howdy. the car bug first bit me when i was about 6 years old, and my uncle came rolling up to a family gathering at my grandma's house in a bright red 34 ford cabriolet, with no hood, seatbelts, trunk, or interior. i was in love. that same uncle invited me to a carshow when i was 14, and the following year i made him sell me the old rusty 1954 chevrolet 1/2 ton out back of his barn. he tried to convince me that i wanted something a little more drivable, but i told him i wanted to learn how to do body work and mechanical work, and the best way to learn would be fixing up an old broken truck. he laughed, and said "well if that's what you're huntin, you'll find plenty of it here."
for the first 2 years, it stayed out back of his barn in kentucky, about an hour and 15 minutes south of where i live, and i commuted about every weekend i could, to learn as much as i could in a weekend or so, and then drive back. my sophmore spring break i spent down there welding a floor on. then, fall of my senior year of high school, i went down with my buddy and a car-hauler, and brought my baby home (i had finally talked my parents into using the camper port in the back yard of their house). i then proceeded to tear it straight down to the frame. i sandblasted the whole darn thing with a little quarter inch nozzle "parts-blaster" (that took the better part of the fall), and then primer'd and rust-coated the frame. then a friend of my uncle's was street-rodding a really nice, garage kept early 55 for somebody, and sold me the running gear and suspension off of it. that brought me up to about two years ago, when i started running out of money, and had to buy a car...
my parents no longer allowed me to drive their spare, so i bought an 84 blazer. that thing has required a LOT of attention in the past year and a half, due to the fact that it is no where near the vehicle that i was told it was. but since then, i've swapped motors, redone wiring out to wazoo, fixed a/c, trouble shot leaks til i was blue in the face, and i'm FINALLY ready to get back to my ol' 54.
i'm 21, have got way more questions than answers, way more bills than paychecks, and way more excitement than i know what to do with. right now, i've got all the pieces to build it back bone-stock, but i really really want a driver. so i'm kicking around options of selling the chassis i got now, and building on an s10 frame (can get those around here for CHEAP), or the cheapest way i can modify the frame i got to basically have a desirable gearing and be able to stop. i'll probably have to post these questions in other forums, but that's who i am and what i'm doin. cheers
