For every gearhead, picking up a classic car to work on as a weekend project is the dream. And if that vehicle happens to be a classic pickup - even better! There's nothing like reworking and tweaking the motor for some extra horsepower, fitting in some new lockers, and putting new tires on that classic pickup.

And once you've been able to fit all the modifications to the vehicle it's time to take that dream adventure trip and conquer every mountain. Cue all those amazing Instagram shots of you next to your classic pickup with beautiful vistas in the background.

This being said, there are a number of classic pickup projects you should just steer clear of for their "own unique reasons." After all, classic cars (all of them!) are well-known for breaking down.

Also, it's worth mentioning that there's a work-and-enjoyment-balance factor that needs to be reached with a classic project pickup. If you're working on it every weekend to enjoy it for a few miles, most will eventually just off-load it to the next keen motorhead. But if you are a sucker for figuring out issues, sourcing parts, having to do an interpretative dance to communicate what you need for your pickup, then we'd strongly suggest maybe buying an old Land Rover Defender, as you can always get your money back in the secondhand market, even as a donor car. This being said, you're unlikely to make a return on investment on the pickups we're about to suggest.

So, before jumping on that "amazing classic pickup project," here are our top classic pickups to avoid because they're a mountain of pain!

9 Mazda Rotary Pickup

What more could you ask for from a pickup project vehicle? It's rare, fun, as well as having all those old-school looks that everyone loves (check those flared wheel arches). Not to mention this is a Mazda fanboy's wet dream, with its four-port 1.3-liter 13B four-barrel carburetor engine.

But unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks. The first is that they are gas and oil guzzlers for their size. The model sold 14k units in its first year in North America and the following two production years only saw 632 units sold. The redesigned second model sold 1,161 units. The car was launched during the energy crisis of the 70s and many point to this as being the reason why sales were so bad. But we'd beg to differ.

1973 Mazda Rotary Pickup
Via:pinterest.com

The main flaw of the pickup was that rotary engines don't produce torque, which is a problem when you're hauling items between A and B. Next, Americans love a pickup with a loading space to fit an entire house into, but this little workhorse was too small.

If you're planning to work on this classic now, you'll need major confidence as rotary engines just don't last. If you find one with 100,000 miles on the original motor you've found a miracle. Not to mention you'll need to have a good understanding of how a Wankel engine works, how to service it (as no one is going to help), and to give it the constant maintenance it requires. Also being compact in nature will make them difficult to work on if you have sausage fingers.

8 Cadillac Mirage

1973 Cadillac Mirage
Via:mecum.com

While the Mazda Rotary Pickup is considered to be a rare find, this is literally the needle in a haystack, with only 200 examples ever being made. If you're lucky enough to find one of these in a barn you can expect to sell it on anywhere between $7,150 - $48,000, depending on the condition.

If you do buy one of these rarities you're going to have major headaches when working on them. The first issue is the fact it's rarer than many Ferraris, including the Enzo, which only saw 400 units being built. They were also built by Traditional Coach Works, with no input from General Motors, which means these were handbuilt. Handmade has benefits and downsides.

via Pinterest

And if you're working on this yourself, the downside is that everything is going to have to be fitted in place. It's all custom work. No shortcuts. So, in short, super rare, expensive, and an absolute nightmare to work on.

7 Ford F250 6L PSD

Courtesy The Diesel Shop

Would you look at that, a Ford F250 6L PSD on fire... It was recalled in 2009 as Fords equipped with the Texas instrument speed control deactivation switch could leak internally and then overheat, smoke, and burn. This would happen if the motor was on or off.

It also had electrical system faults that could potentially melt or ignite adjacent components, which again, could cause a fire. A Ford F250 from this era is basically a Roman Candle of a pickup truck.

Courtesy We Be Autos

Not to forget that the head gaskets were prone to blowing due to poor quality construction and the turbo won't work properly after some time. We wished they pushed production on the 2006 F250 Super Chief instead...

Related:

The 2006 Ford F250 Super Chief Concept In Focus

Anyway! If you do want to work on an F250, you might as well just keep the shell of the vehicle and replace everything under the hood and interior. Also, the lights were deemed an issue as well. Now that we've trashed that truck, on to the next one!

