Thank you to all our Veterans. It is humbling and and awesome to see how many of our Stovebolters are servicemembers/Veterans. Please keep them, their families and the sacrifices they have made in your thoughts as we celebrate the holidays.

In their honor, we present this powerful PowerPoint presentation (it's a big file/an entire song with images), sent to us by our "Sir Links-A-Lot" (Bruce Michaels, MSgt, USAF).

IRWIPI 2005 Winners

The Great 2007 Stovebolt Relay

New Tech Tips

Two New Sagas

New Links

New Hoo-Ya

Big Thanks

Bolt Stats

End of Year Sale

NOW until DECEMBER 15

Jim Carter wants to thank you for all your support during 2005. "It has certainly been a time of growth as more truck owners discover the large selection of parts we provide. As a way of saying thank you, we are offering a very unusual December Sale: 20% off all part-numbered catalog items on orders over $100. What a great time to get the truck parts you will soon be needing!!

You may order on line at www.oldchevytrucks.biz or call us at 1-800-872-1913. Merchandise must be in stock. Hurry -- don’t be disappointed. Sale ends December 15, 2005.

Must use code JC71 to receive this discount.

The Great 2007 Stovebolt World Relay

     Picture yourself rolling down the road in your Stovebolt, with a Great Stovebolt World Relay flag spanking in the breeze out on your fender. You look in the mirror and there is a line of Stovebolts as far as you can see, all caravanning with you to a cookout just for Stovebolters. At the cookout, there is already another fleet of Stovebolts, the owners, family and friends just waiting to eat drink and be merry with you, then take that flag on to its next destination.

         With winter nearly upon us, we are progressing toward getting our plans made for the Great Stovebolt World Relay in 2007. The Strategic Plan is pending final approval, and the Operational Guidelines document is nearly to the approval stage. Some of that would be greatly improved by some input from all of you Stovebolters out there. We have a couple threads for discussion of the various details of the relay that we have considered, and there are also a couple of threads giving you more information regarding how we see the event working.

What we are trying to say is that the details of this event are not yet carved in stone, and now is the time to see what we are up to and to get your two cents in. We know that there are ideas out there that we haven’t even heard yet.

         Another area needing your attention is to help us get some Stovebolters plugged into our volunteer roster. We need flag carriers, local event organizers, route planners, and several other jobs filled. The most pressing thing we need at this point is for some legal minds to look over everything we are doing and to make sure we are doing it right.

         Mike J (Dakota) and Frank Anderson (Fumblin 46) have cooked up a cool “put your pin in the map” interface to make it easy for you to volunteer to carry the flag, and to let the route planners have something graphical to work with. Be sure to check out the Great Stovebolt Relay forum and review all the threads. Give us your thoughts and get signed up. If you set your browser to see all threads instead of just the last 30 days or so, you can go back and read the original stuff we posted explaining the relay.

         So back to that picture, rolling down the road in your ‘Bolt … What are you waiting for? This event will be different than anything ever done by a car club, or any other type of internet community. We are a unique group, and this event will showcase that to the world. (I’m guessing that those guys driving the other brands will be copying us …). After all ... The Stovebolt Page has been cutting edge! Some are already referring to this as a "Woodstock event!"

Brad "BradB" Birdnow
Coordinator

      Dale Hamilton needs to get himself a Stovebolt! However, a B Model Mack is pretty cool old iron, too. Dale had an earlier saga on taking this behemoth on it's first trip -- what a hoot. After submitting a piece for the Alternative Gallery, we just had to know how he transformed this Super-Chromed Wonder. So, quite the story-teller, Dale sent in this saga - both informative, fun and heartwarming.

Not just another restored dinosaur

           In the course of fitting out my boat building shop in anticipation of retirement, I came to the realization that I needed a big truck. Naturally the sensible thing to do would have been to go out and buy a used Freightliner. But that wouldn’t have been the cowboy way. So, I eventually tracked down and purchased a 1964 Mack B-67 live axle tandem tractor with the 673 turbo charged motor. If any antique truck could be regarded as truly an icon of the American highway, this was it.  For two years it sat behind the shop intimidating me, as I had never tackled anything on this scale. Finally increasing pressure from my buddies caused me to roll it into the shop and start on a full-scale restoration / improvement project which would allow upgrades to modern day technology and creature comforts. This was not to be just another restored dinosaur.

          A 673 Mack Thermodyne had replaced the original 711 sometime in its life, and as it had excellent compression, I decided I would not need to open the engine. The old duplex transmission (truly an iron-clad coelacanth) had to go. It was swapped for a 15-speed triplex which gave me an honest 70 mph road speed at 2100 rpm. The tin work, however, was another story. I could handle the front end sheet metal, the fenders and doors, but the cab would have to go to Terry Stegal, the Doctor of Sheetmetal Science, the Wizard of Welding -- who eventually would have to fabricate 40% of the cab from new steel.

           The day came when a back hoe showed up at the shop door ...

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       A tale of true endurance, survival and perseverance ~~ a classic Saga. Stu had provided us with one of our first saga's and now, we have the continuation! Stu started a '51 Suburban ground-up restoration, and somewhere in between restored a '62 Chevy II station wagon for a daily driver. Then a Mercedes enters the scene. Here's the "teaser."

         Well heck. Now I'm four years into the restoration, the annual local car show is in a week and the magnum opus is at a virtual stand still.  Once I got the cab and body parts primed and sanded down with 400, I stopped dead in my tracks. Not only that but I made the fatal error of starting another project as well. Here's my tale of woe, recanted so that you, dear reader, can profit by my folly.

         After 10 years and 290,000 miles of faithful service hauling mail, my '84 Toyota pick up and I are breaking up. I think I'm having my mid‑life crisis early. To say that the beau geste shown me by the faithful "toy" has been taken for granted, that I'm now spoiled, is putting it mildly. I have totaled over a quarter million miles on the same engine with very little peripheral repair. But men are easily bored they say and I have had my head turned by a '62 Chevy II Nova Station wagon. After coughing up $750 and enduring five days of intense negotiations with a very crafty, 80 year old lady, I got a one owner classic with very little rust. And it's running.

Keep in mind "spectator value"

         All this happened I believe, because I balked at painting the Suburban when the weather turned cold and wet. My mind began convoluted logic contortions which lead me to ignore the truck and search out more misadventures in the realm of auto restoration. But heck, I spend the better part of the work day in a car and I was getting tired of driving a non-descript imported piece of iron with no real passenger flexibility, no eye appeal and certainly no spectator value. I was bored with my Toyota and I wanted a fun driver. And this, the Suburban will never be. I will probably have to take valium every time it leaves the garage. And God help the first person that scratches it.

         Gotcha? Come read the entire Saga (with more pictures)!

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