We want to hear from you! Please send any questions, comments, or concerns to [email protected].The Eleventh Hour EDITOR: JEREMY COOK
Project Old
School,
Revisited
- TRUCKIN.COM [1 0 ] NOVEMBER 2019 -
W
e’re in the midst of summer. So, like I do every year, I
hem and haw about it for a couple weeks, and then
I unbury my ’ 64 C10 and roll it around town and to a
couple shows before rolling it back up the driveway
and under the covers. It’s crazy to think that back in 2002 , as the fresh-
faced associate editor of Truckin, I happened upon this truck and
thought it would be a good idea to build it as a series of stories in the
magazine. Driving the truck daily for the past week has really had me
going down memory lane. I found three photos that can tell the story
of the truck pretty well on their own, but I will try to elaborate anyway.
Sometime in 2002 , Long Beach, CA: My buddy Steve told me that
his brother Andrew had acquired a C10 of some sort, sight unseen,
as a thank you for helping a neighbor move. So in turn, I did a bunch
of work on his Silverado and got the truck sight unseen. I entered a
dingy body shop in East Los Angeles, fired the truck up, and drove
it on the trailer. This was the day I got home. It would be a long time
before the next photo was taken. Around the same time, I found
some photos of a ’ 6 4-’ 66 C10 that had been converted to a shortbed
and a big window at Totally Polished up in the Valley. Mike Finnegan
had contacted them about his project, and when his plans changed,
I was soon spending a lot of time at the shop.
May 2003 , Paso Robles, CA: About a year and a half later, we
were shooting flat black paint, adding CPP front end parts, an Airlift
airbag kit, and some new chrome from Brothers. The plan was to
make the Memorial Day cruise in Paso Robles, and after a week or
so of sleeping at the shop, I was hitting the road. I had no door glass
or gauges but had enough wiring for the truck to start, the airbags
to inflate, and the lights to come on. In all the excitement, I never
registered for the show. My friend Courtney, who was working with
a competing magazine at the time, gave me the pass off his F-1.
Kirby and I parked the truck right in front of the bar I spent the next
couple of hours in. I drove the hell out of that truck that weekend,
even up to San Luis Obispo, California, to hang with some Severed
Ties members. Over the next couple of years, I added a 700-R4,
transmission, big brakes, 1 8s and 20 s (one of the first set of billet
steelies ever) a tilt column, power one-piece glass, and more.3. Last Weekend, Long Beach, CA: Many years have gone by, but the
damn thing starts up every time. I’m not exaggerating when I say
that I’ve done almost nothing to the engine itself, not even a proper
tune-up, really. The worst thing that’s ever happened is when the
distributor came loose on the way to Del Mar Goodguys years ago.
I pulled off the freeway and drove to Viair headquarters in case I had
to leave it but was back on the road in minutes. It’s a little worse for
wear, though. My neighbor put a dent in the fender one time. The
door stop broke and put a small crease in the door. There’s a couple
cracked welds on the shortened bed. The door poppers have long
since quit. But I can uncover it and drive it anytime I want. It’s not
like any truck I’ve ever owned.I really hope to get back to work on this truck very soon. I have
some really cool parts sitting at my friend, Jeff’s shop, and I’m pretty
excited about it. I want to change it up a whole bunch, yet it will still
unmistakably be my truck. Wish me luck.Keep on Truckin’
-JC