March Truck of the Month

March's Truck of the Month goes to Mike Nagatani of Carlsbad, CA.  In Mike's words:

I bought the truck about ten years ago from a kid that lived down the street from me.  He was going to "hot rod" it, but his dad wouldn't allow such an endeavor.  They had rebuilt the motor to a 390 displacement just before I got, so I never worried about having to go through the motor.  I gave it a quick "Maaco" paint job and used it as my work truck.  Over the years It was used to haul, pick up and do what most work trucks do.  At some point, I saw a rendition of a 67 done up in flames, lowered, and wild set of wheels.  From that point on I had a vision to do this truck up like a hot rod.  The first thing I did was added lowered beams and a set of shackles to bring it down.  I then shaved the door handles and removed the drip rails.  After seeing how things were shaping up, I started to do more body mods like rounding the hood corners and welding the front fender to the cab.  I shaved and filled so many holes that the metal work alone took about six months off and on.  The bodywork alone took about a year to do.  At some point I had commited to taking everything off the frame and do complete redo.  I powder coated the frame and many suspension parts.  Once that was complete gave the transmission a fresh rebuild and started putting the chasis back together.  After about a year I had the frame all done.  Another year later I had the body work finished.  I did all the body and metal fab in the garage.  I opted not to paint the truck  in garage because I was afraid of dust particles and ventilation issues.  I did do all the primering at home.  ACM autobody in escondido handled the actual paint.  I brought it home and did all the color sanding and buffing.  After about two years, I had a freshly painted body and a frame that was ready to go.  One year later here we are with almost everying done and assembled and just no on the road.  I bought all the glass and many misc. parts from Larry at Blue Oval Trucks.  I plan on taking to local shows down here in San Diego.

To learn more about this truck, or to submit your truck for Truck of the Month consideration, please send an email inquiry to  truck-of-the-month@blueovaltruckparts.com