The Miss Mouse Story:

I purchased Miss Mouse from Gary & Kathlene Boylan (original owners) formerly of Victorville, Ca. March 20, 1993 for $ 1,200.00. When I got her Gary had already done a buick 231-I (odd fire) V-6 engine swap. She hadn't ran in over 2 years so I bought her not knowing if she was even worth the money or time it would take to make her road worthy. We oiled down the cylinder walls, a little fuel down the carb, cranked her over and to my surprise she took a deep breath- AHHH my baby was brought back from the dead. A quick check of the shifter, the trans seemed ok. I shut her off not knowing if that was her finally attempt at life. Ben (my husband) loaded her onto his trailer, bitching and complaining the whole way. He said she was a piece of crap and hated her. Well I was in Love, I wasn't about to listen to him.

As you can see by the hood scoop, the little Buick motor had a hard time fitting under the hood. She looked good for a while, but I quickly destroyed the little Toy. I love DEEP CREEK! - in Hesperia, CA, a big 4x4 hang out in the summer-time. She sat for a while as we both worked the bugs out. (I had never wrenched before and he was the Master). I had manage to make him furious on more than one occasion, especially one evening around 9:30 pm when I cut the exhaust off with a sawzall and was about to att empt to weld on Cherry Bomb mufflers. I thought he was going to kill me! HAHAHA!!!! Any way the carb was shot, wires all fried, plugs ,hoses etc. all junk and had to be replaced. She was originally all Yellow, now badly sunfaded to almost white, tires dry rotted, a bed full of junk, and a huge lumber rack strapped percariously to her back (which on one ocassion some fool missed while loading lumber only to crush her cab) and an old rusty tool box filled with debris.

I tore all the crap off, buffed out the paint, some wax, new tires & rims, etc. I went all out! Wow she was a beauty (to me anyway). I used her a great deal, every day to be exact! Ben even went so far as to buy me a new car just to get me to get rid of her... No Way! I wouldn't even touch the new car. I put it in the garage and that is were it stayed until I tore my baby apart. I had beaten the little truck to death, she was litterally going down the road falling apart. I loved to 4X alot and it showed. I always maintained her, diff oil changes etc. but she was tired and Ben was sick of me working on her in the driveway every day just to keep her running. He said sell her and use the new car. I said NO, I was going to tear her apart and resto her! Ben laughed at me and said "CHICKS CAN'T DO THAT" (Male ego I guess).

The 1st thing was to find her a new motor. I found an old 327, missing almost everything for $100.00. This is actually a different 327 that I used to fab up motor mounts. Anyway, I now have two 327 motors. This one was used only for fab and fit while I took the other over to my friend Larry Hayes' Off Road Fabrication shop. I used his tools to tear the motor down (I didn't have my own tools back then, but I do now). What was left I loaded into the back of Miss Mouse and headed to Don's Machine Shop (Hes peria). He bored her .30 over, mean while I ordered parts like crazy (Performance Automotive Warehouse) had what I needed.

Now came the time to tear my baby apart! Not to bad. Other than the brake lines which I didn't know I needed a lineman's wrench to loosen them, well they P.O.ed me so I cut them off. OOPS! I found another truck an 82 Toy for $300.00 for parts. Another one Ben had to load onto his trailer. (I was sure to die soon). Any way a lot of great parts were to be had on that one I assure you. Even an undamaged cab! I thought I had struck a gold mine. I tore that one apart in about 6 hours.

Here you can see I had two trucks in my garage and used both of them to build Miss Mouse. *(Editor's comment: What a garage! built just for this project!) Everything on Miss Mouse came off and apart, the frame against the wall, diff's on jack stands, leaf springs apart and hot tanked, etc. I cleaned up the frame and shot a nice clear coat over the factory black WOW no runs. Ben then decided he needed to get in on the paint process and sprayed one of my diff's black, he had a m ess, paint everywhere, even on the rotors (which upon first test drive almost caused a bad accident due to the vehicle swerving across the road and not stopping) He was no longer allowed to touch the paint.

This is the start of putting her all back together. Each leaf spring I painted bright yellow and the hanger bolts and misc. parts I shot neon green all by myself. My friend David Hart helped me to put them back together, that was hillarious! Ben showed up and we all hung the springs, diff's & tires. At least she could be rolled around now. This was a complete "Frame Off" resto. Every nut and bolt came off and was cleaned, polished or painted.

