I've owned through the years
After buying my first couple of project cars at the age of 14, I was well on the way to a life of street rods, customs, and other cool forms of transportation. Many of my early project cars never got very far, but at least I was having fun!
My first two cars came from the same farmer and were both total wrecks. It was a case of biting off way more than I could chew. The first was a 1935 Chevrolet Master Deluxe 2-door sedan, and the second was a 1956 Chevy 150 2-door sedan. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of these cars. The '35 got abandoned fairly quickly when I discovered how bad the wood framework was inside the body. It was too bad as the sheetmetal was nearly perfect on the car. The '56 turned out to be rusty beyond repair, so it too was sold off as a parts car.
In the spring of 1978 I bought this low milage, rust free 1956 Chevy "150" 4 door sedan. With the help of my friend Kent McKean, we got the beast running. I kept the car at a friends house out in the country, and later that summer I managed to roll the car into a ditch at high speed. This is the only picture I have of the car.
My first "real" attempt at a hot rod came in high school. I had just purchased a ratty 1931 Ford coupe body and had dreams of building an American Grafitti clone. Once again my lack of experience came through to kill the project. I did manage to do a very nice 4" top chop on the car though.
After messing with the coupe for a year, it was traded for a 1950 Chevy 1/2 ton. I had alot of fun with this truck, using it as my daily driver through the rest of high school. The previous owner had installed a 1957 Chevy 235ci 6 cylinder and updated the electrical to 12 volt. My additions were some frenched headlights and a shaved hood. It was constantly a work in progress and was never very attractive. In June of 1982 I traded the truck for my first motorcycle.
While I had the '50 Chevy truck, I also was working on this '27 Model T radster pickup. I ended up trading the T for a '41 Mercury coupe, which got sold a few months later to fund a motorcycle project.
After playing with bikes for 7 years, 1989 saw me chomping at the bit for another hot rod. Through my employer I found a cool looking 1939 Fargo 1/2 ton. It was pretty rough, but it was complete and it ran. I got started disassembling the truck when I stumbled across a car that I had wanted since I first saw it back in 1980. The truck was sold to purchase it.
I first saw this T-bucket when I was walking to school in 1980. At that time it was black with alot of brass parts. It was the first real California style T-Bucket I had ever seen, and I fell instantly in love with it. I managed to track down the owner and was able to go for a ride. I was hooked! I had to have one of these buckets! However, after trading my '50 Chevy truck for a bike, I slowly forgot about the T.
Fasr forward to the summer of 1989. I was delivering auto parts and as I walked in to a new shop I spied a very dusty and dirty T-Bucket sitting in one of the bays. I looked it over and asked the mechanic about it. Turned out it was for sale. He told me to call the owner about it for the price. After calling about the car I quickly realized it was the very same T that I'd fallen in love with 9 years earlier! It had been repainted candy Brandywine and re-upholstered, so I didn't recognize it at first. After a whole lot of BS and crap from my bank I managed to buy the car. It needed some serious TLC, but pretty soon I had it updated and roadworthy. I repainted it myself in 1994, using the new Ford "Iris" seen here. I kept the car for a total of 7 years, putting almost 25,000 miles on it. Street rods are meant to be driven, and this one was! The powerplant was a mid-60's Chevy 396 that made almost 400 horsepower. It was backed by a Turbo 350 transmission and a '56 Chevy 3.08 posi rear end. To say the car was fun to drive is an understatement! To help with the lack of luggage space we built a trailer from an old 1950's era refrigerator.
The T-bucket in it's original form in 1980.
I shot this picture at the Calgary World of Wheels car show in April 1982.
Little did I know that 7 years later it would be parked in my garage!
The T as it looked when I bought it in August, 1989. I preferred the original chrome and black.
In 1994 I tore the car apart and freshened everything up, including the paint.
In 1996 my wife and I decided we needed something with a roof. The bucket was a blast, but it was frustrating when it rained. We sold the T and started looking for another project. I really wanted another late 40's Chevy pickup like the one I had in high school, but I found this very forlorn 1954 Pontiac at a friends shop. It had been poorly chopped then abandoned. I took it home and started work on rebuilding it. The top and rear window opening were replaced after alot of hard work. The plan was to build a very smooth late 50's style custom with it. However, just as we were really getting going with the car, the truck I was looking for came along. A beautiful 1948 Chevy 1/2 ton, complete and running! We quickly sold the Pontiac and jumped into building the truck.
The '48 Chevy was completely original, but it didn't stay that way for long. Tackling my first serious ground-up rebuild, we tore the truck down to the bare frame and started working. We added a Mustang II front suspension system, 350 ci engine with a Turbo 350 automatic transmission, and all the comforts of a new car in the cab. The initial build took us 4 months during the summer of 1998. We put it on the road as a "beater" daily driver, and with the exception of some minor improvements it stayed that way until 2002. That summer we changed the engine, plus did some major body improvements, the biggest being the 3" top chop. Power windows and a killer stereo system were also added at that time. A wheel & tire change came later that summer. Over the 5 years that we had the truck on the road it was driven often. The first two years it was used as my only transportation, and it worked out very well. We put around 50,000 miles on it by the time we sold it in August of 2003. As I mentioned before, hot rods are meant to be driven, and this one certainly was! We made trips to Northern California, Manitoba, Minnesota, Washington, and the Bonneville Salt flats in it.
It was all stock and partly restored when we bought it, spring of 1998.
The first beater version, summer 1999. It only took us 4 months to build the truck to this point.
It was rough, but I drove it like this every day for 2 years.
Daily driven 365 days of the year!
Getting ready to shoot the flames I designed and laid out.
Summer of 2002. Chopped top, fresh primer, new wheels/tires.
These two cool shots were taken during the August 2002 Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
August, 2003. I finally got around to filling the hood and adding a frenched antenna to the front fender in the spring of 2003.
Rear shot of the truck showing my infamous "BOYD WHO" license plate.
In 2003 the drivetrain was changed to a warmed-over Chevy 305 small block coupled to a Turbo 350 transmission.
Yes, that is black duct tape on the firewall covering some factory holes. Red Green would be proud!
All the comforts of a new truck! Tilt steering, power steering, power brakes, tinted electric windows, 400-watt sound system, etc. The 60/40 power split bench seat came out of a 1979 Chrysler LeBaron. We wanted to keep the truck looking traditional on the outside, yet make it pleasant to drive on long trips.
Due to a layoff from work and mounting debts, in August 2003 we sold the '48 to a couple in Kent, Washington.
It would be almost 5 years before we got a new project.
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On February 17, 2008 we brought home this 1927 Essex pickup.
This is an old late 70's-built survivor hotrod that's been hiding in storage for the past 20 years.
I have a bit of history with this truck...details and more pics can be found HERE.
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*NEW* 1926 Ford Model T Touring project
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