JR's Korner of BillyBob's Garage

WHAT'S NEW is a chronological listing of updates to the BillyBob site.

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

TRAVELS WITH BILLYBOB With apologies to Steinbeck, this area of BillyBob's Garage will be used to log the trips BillyBob and I make together.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS was the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I could accomplish without a garage up until the summer of 2010 when I finally got enough warehouse space to work in. Now, it also includes the continuing work on BillyBob in the shop.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

BILLYBOB MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for BillyBob, including required tools, materials and procedures.

PARTS SHOP The Parts Shop is a repository of How-To articles. Things that I have done over and over enough times to have developed a procedure. This gives me a checklist and saves brain cells.

STEALTH SHOP Urban residence design with large integrated shop and separate living quarters for a relative or renter.

2. JR falls in love

"Well, here it is." Said Yak. Clipboard in hand, I started a very thorough assessment of the truck. The paint was, more or less, juniper green and the grill was white. This color scheme is correct for a 1955 first series Chevy. The '54 had the grill painted the same color as the body. Of course all these intimate details were unknown to me at this time. The right side door glass was broken but everything else seemed to be in factory fresh shape minus 28 years of use.

My reptilian brain was saying "You have got to have this truck!" while my cerebrum was screaming "Don't look at! Don't touch it! Don't drive it. Get out of here!!"

Yak said "She leaks a little oil out the rear seal." "No problem." I said. How tough can it be to change a rear seal besides it's just a little oil. I took it around the block, which in this coal mining town is only a 100 feet on a side. It started; it ran ok; it shifted ok and stopped ok. What more did I need to know?

"What are ya asking fer it?" I've found that country-fying one's speech when making these sorts of deals helps keep the price down. "Twelve hundred." "Done!" Like in any normal person, my reptilian brain won.

In 1983, or was it 1982? . . . no matter, Pennsylvania required a safety inspection within ten days of purchase on any and all vehicles. This, I am convinced, was a carefully conceived plan on the part of the Service Station Owners Association and the State government to guarantee revenue for said service station owners. Evidence to support this position comes in the form of statistics which show that few accidents are due to unsafe cars and trucks. But the law is the law and Yak said he had a friend who would inspect the truck and if I would bring it back next week he would take care of it. I thanked him and started for home (Other arrangements had been made to get my car home as well).

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Issued Wednesday February 18, 1998

Updated Thursday April 19, 2018

copyright © 1998-2018 William Craig Kephart all rights reserved