Yep, Looking back on it i should have just found a place to stash it until i could bring it to a frame straightener. The body was a mixed bag. It was dented to **** but was rust free... When my dad had it he had "lots of money" so any time the body would get real messed up he would just take it into the body shop and drop it off. Before i got it (about 30k miles before i got it) he took it into a mechanic buddy of his and had him rebuild the entire drivetrain. Balanced and blue printed motor, rebuilt and toughened the trans, rebuilt the 205, front and rear axles totally gone through.
Its demise happened one summer day when my cousin and i were cruising around in it when we were about 14 out on the dirt roads in Ukiah. My cousin was driving and thought he would try to "drift" it. It didn't work out and we ended up plowing trough a barb wire fence and into a deep ditch. Thats what messed up the frame. If it weren't for that, im fairly certain i wouldn't have let it go.
My dad retiered the truck up to the cabin in eastern Oregon when he bought the 90 burb. Around about the time i was 12 or so i started realizing how much i loved the 73. I loved it so much that when we would go up there i would sleep in it across the front seat rather than in the cabin. When i was 13 the flex plate went out in it and my other cousin and i figured we would give a go at replacing it. We got the trans pulled and the plate replaced but that was it. The trans was still on the ground. Dad wasnt interested in putting it back in and my cousin never went back up there to help me put it back in. So, as a 13 year old, i learned how to work on trucks. I got the trans in and installed and all the bolts where they went. I had so much fun under that truck learning. After I got it running and driving again, dad would let me drive it pretty much as much as i wanted to. There is virtually no cops out there and he would always tell me something to the effect of, "your under 18 so all you would get is a slap on the wrist. If you get pulled over just told them you took it without your dad knowing!". Never did get pulled over but i was always willing to risk it if it meant i could go drive it around for a while. Its the first truck i ever "flexed out", the first truck i ever passed a vehicle in, First vehicle i ever drove alone, the vehicle i learned the value of wheel speed and rocking in the mud, the vehicle that tought me how a choke works, where i learned what a firing order was, all about maintenance, how to rebuild a th350, wheel hop, and where i learned how much i loved chevy trucks. I still cant believe i let it go. There was a point that i distinctly remember when i was swapping the stuff over to the blazer where my stomach dropped and i thought, "****. what am i doing? Im going to fully regret this." But it was too late to stop. When i saw it out in the field where i dumped it as it waited for the scrappers to come cut it up i was in disbelief at what i had done. This truck that was so special to me and held so many memories was reduced to nothing. It was devastating.
So, i just talked myself into trying to love each next truck as much as i loved that one. None have been as dear as that one. My first pickup came close since it had the engine, trans, and rear end out of the 73 in it. But i even let that one go.
The only thing i have left from the 73 is the grill, a few pics and some priceless memories.
