From stock truck to mean machine...

Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Jason Lekvold's passion for refurbishing his truck landed him a spot on the cover of a national magazine.

Is it a hobby or an obsession?

Ask Jason Lekvold, and he'll tell you that it's a little bit of both.

An avid truck enthusiast, the local auto body handyman has spent the past 10 years restoring aging or damaged vehicles back to showroom condition. But in his spare time, he's used those skills to take his own roadster and turn it into a mean cruising machine.

Lekvold's passion for cars and trucks took flight during high school after a friend told him about a job opening at the Tech Auto Body Shop. Already an accomplished welder, he landed the job and spent the several years honing the skills that would eventually allow him to satisfy a childhood dream.

"It was one of those 'learn as you go' jobs," he said.

With a steady paycheck in hand, he went on to buy his first vehicle -- a standard Mazda pickup. Over the next several years, he would trade that truck and buy newer ones, but it still left him wanting something special.

Five years ago, that desire to restore and customize his own street machine took root after he bought a 1987 Mazda B2200 from a friend in Boise.

"It started out as something I wanted to drive every day, and it kind of went farther than that," he said.

That's probably an understatement in the eyes of some people. What started out as a standard pickup became something far from ordinary.

"I guess I did it because I've always been into custom cars," he said. "I like hot rods, but it takes a lot more money to do something with them. Custom trucks are typically cheaper to do until you take them to this level where everything is expensive."

But it was no simple task. To reach the level of detail that he wanted, Lekvold had to rebuild it from the ground up.

"I took it all the way down to the bare frame, painted the frame, rebuilt the motor and went through the transmission," he said.

What he ended up with was essentially a brand new truck. He figures the truck's roof and cowl panel were the only remaining stock parts once the project was finished. The rest of it was modified in one way or another.

Lekvold figures he invested between 400 to 500 hours during that rebuild. In many instances, he had friends helping him with all the modifications.

When it finally rolled out of the auto body shop, he seemed fairly satisfied with the results. In fact, the project earned him an appearance in Street Truck Magazine.

That was simply the beginning. It convinced him that he wanted to reach another goal -- having the truck pictured on the front cover of a car and truck magazine.

But it seems that was a lot harder than it seemed.

"I asked the (magazine) editor if it was good enough for a cover photo," he said. However, since the paint was solid blue, it lacked the character and attitude that merited a front-cover profile.

"It was a hard sell to put it on the front cover of a magazine," Lekvold said.

That convinced him to do the most logical thing -- he ripped the truck apart once again and started over.

In addition to giving the truck a new paint job sporting a flashy flame pattern, this second overhaul gave him an excuse to go back and add or correct a few things that were missed the first time around. This included rebuilding the suspension as well as the interior design.

While most of the ground work was already finished when he rebuilt the truck the first time around, it still took him another 200 hours before he was finally satisfied.

"Basically, it's a brand new truck," he said.

Painting the flames on the truck's hood and side panels proved not only the most challenging aspect of the project but also the most time consuming. It took three days for one of his friends to tape the design to the body and another month for Lekvold to apply the four separate colors of paint.

"To make it as nice as I could, I just took my time," he said. Often, he would spend a couple of hours after work or on the weekends to bring the truck's new look to life.

The custom frame was also airbrushed with graphic details -- back to front and top to bottom. Its independent, rear suspension is vastly different from the solid suspension that came standard when it was originally built 25 years ago.

Even the lugs that hold the tires in place are different. He opted for a five-lug version versus the standard six because it's easier for him to find the right style of wheels.

Meanwhile, a computerized air suspension system allows him to modify how low the truck travels over roads. It's similar to suspension systems found in many newer models of trucks that roll off the assembly line.

"You can push one of three buttons, and it takes the truck to one of three set heights to make it easier to drive," he said. "It rides on a cushion of air. It's really comfortable."

By the time he started on the second redesign, most of the ground work was already finished. However, it still took another 200 hours before he was finally satisfied.

Not including the donations he received from various sponsors, he figures he's invested about $30,000 to get the truck to its current condition.

"The wife doesn't like to talk about that," he said. "It definitely adds up when you look at the receipts."

However, he feels all the time, effort and money was well worth it.

"I always had an idea of what I wanted it to look like, and I finally got it," he said.

Recently, his 25-year-old truck was featured on the front cover of Mini Trucking Magazine. For Lekvold, it was mission accomplished -- at least for now.

Despite the hundreds of hours he's already invested, the truck needs some more work, especially if he plans to drive it out of his driveway. The turn signals still need to be rewired along with some of the dashboard gauges. He also wants to switch out the brake system that came stock with the truck.

With all the time he's spent working on his truck, he considers the endeavor both a hobby and an obsession. While it didn't occupy his every waking moment, this restoration project has remained a "big part" of his life over the past five years.

"I have friends all over the country that do the same thing," he said.

He figures he's put at least 40,000 miles on the truck since he first bought it. Most of that mileage was spent traveling to various car and truck shows across the United States.

But don't expect to see him driving it around Mountain Home very often. Call it coincidence or sheer bad luck, but he worries that his truck will suffer the same fate that other vehicles experienced after they appeared in magazines.

It's called the "cover truck curse."

"In the past five years that a truck has appeared in a car and truck magazine, there's probably been 15 or 20 trucks where something really bad that happened to them after they were on the cover," he said.

The "curse" usually strikes within six months after the magazine hits the streets. While many of these those showpiece vehicles were involved in fender benders, others were totalled in more serious crashes.

Hoping to avoid the same fate, he prefers to keep his truck safely locked away in his garage.

"I only drive it when it's nice out," he said. "It's pretty much a summertime cruiser."

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