In July of 1982, I went to the local Ford dealership. I ordered my 1983 Ford F150 to my specifications. In September of 1982 I took delivery. It was driven every day for the next 18 years by my wife and me. We were in the antique business, so we were always on the go. We put on 558,000 miles during that time. In spring of 2000 the truck started to get a little tired. We bought a new pickup. I parked the ‘83 on the side of one of my garages, in the grass under a tree. Wrong thing to do.
I never opened the door or looked inside for nine years. Then one day I did. At that time I found a tree that had grown up to the steering wheel. What did I put this truck through for the past nine years? I was turning 62 and getting ready to retire. I decided to rebuild the truck as one of my retirement projects. I worked on it as much as possible.

I put in a new 302 factory motor, had the C6 transmission rebuilt and replaced the hood, a fender, two doors, cab corners and a floor pan. The bed was also a mess so I totally rebuilt that. I had the running gear done in the first two years. I drove it around, patched it up, added primer, and tried a few different colors for the next few years.

Then the day came when it was ready for the body shop. I tore the truck down to the cab and chassis. I drove the cab and chassis down to the body shop in the middle of January, during a blizzard. The rest of the parts went down in another truck. The body work and paint job were done in September. I painted it the original colors, midnight blue and white. I spent this past winter completely rebuilding the interior. Now after six years the truck is complete and it looks better than the day it came from the factory. A special thanks to LMC Truck for their knowledgeable staff and quality products.