I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I need help. For some reason, I have a hard time not looking at every unwanted car or truck as a potential project car. And once I see the potential project, I have to have it. It’s not like I don’t have enough things to keep my life occupied, but I can’t help myself. If you ‘re still reading, you have probably guessed where I’m going with this rambling.

With 78,000 miles on the odometer, I think I should simply clean it up and drive it…

For the last several months, I have been explaining to my wife, Paula (who actually doubles as the CEO, CFO, Social Activities Coordinator, and President of Acquisitions at the Bolig homestead), that it was time I found something to work on. It had been several years since the Bolig family had a “classic” Chevy in the family to rebuild, so she agreed with me.

…but the car guy in me probably will not do that. Some mild upgrades are planned.

Immediately, the hunt was on, and I looked at just about every vehicle between the years of 1968 and 1974. I checked out a few first-generation Monte Carlos, and even a a couple second-gen Camaros, but I realized that I need “slightly larger” accommodations. I soon conceded that I needed a truck.

Right after I graduated from high school, my daily was a ’69 C10, and I really liked that truck. I upgraded the small-block, and even added a five speed transmission. But, I have always had a soft spot for the “square bodies” from 1973 through 1987. With a logical decision made in regards to what I actually needed, the hunt continued. There are a lot of Chevrolet pickups available for sale, but I didn’t realize how hard it would be to actually locate the one that I wanted. All of the trucks I found were either out of my price range, or needed more work than I was willing to take on. I wanted something that I could drive and enjoy, and put some time and money into it, making it my own. Finally, while perusing the Internet one Saturday evening, I stumbled across an older add on an Internet site that looked more than promising.

The previous owner changed the interior color to black. That makes the possibility of a flat-black exterior sound like a good idea.

Since the ad was older, that meant the possibility of the truck still being for sale was 50/50 at best. I called anyway, and found out that I was in luck. I spoke to the owner’s wife, and she filled me in on some of the aspects of the truck. It sounded like a solid lead.

Sunday morning rolled around, and my president of acquisitions and I hook to the trailer and headed for the little town of Geneva, Florida. I took Paula with me, so she could be the level-headed one, as I tend to see diamonds even if a lump of coal is all that is present. We made the two-hour trek, and finally laid our eyes on what I already knew was going to be my new truck. Luckily, after I took it for a test drive and talked to the owner for some time, Paula agreed with my assessment, and we loaded it up and brought it home. That brings us to the point of deciding what to do next.

My new, blank, project canvas.

There are a lot of ways I can finish the truck. I can cover it in the original “gold” color that it left the factory with, or another idea has me painting it a flat black, and adding some red striping/accents. When it comes to the wheels, I have this vision in my head of the truck rolling on a new set of ’68 through ’70-era Corvette wheels. This is going to be my daily driver, and as cool as I want to make it, I can’t get too carried away with it. That being said, what would you do with it?