Granddad’s old farm pickup gets a full restoration

Woody Swain fondly remembers his grandfather and the special pickup he bought and drove almost every day.

“My granddad, J.W. Metz, was a farmer in Stafford County. He and my grandmother lived on their farm located 5 miles due north of St. John. In 1962, at the age of roughly 72, he purchased this new stepside Chevy pickup from the local Chevrolet dealership and the only option that he ordered for it was a heater, no radio,” Swain said.

The truck received some use around the farm, but its main purpose was as Mr. Metz’ daily driver.

“He primarily drove it every weekday to and from St. John to meet his buddies at the pool hall for several rounds of dominos, and then into town on Sundays. He would have a cup of coffee and get the Sunday paper at Shapley’s drugstore.”

Swain was about 13 at the time, living in Wichita, and recalls looking forward to the trips to visit his grandparents, where he would get lessons on how to drive a stick shift vehicle.

“Once he knew we could drive a stick shift, he would let us drive it around the section, or into town and around the farm,” Swain explained. His sisters and cousins, and years later, his own daughters and some of their friends would learn the intricacies of driving a “three-on-the-tree” behind the wheel of the blue 1962 Chevy C10.

His grandfather took good care of the plain-Jane truck, but there was no garage on the farm, so it had to sit outside through all kinds of weather.

“I remember putting a good-sized dent in the hood of it when I ran it into an elm tree, but I don’t remember him being that upset about it,” Swain said.

His grandfather passed away in 1972 and eventually his grandmother had a garage built to store the stepside pickup. Later, the home place was passed on to Swain’s mother, who sold the farm in 2005 and passed the pickup on to him.

The truck showed remarkably little mileage on its odometer, so he decided to have it repainted and keep it original. As often happens, it became a full frame-off restoration project.

“My cousins always wanted to drive Grandpa’s pickup and that’s one of the reasons I got it restored. They were really excited about it,” Swain said.

He took the truck to Bill Richardson at Top Notch body shop in Stafford.

“It was about 10 years ago. I didn’t want to spend a huge amount of money on it and I wasn’t in a big hurry,” Swain said. Richardson and a shop employee, Chris Padgett, worked on the old Chevy as time and money permitted.

Then, when Swain retired from Koch Industries 2 1/2 years ago, he got serious about getting Grandpa’s truck back on the road. He did some of the sanding after the dents (including his) were smoothed out.

The interior was repainted in the original silver and Stylecraft Auto Upholstery was tasked with stitching up a more modern two-tone vinyl bench seat. But everything else inside was kept as it was. Most needed replacement parts were bought at Bow-Tie Bits.

The original 235 cubic inch “Stovebolt 6” engine was cleaned up and tuned up before getting a fresh paint job and being reinstalled in the chassis. A security system was installed, along with various accessories, with the help of friend Dave Brehm.

The cargo bed was relined with fresh wood and polished retaining strips and a set of Toyo radial tires was added to the running gear. The factory-correct white button hubcaps and steel wheels were used, though.

The crowning touch was a gleaming paint job replicating the original Crystal Turquoise finish that came on the truck when it was delivered some 54 years ago. And the odometer was left untouched, reading just a shade over 38,000 actual miles.

Swain has owned a replica Cobra roadster and a Porsche 911, but his grandfather’s venerable Chevy farm pickup holds a special place in his heart.

“I wouldn’t have picked that project except that it was my granddad’s truck,” he said.

He plans to take it to a couple of car shows a year.

“I really like the small town car shows where old pickups like this are appreciated,” he said.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Granddad’s old farm pickup gets a full restoration."