When I wanted a new truck bed cover for my 99 Sierra, I ran across quite a dilemma. Do I save a few bucks and buy the Undercover Tonneau Cover my buddy has? Or, do I blow his truck away with a custom painted truck bed cover from Gaylord's? The internal struggle was quite wrenching.

I am very pleased with the Auto Tech Clinic located on Michigan Avenue at Telegraph Road in Dearborn, Michigan. They have supplied me with great service time and time again. Prior to this visit, I had only had oil changes and brakes done at this shop and was always pleased. In fact, last year I took my car in for brakes, which I thought I needed. The Auto Tech technician, on that day, came out to tell me I didn't need brakes at that time. He could have easily sold me the brakes, my car had 60,000 miles on it and the original brakes were still on it. I would have never questioned the repair, but he chose to be honest, and I got another 12,000 miles on those brakes before I returned to have them replaced. Auto Tech gave me a great price on that Buy Chevy Truck brake job too.

Extreme accessory #2 - AEM Brute force air intakes. I know every one is always talking K&N when it comes to filters and intakes, however the AEM Brute force intake is what I recommend hands down. The AEM Brute force is top of the line allowing the most airflow you will find. Throw on a throttle body spacer and you have really made some Chevy Truck Deal improvements to your stock system.

The Ford Flex stands out because it offers minivan like room for seven yet it isn't one. It also isn't really a wagon or an SUV. Who cares what it is because all that matters is what it can do. The Flex has a versatile, well built and stylish interior. It is also available with the same 3.5 liter 346 horsepower Ecoboost motor from the Taurus SHO. That makes the Flex the muscle car of this grouping.

My brother was nine years old when this happened. People say children have imaginations and I would accept this as such were it not so detailed. This truck was never mentioned because in my grandma's mind it was practically a forgotten memory. No pictures of the truck existed. I have viewed every photo my grandmother owns many times and I have never seen an old fashioned chevy truck dallas in any of the photos. How could my brother have known about that truck when it was a part of his grandfather's life twenty-five years before he was born?

Four wheel drive is a popular option on Chevy trucks, but affects truck handling and may not be worth the extra money. Drivers should test drive both two and four wheel drive trucks.

On Part 4 of our series of articles about truck restorations I will talk about more lessons learned the hard way during the restoration of my 1954 Chevy truck.