The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

It seems like ages since we've posted! Well...not exactly THIS long ago. John took this picture a few weeks back while GD was up helping us out with the truck. These little beauties were hanging out in the rain, hoping to get some attention from those passing by. They got it...GD went in and talked to the owner and his buddies while John waited not-so-patiently out in the car (how long does it TAKE to get a price?). Oh well, have to keep the hired help happy...

Although we haven't posted, progress has continued at a crazy rate! After the kids go to bed, Tracy and John head out to the garage (dungeon?) to toil away at our new project. The only thing that hasn't improved is our spider population. Well, we're sure they're quite happy with their new little hatchling bundles of joy that have taken up residence in even smaller nooks and crannies, but we are less than amused. We're becoming spider birth control advocates and strongly support the spider death penalty.

Here's one of our improvements. Our steering wheel was, to put it mildly, less than attractive. There were some cracks and apparent gnaw marks (did someone leave their dog in this truck?) that needed some serious help. John did a little research on how to fix this problem and got to work. Lots of effort and a fresh epoxy finish later, we're quite pleased with the results. No more Cujo dental records! For more info on this process, check out http://www.ratrodranch.com/ . It's worth a look.

This was the steering wheel before its face lift.

For those who need a refresher on what the cab looked like when we brought the truck home...here you go!
This is what the cab looks like now. (It should be getting easier to see why we haven't had time to post!)
The glove box before (remember the red nail polish?).
The glove box looking a little more civilized...it's not actually shiny, we just took the picture when the paint was still wet.

Oh yes, and here's what the seat looked like in the beginning. Just a tad bit uncomfortable, wouldn't you say?

Now we'll be sitting pretty on our newly-upholstered bench.

The original rims on the truck were solid, but scary (they housed the black widow that John tried to "pet" accidentally).

Now they're not only good looking, but safe enough for even children to be around. (Well, children who aren't afraid of other types of spiders, anyway). Here, Thayer helps us give the truck its first real bath.

This is just a small portion of what we've been up to...we'll update soon with some more of our highlights. We're pretty proud of our efforts to clean this guy up and get him back on the street. We're also tired!