Necessary Therapy

It’s been two and a half years.

Let me repeat that. It has been two and a half years since I last blogged! Where does the time go?

I have had a little distraction… something called… starting a business from scratch. That adventure deserves its own blog but has been rich with experiences. Long hours, seemingly insurmountable odds but wouldn’t trade it for anything… …kinda like the truck. Did I quit on the business? No. Did I quit working on the truck while all of this chaos was going on around me? Hell NO! ( I feel like I am channeling Belushi via 'Animal House'... "did we quit when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor?") LOL In fact, working on the truck was what I would call…  ‘Necessary Therapy’. I needed the occasional distraction and working on the truck was just the thing.

Here’s the fast-forward on everything I’ve done in the past couple of years. Don’t forget, this was my dad’s truck from when he as teenager in the 1950’s. This truck has been in the Edmonds’ family longer than my mother! Everything I am doing to the truck, I am doing because I think it is what my dad would have wanted.

• ·       Re-made the custom gear shifter. Wasn’t happy with version 1.0. Version 1.1 (actually failed while I was driving it. Yikes!) V2.0 and V2.1 were also not quite right, so witness version 3.0. It is solid and sleek! I know what you’re thinking and you’re right, I have a problem. But! My dad always said, “Anything worth doing, is worth doing right”. So I am just following orders.
• ·       Rebuilt the 8 inch rear end with help from non-other than… Pat Tate.
• ·       Replaced the steel bed and put in new oak support slats (thanks again, Pat)
• ·       New glass in the door-windows, rebuilt the roller/runners. They both crank up smooth and slow (for the first time in my life)
• ·       Fuel Level Gauge custom install, after another rod shop said it could not be done. Lost a button on my shirt on that one J
  
• ·       Added Old School hub caps that match the 40’s-era steel wheels. These are the kind of hubs that Ralphie’s dad put the lug nuts in  - in “A Christmas Story”. Remember when Ralphie said ‘fudge’?
  
• ·       Welded in the bottom skirts of the rear fenders which had well… well they had dis-integrated.
• ·       Added a 1933 pickup radiator cap ( I love it because it was ‘period’ and a really cool looking greyhound albeit one year off from original spec). Two different people have mistaken it for the modern Jaguar hood ornament. It’s a dog, not a cat. Tsk, tsk. As if I would do something so cheesy.
  
• ·       I picked up an original 1932 horn ( think “ahh-oooo-ghaaah” ). It is slow to wind up but it has THE most authentic sound. Sounds as if an old goose is complaining about having to fly south. LOVE it!
• ·       I built a stake-body from solid oak stock and bound it with stainless steel hardware. I think it was a nice touch. I plan to 'age' the wood and add some period signage. Stay tuned. I think you're going to like it.
• ·       Engine upgrades, I said ENGINE UPGRADES! Can I get a woo –woo?
• o   I replaced the original camshaft with a ‘Comp’ performance cam – Oh my.
• o   I replaced the original intake with an edelbrock performer intake (Oh My Goodness) to accommodate the…
• o   Holley 4-barrel carburetor – OH  MY GOD!!!
  

The horsepower increase is amazing, not really necessary, but SO MUCH FUN!!!

That's all for now, I just wanted to keep the blog going but I have one parting shot. We all live under daily pressures. It could come from work, family, financial, health or any other thing that gets under your skin. To cope with it, I highly recommend that you find your own 'necessary therapy'. And if you can't think of anything to do, give me a call and I'll put you to work on mine :)