Happy Father's Day!

      You might want to give your family some hints of what you want / need / can't live without. A nice place to browse is this month's newsletter sponsor ~~

      A household name among woodworkers, Rockler has incredible sales, regular clearance items (so check back regularly) and new items. Plans. Books. Videos. Stuff for finishing and sanding. Glues. Kits. Hardware. Wood Products. Hmmm ... this stuff should come in handy for "making a Stovebolt bed."

      George Well's gave us the heads-up about Rockler when he sent in the pictures of his completed 1946 Chevy 1/2-Ton. Man ... that trunk is totally cool!

      "I built the side rails and bed from Philippine mahogany because the color went with the color of the truck better than anything else. I also built a trunk out of oak. I had to have somewhere to keep some tools and things so the trunk seemed to be a good choice.

      "The plans for the trunk came from Rockler (a woodworking catalog outfit). The hardware is also from them. I put in about two months of Saturdays building it. It's not for the beginner but not all that hard to build. It's bolted down using two bolts through the bed strips. Milling the grooves for the bed strips is a snap if you have a table saw. I guess it could be done with a router also."

~~ George

Wooden Model Kits- TRUCKS!

Making Toys

Free Catalog

On-line Specials

Sales

Clearance

New Items

      You've been working hard, eh? If nothing else, get their catalog so you when you're sleeping at your desk, you can at least dream of some cool stuff you can make.

      Or if your Stovebolt's not done, why not build a wooden one (for now)!

ROCKLER

May Vitals

3,025,727 Hits

Information Overload

May Vitals

96,311 Unique Visitors

LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS

NEW VIN DECODER

  Last month, we brought you the new publications section with a great start to the library of restoration books. And now we are going to fill your head with even more INFORMATION!

  Links, links and MORE links! We've alphabetized all the links that are in the Lots O' Links pages so you can just take a casual stroll over 480+ of them.

  Big thanks to Squeeze for all his link-checking on this!

Okay, here we go.
Queen playing in the background

I want it all

I want it all

I want it all

and I want it now!

  Fumlin46 has been working on a VIN Cruncher to be set up on The Stovebolt Page. Right now, he's got Chevrolet trucks from 1929 through 1955 Second Series. He hopes to add GMC, as well as GM trucks made in Canada and other countries. And then, some pictures to go with them. Awesome!

  It's all in the data! Check out The VIN Cruncher and participate in his testing. And if you're able, lend him a Stovebolt hand with gathering some more data!

Father's Day Saga

Two Girls and a Guy (Dad) in search of ...

Cylinder Index?

    After restoring two Stovebolts and a (a ... a .... Ford), what do you do for a retirement project? Kimberly McDowell goes on quite an Adventure with her Dad.

       "Over the years, Dad has rebuilt a few old trucks: a 1946 Ford, a 1963 Chevy pickup, and my 1954 Chevy pickup that he rebuilt for my husband and me as a college graduation gift. He only kept one for himself -- the ’46 Ford (I have both of the 'Bolts). All of the projects have been hobbies and have resulted in fun, drivable vehicles."

       “Last year, my Mother was contacted at work by the elderly mother of the man to whom Dad sold his dream car in 1968. As they talked, Mom brought up the ’59. The woman was quite certain that the car was sitting forgotten on the old family homestead. Thus began our family’s clandestine search for “the car.” My Mom, my business partner (and both of her parents), and I all tracked down the man who bought the car, all without telling my Dad about our search. To our disappointment, we learned that he did not have the car. Instead, it had been sold due to a divorce and nobody knew what happened to it."

       "Then, in February 2005, I spied a ’59 Skyliner on eBay. After consulting with my folks, I bid on the car and won! From the pictures, we knew it was in bad shape, but it was a starting point. My Dad, my youngest sister, Melissa, and I arranged for a trailer rental and planned the long trip from home (North Dakota) to Ohio, where the car was.

And the trip begins ...

      Come read our newest Saga. A real Father's Day treat.

And you'll need to see the two Stovebolts ...

1954 Chevy 3100 5-window

1963 3/4-Ton Chevy

  What's a cylinder index? Shirley, you jest?

  When you signed up to use the forums, didn't you wonder what the heck "CI" was for?

