It’s not like in a movie such as Fast and Furious where they put the car together, and it’s perfect in a scene and only appears to be completed in an hour or so. It is in real life very time consuming, expensive, and a big pain in the rear to rebuild a car.

On a nice, hot Saturday afternoon during the summer, my father and I worked on my old, rusty, abused 1971 Chevy c10 pickup truck. The water pump was cracked; the alternator was bad; there was no exhaust because I had previously taken it off and bought headers to put on it. The old valve covers were off the engine, and a new chrome set of Edelbrock valve covers were ready to go on. The truck, unfortunately, didn’t run at the current time for a total of a week because we spent hours and hours, trying to get a hardened bolt out of the front of the engine block because it just happened to break off as we sweated to death wrenching on it.
I eventually had the bolt out with an easy out after I broke one of the easy outs, which are suppose to be extremely durable. I proved that wrong with my first use with it. The strong smell of hot metal and oil from drilling was heavily in the air, but removing the bolt was extremely hard to do and time consuming. After that was out, we started to put on the new water pump and the alternator, which was a relief for the both of us. All the bolts had to be put back in place, and then the hose for the radiator, and then the intake for the thermostat. Once that was finished, I felt extremely relieved.
Next we needed to work on the exhaust, which included the headers, and I could not wait to do this! (Headers are a type of exhaust that are in a tube form making the vehicle louder and much more powerful.) I was so happy to start on the headers because I always hear these old muscle cars that sound like pure beauty on wheels. The feeling of the cold metal from the headers and holding them on to the engine block gave me the biggest adrenaline rush ever. I was so ecstatic because I knew I was so close to having that one sound I always wanted on a muscle car or in this case a muscle truck. I had worked very hard throughout the summer to save up my money for headers, and they were finally on the truck. I felt like Charlie when he found a gold ticket to go to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
After all the work on the exhaust, putting the valve covers on was smooth sailing. A few bolts and seals were added and it was complete and ready to be started up. My father and I had that done and ran through all the bolts checking to see if they were snug and okay to go. “Are the bolts all snug?” my dad asked.
“Yeah they all seem to be,” as I checked a bolt. The majority of them were tight besides a few, and those few we tightened up. At this point in time, my excitement was reaching its max level. My dad told me, “Hey, go get your key, so we can start this baby up finally and hurry!”
“Yes, sir,” I replied as I ran for my key hanging in the garage. I went and grabbed my key and came back, sticking it in the cold, worn out ignition cylinder. The key clicked, and the truck turned over but didn’t start right away. The older trucks are harder to start because they are carbureted and not fuel injected like new vehicles, so it takes a little more than just a key turn to start. I pumped the gas, and it just kept turning over and over. I pumped the pedal one more time, and it started like a thousand fighter jets flying through thunder. Even though I couldn’t drive it since it is illegal with open headers because I didn’t have mufflers to put on it, I was amazed. As my thick, greasy hands gripped the cold, hard steering wheel, I felt joy and pride, for I had my amazing truck just how I wanted it.