Detroit man rebuilding '35 Ford pickup for 5,000 mile road rally

DETROIT (WJBK) - A Detroit man is preparing for the road trip of a lifetime -- but he's under a tight deadline. 

Mike Boryca has just weeks to finish turning a Motor City Classic into a road warrior. He's worked for months rebuilding a 1935 Ford pickup.

He and a friend signed up for the Alcan 5000, a 5,000 mile road rally that races from Seattle to Fairbanks, Alaska. He's driving his truck all the way to the start from Detroit -- roughly a 12,000 mile roundtrip. 

But Mike had to start building his truck almost from scratch. 

He brought his truck to his garage in Detroit from a family farm in Illinois, where it had just been sitting for several years. He knew this was the perfect opportunity to bring it back to life. 

He's been working on it since October 2017, and has about 8 weeks left until his drive begins. 

"I tore it down to the frame and started building. I rebuilt the transmission, welded up various mounts and things on the frame, had lots of things sandblasted and powdercoated, then started reassembly," he told us. 

He says he's spent most of his weekends working on the truck, as well as a couple hours every night during the week. 

After all that work, he knows he'll still be ready to race. He'll be fueled up on caffeine; Detroit Bold Coffee is supplying him java for the entire trip. 

This year's drive to Alaska takes place August 20-28.