When your life revolves around rescuing old rusty classics from rotting off the face of the planet, you are always on the lookout for a new project build. Thomas Mortske of Mortske Repair fixes these old junky relics for a living. His neighbors are aware of his passion, and once in a while, he’s called up to save a soul. On a recent upload, he picked up a 1976 Chevrolet C/K with the hope of giving it a new lease of life after sitting for 20 years.
Some cars are not worth saving, and that’s why there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of rotting cars all over the world. But they say, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” For Mortske, anything with an engine and two pairs of wheels deserves a second chance – regardless of the condition.
The 1976 Chevrolet C/K Scottsdale 4X4 truck belonged to a local farmer. Its clutch failed 20 years ago, and the owner has parked it since. He’s currently retired and was willing to part with it since it was in a deplorable state. Mortske was more than willing to get it off his hands.
The Scottsdale is a trip for the 3rd-generation Chevrolet C/K-series of trucks manufactured by General Motors from 1973 to 1991. They were popular as farm hands, ideal for chasing down cows and transporting grain and hay.
Mortske’s find has taken a beating from mother nature. There’s a lot of visible rust around the fenders and bottom end of the truck. The interior was in a desolate condition. From the state of the seats, it must have housed several generations of critters.
Fortunately, this truck is a 4-speed with an NP205 transfer case. These transfer cases are bulletproof and came in the GM, Ford, Dodge, and some international truck brands as far back as 1969. Since the vehicle’s exterior is rotten, Mortske plans on fixing the drivetrain and slapping another body onto it.
“We put an earlier cab on there, and we hook everything up and put a plow on the front of it. Build some kind of flatbed for the back, and maybe even make it dump hydraulically,” Mortske said.
After a few touch-ups, fiddling here and there, the 1976 Chevrolet Scottsdale roared for the first time in 20 years – but not without a tiny fire mishap on the engine bay.
Catch a glimpse of the revival and first drive in the video below. You could learn something about firing these bad boys after sitting for decades.