SEXSPEC 2 RESPEC
- Tyler Wallace
- Sep 14, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 16, 2023
Dreams coming true is a phenomenon that seems to only occur in favor of those more affluent or gifted than the average person. Getting the short end of the stick, the common man seems to only have their nightmares come true. That same man committed to a goal on the other hand will prosper, but that isn't without first living through a few nightmares. Derick encountered plenty of nightmares on his build, then rebuild, of his Nissan Hardbody. This truck (and a few other motorists) put his will through thick and thin but he held true to his commitment of creating and holding onto one of his own dreams.
Acquiring a degenerate truck that spent its life on borrowed time it wouldn't be wrong to say he had a basket case on his hands. Through the bondo and smudged vener he saw for the first time the sum of all his lust. This truck wasn't everything he wanted, but it sure did help him paint a picture of what exactly that was. Extracting that from the truck that sat before him was going to be a tall order. Made even more difficult by his lack of experience, he was 18 when he got the truck.
Procrastination took hold of the truck's progress as he fell victim to that as well as self doubt. He didn't want to really dive into it until he felt ready. Instead he decided he’d rather just get the truck running and driving, which giving credits where they are due wasn't exactly straight forward. He had to work through 30 years of poor electrical, and redo the fuel system among a few other basic maintenance items. He enjoyed the truck for what it was, even including the flaws as he saw those as a later endeavor. When was later? He wasn't sure, a better question could have been why later, would he have to wait for the truck to fall apart, or to win the lottery? Well not exactly, later ended up coming in the form of a Ford Windstar that was misguided through traffic and found itself t boning the truck at a decent speed. This accident left the truck in a state of evident disrepair, and Derick with the perfect reason to turn this truck into what he knew it could be.
Where to start? Well using his best judgment he decided completely over, he wanted to have everything on this truck done to his standard. He completely stripped it down leaving only the cab and frame. When it came to assembling the truck he had put out so many fires removing poor workmanship he was left with some problems in need of quality solutions. For instance he wanted to preserve the wide stance of the truck, but with the old bondo widebody destroyed, he was tasked with figuring out how to make or source some sort of rear flare. Dually bedsides for a truck that never came as a dually, more bondo? He had a unique problem, which could only be solved by an equally unique solution. Left scrambling he was able to get help sourcing some fiberglass bedsides from Georgia. Coming from a Baja 1000 truck designer and producer these were just rare enough to be worth as much as they spent on them. It was all in the name of quality though because after he lowered the truck he could have clean fitment and a clean conscience.
The only aesthetic parts he really carried over from before the accident were the wheels, hood, and wing, as he saw them as period correct. That same excuse couldn't save the rest of what was previously done to the truck . Just because some parts were from the 90’s didn't mean they were cool, things like the paint matched bumper and a hazardous interior were gone before they even had a replacement. Then the color, he liked the idea of a purple truck, it too seemed period correct. But much like the rest of the truck the execution wasn’t right. The truck practically looked black at night. That didn't seem right to him, so when he resprayed it he went for a much brighter purple with a decent amount of flake so the truck would pop regardless of the hour. When he finally had the truck put together and outside it had been exactly two years to the day (October 21st) since he first laid eyes on it.
Getting a custom exhaust made at the start of spring extended the truck's winter hibernation by about a month. So when the exhaust was done he was understandably excited to be able to enjoy the truck in the fair weather. Unfortunately that was cut short due to his driveshaft not so spontaneously failing. Being that his truck was the lowest it had ever been it wasn’t much of a surprise. With the pinion angle what it was the U joints were bound to fail. Which wouldn't be such a big problem if he could just change out the U joints, but he couldn't. Nissan Driveshafts weren't made to be serviced, they were essentially throw away driveshafts. Which meant a custom solution was in order. This one he couldn't do himself though. So he brought the truck to Austin Machine shop, and had a bespoke driveshaft made. With a heavy duty center bearing, different slip yolks and serviceable U joints it was practically bulletproof. Furthermore he had his lowering blocks cut to fix the pinion angles so he could avoid any possibility of damaging his new driveshaft.
The complete drive shaft overhaul stole most of the show season from him but not all of it. He brought the truck out and was able to enjoy the fruits of his labor for what was left of it. Right around the tail end of the season though, October 21st to be exact, the truck suffered another major accident. He had little time to evaluate the damage before the truck was hauled off to the impound lot. Regardless of the damage he wasn't going to lose this truck at the hand of someone else's incompetence. So with little knowledge of just how far gone the truck could be he got it back in his hands to assess the damages then see exactly how long his winter was going to be.
Tear down concluded that the frame rails were in fact bent and that he needed a new rad support bumper and practically all front end parts, including a hood. After dealing with some bodyshop trouble trying to get the frame straightened he was able to start putting the truck back together. Once reassembled the only main difference was that the truck now had a stock hood. The flared hood was unrepairable and apparently irreplaceable because when he tried to get in contact with the original manufacturer from the 90’s they apparently couldn't remember making it. That's not what mattered though, what mattered was that the truck was back together, and back outside.
At this point in the story some would say this truck has made Derick a victim of the sunk cost fallacy. Consistently reinvesting time and money into something just because he's already brought himself in too deep. The problem with that though is that it completely disregards the motive behind his effort. Never did he look at this truck as a monetary investment, nor did he even think of getting rid of it in the first place. Furthermore, arguing that he'd be better off without the truck is just disheartening. The truck for him is a dream come true, despite the nightmares it's involved him in. If you're a psychiatrist , or a personal finance teacher and you aren't sold on this idea then it's important to know that after his second accident (thanks to some fighting with insurance appraisers) he had the ability to turn a profit after it was totaled out. He chose not to of course. A decision made from a place of commitment, not delusion.
The thesis of this piece has been very dependent on how this truck is Dericks dream build. Has it been said so much it's worthless now? If so then let me give some meaning to that phrase. No he hasn't wanted to build a 90’s Nissan mini truck his whole life. He wasn't 8 or 9 years old getting posters of them. It more so became his dream. Why? Well, he's tailor made this truck with his own interests in mind. This truck is his epitome. It encompasses all his passions, his love for the 90’s, his interest in JDM, and so much more. He’s even said “this is a truck i'll die with”. He's created something that’s truly his and that's why it means so much to him, it's almost a piece of him. This Nissan Hardbody isn't a modern take on a 90’s minitruck. It's a timeless creation that can draw influence from more than just a general time period, or accompanying culture.
