Well a couple of years ago I decided I wanted a ford diesel truck. As an eternal cheapskate and somewhat of gear head I found an extremely cheap truck in the paper.
It was an ex-glass company truck. It had been maintained by a local glazier, but it looked as though they had drug it through hell backwards. It ran, but barely, the worst issue it had was bad brakes and body, and the interior. Plus the bed sides were ripped loose from the movement of the aluminum glass rack that had been installed in the truck. So I guess the entire truck was a piece of shit, but it was a bargain at $800.
I started by getting it running, and got the brakes fixed. Then I went and found a parts truck that had a bad motor but the body and interior were excellent. I was able to purchase that for $500.
The rest they say is history. I had the original cab stripped and painted, then we moved all of the parts onto the diesel chassis. With that I had a running, decent looking truck for right at $2000.
I drove the truck for 6 months, and it averaged around 20 miles per gallon. The air conditioning work, and the radio worked. So it was a fine commuter vehicle.
Unfortunately it made the mistake of breaking down with my wife and daughter in the truck. It actually was the fuel pick up, which is a typical failure on these trucks, but it was impossible to explain to my wife. Here is me begging for forgiveness during the wait for road side assistance.
It didn't work and the old girl was sold to a plumbing company to tow their excavator.
All said I made a few dollars, like $100. I drove it for six months, and I saved a truck and kept it on the road for a few more years. I sort of looked at it like recycling. It may be a polluter, but I have read that it still produces less green house gases then the process of building a new truck.
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