September 2007 TOTM Josh (Harley 356) Verdieck #3

[Speedin Bob]

Good Day Campers!!

Once again we find ourselves winding down another summer with our trucks.

This month's installment of TOTM brings us one of the first members of NHTOC, Josh Verdieck....aka Harley 356. You will have a tough time finding another member that is more enthusiastic about Harley trucks than Josh. That enthusiasm is greatly appreciated and it helps to define the club.

In true '356 fashion, Josh's write up is verbose and thorough. So without further ado...



Question # 1: What sparked your interests in the Harley trucks?
Specifically your Black 2000?
Well back in 00, it was the first year for the HD trucks, and there wasn’t much promotion about the trucks so very few people even heard about them, including myself. And even though now days a stock 00 HD truck just looks like a nice F-150, but nothing all too out of the ordinary, back then it was really a jaw dropping truck being the first American production vehicle to come with 20” rims all around, all blacked out, full leather, etc. You rarely even saw 20” rims on totally modded out SEMA vehicles in magazines and TV, let alone a bone stock truck at the dealership! So needless to say as soon as my eyes laid eyes on the truck it was love at first sight! LoL!



Question # 2: Any interesting stories behind the history of vehicles
you've owned leading up to the HD truck or how you got it?

Since I’m one of the “youngin’s” on the site, there’s not a huge list of previous vehicles. My first truck was my dad’s 1985 Blue & White F-150 work truck. I’ve always loved that truck because it’s an 85, the same year I was born, and we’ve had that truck since right before I was born so I grew up with that truck always around. Of course knowing me, I couldn’t even leave that stock. I ended up totally redoing the interior, putting a decent system in, swapping the 2 bbl carb out for a Holly Pro-Jection TB Fuel Injection setup, catback exhaust, and a 2tone black & silver paintjob with the bottom of the black a flame sort of like the 02’s to divide the colors. Someday I’ll restore it back to the light blue & white colors and back to stock when I have the time & money for a full frame off resto because it’ll be pretty cool down the road when I’m older having the same truck as from when I was born.
As for the HD truck. me and my dad walked into Ace Ford on June 30th, 2000 to drop my moms 1995 Ford Contour off for new brakes, and when we saw the 00 sitting in the middle of the showroom floor, our jaws hit the floor. Being truck # 0356 it was one of the first to hit the east coast, and the only one in NJ. After three of what seemed like the LONGEST days of my life thanks to Ford Credit screwing up, the truck came home with us on July 3rd, 2000, and my mom’s Contour never left the dealers haha. It took doing a 3 year lease & a 5 year buyout for us to be able to afford the truck, so it will FINALLY be paid off this coming July, 2008!



Question # 3: Give me a rough list of the mods that have been done to your truck. I know you've got a lot done, so you can just list for favorites if you'd like!
Wow this is going to be a LONG one! I haven’t updated my mod sheet in 2 years, so most of this will be off the top of my head, but should be pretty close within a few dozen mods or so!


Exterior Appearance:
-OEM 00 Leer Tonneau Cover
-Vent Visors
-01 Tailgate Emblem
-Alliance Logo Emblem Overlays
-Smoothed & Painted Tgate handle & antenna base
-Smoothed & Painted side steps, end caps, bumper pads
-JJent Lower Grille Insert
-02 HD Grille
-Tinted Windows
-“0356” Tailgate Emblem
-Harwood 3” Cowl Hood
-02 Style Sonic Blue Flame Stripes (coming soon!)
-06/07 HD F150 Fender Emblems (coming soon!)
-Chrome/Blue/Black JLP Windshield Banner (coming soon!)
-Sonic Blue Painted Calipers (coming soon!)

Interior/Bed Appearance:
-HD F-150 Floor Mats
-Chrome 03 HD bed tiedowns
-02 logo keys
-Bedrug
-SS Ford Door Sills
-01 Steering Wheel & Airbag
-Carbon Fiber Hydrographic Interior trim pieces
-Billet window/lock buttons
-Billet door locks
-Billet A/C knobs
-Chrome 02 Turn signal lever
-Billet Chickenears Harley Wings
-Billet Chickenears Head Unit Plate
-Billet Chickenears Power Seat Trim
-01 HD Leather Embossed Manual Case

Engine Appearance:
-Chrome edging trim
-Billet Chickenears Radiator Plate
-Black Wire Loom
-DGM CF Radiator Shroud
-Billet Dual Battery Tray
-Billet Chickenears fuse box cover
-Billet Chickenears MAF cover
-Billet Chickenears Hood Bump stop covers
-Billet Chickenears Hood Strut covers
-Braided SS Hose Kit
-Painted blower, plenum, valve covers, etc.

