Time to get the 66 out of the woods

kekrkaki · Post by **kekrkaki** » January 18, 2007, 8:09 pm

I am driving to Northern Michigan tomorrow to drag the 66 my father in law gave me out of the woods. I am bringing 4 good used tires and wheels since the ones on the truck are trashed. I plan to replace the tires and wheels and roll it onto a trailer. I had my Father-in-law spray the lugs with rust penetrant over the last few days. We'll see how easy the nuts come off. After 20 years sitting, the brake drums are probably frozen so I am preparing for the worst. I have tow straps and a come-a -along but you know the tool I need most will be left in the barn at home! I took the day off from work and a buddy is going to go with me. Getting a truck, one of the good days in life!!!

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » January 18, 2007, 11:38 pm

i used to live in northern Mi. where is the truck?

Slick Fan · Post by **Slick Fan** » January 19, 2007, 11:40 am

Sounds fun, enjoy yourself!

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » January 19, 2007, 4:59 pm

It does sound like fun. And I'll bet it will be! My '62 was sitting for who-knows-how-long. I didn't have any trouble with the lug nuts though. I was quite surprised. A little shot of Moovit and off they came. The brake shoes on the front driver's side were bonded to the drum, and the passenger side was missing:

I had to get a drum and wheel from the wrecker so we could get it rolled up on a dolly. A 10,000 lb ratchet strap did the trick:

The tires on the front were shot, but the rears were good enough to roll up on the dolly. So I just got two good used ones for the rear, and swapped the old rears to the front. The rear brakes just had to be backed off a bit; they weren't frozen at all.

It took about 4 hours or so to get it loaded up and ready to go. Good times!

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » January 19, 2007, 5:10 pm

Jason I see that Cornbinder in the background of the last pic there.
They make Kewl rods, those do.

Looks like you needed my buddy's trailer there. flatdeck with a power winch. you just drag the @#$%^&*(* up on the trailer, and no *&^%$#@#$% around.

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » January 19, 2007, 5:21 pm

Good eye.

Apparently it was spoken for, but the guy who bought and paid for it hadn't shown up to retrieve it yet. I wonder if it's still there...

A power winch would have been nice. The way we did it required about 3 or 4 shots at it. Ratchet up the slack, pull it forward, then block the wheels, release the tension and do it again...

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » January 19, 2007, 5:43 pm

That pic was obviously taken in Saskatchewan.
The guy could watch his dog run away... for a week.

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » January 19, 2007, 5:56 pm

Now, now, Southern Alberta's pretty flat too, bud.

kekrkaki · Post by **kekrkaki** » January 19, 2007, 9:20 pm

Well, it took 13 hrs hours but the 66 is now home from Charlevoix. We had to jack up the front one side at a time and put the new tires on. The right side was buried a good 8 inches and frozen in the ground. High winds and a snow squal did not help. We put a stap on it and began to pull. It did not want to budge at first and we noticed the right side tires were not rolling. The right side drums must be frozen because we had to drag it the whole way. The snow turned out be be helpful since the tires slid right over it. Getting it on the trailer was tough. The winch we brought took a crap so I had to use the come-along. It was a long slow tedious process, but we got it on the trailer. It was snowing good by the time we left so the first 2 hrs of driving were interesting. All in all not a bad day, 4 hrs driving, 5 hrs pulling out the truck and loading it and 4 more hrs driving. I will sleep god tonite.

Keith

Max · Post by **Max** » January 19, 2007, 11:17 pm

Nice work Keith, look forward to your progress. You have 1 year, 7 months until SlickStock08...

BigTim · Post by **BigTim** » January 19, 2007, 11:19 pm

Looks like you will sleep good tonight. Nice truck.

F-Zilla · Post by **F-Zilla** » January 19, 2007, 11:42 pm

I just took a 65 out of the woods, but nothing like that! 3 hours each way and about an hour to put it on the trailer, no muss, no fuss!

Slick Fan · Post by **Slick Fan** » January 20, 2007, 11:13 am

Congrats! Now the real fun begins.

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » January 20, 2007, 11:32 am

They are always fun. My Merc still lives in the same city at which it was bought. It resided 10 miles down the road in another small town it's whole life. When I found it, the 428 that had been put in it, and the radiator, mirrors, and hood ornament had already gone, I knew if I didn't snap it up the rest of it would slowly start walking way.

The last guy to own it bought it off the original owners and was gonna make a 4x4 out of it, so he parked it under a tree for 3 years. it was full of all the crap (literally and otherwise) that falls out of trees. When me and my buddy went to get it at the end of October/beginning of November, the ground had frozen then thawed, leaving a nice skim of mud on top, just enough so that the 4x4 we were pulling it out from under the tree with would just sit and spin. We got it about 50 feet away from the tree and had to wait for the ground either to freeze up again or dry out before we could get it up the ditch bank to the road, to load it on a trailer.

Luckily the next week the wind howled about 60 MPH and dried everything out, we pulled it up the ditch bank with a 2wd the next weekend. The whole front end of the slick was about a 3" cake of mud.

I still have the original owners name and the dealership it came from written in the owners manual. They will get to see it finished , if they are still around. Local is local is local!

loco JC

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » January 20, 2007, 11:56 am

The Big M wrote:Now, now, Southern Alberta's pretty flat too, bud.

One big difference, southern Alberta looks like this

[albumimg]1497[/albumimg]

Unibodyguy1 · Post by **Unibodyguy1** » January 22, 2007, 1:24 am

Yup, don't miss that time of the year in the Midwest one bit! I'll take the Desert anyday over that. The rust factor included! Grew up in Wisconsin, know that first hand.

Michael

BigTim · Post by **BigTim** » January 22, 2007, 10:11 am

Johnny Canuck wrote: Local is local is local!

That is cool. My Slick was built in Dallas and shipped to Plainview, about 40 miles up the road from Lubbock, where I live. Sold to a guy that farmed down the road from my Grandad's place, then sold to a kid on the other side of my Grandad's farm. Then in August I drove the 40 miles up there and bought it with the $$$$ I got from the sale of of my Grandad's truck he had left to me. You could throw a rock from one place to another where, I picked up 1st Grandad's truck in 1984, and then 2nd, the Slick 22 years later.

Must be a good area for trucks.

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » January 22, 2007, 11:19 am

Johnny Canuck wrote:One big difference, southern Alberta looks like this

kekrkaki wrote:High winds and a snow squal did not help.

Believe it or not, my pics were taken in mid-December 2005. That should have meant knee-deep snow and frigid temperatures, but it was unseasonably warm that afternoon. Unfortunately that meant freezing rain in the evening. It made for quite the adventure...

Time to get the 66 out of the woods

Time to get the 66 out of the woods

Time to get the 66 out of the Woods.