I had a long weekend and so actually got most of the “gotta do” things done.  This resulted in time to go parts hunting at the old car junkyard. 

Parts hunting is interesting because you don’t need a license and the bag limit depends on the size of the truck that you brought with you.  I have been known to take the Miata when going to the junkyard, thus limiting the amount of “gotta have it” stuff that follows me home.

I was specifically looking for trim pieces for the ’63 Mercury dash that I am intending to install in the truck.  I got the instrument cluster a year ago at the big Denver swap meet.  It has some serious wow factor.  I like it because of the ‘50s art deco look with lots of chrome.  It also has a lot of “shape”. Continue Reading »

With the 19mph winds turning today’s soggy 37F into a bone-chilling 27, the weather here would’ve been more conducive to Football than Baseball, but the High Plains Little League Minor Rangers & Twins toughed it out in Falcon for their first game of the season.

Slugging their way through what could have arguably been called the “All Time Best Game in Little League History”,  the Rangers’ catch of the Twins’ last inning pop-fly would ensure this one went into the books as a tie.

These are some tough little dudes for sure, but we’ve also got to appreciate the coaches, ump, scorekeeper and a myriad of other volunteers who could’ve been warm and comfy at home on a day like today, but chose otherwise and decided to give their valuable time to making sure these kids have an opportunity to:
“Play Ball!”

After getting the lucky special wheels for the ’51 I determined that the truck was too narrow.  Clearly the problem was not with the wheel width.

 The proper course of action at that point was to make the truck wider.  The problem was that I had already welded the cowl to the frame.  I got to use my plasma cutter to remove the beautiful cowl mounts that I had recently fabricated and installed.  The plasma cutter is quick but not neat. 

After I got the cowl cut loose I noticed Continue Reading »

Somewhere along the way I decided that the ’51 needed a cool steering wheel.  The stock one was good at pointing the truck but it was big and ugly. Did I mention that it was ugly?

I was thinking about a wheel like the one that was in my first car a ’57 Lincoln Premier.  It had lots of chrome, black and white two tone and a really neat emblem in the center.  After a brief internet search I found a picture of one and discovered that the years had improved the look of the wheel in my memory.  Sometimes you don’t want to look at cherished memories too closely. The Lincoln wheel did have lots of chrome and a neato emblem but it was almost as big as the truck wheel. Continue Reading »

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