The one thing I appreciate about Vice Grip Garage’s Derek is that he has determination. Living in the northern wilds of the United States, right around peak Rust Belt, that isn’t something that is easy to come by as a car freak. You can repaint a car that’s covered in a chalk coating that used to be Starlight Blue, you can rebuild or replace an engine that’s dead, you can pay for new upholstery if you so choose. But you can’t do much when it comes to deep-set rot. We’re not talking about a quarter-sized hole in the rear quarter that can be welded up with a trimmed-up bit of sheetmetal and hidden under a thin layer of mud. No, we’re talking the kind of rust that even the die-hards have to admit is one step too far, the kind where what used to be solid iron now makes noises like someone munching on a cheap Taco Bell taco. At that point, you make the call: you part the good from the bad if it’s worth the effort and drag the rest in for a couple hundred bucks’ worth of scrap metal money. Not every car is a keeper.

For Derek’s latest project, we have a bullnosed Ford F-250 that’s packing a 460 and a lifetime’s supply of worrying about whether or not your tetanus shot is up to date or not. The bullnose trucks are growing on me, and they’ve got their fans, but this one? Woof. Credit to him for trying, but Derek…man, bless ya for trying, but sometimes you have to let it go, y’know? You can say that all day long, but like a combat medic, he’s going to do his damnedest to make this old Ford bark one last time. At least he understands the gravity of the situation…if nothing else, someone will buy the engine!