Wasn't sure if I was going to put this up here but then I was like "haven't posted in over a month... better post something ya lazy bastard." SO, last month I said goodbye to a faithful friend of mine. The Nissan D21 pickup that has been with me since 1995 has gone to a new home. We had been through hell and back together, now our paths have separated.
The last few years my old truck seemed to spend more time up on blocks than down on the road. It was a great tight runner day in and day out until I went to be a stranger in a strange land for a year back in 2011. After that year of sitting it ran a bit rough. Not the engine but all the little crap that builds up on a 20+ year old vehicle. I fixed the brakes upon coming home, then the clutch got tight so I bought another car and pulled the transmission... then summer hit and the truck sat. Then I finally finished that up and then got the bright idea to replace the front end bushings as I was mostly just aiming the truck not really steering. As soon as I pulled it apart things took a turn for the worst in my life and again the truck sat. So it sat and sat and sat... hating the Whos.
It became the sad reality that I wasn't really driving my old truck and it needed to go. As I finally finished up the work on the truck my friend Murderstang said he was interested (he also pretty much helped me actually finish the front end job). My neighbor also wanted it but that would have been a bad idea... the day finally came and the truck went. I did my best to hide my feelings as I handed over the keys and took a slug of my beer. Even writing about it now has me feeling sad, saying goodbye to an old friend is never easy. This whole post probably has most people scratching their heads and wondering what the hell is wrong with me. Well, a lot but hear me out.
My father, god rest his soul, never got attached to things. He was WAY smarter than me in this regard. In his life a truck was just a truck... use it, get rid of it for better one, wash/rinse/repeat. That is kinda the natural progression and much more accurate for a hot rodder. Getting attached to something inhibits you from cutting it up and blowing it apart and flipping it for something lighter and faster. Hell, in the month that Murderstang has had the truck he already made it look better, fixed the stance and made it a way better truck. He gave it life and made it breathe again. Long story short, gonna try to be more like my dad... gonna try to become less attached to my vehicles. It will be tough but maybe the lesson will be the next awesome car is just around the corner. Until next time all you wannabe hotrodders and actual hotrodders keep the beer cold and the rubber side down.
