Mike’s “Heartbeat of America”

I have owned my truck nearly 12 years. My dad bought it new in 1989, and after his passing in 2007, my mom gave it to me. At that time, it had 55K miles on it. Now, it has 130K on it. It had been a daily driver for me during that time.

Last year, I started restoring it. First, it went in the garage for a new drivetrain. It got a fresh 383 stroker and a new transmission. I wanted a lower geared differential so I also got that replaced as well. A posi-traction and 3.73 gears were installed. Next, it went to the body shop. It was painted a color of blue. It was a paint color used in 2018 for Corvettes known as Admiral Blue. A new spray-on liner for the bed was also installed. It had a new hood installed on it with cowl induction with a 4″ raise and a new original bumper on back.

After it come out of the body shop, it got a set of new wheels, tires, headers, and dual exhaust with flowmaster mufflers. The wheels are 17″x 8″ Crager “61”s. Then I got the windows tinted, along with a new Pioneer stereo system. Since then, I have installed a Rhino light bar, off road lights, step boards, and a glasscape on the back glass, which shows my patriotic spirit that I hold. I also got a lowering kit installed, which lowered the truck on front and back about 2″. The interior is in pretty good condition, except that I would still like to get a new headliner for it. Other than that, I believe everything is in top condition now.