Diamond in the Rough

To be honest, I don't recall exactly when I fell in love with 50's era pickup trucks.  If I had to guess, I would say it happened between my sophomore and junior years of college when I spent the summer living with and working for my uncle in Missoula, Montana.  In many ways, that summer was



perhaps the most formative of my life.  My uncle is a custom contractor who builds beautiful, custom, timber framed homes.  I spent that summer working on his crew and learning my way around a construction site.  In my time there, I developed a love for the northwest and a profound appreciation for architecture.  It was also during that time I saw hundreds of old ranch trucks and learned first hand the practicality of  driving a pickup (my uncle let me drive his red pickup that summer).  So it stands to reason this was probably when the seed for this particular dream was planted.

What I can say with certainty is that for the past 15 years I have always been on the lookout for the perfect Fry-Pan truck.  Unfortunately, it wasn't practical for me to make an offer on any such trucks during medical school or residency...after all, I had zero spare time and the prospect of trying to restore a truck while living on a shoe-string budget was incentive enough to keep my foot off the brake every time I drove past a gem sitting neglected in a field.  

It wasn't until I finished my residency training in Chicago and we moved out west that I started pulling over every time I saw a potential orphan to adopt.  When we first arrived in Twin Falls, I saw these trucks everywhere.  Unfortunately, every inquiry ended the same way:

"oh, that truck...I'm going to restore that truck.  sorry, its not for sale"

Initially, I thought "fair enough...I can appreciate that."

Fast forward 3 years later--not a single one of those trucks I tried to buy have moved an inch! It has been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions....whoever coined this phrase was clearly referring to these truck hoarders.

It wasn't until  last summer that I called in re-enforcements to help with my search.  My neighbor, Jake, has restored dozens of classic cars and I figured he would know better than anyone how to convince one of these "truck hoarders" around town to part ways with one of their decaying lawn ornaments.  He agreed to help me and I figured it would only be a matter of weeks before I was wrenching away on a beautiful 1950's era pickup. Six months later, I assumed he had just made an empty offer...that is, until one day when he knocked on my door and said, "Still looking for a truck?"

Me:  "Yeah, why?"

Jake:  "Well, I found one for ya.  How about we go take a look next weekend?"

A week later we took a road trip out to Wendell, ID...about a 40 minute drive from my home.  When we arrived on the scene, I couldn't believe my eyes.  There was easily over 2,000 cars in this salvage yard and everyone of them--at least at first glance--appeared to be of pre-1970's vintage.  there were Studebakers, Fords, Chevy's, Mustangs, Internationals, & GMCs of every vintage, make and model.  Many were mere carcases having been cannibalized for parts while others appeared mostly "all there" with the occasional broken windshield, missing fender, dents, scratches, rust and/or missing tires.  But look past the dust, rust, and dents, and it was obvious there was a restoration project around every corner.

We made our way between the rows of cars and trucks as Jake began pointing out all the cars he had owned or restored at one point in time:

"See that '48, I restored one of those 18 years ago.  See that '52, I actually sold that exact car to the owner of this place.  See that '66, helped my buddy restore one of those."

After about 30 minutes of searching, I happened upon a beautiful green GMC pickup truck with what I can only describe as the "perfect" amount of rust and character.  A cursory inspection revealed that the truck was mostly "all there."  There were a few areas of body damage, a generous amount of surface rust, and a few areas with through-and-through rust (what Jake referred to as "Cancer).

The inside was another story...I think the adjective "toasty" might qualify as an understatement.  As you can see, the dash had seen better days and the bench seat wasn't even original to the truck:

Closer inspection of the inner door frame revealed the following ID plate:

Not having any clue what these numbers meant, I did what any red-blooded American would do...I googled it.  Sure enough, a few clicks of the mouse led me to what has become a bookmarked favorite on my web-browser:  www.oldgmctrucks.com

In no time flat, I learned it was made in 1954 and that it had a hydramatic transmission (which was one of the earliest types of automatic transmissions).  I also learned the following about the truck just from the serial number:

• 10 = The truck rated as a "half ton" pickup
• 1 = It is a short bed
• 24 = It originally came with a 248 engine
• P = It was assembled in Pontiac, Michigan (P)
• Z8280 =  This was the unique production number given to my truck as it came off the assembly line

After a little wheeling and dealing between Jake and the lot owner, I was the proud owner of this rust bucket for a cool $5,000.  I know, I know...I got ripped off.  But that price included the owner getting the truck running again--which let me assure you was no small feat.  After about a month, the truck was ready to come to its new home.  In the weeks between purchase and delivery, I spent hours reading how-to books (see the books section of my blog for a detailed list) and making some connections on the oldGMC truck forum.  I also purchased several essential tools (hydraulic jack, jack stands, various hand tools, etc) so that when my truck arrived I'd be ready to start "wrenchin."  Despite my earnest preparation, nothing could prepare me for my first major disappointment with the truck.