My part in this build started on April 1st of 2014, and has a story to go with it. My grandpa bought this truck long ago and I have fond memories as a kid riding in it with him and my grandma on camping trips. He used it to pull his 5th wheel and fishing boat during his retirement years. Around 5 years ago he passed away and my uncle got the truck. Whether they were just hard on it or the truck was just getting old the poor thing was showing its age. It put out blue smoke, AC sorta worked, and many other quirks. Honestly it made me sad to see it in such shape. Then about 4 months ago my uncle decided he was done using (abusing?) the truck and it came into my parents possession. I was ecstatic and immediately told them the truck is mine when they are done using it. They needed something to haul dirt around, loads to the dump, etc... since they had a big yard and the truck did the job well. They proceeded to sink 3k into it for new tires, exhaust, AC tune up, and various other things. The motor still smoked but pulled strong. I imagined getting the truck one day and restoring it to its original glory until....
A few days ago just after 8 .m. when my parents left for work, a driver of a SUV who was on drugs or alcohol ( or both) was going fast north on 400 West near our house when he veered off the road for some reason and crashed through our neighbors fence, our mailbox, and the big green electric-company box, and then smashed into the driver's side of our truck that was parked in the driveway. You can see from the photos that the SUV pushed the truck nearly to right angles with the garage.
The SUV had no plates; and, of course, the driver had no driver's license and was not insured. He got out and ran around the fence into our other neighbors' yard. That neighbor saw him--she had heard the crash and was coming out to see what had happened. She followed behind him and saw him climb over their fence in the back of her yard. The driver behind the one who hit our truck saw everything happen and called the police, who arrived in just a few minutes, found the man cutting through yards, and arrested him. He is in jail now.
The electricity was out for several hours while the power company brought in a new green box and installed it. My parents were at work until nearly 6 p.m. and came home to find the mess.
June 18th 2014 - Im a little behind on this update but I grabbed some new power lock switches at the junkyard, unfortunately that didn't solve the problem. My parents then told me its had that issue since they got it so I suspect a broken wire somewhere. Got the door buttoned up, and replaced some interior lights so it was more convenient to drive at night.
What do you do with a truck you just rebuilt? I did what grandpa would do and immediately put it back to work removing large rocks from grandmas flower bed.
At this point there are some odds n ends ill be picking up at the junkyard next time im there, but the bulk of the repair is done and its fun to drive around in grandpas truck again.