Before restoration work began on the 1985 Toyota forklift.

A former General Motors dealership technician with a penchant for restoring vintage items has almost single-handedly restored a 1985 Toyota forklift.

Paul Short ,who started automotive repair business Specialty Repairs in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada with his wife Kathy 14 years ago, tells Forkliftaction.com News the couple "didn't think they'd end up doing some of the things they are doing today".

Besides repairing cars, Short and his wife were asked by their customers to do machining and welding work. Before long, they had accumulated all types of specialty tools.

"Our regular day consists of vehicle repairs, welding and machining but after a little while, I decided to start restoring some unique items I would find around the local area," Short says.

The items included old vintage gasoline pumps, Coca-Cola vending machines and coolers, vintage Honda motorcycles and children's pedal cars.

"We built a special 1,000 sqft (93 sqm) building just to display all the stuff and all our customers enjoy viewing it all when they drop by for a visit," Short says.

The couple soon discovered that they needed help moving disabled vehicles and other heavy items that were brought in for welding.

"Living in Newfoundland and being on an island, we don't get a lot of choices when it comes to buying used machinery but eventually I found a Toyota forklift.

"It was a rough-terrain machine and that's just what I needed.

"[However] it had spent the last 20-plus years working at a local fish plant and was very rusty. It looked terrible and needed a lot of work," Short explains.

Short says he just wanted to make the 1985 model "look better" but when he bought it for CAD2,000 (USD1,885), his regular customers who saw it would say "I bet you're going to do something really cool to that machine".

"Well, for me, that meant I had better not disappoint them and restore it as good as I can," Short adds.

The project took on a personal meaning for Short when Kathy located the forklift's serial number on its frame and discovered that the forklift was one month and two days older than his youngest son Daniel.

Kathy's role in the project was "the most important one", Short says. Before restoration work could begin, Kathy did "all the searching for parts, manuals and even researched the forklift itself".

"We had trouble finding the serial number on the lift and after many hours of research she located the area on the lift in which to find it. Without the serial number, we would have come to a dead end before we even started," Short says.

Short started restoring the Toyota by removing all the parts to be rebuilt or replaced. He used high-pressure water to remove the old coat of paint and a self-built, big sand-blaster to cut through the rust. He ordered new mast bearings and new cylinder kits. Some of the hydraulic cylinders were sent for re-chroming.

As the original Toyota engine hood was too expensive to replace, Short fabricated a new engine hood and rebuilt the motor by replacing all the gaskets, oil pan, bearings, rings and valve stem seals. With the transmission, he replaced the filter and fluid. He rebuilt all the brake lines and replaced all the hand brake cables and the ratchet.

Short then installed new tyres, and primed and painted the forklift. Due to the machine's weight, all the work was carried outside his shop. Before winter arrived, he used his new Kubota tractor to push the not-yet-running forklift into his shop.

While it was indoors, Short fabricated a sun visor, a rear light bar and a custom storage box for the forklift out of checkered plated aluminium. "I even placed checkered plate around the frame and it was really starting to take on a new look." Short says.

He then replaced the steering wheel with a custom wheel and redid all the wiring on the forklift. After that, he added special lights with guards that he had fabricated and air horns, and installed new dash gauges with LED lighting.

To complete the forklift, Short removed its worn-out charging system with its outdated external voltage regulator, and installed a new GM alternator with a built-in voltage regulator. He also custom built new mounting brackets.

The 1985 Toyota forklift is completely restored with some customised features like checkered plate aluminium storage box and sun visor.

"After that was done, I had the motor up and running and it was sounding sweet, especially since I removed the old exhaust system and custom mounted two chrome exhaust stacks in the rear of the lift," Short says.

Short says he accomplished all this with an investment of CAD4,500 (USD4,150) in parts and materials and during his spare time over four months. The forklift is now used on a daily basis.

Short adds that he learnt from his experience that "if you're going to restore a forklift, it would be much better to have another forklift help with the lifting".

"By the time I purchased our new Kubota, the heavy parts of the restoration was completed," he says.

But the hard work has paid off. "I am very pleased with the outcome. I have a machine that complements our business and is practical to own. The old forklift actually looks like a new one. Customers love seeing it and some even took photos of it," Short says.

To view photos of the restoration work, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15602393@N05/