I don't know if you guys have ever heard the old saying, "Don't complain about no shoes to the man who has no feet". I read about people with 2 car and one car garages and though I feel sorry for their problems I do have to temper it with the idea that I have no garage and have to work outside in the back yard. This winter I am blessed because a friend offered some space in his body shop to work on it. So don't let the lack of time, space or money keep you from working on the truck. You just have to want to do it...

Not every repair/modification needs a ton of money and every little job done brings you closer to driving it.

jim

 

Gandhi couldnt said it better Jim.

 

Well....I think my truck is on the 14 year plan....hopefully I don't make it to Drewski's 20 year program. There is one thing I can say with some confidence....for all of those "interruptions" with my kid's project cars...I wouldn't trade the time that I spent working with them for anything in the world!! The truck is 59 years old, so I'm sure it'll last a little longer!

The next problem....I thought I'd put together a project plan with a schedule, but I found out that my project planning software doesn't go out 14 years!! Well, actually it does, but everything is really small when you look at the end to end project!!!

 

It amazes me how quickly the years can slip by on these projects, not to mention how quickly they seem to go by as you get older. I've done a ton of other projects over the years since I got my 55, but they were much easier builds being in better overall condition. I guess trying to field too many projects at one time also contributed to the length of time that I've had this build going.

I guess having a couple of trying days in the shop led me to let off a little steam in this thread. I guess we all have those days when things just don't go as planned. You know like sitting down to weld and your wire cutters that were laying right there next to you, got up a took a walk across the garage, or that bracket that you've been working on for the last hour goes and hides under your welding blanket and it took you longer to find it than it did to make it. Or the patch panel that you cut to the exact size of the pattern yet it still doesn't fit. Cut it off 3 times and it's still too short!! I just need to shake it off, take a deep breath and get back at it.

Thanks for listening to my minor rant.

OK.............Are we having fun yet????????????

 

If things like that didn't happen while we are working on our projects something would be wrong and everyone would be doing it. I made a bracket for my throttle cable. I layed it down so it would cool off, when I went to finish it up it was gone. I did that 3 times before I was done, then I found the other 2 laying next to each other. I'm trying not to have the samething happen during my tailgate build...lol

 

I remember my dad asking me to finish welding a bracket for the passenger seat. I finished welding it and installed it, about 20 mins. of work. He spent an hour and a half looking for it , during and after I had already finished it. I just sat back chuckling while he walked back and forth, moving this and that! Good times!

 

Nice....lol

 

Ive been doing lots of lately!, finally decided to take a long break!! Andrew,i`m with you on finding a decent unmolested truck but is there such a thing? the guys that actually restore these trucks stock do the panels actually line up and gaps correct? so far i`ve had to modify every panel on my truck!!! but what the heck its all fun!! right?, i was finally in cruising mode when i installed the hood and tried to lign up all the gaps, gaps all good all around but the passenger side back where it rounds out and goes to the fender, almost 1 inch gap, whipped out the measuring tape and noticed the cowl on the passenger side is narrower than the drivers side!! doh, more mods! sorry for venting, i`t seems i`m in the same boat as you! just take a break and think of what it will look when your done, or whatever else you can modify!