The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 50/50 club, who's in?

My original goal was to keep my 54 truck as stock looking as possible. Everything back to original just like it was showroom fresh. She really looked good, even though I jumped ship on the stock blue or green color. However, this is where I started to notice that as a daily driver (my original intention) that I was in trouble. Geographically, I was surrounded with 4 lanes, a population that had little respect of a lumbering ole girl who was putzing along at a breakneck 55 mph! Lot's of thumbs up but a lot more horns and middle fingers. Didn't take long to recognize that my presence on the modern highway was posing a danger to myself, my vehicle and the other folks who were navigating around me. Driving and stopping was not FUN anymore.

So it was back to the drawing board. The easy route would have been to drop in a modern IFS and a small block with automatic transmission. But to me personally, the 6 cylinder, straight axle and stick transmission are the heart and soul of our old trucks. I needed to improve on what I had originally.....keep the look and feel of the old iron and just make some improvements that would make her safe on the modern highway and restore the "fun" of driving her every day.

1500+ hours plus a few bucks later (you can't take it with you) my plan came through. Granted, she's not a rocket ship, nor is she a show truck with "please look but don't touch" signs, but she's a top shelf driver, will hold her own in traffic and the tweaked 235 will turn a head or two every time. During the week she's a worker and on the weekends she takes her share of "people' choice" awards. Didn't really plan it this way but it just happens. I would venture to guess, that the folks that stop by and look her over, share stories of their adventures in an "old bolt just like this", ask to hear the sound of the engine and offer a big "thanks" for sharing a few minutes time, make all my efforts pay tenfold.

Some of you folks are lucky enought to have the open spaces to safely drive your "original" trucks but some of us are forced to "adapt, improvise and overcome. My hat is off to any person who shares their love for these old trucks with others, be it on a dusty back road or at a gathering of automotive enthusiasts.

Dave