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.

3. Belts, Hoses, Tag & Title

February 28, 1996. After I received the necessary legal documents from my brother, I contacted my automotive insurance agent. It took about two weeks to find my agent was worthless and not interested in helping me find insurance for a 1955 pickup truck. This attitude was impressed upon me when I received a rejection letter (not a telephone call) from my agent telling me to try again after having the vehicle "painted"! I immediately went to the nearest storefront insurance broker in my office neighborhood and purchased the minimum insurance required by Florida to be legal . . . this took me about thirty minutes.

Armed with insurance and documentation, I tackled the vehicle registration process. I was issued a temporary tag, good for thirty days, so I could get the truck weighed and also legally drive it to the registration agency for visual inspection by the authorities.

March 20, 1996. When I started the truck to go to work on March 1^st, a rainy friday, the engine started "missing". At least one cylinder seemed dead. I drove it to my service station, Palmetto Chevron, which is a block from my office.

The master mechanic, Gary Morris, called me about a half hour later to tell me the number one cylinder had "spark" but no compression . . . he suspected a burnt valve.

By the end of the day, Gary had worked out estimated prices for a valve job including one estimate with and one without hardened valves and seats. Hardened valves and seats are required in older engines to allow them to use unleaded fuel. In the old chevy "235" it's a "fielder's choice" because the heads have enough nickel in the alloy to make the requirement a borderline decision, I've been told. I decided to go with the hardened valves and seats to "err on the side of safety". I can't recall the price of this work as I write this, but I remember it as reasonable. Gary's shop is not the cheapest around, but I've never had to go back to him to fix something twice, either. We arranged to start Monday.

By midmorning, Monday, Gary was on the phone to me again . . . with good news this time. After removing the valve cover and the side pushrod cover, they had discovered a broken pushrod. This was the reason for the loss of compression in number one cylinder, not a burnt valve. The cylinder head would not have to be removed . . . oh, joy! My brother had this old stovebolt rebuilt and there was less than 5,000 miles on the rebuild . . . I had not relished the thought of a valve job.

When the 235 had been rebuilt, it had not received new hoses and belts. Gary suggested hoses, belts, plugs, points & wires, oil change and tuneup. I agreed. For some reason, he had trouble getting the spark plugs, so he got me an extra set. BillyBob was at the Chevron station for two weeks. This shop sits at the main street corner in Downtown Boca Raton, Florida . . . right next to the restored original city hall. Gary would roll the truck outside to the front corner of the lot every day and put it inside on a lift at night. He got three offers to buy the truck while it was there. As they say in real estate "Location, Location, Location." My brother couldn't sell it to save his life when it sat at his rural residence, and I'm glad it turned out that way.

March 28, 1996. It was time to go back to the tag agency for registration, tag and title transfer. I had all the paperwork, including a weight slip, that the authorities wanted. The Pennsylvania title did not have the year on it, and this was a potential problem. The last time I was at the agency, when I received the temporary tags, the person helping me said I might have to hire an "expert" of the agency's choice to verify that BillyBob was, in fact, a 1955 model year. She also estimated this "verification" would most likely cost about $200.

With all the "stuff" my brother had sent along with BillyBob was a book called "Catalog of Chevy Truck ID Numbers 1946-1972" (see the BOOKSTORE for more info). With this book I was able to "decode" the ID number on BillyBob's door plate . . . the number said it was a 1955 model. I took the book and a photocopy of the appropriate page with me to the tag agency. They accepted the book's "authority" and I saved $200 and the hassle required to get an appointment with the expert. A half-hour after arriving at the agency, BillyBob and I were on the way home, street-legal.

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Issued Wednesday February 11, 1998

Updated Tuesday April 17, 2018

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