Yesterday was a really fun day - I drove my dad's (now mine) '66 Chevy C30 one ton to Springdale, AR to the Harbor Freight store there to get a 20 ton shop press they have on sale. A store worker wheeled the press out on a dolly, I loaded the press (and the store worker) with the hydraulic Watson lift that the '66 Chevy has.
By the time the shop press was loaded, a crowd had gathered and people were taking pictures. Musta been 20 people standing around looking and taking pictures of me and the truck. On guy said he was from Los Angeles and they need me (and my truck) in the movies. (Remember that tune, "Livin' on Tulsa Time"? ... "they don't need me in the movies and nobody sings my songs").
On the way back from Springdale to Proctor, I stopped off at Davis Autobody and Paint there just north of Westville, OK. I have done a lot of body work on vintage tractors but not much on trucks and I hate body work. But to save money I wanted to talk to Doug Davis about what I should do regarding the body work before I ask him to paint it.
The people at Davis AutoBody and Paint told me not to paint it. One of them told me that nowadays people are painting their vintage trucks to look like mine looks now. They suggested just rubbing linseed oil on it when it needs it to arrest the rusting. They also said that there is now a restoration technique referred to as "arrested restoration" in which the cosmetic aspects of the restoration are not done in the usual sense.
Actually, I like that a lot. I like the fact that my '49 Chevy ton and a half and my '66 Chevy one ton look like old trucks. The real fun for me is actually using them, driving them and so on. If they were so pretty as to look like a piece of candy, museum candy, I wouldn't like them nearly as much. I am proud that everything works and is in good shape, but I treasure the fact that they look like what they are ... old trucks. Actually, they're not old trucks. They're new trucks for all practical purposes, they just look old - like me.
Has anyone here heard of "arrested restoration". I tried to find a website unsuccessfully.
Many thanks,
Lee Prairie
