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One year ago, I rolled up into the parking lot of American Self storage, and there I saw this tired old Highboy. Talking to the sellers, a pair of chain smoking millennial greasemonkies with vocabularies of pirates, I got some details on the truck. What they told me went against pretty much everything in HIO Silver's truck buying crash course post (sorry for dragging you into this, HIO). They hotwired it (no keys yet), and I took it for a ride. It died before I left the parking lot. It was there I learned the parking brake did not work. Started back up, and got er moving. I took it up and down the road, no PS, brakes were decent at best, exhaust leaks sounded like a machine gun. Most would have ran away from this truck, fast. But it was speaking to me, like it wanted help. It obviously wasn't going to get it from these guys. I went back and paid the guys. I drove my new beast back home. I didn't care that the lights sucked, I didn't care that it had more cigarette butts in it than it could hold, I didn't care that it had holes in the floor, I didn't care that the PS didn't work, or the dash, or the brake lights. I didn't care that it was ugly and spraypainted, I didn't care that everybody but me hated it. It was mine. And I loved that damn truck from the start.
Here's a picture of her from the Craigslist ad.
I got her home and started doing little stuff to it to get it reasonably safe. Documenting my progress on a small site I am admin of, I received a phone call from Kentucky. It was a good friend of mine, and the owner of that site. He personally congratulated me on my purchase, and we talked for a good long time about Ford trucks. I could tell he was as interested in the truck as I was. Driving home the night before, I subconsciously vowed to never give up on this truck. The phone call the next day confirmed that.
I really had not done much work on cars prior to this. I tore into the power assist system to get it working. I filled it up with fluid, and it did work, but leaked fast. I sent out for parts and rebuilt the control valve. It was better but still leaky. I kept driving it though. I simply kept a coffee cup under where it leaked, and poured it back in before I left. After some time I rebuilt the whole system. Next day I cleaned everything. It took hours, cigarette butts absolutely everywhere. I did find an $80 Kershaw knife under the seat though. I carry it daily now. I finally got it disinfected and felt more comfortable.
Ugly fender flares and chopped fenders. How she looked for a good long while.
I really hated the flares, so I straightened the cuts in the fenders. Ugly still, but better.
It was from the help of a fellow FTE member that I scored a pair of real nice front fenders to replace the cut up ones. I later found a bed as well. No longer one color. It had this multicolored appearance for a long time.
On the 10th of December, 2015, my friend from Kentucky passed away from a stroke, at 49. He always thought the truck would look good blue, so the truck was to be blue. Bigger things were in the way though. The electrical system completely died. The truck wouldn't start, lights flickering, etc. I made a post on it. Thankfully 84espy came through and sold me an EZ Wire kit. After a couple months, I had the wiring done and the interior painted, plus door panels and TS switch thanks to an aforementioned FTE member (you know who you are ).
After the first firing of the truck since the rewire, the truck ran poorly. It was a few months of struggling, it was drivable again. Thanks again to everybody here at FTE. My confidence did falter at times, but with the motivation of my departed friend, and the amazing help here, the truck was back on the road. The next months were fairly uneventful, just bodywork.
The day finally came. It was the day the truck finally saw color. As I laid the paint down, it felt oddly akin to the feeling you get when scattering ashes. Finally the fruits of my efforts were apparent.
Since painting, I have taken the truck all over, to car shows and such. Many of the people who are used to seeing the multi colored truck had no idea how to react to the now blue truck. The compliments were nice but not what I was in this for.
This is the first thing my friend had to say regarding my truck:
"It does my heart good to see a man take pride in his purchase. All the best!
My advice:
Take your time.
Go slow.
Make repairs BUT repair them the WAY you want the truck to be, in the end.
As always remember, the only person you have to please is yourself BUT never sell yourself short."
These have been words I live by.
My truck is no longer the worn out, ugly, smelly, dirty, worthless piece of garbage it was when I started. It has been a journey for sure, after hundreds of hours of work, late nights, early mornings, hundreds of replacement parts, and lots of blood, sweat, tears and stress, and it most definitely is not over, but the truck has become something I am immensely proud of.
The advice given to me by this site has been an unbelievable help to me. I could not have done anything I did on the truck without ALL of your guys's help. I DEEPLY thank all of you and I hope the next year is as good as this one was.
Very nice job, it is amazing to see the time and spirit people put into these old Fords. Your truck sounds a lot like my first 1973 F-250 (A whole other story) Congrats..I hope I get as lucky in the end of my truck's journey. Good job!
Can't go wrong with Kentucky Blue! I'm happy for you man. It's hard to describe the feeling of bringing one of these trucks back from the brink. You kind of have to do it to know the feeling and it takes a lot of patience, passion and sometimes downright stubbornness to make it happen.
Ol' Blue is looking good!
Outstanding! Its the builds like this...the ones that in bodies so much spirit, passion and determination..that i love the most. Just doing the best you can with what you got..Dont get me wrong, the frame offs are nice but some things just glitter and shine.
Your story is completely inspiring buddy!!
I would have to agree with your friend...it looks good in blue.
Mike, thanks for your condolences. He will be missed be many.
As far as how many people felt the same? Very good question. It would be interesting to start a thread and see. I know that just about anybody else would have ditched this truck long ago, and for good reason.
That's a fun story....Inspirational for many I'm sure. There is nothing better than someone documenting there rebuild/repair/etc. for all of us to read. And for all of us who don't take the time to document completely our own projects, you make us want to be better people.....ha! Oh, and you have a great sense of humor, I've laughed my a$$ off on the posts you write. Keep up the good work.
That's a fun story....Inspirational for many I'm sure. There is nothing better than someone documenting there rebuild/repair/etc. for all of us to read. And for all of us who don't take the time to document completely our own projects, you make us want to be better people.....ha! Oh, and you have a great sense of humor, I've laughed my a$$ off on the posts you write. Keep up the good work.
Thanks man!
I am glad my humor is well received! It's the only way to keep goin' sometimes with my rig.
Looking good!!! I'm glad to see it lost those ugly chevy mirrors, along with the flares.
The coffee cup to catch the oil when parked really cracked me up!
Thanks! It felt good to toss those flares and mirrors.
As for the coffee cup, it drove the thing for months like that. After a while, I put a big round magnet in the bottom of the coffee cup so I could stick it to anythjng magnetic for storage. People gave a lot of odd looks seeing me put the coffee cup under the truck. Stranger yet when they saw me set the cup on the roof and take a turn at 25 mph and have it stay perfectly still.
It too was sorry to hear about your friend. He sounds like he truly was a great friend. And we all need friends like that in our lives. Not to mention, be that kind of friend to someone else. I too have a truck like yours. In that it's one that most would say just scrap it. But I like it and won't ever get rid of the truck. It's funny how these trucks can just call out to you like that, and better yet pretty much guide you in how they want to end up being. Keep up the good work on the sweet truck. It sounds like your friend would've be proud of you with how the truck turned out.
07-25-2016, 01:56 AM
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