For a solid year, April 2023 to April 2024, I cut and welded and sanded on a derelict 1967 Pontiac Lemans and chronicled it in this blog over 14 episodes. I sold that car and I thought I was done with rusty hulks. But for reasons I don't understand, even after swearing off involved and difficult car restoration projects, I bought another. Another, as in another 1967 Pontiac Lemans, which was chronicled over 13 episodes, October 2024 to June 2025. It sold the end of March 2026.
Since the shop has an open slot, I've been (sort of) looking for another project. Then my son put in an accidental bid at an online farm auction last week. No one else bid, so my son now is the owner of this pick up. And it's in my shop.
Here is the new acquisition:
We weren't absolutely sure what year it was, but after we got it home we searched it out and confirmed it was a 1960. The sequence below is 1960, '59, '58, and '57:
We drove about 90 miles out to Twin Bridges, MT, towing a flatbed trailer. It had snowed and rained the night before, so by the time we got to the farm the access was a sloppy, muddy mess. There was no way we were going to get the trailer in.
We parked outside the gate and picked our way through the mud to meet up with the auction company rep. He said they had a gradall, and they could drag it out for us:
The operator dragged it all the way out to the trailer, and with the help of a skid steer lifted the truck up so that all we had to do was back the trailer under it. They set it down, we strapped it in, and off we went:
The operator dragged it all the way out to the trailer, and with the help of a skid steer lifted the truck up so that all we had to do was back the trailer under it. They set it down, we strapped it in, and off we went:
Now that it's safely ensconced in my shop, we could get a better look at it. First step was to clean it all out, which filled 1 1/2 garbage cans. Passenger side looks pretty good:
And the driver's side is not bad:
However, the driver's box side, in front of the rear tire, has some rust:
And the box floor is badly beat down:
Condition
The front floorboards are rusted out, but the back areas under the seat are good. The steps look good. The dash is complete and not smashed up. The passenger side front underfloor brace is rusty. The lower lip of the hood is rusty, and there's a wide, shallow dent in the hood on the passenger side. A very poor Bondo repair was done to the driver's door. Door bottoms are not rusty. Both rear cab corners are rusted out. All the glass is bad, but the riser mechanisms and latches are all there and work.
The lower rear corners of both front fenders have been crudely through-bolted to the cowl. There's no transmission, but it was a floor shift 4 speed. There's a complete, unmolested Y block under the hood, and the aircleaner and valve covers were not removed like so many other old cars. The frame and suspension are in very good condition. Someone has replaced the original rear end for a 9 inch.
All four wheels turn, the steering works, the window chrome is complete and very nice, and the truck is pretty much complete. But everything on the body is dented, rusted, or damaged. Yet everything is fixable.
The Plan
My son hasn't decided how to proceed. He's considering several possibilities:
- Quick flip. Clean out the dirt and grime, check to see if the engine is free, and just sell it.
- Part it out and junk whatever's left.
- Slow flip. Make some crucial rust repairs (floors). My son has a t-5 trans that will fit. See if it will run.
- Basic project. Get it running and driving. Brakes, wiring, driveline, glass.
- Involved project. Frame swap and make a 4x4 diesel.
- Hotrod. Late model running gear, body and paint, lowered with wheels and tires.
Considering it's a truck he really doesn't want, he may opt to not mess with it, which though understandable would be a shame. It's rough, but it's rebuildable and would make a neat project. In fact, it's well within the skill set of the average mechanically-minded person.
This post will be updated from time to time.
