There's more to life than Lions.

It's trophy season. So, in keeping with the rich tradition of humble bragging, here's my tarnished trophy, a work in progress.

This is where I put my focus and my discretionary income when I'm not hustling for work, and make no mistake, I hustle.

That said, I'm grateful advertising affords me a creative outlet.

I'm equally proud to say that my wife allows me this creative outlet and that I have a pal whom I can pay to work on my truck while I mash words together for a living.

It began innocently enough as I perused my local Craigs List.

A 1966 C10 Shortbed fleetside Chevrolet truck was for sale. It was too expensive. I called on it. It had been inherited from a young man's grandpa and had sat for seventeen years. Interesting.

Its owner had every intention of getting it back on the road one day. Seventeen years passed as the old pickup truck sat out of sight from the street in an Apache Shores carport.

I knew it would need a complete redo if it was ever going to be a daily driver again. A mixture of dread and excitement coursed through me when I first laid eyes on it.

A feeling I knew all too well.

I made what I felt was a reasonable offer, and two weeks later, it was accepted.

Other than a diamond-plate bed floor, no big changes had ever been made to it. It was all original. It had a clean Texas title and Mexico plates, which only added to its allure. So, dive in I did, buying the truck for what I considered fair market value and put restoring my 1965 Chevrolet Suburban show truck on hold.

Let the patina begin.

To date, I've gutted the interior down to its inner shell and removed all instruments, wiring, interior components, insulation, and fifty years of dust.

I scuffed down the original "sandalwood" paint in preparation for a coat of turquoise, followed by a top coat of Rustoleum Pure Gold, and finally, matte clear.

The interior was my doing, and once the patina was in place, I installed sound deadening on every square inch of the floors, firewall, and inner doors.

I performed rust repair with a buddy's help and even replaced metal on the driver front fender and the door sill, which afforded me an opportunity to make fresh metal look as faded as the rest of the truck's aging gold exterior paint, revealing a coat of turquoise beneath add no doubt added decades ago.

The steering column is a new tilt unit, patina-painted to look faded, while the steering wheel is a genuine old-school Superior 500 wheel.

While the gauges appear to be stock, they're actually state-of-the-art. The radio is brand new, too, and pumps out 300 watts, while the speaker system is being stealthily installed without cutting up the stock interior. The truck has been fully rewired using an aftermarket harness with extra provisions for AC, etc.

Knowing fully well I'll be able to drive this old beater anywhere and park it without fear of the paint getting damaged is the ultimate luxury.

No ageism here. I'm embracing the age, warts and all.

The plan for "El Chapo" is to leave the exterior paint, and add hand-painted "Rancho Funk" signage, leaning into my wife's vintage picking business, which I occasionally help her with.

The native Indian blanket will also be used, we're still figuring that part out.

My intent is to make the lettering look as old as the paint and to have it done by a true old-school sign painter. So the graphics will look beat as the truck, and I'll be able to park anywhere, shopping cart rash be damned.

Knowing fully well I'll be able to drive it anywhere will be the ultimate luxury, which is, of course...

Easier said than done.

To date, the original 4-speed manual transmission as be replaced by a custom-built T5 five-speed transmission, allowing the original 6-cylinder engine to stay in its sweet spot.

The driveshaft is new. The brakes and brake lines are completely replaced and power disc-brakes have been added up front. A new carb and an aftermarket old-school intake and dual-exhaust system are in the works.

The gas tank has been restored and all new fuel lines have been plumbed.

A new two-barrel Weber progressive carb with manual choke will also be added. After that, I'll put a finned aluminum valve cover and air filter housing to complete the vintage 60s look.

The final luxuries will be a radio that looks old but is actually a 300-watt system, set up for MP3 and hands-free phone calls, and a Vintage Air AC/heating unit attached under its dash, just like the good old days, but it'll blow ice cubes like a modern AC system.

My days of driving nice paint will soon be over. This will be my daily. A cool old beater with a new drivetrain, brakes, and a properly lowered suspension.

Meet "El Chapo," the Rancho Funk Farm Truck.

My most treasured gold lion.

#theadvertisingsurvivalguide

Cameron Day is having a great 4th of July weekend, and will soon release Book Three of the Advertising Survival Guide trilogy, "Sticks & Stones."

To purchase hand-signed copies of his first two books, "Chew With Your Mind Opn" and "Spittin Chiclets", visit his website: www.iamcameronday.com