Call it old school.
Students at Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School are now in possession of a 1947 Mercury half-ton truck. They’re not driving it, though; they’re restoring it.
Dave Torrie, a broad-based technology teacher at the school, had been searching online for a vehicle to be used as a restoration project in class. That’s when he came across the Mercury. It been in a man’s garage in Oro-Medonte for the past 35 years.
The school received approval to purchase it, and it was recently wheeled into the Patrick Fogarty shop.
“We saw it as a great investment,” Torrie said.
The students will start by stripping the body from the frame before working on brake lines, wheels and other parts.
“We’ll slowly restore the parts that need to be restored,” Torrie said, adding the project will likely take a couple of years to complete.
Tyler Huffman is looking forward restoring the truck to its former glory.
“I like hands-on work. I like getting my hands dirty,” said the Grade 10 students, whose grandfather had a similar vehicle. “I just want to see it finished.”
It will be a great learning opportunity for Huffman, who wants to become a mechanic.
“Trying to figure out how to get fenders and body parts off will be the biggest challenge,” he said.
Finding the necessary parts that need to be replaced could also be tricky, said Torrie.
“Trying to match up that era’s styles and parts with stuff we can find now will probably be the biggest challenge,” he said.
And that’s OK. It will be a bumpy ride at times, but that’s all part of the learning experience, Torrie said, adding the final product will remind students their work was worthwhile.
“They’ll have pride in their work, that they’ve been able to see it through, and, hopefully, see it driving around Orillia someday,” he said.
The project will benefit from the support of a couple of local auto shops that have come on board, but Torrie is open to hearing from others in town who want to help out. There will, for example, be a need for parts and a facility in which to complete the painting and detailing.
Other schools that have had similar projects have sold the vehicles to recoup costs, but Torrie isn’t yet sure what will happen with the truck when it’s finished.
“We’re not in the business of making money,” he said. “We’re in the business of educating kids.”
