BOTHELL — After nearly 10 months fixing Navy vehicles on the USS Abraham Lincoln, you’d think the last thing Ryan Brewer would want to look at is anything on four wheels, right?
Wrong.
Brewer came home Tuesday to his grandmother’s place in Bothell and there it was, parked behind the barn: His 1985 Ford F-250 pickup, two-tone gray with an old red pinstripe and a blue tailgate, complete with mud splatter, chipped paint and some rust spots.
"The body’s straight, though," Brewer said.
While the 20-year-old mechanic worked under hoods of support vehicles onboard the Lincoln, parts for his truck piled up in a closet back home.
His grandmother, Dottie Brewer, never knew how much comfort she’d get from deliveries of chrome roll bars and off-road lights.
"It made me feel like he was going to be home pretty soon," she said. "It made us anxious for him to get back."
Brewer spent his free time on board the ship ordering parts online to spiff up his ride. He bought the truck from his uncle for $5,500 just before he left. So far, he’s spent about $3,000 fixing it up.
"Since I got home, I’ve been rifling through parts," he said, noting that fixing vehicles on the ship isn’t the same as working on his own.
"When you’re working on your own vehicle, it’s a personal thing. It’s something you can call your own, and there’s more satisfaction to it."
Some parts are missing, some are the wrong size, but Brewer figures he’ll manage to get the truck customized within a couple weeks.
"The whole time I’ve been gone, I’ve been looking forward to this," he said.
He’ll spruce up the rig with some basic off-road parts, including four fog lights across the roof and two on the broad front bumper, a new roll bar, "nerf bars" (the chrome tubes that run alongside the truck, under the doors). He also has a new CD player and will paint the truck jet black.
The 460-cubic-inch engine doesn’t need any help, though (translation: pretty darn powerful). It was once used to haul a 5-ton trailer.
Brewer will add some cosmetic extras to give the engine more of a racing-style look.
"When I’m done, it will be the most satisfying thing," he said.
But it won’t be the last.
His next project will be a Ford Mustang, either a 1966 convertible or a 1967 Fastback. He doesn’t have one yet, but he’ll start "looking for a good deal" soon.
Brewer’s interest in cars doesn’t surprise his grandmother, who remembers him as a youngster by his father’s side.
"Ryan was always out there with his dad, getting in the way," Dottie Brewer said. "You know how kids are, tools come up missing, a few choice words are said."
Brewer stays in Bothell with his father, Matt Brewer, and grandmother. His mother, Barbara Brewer, lives in Mill Creek. He’s looking to buy a house somewhere between Bothell and Naval Station Everett.
Brewer said he’s amazed by how much has changed since he left on the Lincoln’s deployment last summer.
"All the trees are gone," he said.
He is still on a rotating duty aboard the Lincoln, spending one day on the ship and three days off until May 27.
Then, he’ll go on three weeks of leave, when he plans to show off his refurbished truck.
"I’ll be catching up with old friends," he said. "After that, we’re back to a normal work schedule and we get down to business, getting her (the Lincoln) ready for the next time we have to go out."
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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