Lighting:
-Lightning Taillights
-Lightning LED 3rd Brakelight
-Sylvania Xenarc HID Headlights
-Clear Lightning Corners
-Sylvania High Performance Signal Bulbs
-Silverstar Fog Bulbs

Engine Performance:
-LFP Electric Fan
-LFP Extreme Duty Radiator
-Stant 170* T-stat
-02 HD Longblock
-Forged Rods
-ARP Head Studs & Rod Bolts
-Steig. Stage II Ported Eaton
-Filled Silencer Holes
-JLP Ram Air Intake
-All the misc. pieces needed for the drivetrain swap!
-LFP Interchangable 6lb lower
-MAD Lower Pulley Adaptor Ring
-Dual Fuel Pump Assembly
-02 HD Engine Bay Harness & Left Side Harness
-02 HD Computer
-Walbro Twin 255 lph fuel pumps & SS Y fitting
-Ported C&L Intake Plenum
-JLP IC Spacer
-Ported Stock TB
-Diablo MAFia
-NGK BR7EF’s
-Outerwears Pre-filter
-JLP EGR Delete Plate
-CF Intake Elbow
-AMW Oil Separator
-Gatorback Belts
-JLP Polished IC Tank

Transmission/Drivetrain Performance:
-02 HD 4R100 Tranny
-02 HD Tranny lines & cooler
-FTVB
-Moroso Deep Tranny Pan
-FT Aux Trans Cooler
-Precision Industries 2600 Stall Converter
-PST Carbon Fiber Driveshaft
-Detroit True-Trac Differential
-Ford Racing 4.10 Gears

Exhaust:
-JLP Bassani Competition-R 3” SS Full Exhaust
-No Cats
-Dual 3.0” SS QTP E-Cutouts
-SS Couplers & SS Extension Pipes

Suspension/Wheels:
-L Spec Bilstein Shocks
-Energy Suspension Polyurethane Rear Bumpstops
-TRW Front Bumpstops
-Hellwig Rear Sway-bar
-Energy Suspension Front Endlinks
-Draw-Tite Hidden Hitch
-So-Cal Shock Extenders
-Ruslow 1000 lb Front Coils with ½ coil cut
-Hotchkis Rear Leafs
-Belltech Shackles on 1” setting
-DL Clunk Washers
-Metco Lower Traction Bars
-02 HD Centercaps
-Toyo 295/45/20 Tires
-16”x7” AR Baja Skinnies w/ 26” Tires
-16”x10” AR Baja Rears w/ 28”x12.5” MT E/T Streets

Electronics:
-Alpine CVA-1004 TV-HU
-Icon DVD Player
-Alpine 6 disc CD/MP3 changer
-Memphis 5x9 front & rear door speakers
-Memphis 250 watt amp
-Subbox.net rear bench subbox
-Two 10” Memphis Subs
-Play Station
-Dual Optima Yellowtops
-Viper 791XV Alarm System
-Lightning Audio 200 amp battery solenoid
-Tsunami Digital Battery Terminals
-Battery Tender Trick Charger
-0 Gauge Battery & Alternator Cables
-JLP 300 Amp Alternator

Instrumentation:
-SW Fuel Pressure Gauge
-SW Oil Pressure Gauge
-SW Boost Gauge
-SW Water Temp Gauge
-SW Tranny Temp Gauge
-SW Volts Gauge
-Innovate Wideband Gauge
-AeroForce OBDII Gauge
-MAD remote mount FP sender kit
-Lotek Triple Pillar Pod
-Autometer Column Pod
-Autometer Triple Overhead Console Pod

Detailing/Protection/Misc:
-Colgan Truck Bra
-Colgan Mirror Bra’s
-California Noah Car Cover
-California Wheel Covers
-Full Zaino Detailing Arsenal
-Pyrotech Racing Helmet

