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MEMORY &
DEDICATION
This web site
will forever be dedicated to my father, Ralph F. Burgoyne, who was
suddenly yet peacefully taken from us in November 2008.
Affectionately known as "Big Head", my father was a truly
amazing and gifted man.
His skills in everything from life to
carpentry to mechanics and everything in between far surpassed most
people I have ever met...
As a father he
was stern yet always fair. Growing up I didn't like his discipline
but later in life appreciated all that he ever did for me.
Unfortunately it takes age and experience in life to come to that
realization. In reflection I wish I hadn't given him so much
heartache during my youth....
All my life I
would question him, sometimes for knowledge or sometimes for
slapstick comedy, and his favorite response was "Are you
questioning me...". Dad was a great teacher, an even better
friend and mentor in life. Yes I was questioning him because I knew
he always had the answer. Dad was always there for me...
I remember when
I bought my 1964 Chevy C-60 dump truck. I got on my Nextel, beeped
Dad and told him of my new purchase. Of course I knew what his
response would be..."What the hell did you buy a dump truck
for...", but deep down I think he was excited about my little
project. I wanted to finish it so I could have Dad fly out and go
for coffee with him as my passenger, but time was not on my side...
My father lives
on forever inside of me; he is with me each and every day. I will forge ahead
and finish my restoration someday and will dedicate it in his
memory...
Rest quietly Dad...I miss you and love you...
You will
never be forgotten... |
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A Brief
Introduction
When I was growing up one of the first vehicles I learned to drive was my
father's 1963 Chevy C60 2-ton dump truck. The truck had a 292 CID L-6 engine, a
Chevy 4-speed manual transmission and a Chevy 2-speed rear axle. Garwood made
the dump body and Heil supplied the hydraulic system.
 Named the "Blue Mule"
after its dark blue color (although the original factory color was Red) and
significant pulling power, the truck was a hard worker and a lot of fun to
drive. However, years of Massachusetts weather and salty road conditions rotted
the body badly. With each passing year, the truck was used less and less. With
very little use and a corroded body, Dad ended up selling "The Mule" shortly
after he bought a brand new GMC 1-ton dump truck.
Like so many others, one of my lifelong dreams is to restore an old Chevy truck.
It's easy to see that most restoration enthusiasts choose either a ½ - ton, ¾ -
ton or 1-ton truck as their project vehicle. This is due to their inherent
simplicity, abundance, availability of NOS or reproduction parts and street
modification potential. However, for me the choice was simple when it came time
to start looking for a restoration project; I wanted a medium duty truck. 
Finding a medium duty truck in New England, especially one with restoration
potential, would be a daunting endeavor to say the least. However, in July,
2000, I changed employers and moved from New Hampshire to Colorado. My new home
in the dry mid-West renewed my desire to find a truck so I started looking in
local and web-based classified advertisements. I found several interesting
potentials, but most were so far away that the round trip costs to get it home
made it somewhat prohibitive.
Then one day, about 3 miles from my home, I saw my
ideal restoration candidate; a 1964 Chevy C60 2-ton dump truck. Talk about a
nearly identical match to my ideal restoration vehicle!! The truck has a 327 CID
V-8 (although, as I later found out, a much preferred 292 CID L-6 engine was
original), a New Process 5-speed manual transmission and a Chevy 2-speed rear
axle. It also has the desired Garwood dump body and Heil hydraulic system. After
initial contact and subsequent negotiations with the seller, I bought the truck.
About This Site
The main purpose of my site is to
detail the restoration process of my truck. Like most enthusiasts, this is a
hobby for me and I work on my project as time and money permits. More often than
not this translates to the old adage of "when you have the time you don't
have the money...and when you have the money you don't have the time".
Another purpose for my site is to share historical data, technical
specifications and restoration information about 1960-1966 Chevy medium duty
trucks. I use the internet frequently for research and participate in several
discussion forums; however, as mentioned above, information on medium duty
trucks is somewhat limited. As time goes on I hope that this site will become a
resource for other medium duty truck enthusiasts.
Like my truck restoration,
developing and managing a web site is a hobby for me. I do not have sponsors nor
do I pay for a web developer to design my site; I do it all myself. As such, you
will not have to deal with advertisements, pop-up windows and animations that,
in my opinion, are nothing more that aggravating.
This site
is designed and maintained using a variety of software suites. For the computer
minded, my PC is a Dell
Dimension XPS running
Microsoft Windows XP Professional and
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007. I don't know how to write HTML code so I
rely on
Microsoft FrontPage 2003 for the web layout and underlying code. Graphics, logo
design and image manipulation was performed using
Coral Paint Shop Pro X and
Adobe Photoshop 7.0. My PC has a bevy of other software suites loaded onto
it and everything is protected with McAfee
Total Protection anti-virus, anti-spam and internet security. All web pages undergo a detailed virus scan prior to uploading to the web hosting service.
Optimum viewing of this site is best
achieved with a monitor resolution setting of 1024 x 768 or better.
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