tell me if you think this was meant to be,...? oh yea, first post and intro, Im mark!

 
ive had this disease now for a long time. its a sickness and once i got it in my blood, i cant seem to shake it. does anyone here have  restaurants in your DNA? anyway, had a 75 seater and then a 300 seater fine dining Italian restaurants that were regional well known. 10 yrs hiatus and i now i have (2) 24 ft P-30's that im currently building out at the same time for some mobile food madness. why i didnt get enough from the first two restaurants to just walk away and stay away but any of you folks that 'early on' got it in your blood, you know the deal, eh?
 
this is why i couldnt say no: was buying projects to fix up and resell from our local scrap metal/recycler like zero turn lawn mowers, cast iron wood stoves, old cars, ect  when a alum step van drove in to the scrapper and was sold for scrap metal. I got the registration from inside and called the company who has route sales. they told me that they only had a commercial windstar van but had a cpl of step vans coming avail soon. with that i made a bid of 100.00 or 5% obove other bidders on the windstar which i bought for 180.00 and sold that weekend for 2400.00. got a call from same company and they released 3 trucks for bid. with 1650. of the 2400.00 from the windstar i  bought the 2 1994 diesel step vans and 1 2001 Ford box truck 150K. my bids were 500.00 each or 5% above any other bidders and crazy as it seems, got all three trucks. the ford box truck sold that same weekend for 3900.00. to a sherriff in south ga. it was really a nice truck and thought about keeping it for support and storage but i needed cash.
at this point i still have 4700.00 profit in pocket from the deals.
 
i posted a want ad on craigslist for unwanted stainless and aluminum sheeting and unwanted or cheap used restaurant equipment. heres a list of deals i got:
1).  bought 2 80 lb gas fryers, 3 ft flat grill 2 ft char grill, 5 ft stand, 2 eye burner, 1/2 size convection oven, and lots of grease and dirt for 600.00 for all of this equipment! and yes it was nasty!
2).  bought 6 eye range w/ full size convection oven and 12" auto slicer for 600.00 (both pieces).
3). 2 1/2 sheets stainless for 30.00
4)  5 100# propane tanks for 500.00 including 4 were full of gas
5). 4 compartment sink, panini grill, 5 ft sandwich prep, 7 stainless tables various sizes, 2 reach in coolers (1 is a pass through and opens on both sides) industrial can opener and knife magnet bar, 2 stainless hand sinks, lots of small wares, all for 1000.00! the kicker is the guy selling needed the $$ so badly that he delivered it from north atlanta to columbus ga for 60.00 gas money, 300 miles round trip in ford f150 pulling a trailer.i know its crazy but i know this is god sent, believe me!!
gotta remember this is all from profit from the first 180.00 windstar and im still paying bills out of this $$.
6). 36" sandwich prep cooler bought for 75.00 from maaco when i showed him the truck for paint.
7). 55 gallon fresh water tank delivered to a small town nearby. craigslist search in atlanta for 40.00
8). 8kw honda generator elect start. used 2 times. 200.00     13,500 starting amps
 
here's stuff i had in my old restaurant that Im pulling out for free: 2 8 ft stainless vent hoods, 6 ft stainless 4 bowl sink, various shelving, 2 door freezer/cooler combo, 1 door heat and hold box, 1 more generator for 2nd truck.
 
here's my wish list:
Im still begging or buying stainless sheeting and alum diamond plate if theres a good source?, vent fans for both trucks, no tank water heaters (2), tablet computers w/ credit card swipe and cameras for security tied to tablets, (ill explain that one later), large windows to sell through x 2, 2 pass through windows for drivers side. ill post pics as soon as i can with a diagram of my layout which i doubt has been done before but i could be wrong. also need some salvage or vintage neon to compliment my
'bistro a go-go food truck'logo ill use some old transformers from old beer signs to run the neon. also need graffix or partial wraps on both vans.
 
oh yea, i forgot to mention the very best part, both stepvans have 4' deep step in coolers with a cold plate in them. the coolers go the width of the truck. just plug them in and run the coolers as freezers or coolers at night and they hold temp all day. if they kick on its briefly and work great. the thermostats were set at -20 degrees and they held it easily. i turned them up to 37 degrees so they wouldnt freeze tira misu.  see what I meant about the whole thing is a gift. I personally think its my deceased family members getting their wings but thats another thread all together. Ill post more but any comments or suggestions are appreciated.
 
one more thing, i still have 5 stainless tables i wont use, a slim line gas steamer floor model that has a 3 gallon soup kettle, 4 well gas steam table, cappucino machine, ice cream machine, shelving, commercial hobart microwave, single keg cooler, hobart mixer, heat lamps, rotating pretzel machine, popcorn machine, 5 ft flat buffet table w/ heat lamps, round pastry glass case cooler, fryer, ect that i wont be using and ill trade these items for stuff i can use...?
 
does anyone agree that this was meant to be?  my background is marketing and sales and feel im a good promoter but i need to get by the laws in georgia and would love to talk in person with anyone in the know. ill do it even if i have to build out something but have other ideas im working on. my phone is 706 three22 43seven nine in case you can help or just chat. id love to talk to a georgia crew thats succesful thus far so thanks for the sounding board and the forum. i may even be a contributer soon. thanks all, regards, mark

Damn, that was some sweet hustling you did to get all that. I wish I built my food truck smart like that. I'm still dinking around and I'm almost broke. How much time did all that take?

Welcome Mark!!

Wow...you got some great hustle in you.

the process started around the first cold snap back in december when i found a wood burning stove with queen anne legs at the scrap metal buyer and when i picked it up next day is when i saw the first step van being crushed so the whole deal took less than 30 days although todays is feb 25th so its still going on. the 'windstar to step van' deal took 10 days +/-, then the equipment phase was over the next 10 days or so.
hey, you guys call it hustle, i call it avoiding hunger. kinda like a squirrel gathering nuts for days ahead. if this happened over a yrs time id say it wouldve been a planned project but literally i had been praying for a sign of what i need to do with myself so i had this gift dropped in my lap. there was no way to screw it up, atleast not yet. i know the real hard part is working the truck but i think Im a better chef than a deal finder so lets see what happens next.
 
still wanna chat with other georgia folks with mobile kitchens, anyone avail to pick your brain? call me. ill be posting build out pics asap. thank all.

Thanks Mark and welcome! I say thanks because you inspired me beyond my current level. Opening a b&m in a few months and your post was another important link in the chain.

any georgia folks hangin' out on this forum? or any other areas where a commissary is the rule of the day?