She sat for a while as I built the motor which the master mechanic helped with, I was unable to torque the heads to a full 65 ft. lbs. He had a bit of fun with that one. But I followed a Chevy Building, Balancing and Blueprinting guide to the T. I was also busy tearing things apart, repairing, replacing, polishing & painting. I polished so much aluminum out by hand it made me sick. As one thing would be done I would bolt it on. Ben and our son Thomas 12 at the time fabbed the motor mounts and trans bracket s and mounted the motor on the chassis. I never knew how many parts she had until I had to re-do everyone of them.

Well, a year and a half later and this is how she looked. She was no where ready to be driven but.. I was dying. Almost rolled her by being totally stupid. My need for speed got the better of me and I had the steering geometry all messed up. I had no idea I needed a dropped drag link and 7-degree shims. As you can see, the cab and bed are still under construction and only a base coat of paint has been sprayed.

Here's Miss Mouse nearing the end! She is looking pretty good. The garage in the background was built just for her (so add $25,000 to the already $15,000 resto) 8'). Miss Mouse still isn't done yet. I now have nerf bars and a double, single roll bar and I want to get a chrome double tube rear bumper yet.

There have been alot of bad time too! I remember one morning around 2 AM I was sitting on what was left of my baby just crying my eyes out and all alone. I had no clue what the hell I was doing, and everything was beyond my capability level. I missed my LiL Toy so badly. Frustration was taking over as looked at the mess which was "the love of my life".

I willingly admit I have made some very big mistakes along the way. Some items I tore apart several times before I got it right. I didn't dare bother Ben only out of extreme need or imminent permanent injury or death to myself. He really resented what I was doing and he made it that much more difficult on me. I have learned alot and I am very proud of both the good and the bad, they have both taught me great lessons.

Miss Mouse has quit an attitude and easily will climb anything in front of her. The license plate has been changed and it now reads "MS 4X4". Kinda arrogant, but I worked damn hard on her and I really get into playing with the "GUYS".

Specifications:

Engine:
1968-69 Chevy 327 Large journal, bored .30 over, balanced & blue printed, 9 to 1 aluminum pistons, Chromoly rings, 283 open chamber heads with 3 angle valve job, Edelbrock cam, carb & intake (all matching performer series), Clevite bearings on crank & cam, hydraulic lifters. Holley fuel pump, high volume oil pump, aluminum Billet pullies, Custom MX High Efficiency Radiator and Custom headers with caps (so I can run open headers when I want to), followed by a flow master exhaust. Est. horse power 300.

Drive Train:
Turbo 350 that has a modified valve body, with heavy duty clutch packs. Trans dapt adaptor to go to stock Toyota Transfer case, Heavy duty front and rear driveline both of which are running C.V. joints (due to driveline angle) and stock toyota 8" front and rear diff's (open) with 4:11 gearing.

Suspension:
Rancho front and rear leafs with a total of 7" of lift. Rear springs have 4" with 3" polished aluminum blocks, the front springs have been re-arched. There is also another 3" of lift on the body. 10" over-all.

Tires and Rims:
BF Goodrich radial Alt. 35x12.5x15 mounted on Chrome Modular rims.

Paint:
1996 Toyota Sun Fire Pearl Red on the body. Custom bright yellow on the leaf springs, and neon green on the Rancho shock towers, spring hanger bolts and a few misc. nuts and bolts. Motor block is painted yellow and the heads are neon green the rest of the motor is all polished aluminum or chrome. The entire undercarriage is Zolatoned enhanced grey stone, and the inside of the bed is also Zolatoned grey. The frame and differentials are black.

Creature Comforts:
Power steering, bucket seats from an 86 Renult alliance, CustomCarpeting, SR5 package scrounged from bone yards (including interior kick panels now customized, instrument panels with Temp. and oil pressure gauges, A/C, intermittent wipers and a chrome grill and bumper).

Special Thanks To:
Gary and Kathlene Boylan for selling me the "Toy" in the first place. Don at Don's Machine shop for the machining the block required. Mike at Automotive Paintin Place for custom mixed paint, knowledge & supplies. Charlie at Broadway Radiator for the custom rad. Joe Ellis at Ellis Fabrication for the exhaust system. George Sioss and Flip at Collision Craft for the beautiful paint job on the body. Bob at Bob's Driveline Service for the custom drivelines. Brian and his guys at Robbins uph olstry great carpet job. Frank and Mike at Atlas auto Salvage for putting up with my never ending search for something. All of my friends who believed in me when everyone else just laughed at me (you know who you are). To my son for his never ending bragging about me. And a very special "Thank You" to Ben, who had great difficulty dealing with this one, not to mention he had to turn a wrench for me on more than one occasion when I just wasn't able to.

Email Kim Gagnon at: Miss4X4@AOL.COM for further information.

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