6 Honda Ridgeline 2006

2006-Honda-Ridgeline-RTL-with-MOONROOF-2HJYK16536H504077-5760

No one is a fan of a 2006 Honda Ridgeline. Even though it's been awarded numerous prizes over the years, according to Wikipedia.

]But users of the vehicle have reported that it suffers from peeling paint, rusting, electrical faults, and it's generally considered the most unreliable Honda vehicle ever made. However, we must add this only extends to the 2006 model year, as the company learned from its mistakes and improved over the years. We've spoken about this model on this website before. As a project classic pick - leave it alone!

Related: 10 Times Honda Actually Built Unreliable Cars (And 10 Built Like Tanks)

5 Subaru BRAT 1976

1978 Subaru BRAT
via BaT

Let's just get the general knowledge out the way, President Ronald Reagan owned a 1978 BRAT. Also, the name is short for "Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter", a bit of a mouthful. However, despite that, it was a fairly popular car during its production time. While it was classified as a pick-up truck, it wasn't. The BRAT has no towing capabilities and its loading bay is very small. So small in fact they thought they'd add jump seats into the loading bay for fun.

10212158-1983-subaru-brat-std

Which meant you couldn't store things on the flat-bed part of the truck and this made it a four-seater. These are just general complaints, but in regards to working on it in the garage, its four-wheel-drive system is incredibly complex for a home workshop. Unless you're comfortable playing with axels and gears - leave this one alone.

4 Lincoln Blackwood 2002

2002 Lincoln Blackwood Pickup
Via: Pinterest

The Blackwood has been getting a lot of hate on the internet. Then again, what hasn't been trolled by the web? The Lincoln Blackwood was only in production for one year, then it was removed from the market completely.

Related: The 20 Worst Pickup Trucks Of The 21st Century

Remarkably, it was a concept vehicle that barely changed from its debut at the 1999 Frankfurt Auto Show. While it might have wowed people at the stand, the ultra-luxurious vehicle wasn't practical. It's a pickup with a loading bay boot cover, which makes it useless for hauling large, tall items between destinations A and B.

Its name came from the fact that the concept vehicle had a blackwood-lined loading bay, which was replaced with plastic in production. Perhaps it should have been called The Lincoln BlackPlastic instead.

Lincoln Blackwood's "truck bed"
Via: Lincoln

Then there's the fact it has the chassis from a tenth-generation F-Series... which means you might as well save some cash and work on one of those instead. F150s have tons of spare parts available, compared to the rarity of the Blackwood. Then, in regards to finding those tiny details to finish your restoration project, it's going to take a lifetime to source.

Also, it was clearly a rush job at Ford as the dashboard come straight out of an F-150... so, buy a Ford from the same era so you can use the loading bay.

3 Chevrolet K2500 1997

Via: Chevrolet

Infamous for its rust problem, the 1997 Chevrolet K2500's front cross member, which goes under the driver and the passenger side, tends to disintegrate over time. Also, it was built with a weak frame and chassis, which isn't great for a vehicle of this length...

Related: 10 Pickups That Are Notorious Rust Buckets (And 10 That Never Rust)

If you're looking for a project car this isn't it as you'll need to remove a lot of the unseen rust under the bodywork.

This is a pickup that was only good in its prime and warranty. If someone says it's a rust-free unit take a magnet with you when viewing it.

2 Dodge RAM 2500HD 2012

Dodge Ram - 2500HD 2012

While there have been many versions of the Dodge RAM 2500HD, the 2012 model had its issues. Namely, suffering from a death wobble, excessive vibrations, and finally steering at high speeds. We're not sure if these are issues you want to live. Any other terrible classic pickup trucks to work on?

1 Nissan Frontier 2008

Via: YouTube

Yes, the Nissan Frontier from 2008. While some car faults can be fixed or lived with for some time, the fact that the number one issue with this year's model was the fact the transmission fell out and had problems, means it is a no-go.

Fixing any car's transmission is a headache, and when it's truck - it's worse.

Avoid.

So, these are the classic pickup trucks that are a pain to work on. But if you're looking for a challenge, well, go ahead and buy one of these money pits!