This is the tale of my daily driven '90 Mighty Max, affectionately known as "5150" (van Halen reference)
When I first got my truck I had wanted to do a complete restoration of it, but realized when I first saw the truck it is just too far rusted to accomplish that, but I knew it would be a good parts donor atleast, and I got a pretty good deal on the truck, so I brought it home...almost. About 2 blocks away from the previous owners house I tried putting a full tank of gas in it to drive it home, and it soon spilled most of that out on the ground of the gas station through the rusted seams of the tank...

so it was towed to a local shop for repairs instead of police impound...

I had to find a new tank, which we know is like pulling teeth on these trucks, but I found a super clean one in a junk yard near my friends house in North Carolina that he was nice enough to bring up to me in NJ because he was coming up anyway. I had the tank boiled and sealed, and delivered it to the shop to get the truck running again safely...

The truck finally made it home and was put on the road, but still needed things like brakes, and shocks, and a tune up so it was a reasonably sound truck...

I started using it as a useful vehicle, but the stock interior was terrible as a daily ride, so I gutted it and redid it using Isuzu Rodeo seats and new carpetting, and some vinyl dye. It turned out decent...


and I've done a bunch of other stuff to it, such as a full exhaust using a flowmaster that was given to me, and I really wasn't worrying about it's looks until it ran perfectly. The truck was brutally ugly, but I didn't care. It could climb Everest if I wanted it to. I was doing small things to it all the while until spring of this year, and I started hagning a new nose on it little bits at a time. I figured I could hang the parts on the new truck later as well (more on that later)...

then I got hit by a 873 gnome driving a LeBaron, and he basically sheered the nose off the truck. It was wounded, but still driveable and fixable...

since I had to drive it every day, I decided to fix it and make it presentable, so I got to work...

since this truck was never going to be a full out restoration, I decided to have a little fun with spray paint. I got the body work decent...

and decided to be different than just flat black...

then came the black...

my dog is always with me, so I had more fun...

it turned out decent overall. I has imperfections, but I don't care. This truck won't be around much longer...

the tires on the truck sucked, so I spent money on new 31" Firestones and Daytona steel rims...

and that's how I'm cruising it around now. It's not fancy, but it's a reliable workhorse that I take off roading occasionally with my friends. It has gotten out of places others couldn't with their mega dollar rigs. This thing is a fun toy...


As far as a restoration/project truck, my friend got me the truck he had grabbed the gas tank out of, and brought it up to me on his flatbed rig, so I have it in the back yard now...

and I pick at it occasionally...

it really is a clean, rust free truck, and it will be getting fully redone eventually, but it will take time. I have 5150 to roll for now