Restorable???

[JReed]

I don't know much about body work or what extent of damage is feasibly repairable. I'm workin on restoring a 1963 WM300 and wasn't sure whether my bed would be restorable without becoming too involved and expensive. I'd appreciate any input I could get though I know its not easy to make a full assessment of the bed based on my few pictures. I'm trying to avoid hauling it to body shop for assessment if I can help it. I'm not looking to restore the tailgate or headboard. I'm more concerned with the hard to come by third series bed sides and fenders. Thanks a lot.

[JReed]

And 2 more...

[Bruce in BC]

Very restorable

From what I can see .
Go out tomorrow and raise the bed out of the dirt . Sitting the thing in the turf is almost criminal . Do this and you will feel like you have actually started to work on it .
One of the easiest ways to take on a project like this is to take off one part and restore it . Then move to the next . Not efficient but you will not get overwhelmed either .

Bruce

[Gordon Maney]

From what I can see, many wish they had beds as good as yours with which to start.

[splummer]

dont really know from the pics you sent but doesnt look all that bad, but as mention get it out of the dirt and off the ground, thats the beginning ,good luck and send more pics. steve from western maine

[OLD DODGE]

Looks like junk. Just drop it off at my place and I'll get rid of it for you ;^)

[JReed]

63' WM300 Restoration

I probably should have started a thread for my restoration a lot sooner... I'm sure it would of saved me a lot of messin' around to get some advice from those more experienced than myself. Anyway, this truck was originally used for four wheeling tours in the mountains of Colorado. My dad bought the truck from the tour company in the late 1970's. At some point he let a friend borrow the truck for a year or so where it was used as a log skidder and took quite a beating. The truck proceeded to go through the hands of a number of my older brothers, each of whom had to get it up and running again after the brother before had run it dead. Eventually the truck came to set on the side of our drive. Thats where it remained for several years. About five years ago, when I graduated high school, my dad promised that I could have the truck if I restored it and put the original company sign back on the door. I began slowly from there. Now just about everything is rebuilt. I'm painting the motor up this weekend and hopefully bolting everything back to the frame soon thereafter. After that pretty much all that remains is body work. I'll try and keep my progress posted. Below are a few pics of the truck before I got started.

[JReed]

And a few of the truck currently.

[jsiebert]

looks good so far so good keep up the good work. John

[jsiebert]

If Kevin's not home you could drop it off at my place I'm just down the road.Ha,Ha John

[712edf]

Reminds me of Wonder Woman's jet! Seriously it's lookin' good.

[Jake]

That is looking mighty fine JReed, where did you find those wheels? They look awsome!

[Jake]

Its definitely worth restoring, I like the one piece at a time theory, that's kind of how things get done at my place.
Those stake pockets should be cheap to get done at a sheet metal place.
This thread should be moved over to your restoration thread I'm thinking, that way the whole restoration history is kept in one place and you can't lose it.
Keep the pics coming and if it gets overwhelming call one of the capable restoration guys on this site for some pro help.

[JReed]

Thanks everyone for the advice. It's lookin like I won't get around to body work for another month or so. I was just curious what others thought because Matt Tisdale was selling a pair of first series reproduction bedsides. I thought they might make more sense than restoring my own, though they don't belong on a WM300. By the way Jake, how do you move a thread? I'm not too familiar with this forum yet.

[JReed]

Thanks. The wheels are actually the same as Kevin Mienke and Will Watson have on their trucks. They are Marsh beadlocks. They're mounted with Interco's 37" by 12 1/2" TRXUS MT's.