jomelo
SILVER Star
A few weeks back, @wngrog sent me a link to this truck’s for sale ad. I initially passed on it but I could not get the truck out of my head. So last Thursday I sent @LeRoy Cordova a PM inquiring about the truck. The following morning we struck a deal and money exchanged hands. Score.
I developed a nice little friendship with @wngrog through his work on my Mustard 40 series. We kept dreaming up ideas for our next project and quickly came up with some ideas for this 45. We were going to swap the motor, transmission, transfer case, axles...everything...you name it....to “modernize” and make it a great driver. I know...I know. We had great intentions and I had spent a lot of money by the time I flew down to meet LeRoy and actually see the truck. That all can be documented here: Builds - Project Hate It or Love It - 1963 FJ45 Short Bed Fixed Top Pickup
Well.....this Thursday I flew down and saw the truck before it was transported to Mississippi. It was amazing. Like really amazing. I had explained to LeRoy the plans we had for the truck. He saw my vision, I think, and understood why we wanted to make the changes we wanted to make. But sometime during that little meeting I started to get this weird feeling. The truck really was special.
I casually mentioned to LeRoy that i was already having second thoughts about the build. I was torn though because I had some really great guys doing some cool things. Maybe I could find another early 40 series something or other? Maybe? Well, LeRoy had something up his sleeve of sorts. He had another 45 series....this one a 1963 production but without a motor and not as complete. A deal was hatched and I bought that one for our project and decided we will just keep the 1964 as original as possible.
The truck is being delivered to Nolen’s in Mississippi tomorrow. The plan is to polish out some final details with the truck and make a few modifications. Nolen is going to update the brakes a bit, replace the tired suspension, and a few other odds and ends. Nothing crazy. The truck can then live the good life on my farm in North Florida.
I spent some time on the phone tonight with @Tank5 who was able to share some really neat details about the truck. The truck was original to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was probably with the original family until 2010 or so. Dennis tried to buy the truck and it even stayed at his house for a little transition period before moving on to its next owner in Dallas, Texas. The truck stayed in Dallas for a few years before LeRoy acquired it and it moved down into Florida. That was 2017 and the truck was also painted around the same time.
And here we are. These pictures were taken yesterday when I saw the truck. I opted to take delivery of the truck with the original split rims (not the black ones pictured).
The VIN is 4FJ4515784 and I have posted this information on the short bed fixed top registry.
I developed a nice little friendship with @wngrog through his work on my Mustard 40 series. We kept dreaming up ideas for our next project and quickly came up with some ideas for this 45. We were going to swap the motor, transmission, transfer case, axles...everything...you name it....to “modernize” and make it a great driver. I know...I know. We had great intentions and I had spent a lot of money by the time I flew down to meet LeRoy and actually see the truck. That all can be documented here: Builds - Project Hate It or Love It - 1963 FJ45 Short Bed Fixed Top Pickup
Well.....this Thursday I flew down and saw the truck before it was transported to Mississippi. It was amazing. Like really amazing. I had explained to LeRoy the plans we had for the truck. He saw my vision, I think, and understood why we wanted to make the changes we wanted to make. But sometime during that little meeting I started to get this weird feeling. The truck really was special.
I casually mentioned to LeRoy that i was already having second thoughts about the build. I was torn though because I had some really great guys doing some cool things. Maybe I could find another early 40 series something or other? Maybe? Well, LeRoy had something up his sleeve of sorts. He had another 45 series....this one a 1963 production but without a motor and not as complete. A deal was hatched and I bought that one for our project and decided we will just keep the 1964 as original as possible.
The truck is being delivered to Nolen’s in Mississippi tomorrow. The plan is to polish out some final details with the truck and make a few modifications. Nolen is going to update the brakes a bit, replace the tired suspension, and a few other odds and ends. Nothing crazy. The truck can then live the good life on my farm in North Florida.
I spent some time on the phone tonight with @Tank5 who was able to share some really neat details about the truck. The truck was original to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was probably with the original family until 2010 or so. Dennis tried to buy the truck and it even stayed at his house for a little transition period before moving on to its next owner in Dallas, Texas. The truck stayed in Dallas for a few years before LeRoy acquired it and it moved down into Florida. That was 2017 and the truck was also painted around the same time.
And here we are. These pictures were taken yesterday when I saw the truck. I opted to take delivery of the truck with the original split rims (not the black ones pictured).
The VIN is 4FJ4515784 and I have posted this information on the short bed fixed top registry.