Old Mods:
-HD Bug Deflector
-Cervinis Ram Air Hood
-Keystone Ram Air Hood
-Red Wire Loom
-Coolflex Radiator Hose
-Red Billetflow Idler Pulley
-Headlight Covers
-Slotted Taillight Covers
-2002 HD Heads & Corners
-Streetglow Red Underbody Kit
-Silverstar Headight Bulbs
-Optix Interior Neon
-Optix Engine Bay Neon
-Streetglow Bed Neon
-Air Force One Intake
-Polished Superchip
-JLP Breather
-JDM Superchip
-Polished C&L Intake Elbow
-JLP Thundertube
-Husky Oil Separator
-FTVB for 4R70W
-Ceramicoated Exhaust Tips
-14” Magnaflow SI/DO Muffler
-Single 2.5” QTP Cutout
-Magnaflow high flow SS cats
-Magnaflow Lightning catback
-LFP Long Tube Headers
-LFP High Flow mids & cats
-Dual 2.5” QTP Cutouts
-Belltech 2” Shackles
-JLP 2-3-4” Shackles
-02 HD Coils with ½ coil cut
-Hotchkis Coils with ½ coil cut
-Clarion 8” Camo Sub
-Monster Battery Terminals
-Natural Finish 226 Amp Powermaster Alternator
-Chrome Finish 226 Amp Powermaster Alternator
-4 Gauge Battery Cables
-SW Narrowband A/F Gauge

Near Future Mods:
-Polished 2.6H Kenne Bell
-Polished JLP Radiator Tank
-Misc. Chickenears Billet Caps
-22”x10” Harley Replica’s
-295/35/22 Yokohama Tires
-Rotorpro Slotted Black Zinc Coated Rotors
-Green Stuff Pads
-SS Brake Lines
-PSP Line Lock
-11 Second Timeslip!

Whew! That about covers it, going to be a lot longer as time goes on!



Question # 4: Tell us a little about yourself. Your other hobbies, your job, your favorite past time, whatever!

I’m a full time Electrical Engineering student at Drexel University in Philly. Currently finishing my 3rd year and have 2 years go to because Drexel is a 5 year program with three 6-month co-ops working in the field. My co-op’s have been for the US Department of Defense Naval Surface Warfare Center (NAVSEA) in Philly and thankfully they are paying whatever tuition my scholarships don’t cover so it leaves some mod funds for the Harley! Lol I’m a year ahead on credits and at the top of my class for Electrical Engineering, but in no rush to graduate ahead of schedule, so I’m also doing a minor in Engineering Management, and going to take a few graduate courses to get a head start on a masters degree. Other than that, I’ve been doing construction & home remodeling ever since I was a little kid with my dad. Unfortunately he was injured on the job a number of years ago and ruptured a few discs in his spine and had 2 surgeries that didn’t work, so I’ve taken over the side business and working nearly every weekend in addition to full time school & working at NAVSEA trying to save up that mod money for the HD! With what little spare time I have left, its usually spent spinning wrenches, detailing, or hitting up events with the DelValLO Crew & my gf!



Question # 5: You've been a member on the site for quite a while now, what is one of the best things you like about the site that keeps you around?
Well, I’m obviously obsessed with Harley-Trucks! Lol I was on FTW back in the beginning days, then jumped ship to f150online after FTW got too many stupid advertisements clustering the site up, then helped start up NHTOC when f150online got overrun by trolls and nonsense. The fellowship of the members on this site is what keeps bringing me back. You know its something that brings me back after the stupid nonsense that’s happened before! Haha. When my truck was busted into 3-4 years ago and everybody banned together and raised enough money to get everything fixed in like 2 days I was just dumbfounded. There’s not many clubs out there with that sort of camaraderie! I’ve made some of my very best friends on this site! The members on here are simply some of the best out there!



Question # 6: What is one suggestion to help make the site a better place?
Put the old classifieds back! The new style looks nice, but sales have dropped dramatically! There’d used to be a bunch more stuff listed up, especially on NLOC, and now hardly any stuffs listed, and hardly any stuff’s selling. I used to ALWAYS check the classifieds every day, now I always forget about it. Bring the old style back! More parts will be listed, more parts will be sold, its win-win for everybody!



