[CodyJ]

So a little backstory:

This winter saw me move back to my hometown of Fernie, BC to get knee surgery, so mobility and funds have been very limited until recently.

I got absolutely sick and tired of seeing my old truck sitting in the snow, decrepit and sad, wasting away slowly. I was so upset I managed to work up a decent amount of anxiety over it. I had the idea of selling it, but I couldn't come to terms with it. I very seriously considered buying my parents '07 GMC Sierra, but I couldn't swallow the price + gas + higher insurance. In an area like Fernie, a vehicle is a necessary evil.

This truck came into my family in 2001 with less than 54,000 miles on it. We used it as an acreage/farm truck and I took my driver's test in it. I've grown up with my Grandpa and I driving around in these old trucks, and this one has always been one of the nicest I have driven. To say this truck has sentimental value to me is an understatement. I have moved across BC with it twice, and always planned on a body off resto, which isn't possible while it's still a daily.

Anyways, I said "Enough is enough" and went and bought some box-ends and started unbolting the transmission while the snow was still on the ground; mid-February. I do have a compressor and air tools, but since I wasn't working inside, it seemed just as well to do it by hand, than pack and unpack tools every time I wanted to work on it.

Forwards to present day: I dropped the transmission off at a shop last week to be rebuilt, and picked it up yesterday. They put a mediocre silver spray can job on it, but I don't care; the price was right, and at least they de-gunked it. When you love something, you gunk it.

I'm hoping to get the tranny, exhaust and driveshaft re-installed by the end of this weekend, but we'll see how that goes.

The plan is to get it running and driving, and then refine it into a nice daily driver from there.