Okay, it’s time for an update. I know, it’s been a while. Believe me, I know. Work has absolutely consumed me but that has actually been a good thing. In spite of it all, I HAVE been able to sneak a few hours in the garage with what my wife calls my new mistress… a.k.a. ‘the truck’; funny how your passions evolve as you get older. And frankly, I can’t argue with her.
As a younger man, when I fell asleep at night, I would dream of heavily oiled bodies, thinly-
clad and well… those bodies were ‘smoking’ to say the least. Now, as an older man, approaching ‘geezer-hood’, I am equally likely to fall asleep dreaming of a heavily oiled piston, in a thinly-bored cylinder producing absolutely no smoke. Don’t laugh, it’s true. There’s something to be said for an engine that is not moody, grumpy, post-menopausal… or put another way… dependable, consistent and generally friendly. Are we still talking about engines ? Hahaaa! Anyway, let’s re-focus, a few things that I have done since we last talked…
Speedometer – I actually have a speedometer that works! The original would not connect with my ‘modern’, 1964 transmission. So, I had to purchase
a newer speedometer that would receive my speedometer cable. Hamp, at Hamp’s Speedometer repair was INSTRUMENTAL in getting me going. There are a number of different nylon gears that vary by drive-side and number of teeth. Hamp helped me figure it out and I am forever in debt. Thanks Hamp! Hamp is also an avid motorcycle fan (BMW’s primarily). He works on any type of speedo; old or modern, Prius to E-Class Mercedes. If you’re having dashboard problems, give him a call. He will be able to help at a very reasonable price. http://www.hampspeedometer.com/ 
Custom Shifter – Okay, remember the “Rat-rod” posting? Well, let’s revisit that thought. The idea was that, if you are mixing an old car with more recent parts, you are going to have to fabricate some parts. Like… if you are not crafty and creative, your ride is not going to roll. Period. Think about putting a ‘late-model’ transmission in an early Ford pickup. Fast-forward to creating a shifter that will connect to a 1964 Falcon 4-speed and be functional in a 1932 Ford cab. Further complicate the whole process by realizing that the 1964 4-speed has a reverse-lock-out mechanism that was not replicated in any other production car application. If all of that is mumbo-jumbo, let me analogize by suggesting that… you are on a deserted island and you have to save yourself with only a fingernail file and a stick of chewing gum. Consider that and get back to me :) Anyway, after multiple rounds of trial-and-error, I finally have a gear-shifter that fits the cab and… works the reverse lock-out mechanism. Fun, but I wouldn’t want to do it twice!
Emergency Brake – ‘Henry’ actually put an E-brake on the truck originally but… and this is a big BUTT!, it doesn’t fit with the new chassis. Wow, pretty shocking eh? This is a fairly important piece of equipment for a manual transmission vehicle, because without it, you can’t leave the car running if you get out of it. With the Mustang rear end, it was fairly easy to find an e-brake setup, but to connect it to the original long-throw e-brake handle in the cab was a different story. Stay tuned, I am still working on this one. I don’t plan on losing the battle, but I’ll let you know how it turns out; either way.
The Welder – Okay, last year I bought a really old lawn “tractor”; a 1967 Sears Suburban - forerunner to the Craftsman Tractor. This was the last of the ‘damn-near’ tractors that people used to cut their suburban lawns. It’s as old as I am! ( and admittedly, it looks a little better). It has plowing attachments including a furrow, a ‘granny-gear’ that can pull up stumps and a 48-inch cutting deck. It needs an over-haul which will happen this winter but the best part is that while I was negotiatin
g this Craigslist purchase, the guy threw in a Lincoln mig-welder. He said it wasn’t working great. So I said “What the heck, I’ll take it”. I didn’t know anything about welding, but wanted to figure it out. As it turns out, there were a couple of wires that were crossed on the unit. I also added a gas kit and BAM!, I’m in business.. It works great! It is so cool to be able to ‘glue’ steel together. I feel like there’s nothing I can’t fix and I LOVE to fix things! Bring over your tired and huddled masses and we’ll get ‘em fixed up! So now armed with a ‘metal-fixer’, I start working on the all the
body damage that has occurred to the ‘Henry’ steel body parts over the eons since this old ‘girl’ was born. I am in the beginning stages of repairing the body of my old mistress. My first project is the rear fender that I have not been able to find a replacement for anywhere on the WWW. I figure, this fender is so far gone, there is no way I can make it any worse, so I dive in. “I’m going in”, I say! I cut and weld, and weld and cut, then, I grind (or should I say ‘grinded’?, I don’t know.) down all the welded seams, until they were perfectly smooth. After the purchase on an angle grinder and some special pads, I was amazed at how smooth I was able to get the ‘high-hipped’ fender. As I ran my hands over the well-rounded smooth curves of the fender it remi
nded me of those well-oiled bodies I used to dream of in the ‘days of old’. Lost in thought and memories, I find myself rubbing my hands back and forth over the newly formed body parts, tracing the undulating lines from curve to curve; velvety-smooth… and I had to ask myself, ‘Are we still talking about the truck?’ LOL! I’ll let you decide but until the next time… Peace to you and yours!
