Final the major hurdle was overcome and we could breathe easy and return back to what we do well in assembly and fitment. (We are not engine builders/tuners or the best of diagnosing them either) but we do know how to get them there and bring them back. My pops specialty that he passed down to me was taking pride in making it look just as you want and taking the time to perfect it (no matter how much it bugged you then, it would only big you that much more if you left it be.) so with that said we spent hours upon weekends getting every little thing to look they way we felt was right and proper to the truck. We researched and have adapted tricks from our build on my 72 many times in relation to the rebuild of this 73 of his. My big pet peeve is having non-functional pieces to any build, for what is a truck worth if it only cosmetically performs but not truly perform in its nuances? So I dove into the largest project of routing wires, repainting pieces and areas to give them new life but I left a majority OEM as some areas would just require more than what they were worth in the long run within the engine compartment and replacing fuses and finding shorts within the system or improper ends that were hacked poorly. We all hate wiring even the electrical prowess builders upon us as it's just purely not fun but as of late I've found it enjoyable to a point and makes a very large statement on the dedication to detail and function. New fuses throughout the truck, new hand made thicker/stronger battery cables, new ground leads and true grounding techniques along with resurfacing contacts on sockets for the best in the lights, brand new LED quality bulbs installed within the gauge cluster that had made an absolute WORLD of difference. ( they don't dim like most people ask about but I've never found a reason to dim them myself as I enjoy being able to see my gauges and they certainly don't blind me ) new discovery led me to hearing a true AM radio for the first time shortly after that, though there's never anything good to me on
here's our first big reveal though in my pops first fully custom piece of interior. A factory seat frame from the truck with ORIGINAL seat foam as it was good enough to shape and create "buckets" like a newer car and used a combination of Saddle Tan vinyl and Ostrich pleated inserts. What a gorgeous seat this came out to be from our good friend Jess of Jess's Auto Tops in Salida, Ca! Big shoutout to him and his amazing work. So comfy to sit in and just sets off the inside so well. Here's another awesome story to share TWO different trucks though. Back when I was very little obviously my pops set me in his square-body Dooley's steering wheel that he was building in the early 90's, well I grabbed the opportunity to get this picture of my baby cousin Niko setting in the wheel of great grandpas truck. Definitely smiles all around at the memory there, of course I had to grab one of Papa-San himself enjoying his new seat and reliving memories of his time with his grandpa.
