I bought this truck in 2007; drove it and fixed little stuff on it for 9 years. In that time, it changed little more than it had in the 35 years prior to that.
Before/after:
No, I didn’t mix up my pictures. These were taken 9 years and 2 months apart.
Now it’s in someone else’s care, and as you can see, it’s changed a lot (nope).
In fairness, the current owner did a lot of work: updating old wiring (it needed that), did a bit of an overhaul on the engine (it ran great but was old and a bit leaky here and there) and made some changes that are simply his personal preferences, like wheels, rear bumper, mirrors, and a bed cover.
I expect it will evolve further, but it’s neat to see it being used mostly as-is - certainly the body work and all its imperfections are instantly recognizable, and I believe they give this truck its unique character. Painting it will change it forever. This was a true survivor and every time I thought about changing something, I heard this echo in my head, “It’s only original once.”
But it’s also only yours once, so make it what you want. I hope this guy gets many more years out of it, and I hope to see it again one day, too. Maybe he’d even let me drive it.