BillyBob Pre-Restoration Log

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 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.

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

1. What's in a Name?

I bought the truck from my brother for nostalgic reasons. In the early sixties, our father was head machinist in an automotive machine shop. His interest in electronics eventually allowed him to pursue a different career line. He would still work on cars for old friends and for my brother and me when we came of age, but it wasn't his favorite pastime. I can still recall the look on his face every time I did something "boneheaded" to my first car, a '59 Ford sedan, that would require his attention. His eyes would roll back in his head as he beseeched heaven, prior to accepting his fate and helping me repair the damn thing.

The last vehicle he ever worked on, before passing on at the end of 1994, was this truck, this time with my brother. It is, in fact, the only vehicle left in the family that he worked on. For that reason, and the fact that the first vehicle I ever got to drive was my paternal grandfather's early Advance Design on his farm, I decided to buy the truck when my brother had to get rid of it. For you "Ole Truckers" out there, JR recalls our grandfather's truck as being a "50 advance design 1 ton unit. It had 17.5 inch rims, ten foot bed, three cabs, dozens of doors and fenders and a granie first gear useful for pulling stumps." I often think of my father and grandfather and brother when I'm behind the wheel in this pickup. It's the reason I named the truck "BillyBob." My brother's name is William Craig Kephart and my father's was Robert Joseph Kephart . . . "Billy" and "Bob" worked on this truck together.

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Issued Wednesday February 11, 1998

Updated Tuesday April 17, 2018

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