Most of my 15 year car/truck customization history. Indulge me for a second

For some reason I was feeling a little nostalgic. I've been building cars and trucks and screwing with them since the day I got my license. I don't have my earlier cars/truck, because no digital cameras yet. Please don't judge me. Here are some of my past builds. I can't think about the tens and tens of thousands of dollars I've spent on these cars over the years. I wouldn't say it was thrown away, but I do sometimes wish I picked a cheaper hobby.

Current - 2018 Tacoma TRD OR Love this thing. I've learned to hold onto things I spend my money on, so this isn't going anywhere.



Current - 1968 Chevy C2500 This is my grandma's passed down to me. One owner, never opened up, I think 56k miles on it. Original paint, everything, so it's a true survivor. It's been the garage for about a year, there's a fuel or distributor issue I need to take care of. Life kind of got in the way so I parked it. Which is fine, because this is a long term thing and I am never parting with it.







2017 - 03 Silverado 2500HD (I think). This was a divorce toy and kind of a fuck you to my ex wife. Man it pissed her off. I bought it, jacked it up like 10" and jammed 40s under it. I put 5.13s under it and it actually drove really nice and was pretty reliable for a big truck. I got rid of this and my Mazdaspeed because I just needed a reliable vehicle (my 18 Tacoma) and to get my son his first car.



2013-2017 2006 Mazdaspeed6 I did love and hate this car. For anyone that knows about these cars, they are fast and fun and very temperamental. I put in a decent size turbo with meth injection and the car ended up at a very usable 350AWHP. This is the only tuner I've ever owned. It did give me a love and appreciation for a fast mid-sized sedan.



2007-2015 2005 Dodge Durango My significant others' cars don't go untouched. This was a family hauler and a good one. Leveled, exhaust, intake, headlights and a few other goodies. Kind of regret getting rid of it because it was paid off even though it was a gas hog. Think I traded for a CX-5 or something, but I realized a gas hog is still a lot cheaper than a car payment.



2010-2015 1996 Chevy K3500 I dumped a fortune into this truck and I couldn't keep it reliable. I bought it with a meek 6" lift and otherwise stock. I preceeded to do the following (what I can remember) Whipple Supercharged 454 (no-intercooler, ran really hot). Procomp 6" lift, 2" body lift I believe, 37" Toyos. 5.13 gears, beefed trans, beefed everything. Even regeared, I couldn't tow a 5000lb camp trailer with this thing without something going. This was probably my biggest boat anchor of the lot and my most disappointing. I'm pretty sure I got a wheel sponsorship for this from Fuel Wheels.



2007-2010 1965 Impala This thing was a beautiful mess. Powerglide with 283. Looked great from 10' and ran ok, but body was super duper rough up close and the rust damage was extensive. I didn't have the time, space or money to make it how I would have wanted it to be to enjoy it.



2006-2007 1986 Suburban 1/2 ton Found this thing with 58k original miles and tricked it out. 6" lift, 37s (I think), 88-91 grille/headlights, 4.56s, some engine mods. This was a super nice truck. Drove it out to Pennsylvania and decided I didn't want to see it rust apart since I couldn't fit it in garage so I traded for the Impala. When I moved out west, I tried to track it back down and buy it back but I couldn't find it.



2005-2006 1996 F150 I put a 4" lift and some goodies on this Grandpa's old truck find. This thing had the 351W and I couldn't BELIEVE what a dog it was pulling a trailer up in the mountains. This is when I lived in Salt Lake City, so the base was 5k feet and the mountains would get us up to 7-8k feet. 4" lift and 33s. It was reliable but man....


2002-2005 K5 Blazer This is another one I dumped a fortune into and it was a nice truck. I still remember how exhausting it was to rebuild the steering and suspension on this one. I think I needed a family hauler that was safe. I'm pretty sure I sold it for the F150.



2002-2004 1994 K1500 I had fun with this one. It was a goofy build and not my best but it was fun. 37s on 15x10s (old school) with big procomp lights on a prerunner bumper. This thing screams 2000s build doesn't it? Alcoas, Procomp, Goodyear MTRs. I think I had a 6" procomp + 3" PA body lift on there. Stock gears. Was reasonably reliable but I remember suspension components wearing out like crazy.



1998-2002 1986 Corvette I liked this car a lot. Tuned port injection L98, lotsa torque. I remember the suspension was tricky and the IRS suspension was a little temperamental. Pretty sure I traded it for that blazer.



1995-2000 1982 GMC High Sierra Ok, what can I say. Late teens, early 20s, lot of stupid disposable income in my military days. I think they were those HUGE Mickey Thompsons, 39x18x15 I believe on 15x14" Alcoas! Haha. I believe it had about 12" of lift. Bulletproof SM465 trans, stock 3.73 gears. Triple/Double chrome rollbar. This was actually reliable and fun and I used to take it to car shows a lot and had a lot of fun learning how to build something.

 

This is TW.... only judgmental people sign up here.

 

So far so good....

 

Very cool collection of memories... I'm the same way, but most of my builds were older... I think I've owned 6 '64 Ford Galaxies and 5 '64 Fairlanes, along with a couple of '64 Rancheros, a '68 El Camino, a '51 Ford F2 truck, 2 '67 T-birds... etc... etc... ad nauseum...

Your 96 F150 with the 351... that engine, IIRC, only made about 180 hp stock... but is very capable of producing good power when modded. I have a '96 351 under my workbench waiting on a rebuild if or when I ever find a suitable project to drop it in...

-Bear

 

Im right there with you.have not modded cars trucks very much. 40 years of motorcycles And it’s bout same script as yours!

 

Lots of cool vehicles you've had.