This is the way my truck appeared almost 7 years ago when I got her (June 24, 2000). Stock, stock, stock, with a not-so-color-matched tonneau cover. I was 16, and had just gotten my license June 2, 2000. I remember the gas station and pump where we first got gas; the parking spot of the Taco Bell we dropped by the day we got her; the first intersection I dumped the clutch in; the first place I drove her. This truck stayed in this condition for under 3 months. I'm glad I have pictures of how she looked off-the-lot, because she will never look like this again.
My point here is this: take lots of pictures of your ride! Before, during, after, and often! If you are about to start a project on a bone-stock vehicle, take pictures of it bone-stock! This way, you can see a direct before/after comparison, and someday, when your ride is no longer around, you'll have some memories.
Take pictures of your ride at every show! Sometimes, in the excitement of the day, it's easy to forget to take some shots of your ride. Find creative angles, and focus on those parts that make you the most proud, as if you were shooting your ride for a magazine. No shows coming up? Clean it up and take pictures anyway.
Why do I say this? To help you appreciate what you have NOW. Each show, I think to myself, "This could be the last show I take my truck to, overall OR in this current condition (good or bad!)" Don't forget to appreciate that how your truck looks on that particular day.
For one show in particular, I knew my truck was in the best shape it had ever been in, to that date. This condition is relative for each truck, but equally significant. I had cleaned meticulously the day before, and some projects had just been completed. I was so proud. I took a few pictures of the interior and exterior. A few weeks after that, everything was stolen from the inside, and those few pictures were the only things remaining of that brief period of time to which she would never return. While often this type of situation represents a time to upgrade, which I did, I was still glad to have collected a few permanent memories from that show.
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