When I was younger my grandpa was my idol/hero. He owned this ’89 GMC truck that was purchased new from the dealership. I had fallen in love with that truck and spending time with grandpa. In elementary school, I would pretend to be sick just so grandpa would pick me up in the truck and we would sit on his chair together watch TV for the rest of the evening.

In 2004 tragedy struck our family and my grandpa passed away from cancer. As I was too young still, my grandpa’s truck was sold. On December 20, 2016, I received a call from my mom saying that the lady who had purchased the truck was willing to sell it. I couldn’t hold back my excitement and couldn’t get the cash around fast enough. I purchased the truck back for $1000 dollars and that was just the beginning.

I had the truck towed the following day to a shop to get the flat tires fixed and get a new battery. Then it was taken to my house where it sat in my heated garage waiting until I could decide how I wanted to go about bringing it back to life. I have a couple of great friends in the body shop field that came over to inspect the truck and figure out the best option. At the time, I just wanted to do a very mild restore to protect what was there and nothing more. Upon further inspection of the truck that was not an option. The rockers, cab corners, inner rockers, both front fenders needed work and you could stand in the truck bed and see the road from inside. I had one goal and it was to have it completed by August 12, 2017, the day I would marry the love of my life. This truck/my grandpa needed to be there. The following day the complete restoration began.

The body was completely removed and the frame was blasted down and painted with chassis saver paint. The suspension was all completely replaced, the exhaust system was replaced with a factory style exhaust, it got new fenders, new doors, new trim, tires and much more. I  looked through the LMC Truck catalog daily trying to figure out everything I needed, and I spent hours in the shop with my friends bringing this memory back to life.

As the clock started winding down and it was getting closer to the wedding I could feel the crunch/pressure. On Aug. 11, the day before the wedding, we rolled into the shop to start wet sanding. It was completed truck, ready for any car show and especially a wedding, at 3 am on the morning of my wedding.

I would like to personally thank Wes and Jason for all their help, and especially my wife for putting up with all the long hours spent in the shop. Now, whenever I drive the truck I can relive all the memories I had as a child. I hope to pass the truck down to my kids one day and that they cherish it as I have.