...I'd rather blame the 142 bolts frozen solid to it.

Anyway, as Ed suggested, I did start with the front end disassembly. I took out the motor and trans before the cab because I thought my brother was going to take those and do the work on them. Of course, there sits the motor on the stand and trans on the rack in my shop ...getting nowhere fast. If had known I probably would have taken the cab off first ...no biggy though, either way.

Once I got the cab off that was about as far as I'm going. I can get to everything underneath with just the bed sides on so not taking that off. Mostly cause I've got a bad back and don't want to ask someone else to do the work for me. It's loose, just need backs to move it. Then things like the steering box will get special attention, replace ball joints, diff gaskets, pretty much any gasket or rubber, but not going to an every 'bolt off' type restore. A sandblaster attachment on my pressure washer will get her clean and POR 15 and some undercoating will finish off the whole undercarriage, hopefully, before it gets hot here.

Anyway, just the usual tips about baggies and/or those screw boxes from Harbor Freight as she comes apart. I don't worry TOO much about every bolt and screw though as I plan on getting the various bolt/screw kits for the truck. They aren't that expensive and the stuff I'm taking off is pretty rough. Just depends on how you want to do it of course.

OH! One more thing. I've been taking LOTS of pictures prior to disassembly of each thing. Most of the guys on here probably chuckle at that but, again, I'm no expert and have already forgot more about what I took off than I will remember putting it back together. Sure will be helpful having a picture of what it is SUPPOSED to look like

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.

Anyway, enjoy, feel free to ping me for anything...I'll try to answer..if I see it in the messaging thing on here.

[tbucketnut]

Waly you speak the truth, I'm on my second body off and you are spot on, take many pictures before removing components, every angle, never too many, you will glad you did. Nothing wrong with marking bags of bolts either. Anything you can do to aid in reassembly will keep the project moving forward. Projects get stalled way too often simply because people forgot where they were at and where the were going. Subscribe to the 1/2 hour rule, that each day you spend 1/2 hour on your project, either hands on or planning or ordering parts. If you cant afford 1/2 hour each day dont start the project, you dont have the stamina in the first place.
Good luck to you,
Steve

[Ed Snyder]

Steve and Waly both reminded me of a good point -- recording where each of the fasteners you remove came from. Ziplok freezer baggies that you can write on work well. I've also used empty egg cartons. You can write on the bottom of the lids where each piece came from.

Even if you buy one of those stainless steel fastener kits from a vendor, it helps to keep your old fasteners too, to confirm that new matches old.