  Thanks to some of the "old guys" of the Bolt (Barry Weeks, Joker, Kip, Jim Bow, Jeff Nelson), we've got a really funny thread going about it. And the source -- Minnesota radio's Garage Logic!

  Figuring your CI is simple -- just count all the internal combustion cylinders you own, working or not, and presto! Your CI! 

  "The higher your Cylinder Index, the better off you are," reports Barry Weeks, noted Stovebolt Greybeard and Garage Logic fan. "A motor laying on the garage floor counts. Your boat motor or gas powered weedwhip counts. An air compressor cylinder does not count, as it's not internal combustion.

  "Your CI should at least equal your age," Barry adds. "The older you get, the more cylinders you should've accumulated. If your CI is lower than your age, you need to get going and drag some junk home. A rural person should naturally have a higher CI than an urban person, due to having more room to keep good junk around. My CI usually runs around 100, but varies as I buy/sell or trade trucks or engines."

  There's even an Institute for Cylinder Appreciation and they have an official ruling page! So, if in doubt ... check it out!

  And John says, Father's Day is a great excuse to bring home more junk a/k/a adding to your CI rating!

  You don't want to get caught with a low CI!

The Great Stovebolt World Relay

Stovebolters plan a "massive road trip"

By Brad Birdnow (BradB)

      Peggy mentioned needing to get something together for the June newsletter regarding the relay, so I thought I would save her some time and submit this. I was talking to John on the phone a while back and told him that I have a dream of making a massive road trip once my '47 panel is done -- just to meet as many Stovebolters as possible. I told him that I realize that it is unlikely to get many of us together in one place, given how spread out we are, so I thought I would just travel a bit and look a few of you up.

      John's comment was, "You know, that has the makings of an event." He suggested that he get a flag made up that I can take to the next 'Bolter, and we can pass it from person to person, including sending it overseas, and eventually getting it back here, to return to me. Then I would ship it to John for Stovebolt Headquarters. A "Rolling Reunion" was what John called it.

      We talked at some length and decided that this was not something that can be thrown together in a short time, so we arbitrarily picked two years from now for the event. That gives people time to plan, and time to get their trucks ready. We kicked around a lot of ideas, like sponsorships for instance. I was thinking that a major sponsor or two could benefit a charity of John and Peg's choosing, and perhaps even defray some of the costs they incur in running the website. I thought that my brother, the Chevrolet dealer, may be induced to fund my body work if I let him put his signs on my truck for the event, then use it in his local advertising. I was also thinking that the women's shelter here in Cedar Rapids (one of my wife and my favorite charities) could benefit by my signing up individual sponsors to pledge either a flat amount or a per-mile amount to be donated to them for my participation.

      One other sponsorship idea that has come up in forum discussion was to seek a local business, antique car club or public service group to throw a picnic at a campground or on somebody's back 40 for each overnight stop, maybe even lunch stops. Keeping in mind that all such plans and schemes have to be approved by John and Peg, I would like to invite all fellow Stovebolters to check out the new forum that John has set up to brainstorm about this event. There is a thread to sign up to carry the flag for a leg (or part of a leg), threads to discuss ideas on sponsorships, events to try to hit, venues to seek publicity and anything else you can think of to bring up. There is also the original thread from the Greasy Spoon where this idea was first brought up and kicked around.

Rolling Reunion

      The purpose of this event is not to get the flag around the world, or raise a lot of money, but to get as many Stovebolters face to face as possible. If we can accomplish some other good things as well, then more power to us! As you can see, there is a lot of planning to do. John is letting me moderate the new forum, and the purpose of that is to give everybody a chance to have a say. As I envision this, there will be a lot of planners, from someone to plan the overall event, to people planning individual legs and even planning local events at stopovers. Way too much detail for one person or even a small group.

The worldwild family of Stovebolters

      Ideally, I would like to see the Stovebolters all jump in and make this a super event, without requiring anything much of John and Peg other than guidance and maybe a few command decisions. I would like to hand them a done deal, a prestigious worldwide event that will bring more Stovebolters into the fold, and respect and fame to The Stovebolt Page. I want to show the world what kind of family we are, and what we can do together.

     Steve Hooper had so many folks ask him "When ya gonna paint it?" "What color ya gonna paint it?" And "I know a guy who will paint it for ya." Amazing, it happens everyday, he reports!

      So, Shooper had us make him up a hat and some stickers:

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