Brisbane FIFO worker restores 1964 Chevvy
A Brisbane FIFO worker with no mechanical experience turned to YouTube tutorials and a community of project car enthusiasts to restore a 1964 Chevvy.
QLD News
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Self-described tomboy Georgina Wilkinson is almost at the end of a two-year journey to restore a 1964 Chevvy C10.
The 32-year-old FIFO worker has no mechanical experience, learning everything from YouTube tutorials and a community of project car enthusiasts.
After a really bad rollover six years ago, Miss Wilkinson decided to pull the trigger on restoring her ‘dream car’. Almost $20,000 later and a lengthy importation process, Miss Wilkinson’s dream car arrived
“I’ve always loved cars,” she said.
“Before I bought the Chevvy I did a similar sort of thing to a Jeep Wrangler, where I modified it really heavily, but it was more for performance as opposed to a restoration.”
After her rollover in 2017, Miss Wilkinson said she didn’t have the courage to continue doing the same driving she used to do with her Jeep.
”When I sort of accepted that I wasn’t going to be doing what I used to love with my jeep, I thought, okay, well, maybe now’s the time to pull the trigger on the dream car,” she said.
“So yeah … I did that.”
“I think I’ve always just loved the Chevvy because I was a tomboy but sometimes feminine as well. So it was like okay, well here’s this, you know, big, burly manly truck that you would expect a guy to drive, but it’s in this quite feminine colour.
“I’ve done like little feminine touches on it to make it … a chick’s truck.”
The restoration process hasn’t been smooth sailing for Miss Wilkinson. As a FIFO worker, the Chevvy enthusiast had limited time, which added an extra element of difficulty to the restoration.
“Whenever I was home from work, I’d pretty much drive down to a Common Ground Customs at Burleigh Heads,” she said.
“I get down there at 6am and then finishing at 4pm. Every weekday I was home from work I’d be down there.
“The spray painters and panel beaters were teaching me a lot of stuff, letting me work beside them on my truck.
“I can’t even tell you how long my truck was there for … a fair few months.”
Miss Wilkinson said she almost gave up on the restoration halfway through the process. After spending months spraying a rust inhibitor the epoxy completely flaked off.
“To get it to that point just for it to fail and have to start again … that was definitely the closest I’d been to sort of thinking, okay, maybe this is going to be too big for me,” she said.
“Yeah, it broke me. It was very, very disheartening.
“I took a couple months off it and then thought if I sell it as it is, which was just a pile of panels I would lose a lot of money.
“So it’s like, okay, well, I just, I need to pick my bottom lip up and get it done. So yeah, that was definitely exhausting.”
Miss Wilkinson said she is now nearing the end of her restoration project.
“I think the biggest highlight for me now is just the fact that it’s painted,” she said.
“I’m seeing this dream car in this dream colour that I’ve always wanted actually happen.
“It’s sort of starting to set in now that it’s not a dream that it is actually my reality now and that all my hard work for the last couple of years is finally paying off.
“I always had this little niggling fear in the back of my head that even after all this work, because I’m not trade qualified. It wasn’t going to be everything I expected. To be able to prove myself wrong and get an amazing finished product … yeah, so excited.”
Miss Wilkinson said there are a few finishing touches, left before she unveils her car at Cooly Rocks On, a motoring festival held on the Gold Coast between June 7 and June 11.
“I just can’t wait to get behind that wheel again … and yeah, just drive it and enjoy it.”
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