'65 Pickup been sitting, need plan for rehab

I recently acquired a 1965 "Heavy Duty" Econoline pickup. It has an amazingly small amount of rust and a really straight body - except for a bashed in spot in the driver side nose. And there lies the story...

The headlight is knocked sideways a bit and has never been straightened. My theory is that this was a running, driving truck that was involved in a minor fender bender and then parked and never driven again or they would have straightened the headlight. I'm also guessing it was left for many years, most likely in some form of semi-protected storage or it would be more rusty.

The previous owner said he had it running but inadvertently poked a hole in the gas tank with a fork lift (). I've got a replacement '69 Mustang tank on order.

I'm thinking drain and replace all fluids, maybe rebuild the 1101 carb, make sure the fuel lines and brake lines are clear and rehab the distributor -- points, cap rotor. Other maintenance items on the list include rebuilding the master cylinder and the individual brake cylinders, grease the wheel bearings, and hit all the grease fittings under the truck.

Anything I'm missing that is a must do?

I'm assuming the 240 engine is good. We hooked a battery up and turned it over a few times and it sounded fine. If it's good, I will keep it stock, but would like to go with a bigger carb, the efi exhaust manifolds and a better distributor. If the motor is bad, then all bets are off, but most likely would go with a carbed 300.

I welcome any thoughts on the rehab process.

James, Tulsa, OK

Welcome to VV James. She's got a bit of a bump, that's for sure...but fixable. Not sure what your skill level is, but that master cyl should be replaced with a 67 dual master if brakes are on the list of things to do. Maybe look around for a donor vehicle for a nose replacement if pounding and pulling the nose straight is to much work. Others on here have had to do that and I'm sure will chime in. Lift her up and wiggle the tires and see how much play you have in the king pins and steering box and all other front steering stuff. All the leaf spring bushings will most likely need replacing, and check for broken and sagged out rear leafs as well, if the past owner hasn't done this already. As for the motor...not sure if you want to use the gas tank to run it anyway, cuz it probably needs to be cleaned regardless of the hole in it. I would run the motor of a separate gas supply (lawn mower tank works) and see what works and see if carb leaks or even if the motor runs at all. At least the fuel supply will be clean to work with. Truck looks nice from what your pics show. Is this truck all original or did past owner do a bunch to it before you got it? Wiring...If you have never owned one of these before, just letting you no that the gauges are 6 volt and under the dash there should be a 12v/6v box that is for your gauges...make sure that works before hooking up a battery or you will be possibly looking for gauges next. Hope I didn't scare you on this...lol...these are the things I didn't no when I started working on mine 10 years ago...Others will chime in i'm sure and have more helpful info as well. Looks like a great start you have.

This would be a great topic for a "This Is How It's Done" article: Reviving An Old Van.
It should include a checklist that could not only be used to get it back to roadworthy, but also serve as a pre-purchase inspection list.
I'd suggest getting the radiator cleaned and tested.
Clean all electrical connections and grounds.
Do all lubrication and maintenance items in the service manual, because they haven't been done in a while!

If the engine hasn't been running in a while I would pull all of the spark plugs and spray WD40 or Liquid wrench in all of the cylinders and let it sit for a day or two. Then take a socket & ratchet to use to hand turn the crankshaft. Try to turn the engine slowly and if it doesn't turn freely spray the cylinders again and let it sit another day or so then try to turn it again. Repeat the process until you can freely turn the crank. Trying to start a vehicle that hasn't been ran in a long time can seriously damage the engine so I always do this!

They've given you some gold advice bro. Nothing I can add here......yet. Start pluggin along and it'll straighten itself out in no time!

Hey James..

Welcome to VV's..the guys here know a LOT and will help to the extreme if
need be. About the 240, it's a real good engine and I'd baby it's startup
to keep it good. Unfortunately, it's not a 302 V8. That's the engine you want if you have to replace the 240.

Otherwise know you have the best of the econolines in your possesion.
Heavy Duty 66...Just needd the dual reservoir master cylinder from a 67.
Start your hunt for one.

You'll have the nose piece soon enough. Got the box from the bike shop and I'll send it out this week.

Jim in NJ aka Casimier

Thanks for a LOT of great information! Nice to know about the gauges, the spring bushings and the liquid wrench tip, among other things. I've been waiting for the replacement gas tank I ordered before trying to start it up, but that's a nice tip on the lawn mower gas can.

I've been concentrating on the small amount of body work so far and haven't tried to tackle the mechanical stuff yet. To be honest, I'm not much of a body guy and look forward to getting that behind me.. Jim is fixing me up with a nose piece, which will be the trickiest fix of them all -- at least for me.

I've done a lot of things on various car projects over the years, but this is the first real "resurrection" I've done where a car has been sitting this long. Should be an interesting trip!

Welcome to VV!!!