Sounds like a labor of love.
I’ll bet she was a looker.
I went thru just the same with
the CJ. Frame off. Everything
replaced with new or rebuilt.
I waited for a dead still hot
(100 deg) day and painted it
in my driveway. Amazingly,
it came out almost perfect,
with very little finish work.
The Plymouth truck I’m working
on now has required a custom
built bed due to the shortened
wheelbase. The finished floor
depth from the top rails is 6”,
with no wheel tubs. The rear
axle (85 Volare) is shortened
6” per side. 4 link rear with
Koni coil overs. The trans is
a 727 w/shift kit coupled to
a 2500 stall converter (3.55
rear gears). I designed the
headers. Engine is a ‘68 446
Mopar with rollers, bored .030
with a TRW-TP238 cam. Koni
coil overs on the front with
custom a-arms. Aluminum 4 core
rad with e-fan & trans oil cooler.
I have yet to fire this thing up,
as I’m just starting the wiring.
It was. It had been my Dad’s truck. Bought used in ‘76 he and my grandfather spent a few hours in the garage rebuilding the engine; I was pretty young, but I think they short-blocked it and had the original heads rebuilt. It was a TIGHT truck; not a squeak or a rattle anywhere. Haven’t found the equal in anything built after the Advent of Plastic Everything.
I have it as part of my overall objective to get my Impala to that point; where it rides nice and tight, and nothing groans, squeaks, or rattles.
You might enjoy this rod and customs Group at MeWe:
https://mewe.com/join/cars-classics_hot_rods_street_cars_any_cars_
Historically, it’s been a lotta people just posting pics of nice cars from wherever, but more recently a bunch of us are shifting the content toward personally-owned vehicles, and trying to include more detail about them. Work is to get more folks posting pics of things they’re actually working on or driving right now so the Group has a more interesting connection to Real Life.