For those of us who have ever built a truck or are in the process of building a truck, there often lies a support team in the background. Whether the support comes from a neighbor, friend, or even your wife, it’s hard to deny that good help is difficult to come by especially when labor is not paid for.
Jeff Coleman and his wife Michelle knew about a project vehicle that a co-worker had purchased off of a man that was down on his luck. Well, Jeff never got around to visiting the truck because it was at the opposite direction of his house from work. One day, Jeff and his wife were near the area of the pickup and Jeff turned to his wife and asked if she would mind taking a look at it. Michelle agreed and a few minutes later they made arrangements to purchase the ’65 for $400.00. Jeff had worked on several other vehicles that his friends owned but until the purchase of the truck he couldn’t call any vehicle his own.
The $400.00 asking price could not be passed up, but little did he know about the amount of work that needed to be done. Missing, rusting, and flat out worn parts are sometimes hard to find but lucky for Jeff, Michelle was right by his side digging through the scrap yards. In fact, Jeff said Michelle helped him with a lot of the build, but she really got involved after the grease was removed and the sandblasting was finished. A good friend, Bob Bond, also helped out with the thoughts of design and gave his honest opinion where it mattered most. Bob had over 35 vehicle builds under his belt so Jeff respected his opinion when it came to putting things together.
The ’65 was smoothed as much as possible to give a clean look, the door handles shaved and the tailgate latch was relocated to the inside of the bed. Michelle picked out the LED third brake light that is mounted above the rear window. Picking the vehicle color was a challenging one for the married couple because he liked one combo and she liked another. Keeping it classy but at the same time making the truck pop out from the norm was the goal and eventually the couple compromised on the color.
Jeff would was starting to loose hope with the ’65 because all the hard work didn’t look like it was paying off fast enough. Sometimes, he would leave the shop and walk to the house thinking that the truck would never see the light of day. One day, Jeff remembered an old saying that his father used to say to him “be sure to finish a project when you start it, that’s the only way you will get better at something.” Remembering these words, Jeff was determined to see his dad ride in the truck when all was said and done.
The goal came true on May 2010 when he turned the last bolt. Jeff immediately drove over to his dad’s house to give him the first ride. Smiles from both men were ear to ear as they traveled down the interstate. Jeff felt great seeing his project completed and his dad with joy on his face.