New Member, First Charger

[SS350]

It's like the car wanted to come home with you! Great knowing they are still out there.

[Q5XX29]

Wow, that was well-bought! Congratulations! Cool old Ford pickup, too. Please keep us posted on your progress.

[NHCharger]

Nice score. I would have driven down from NH to score that deal.

[nvrbdn]

Congrats on the find. What a great starting point.

[Challenger340]

That's a great find and even better starting point, IMO, you did very well !

That said,
your example is easy to say that about, and qualify it as just that, a good deal !
when,
others trying to acquire are finding far lesser examples for FAR more $ dough !

[Dano 1]

Time for an update! I've been chipping away on the car a bit in the evenings as daylight allows and have managed to get all of the crappy interior/exterior carpet out of the interior and pulled the front seats, console, and rear seat bottom. I vacuumed out the 15 years worth of cigarette butts, change, and mouse turds and was rewarded with nearly rust-free floors. The only major spot of cancer is under the pedals on the driver's side and is really only ~10" x 10" worth of serious holes.







The trunk floor on the other hand is pretty crunchy but really only terminal on the section between the frame rails and up to the spare tire bracket.



Up underneath the rear-end things start to get interesting. From what I can tell there was rust in the bottom of the quarters and a PO cut out the vertical piece of the trunk extensions and fabricated a new drop-off piece to attach to the bottom of the quarter. On one side the fabricated piece has no flange on the bottom but on the other it looks like they took the time to bend a flange to attach the bottom of the quarter too. It's a little tricky to figure out the extent of the repair because from inside the trunk I see no evidence of welding or patching, and the lip on the bottom of both quarters and up around the wheel well looks to be in one piece. It just seems odd that there would be that much rust in the extensions/drop-offs but not enough to consume the lips of the quarters. I'd be curious to see what those of you who are more knowledgeable about how these cars are put together think.

Passenger's side:
Note two layers at the bottom quarter joint




Driver's side:
Notes single layer at the bottom where the quarter should join extension






Back up top things are looking decent. I swept the entire car with a magnet and confirmed significant filler in the quarters rear of the wheel wells and around the valance extensions. Around the rear window there's significant pitting but not major holes that I can see. There is evidence of bondo in the passenger's side rear window corner but that's the only sign. Around the cowl/windshield area is much the same with pitting but no obvious holes...keyword being obvious.









I also managed to get the engine un-stuck after just a 24hr soak with PD Blaster in the bores and a 12" breaker bar. I'm still undecided about whether to rebuild this engine now or try and find something closer to running condition.

Next steps are really to formulate a plan for the body. I have a feeling the rear of the car will be a pandora's box situation and I'm really not sure I'm ready or have the resources to do the job to a standard I would be happy with at the moment. I believe my basic skill level is there having done a decent amount of fabrication work and being a fairly proficient welder, my garage is just very cramped and part storage is limited. 

The good news is the rails and structure are completely rust free and sound so I have no structural concerns about the car whatsoever. Ideally I would like to get the car running and driving ASAP and preserve the body to ensure it doesn't get significantly worse but at the same time not handicapping myself for when I do fully restore the car down the road. Am I completely off base here? What do you guys think is a realistic plan being far more familiar with these cars and with much more actual experience restoring them? Thanks everyone!