Chuck Most Posted April 5 Posted April 5 Maybe you saw the truck in it's previous form. If not, here it is... Now for part 2... On the last day of his sophomore year of school, 16 year old Scott Kearney landed a job with Wheels Magazine. No, not the well known Australian publication. This was an independent, regional rag published in Saginaw Michigan beginning in 1954. It was basically a do it yourself type magazine, and also went into coverage of new vehicles and auto related events. Scott, with his mullet and jean vest covered in NWOBHM band logos, was originally hired to be the errand boy around the office and property. But Wheels Magazine publisher/editor-in-chief Bill Lopez happened to be friends with Scott's English teacher, Mark Sullivan. Mark told Bill that Scott was actually an extremely talented writer. So it wasn't long before Scott was promoted to a contributor. Naturally, his F250 became the guinea pig for his technical articles. The December 1983 issue saw the F250 as the subject of "Budget Bodywork for Beginners", which saw the truck get some dents and rust addressed, and a rust free southwestern 8' Styleside bed to replace the service box. Scott outlined a few beginner's mistakes he made, as well as how he fixed or worked around those mistakes. His off-kilter sense of humor also shone through in his writing. The article went over well, guaranteeing the return of Scott and his (now primer gray) pickup. March of 1984 brought "Tunes For Tightwads", in which the truck got a new, budget oriented sound system. "The Lowered Above" ran in April, and this saw the installation of a lowering kit, along with swapping out the 3/4 ton running gear for 1/2 ton components. Obviously, the suspension was also rebuilt during this time, and that was chronicled in the May issue article "Whole Lotta Shakin' (No Longer) Going On". The June 1984 issue was the special "Six Education", focusing on six cylinder power. Splashed across the cover were a brand new Buick Grand National and a modified 1978 Regal Turbo. This issue contained "Not The 302 You Expected", where the '68's 240 was rebuilt with a .020" overbore and a 300 rotating assembly, netting 302 cubic inches. The engine was rebuilt to 300 specs, tested, and then fitted with a Clifford intake and tested again. Scott wrote: "The sixty additional cubic inches immediately made their presence known, not just in terms of power but sound. It just plain sounds more aggressive, even at idle. You can check the table to the right for the hard data, but from a pure "seat of the pants" point of view, the difference is night and day." He concluded with: "Although this 302 will probably never beat a 302 V8 in a drag race, you can't tow a tandem car hauler with a Mustang, and it makes driving the pickup a much more energetic experience on the whole." What wasn't visible in the black and white photos was the engine's new hue, definitely not the original Ford blue. A sign of things to come. After that, the August 1984 issue brought "On The Floor... NOW". This saw the 3 on the tree swapped out in favor of a four speed. And the September issue saw "Interior Motives", where Scott went through the interior upgrades, including the use of 1972 XLT Ranger door panels, a new bench seat, and detailing with paint and upholstery. The last big show for the truck came in the January 1985 issue. "Budget Bodywork for Beginners: Custom Edition" followed the same idea as the bodywork article, only geared more towards adding your own custom touches. Under the guidance of Ike Johnson of Harvest Moon Customs, the '68 got the most up to date street machine look for '85... Bright pastel monochrome with a few tasteful geometric shapes and squiggles for good measure. Scott got some minor flak for keeping the elephant ear mirrors, but since he intended to use the truck for actual truck stuff, he chose to retain them. By the time Scott graduated, he looked a little different than he had at the beginning of his career at Wheels Magazine. For one, his mullet had grown into a wild blonde Ride The Lightning era James Hetfield mane. And his jean vest sometimes stayed home in favor of a black leather jacket. But his truck had undergone an even more drastic transformation. And remember that wager Scott had with his dad? Not only had Scott kept the '68 running, he (with the help of his cohorts at Wheels and a couple of sponsors) had more or less completely rebuilt it into a new truck. That meant Scott was getting a new car for graduation. He ended up with a brand new 1985 Dodge Daytona, courtesy of his parents Frank and Rose. But... Maybe we'll get to that some other time. For the time being, just know that it's the beginning of the summer of 1985 and Scott's newly reborn '68 is looking at years of service to come, and a few more alterations over the years. The model is the '67 F100 that originally donated the service box for the original version of Scott's truck. It was fitted with the engine from the '69 Custom Cab and the Basset wheels came from a '66 Styleside. I robbed a carburetor and air cleaner from an AMT '67 Chevelle Pro Street. Paint is Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Seaside Gloss, and the geometric graphics are from a Revell Skip's Fiesta VW Beetle Cabriolet. The model itself was a project for The Straight Six Community Build in the Community Build section. And due to the magical time travel abilities available to us all as model builders, here we can see the before and after side by side at the same time. 13
Steve H Posted April 12 Posted April 12 Chuck! Are you writing a book? Love the backstories with your builds these days, certainly adds to the “whole picture”. Nice SHINY truck.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now