1979 Ford F150 – Richard P.

When I was a kid growing up in Wisconsin, my father bought a brand new 1975 Ford F-150. I remember it like it was yesterday, the truck was orange with the white painted trim around the bottom. Fast forward 20 years, and I had 3 daughters of my own and needed a beater just to do yard work and whatever else I needed to do. I purchased an old service master 1977 F150 with a 3 on the tree transmission and a 300 6 cyl engine and canary yellow. I would take the girls to school in that truck and at first, they were so embarrassed that they would crouch down in the seat so they wouldn’t be seen. As time went on, they warmed up to the ole girl and she became affectionately known as Nellie. Finally the day came when I had to take her to the junk yard as we were moving to another state and couldn’t take her with us. She had over 300,000 on it and I drove her to the junk yard. Of course my girls were very upset with me so I promised them someday I would get another one. Well, 3 years ago, I purchased a 1979 F-150 shortbed 4WD, but from Wisconsin. As you can imagine, it looked like swiss cheese but I didn’t care, I knew I could get her looking good again. I took it apart down to the frame and kind of stalled out on it until Covid hit. Once it hit and I was bored out of my mind, I decided to get back to work. With the plan I had in mind, I needed a lot of parts, but didn’t want to spend a ton of money. So, with the help of a friend and a relative, we began to wheel and deal, buying trucks for the parts I wanted and selling the rest of the parts. This is where the name “One Piece At A Time” came from. In the end, I built a complete Resto-Mod truck for not a ton of money and the girls are super happy now. Except for my oldest daughter, because the truck will go to my grandaughter (Shmoopy) and not her. I suspect she will get over it someday. The truck is a ’79 with air ride all around, 4 link rear end, 5 speed manual overdrive transmission, a 1986 460 engine, push button start, electric door locks, electric fans, navigation and back up camera, and 6 way power bucket seats. This ole girl will stay in the family for a very long time.