As a 12-year old kid on vacation from England over here in America, Paul Cox saw a Kenworth K100 truck and was instantly in love. The model was best known for its role on the show BJ and the Bear back then and between the looks and size of the thing, Cox was pretty sure that he would own one before his ticket was punched as an old man. Not only does Cox own one, he is in the midst of finishing up the restoration on a 1979 K100 that will undoubtedly make it one of the nicest ones on the planet if not THE nicest one on the planet. Even better is the fact that Cox has kept an amazing photo diary of the job going from start to its (near) finish now. Paul bought his K100 off of death row, literally. With 2.2 million miles and tired everything if he didn’t take it the scrap yard was going to. When you see the depths he has gone to and the process the truck has followed you’ll freak. Restoring this truck is like restoring a house, a truck, and a space shuttle. The work on the cab alone will blow your mind.
For the last 3-3.5 years the work has been ongoing. The 1979 K100 has the 108-inch sleeper style cab, a 8V92T engine, a 15-speed Fuller transmission, an aluminum frame, and air assisted steering. Literally every nut and bolt on the truck has been touched and Cox has actually made some improvements to the rig along the way, mostly in places that people will never see. He worked on the structure of the cab to strengthen it and added some steel to correct what he saw as weak points or better yet, to mend weak points that showed themselves over the 2.2 million miles of the truck’s initial life before the resto.
The goal of this job is to have the truck looking just as it did the day it rolled out of the KW factory, not to build a hot rod. Paul joked in a video that the truck would not have 10″ diameter stacks on it. This thing is awesome on every level but the fact that the guy is literally making a boyhood dream come to life is probably the biggest one.
No matter if you are a big rig fan or not, if you are a gearhead of any stripe checking out the vast number of amazing photos at the link will spin your crank. From the metal work to the mechanical, electrical, and paint this project truly qualifies as one of the best we have ever seen.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND THE MASSIVE PHOTO LINK TO THE RESTO OF THIS 1979 KENWORTH K100 –
That brings back memories. The first truck in my fathers fleet was an ’81 version of that same truck. I got my license in that truck. 8V92 Silver with a 14 speed Spicer
This is true dedication ! Nice to see a flat nosed truck for a change, being restored this well.
Very cool Paul. Nice work there.
Cool indeed. Please update when finished.
G’day from downunder, this build is the stuff of legends, just mind blowing stuff. Having watched this one draw to completion I was wondering if anyone has any info on someone who has done similar work on a Ford Louisville LTL 9000? I owned one for a long time and always dreamed of a total rebuild but ill health stepped in and put paid to that little plan. It would be great to see if anyone has done any sort of upgrade. Many thanks.
Kind regards
Michael Pederick
Perth Western Australia.