I wasn’t even out of Texas yet and I got a message from The Guy’s that they had given the new truck a good look over and cleaning. They seem pretty excited and had decided on a name for the new enlistee. “Tippy” and it sounded just perfect to me! The Guy’s have never had a Narrow-track before, but they had heard all the scary stories. I’m thinking when it’s all said and done, Tippy will be the “Go-To” run around rig for daily errands around here… After a complete analysis of the truck, the Guy’s decided that this truck was going to be restored as a “Survivor”. Areas that needed repair will be addressed and refinished in a fashion to keep the patina look of a 68 year survivor. Most of the original paint will be saved. Here you see the local PPG rep shooting a Prophet image of the original paint for a computer match. This is not an easy task to match the paint as different areas were exposed to the sun at different levels over the years. Much time will be spent to get this right, with the end result of the repairs blending in with the original finish. The original front bumper will be sent out to be straightened. It looks like it might have had a tow bar attached to it at some point. The camper shell was removed to better clean it and to get ready to buff out the truck. The passenger side floor looked to be in great shape! You can tell this truck spent its life in a dry climate. The driver’s side was also in great shape. I’m sure the condition of this original floor is something that most of us only dream about! For those that ask, this is what a stock, unaltered FC-150 dash looks like. Incredible!
I wasn’t even out of Texas yet and I got a message from The Guy’s that they had given the new truck a good look over and cleaning. They seem pretty excited and had decided on a name for the new enlistee. “Tippy” and it sounded just perfect to me! The Guy’s have never had a Narrow-track before, but they had heard all the scary stories. I’m thinking when it’s all said and done, Tippy will be the “Go-To” run around rig for daily errands around here…
I threw this in the benchmark category, mostly following The Guy’s progress. Gotta start with a solid foundation. The truck’s tires were in excellent shape, but the wheels had silver painted over the original finish and the finish had seen better days. With the wheels removed you can also get a good look at the underneath of the truck. What a solid little rig! Here’s one wheel after it was cleaned up and a respray of the factory color. Nice… All 4 wheels painted and remounted on the 7.00-15 NDT tires. A little test placement to get the feel. Back on all four's and ready for the next step, polishing. One out of order look, as the polishing had started, but here you see what an original front end comes setup like. You see the expanded metal screen protecting the cooling tunnel and radiator first. And then, of course, those two rare pieces that always seem to disappear over the years. Also, what two unbent bumper brackets actually look like!
I threw this in the benchmark category, mostly following The Guy’s progress. Gotta start with a solid foundation. The truck’s tires were in excellent shape, but the wheels had silver painted over the original finish and the finish had seen better days. With the wheels removed you can also get a good look at the underneath of the truck. What a solid little rig!
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