On my old '63 C10. I sold it to a buddy of mine when I was getting married. Mike had a nasty habit of driving vehicles until they died, then, instead of fixing it correctly, he would just let it rot and buy something else.
Well, I had warned him not to trash this one when I sold it to him. I had done a full body off restoration on it while I owned it and it was in great shape when he got it.
Fast forward about 6 months...
He was over visiting and we decided to go rent a video. (It was the 80's)
We walked out and I headed to the driver's side. When he looked at me funny I told him I was driving, so he tossed me the keys. Long story short, we left the parking lot, I punched it and it should have burned rubber all over the place. (300+ hp 400cid SBC). Instead, the engine sounded like it had been punched in the guts. It barely responded to the floor boarded accelerator.
When we got to the video store, I popped the hood to see what was going on. Amongst many other issues, I found a large Phillips head screwdriver where the pivot bolt on the alternator was supposed to be. Mike's explanation was that the bolt had broken and he put the screwdriver there to get home. Seemed logical. When I asked when that happened, he said "About 2 months ago."
I just shook my head. He kept the truck for about 2 years, then sold it to another high school buddy of ours. He tore it down to go through it and fix all of Mike's screw ups, but lost it in an ugly divorce while it was disassembled. Last I heard (about 20 years ago) was that the ex wife's boyfriend was working on it. I never saw that truck again. That makes me sad. :-(