Question # 7:
This is where I normally ask about where you decided on your screen name at, and although Harley#356 is pretty self explanatory, any specific reason for choosing it?
Back in 00-01 when the trucks 1st came out, there were only a handful of HD owners on the boards so I didn’t have many idea’s to go off of. I just lurked for about 6 months before I ever registered, and it was when the 00 owners were shipped their gift packs with the build date and build # that I saw the truck was #0356! I went online and couldn’t find anybody on the boards with anywhere near as low of a number, so I made my screen name Harley#356! Knowing now that Ford is on an endless quest of building HD trucks every year I probably would have picked something a bit more indicative of the truck like 00Harley#356, or knowing how big the HD club would become maybe something like “Drought Buster” or “Budget Buster” since newb’s always register up and go with like “Harley#xxxx” and that gets REALLY confusing lol, but with 4,500+ posts on FTW, 7,500+ posts on f150online, 16,500+ posts on here, I don’t want to change my screen name now!



Question # 8: Almost at the end, what is in the future for your truck? After 7+ years owning the same truck, most guys get bored and move on to something different rather than modding even more, so what’s the next plan of attack for your trucks future?!
My 85 and the HD are two vehicles I will NEVER sell! The 85 is eventually going back to stock with a frame off, but the HD, it’s a never ending vicious cycle! I’m waiting til over the winter to do any more performance mods so I can see how the 2600 stall converter, 4.10 gears, Detroit True-Trac, and JLP Bassani Competition-R 3” Full Exhaust that I did this past spring perform at the track this fall. Going for 12.0 on the eaton this fall! Then over the winter its just 2 big mods for the truck this year. Polished 2.6H KB, & 22” HD Replica’s! I’ve got a few mods in line for in the next few coming weeks also but nothing major. My 02 style flame stripes in sonic blue just came in, updating the fender & tailgate emblem to 06/07 HD F-150 emblems, and finally doing the brakes with black zinc coated slotted Rotopro rotors, Green stuff pads, SS brake lines, & PSP line lock. And to finally get the exterior colors matching the engine bay and the new stripes I’ll paint the calipers sonic blue and swap the orange for sonic blue on the JLP windshield banner. Oh yeah, most importantly, getting a custom chrome, sonic blue, & black 16” FUZION memorial decal for the center of the bottom of the cowl hood!



Question 9: Last and final question, just an open end question for if you had anything else you wanted to mention that I didn’t have a question for...here's the place to go at it! Your website link, a plug for something, etc. etc. whatever you want to throw in!

Not much else to say, just one request! Anybody who got a FUZION memorial decal, please take a pic of the decal on your truck with you standing next to the truck pointing to the decal! Or at the very least a pic of the decal & your truck! We’re trying to get a NHTOC dedicated tribute video together, and we need a bunch of shots of those Fuzz memorial decals!! Barely any have been posted yet!!!

Lastly, I’d just like to say thanks for being honored with his award! I put a LOT of time and effort into this club, which is hard to find time sometimes with how busy I am, so it’s nice to get a little recognition once in a while! Also it was a nice little early b-day present because my b-day is Sept. 15th! PM me for my addy to ship mod presents to! LoL!

And with that, I would like to say on behalf of the entire community at NHTOC, thanks for being a supporting member for all these years, and for always being there to help everybody out!! Congrats on TOTM September, 2007!

[greyhd]

Congrats Josh

[bgstew6]

COngrats....!

[huot5]

WAy to go Josh, I gotta get the Fuzion decal pic together....

[marioec]

Congrats Josh !!!

[01harleydude]

congrats........

[Snake]

Awesome! Very much deserved Josh -- I think we'd be hard pressed to find a more heavily modded truck on the boards or a member with more HD knowledge than you. Can't wait to see you in the 11's!

--Snake

[WHINE-N]

Congrats!!!

[Hoffmann]

Well,what else can I say,seeing the efforts and everything you have done for your truck and the community,it's a well deserved TOTM...your truck looks great,and even more for being a '00...awesome

congrats Josh !!!

[SCBQQSTN]

well deserved. congrats!!

[Shadow6492]

Congrats Josh!!

[I8ACHEVY]

congrats josh

[NZ HD F150]

Wow. I want an 00 now. Lol. Thats alot of time and effort put into your ride and it sure has paid off big time!!!! Congrats Bro.

[Oh My Hog]

Congrats Josh!

[Black 2003]

WTG little buddy!

Later...
Bruce