Thanks to this month's newsletter sponsor --

          Nice time to be thinking about a radiator, eh? Well, just because the weather is turning cooler doesn't mean yer ole buddy up front can just be forgotten! Now is as good a time as any to get that radiator taken care of -- take care of it and it will take care of you, so check out Truck Radiators at Radiator.com.

          They have *All Makes & Models * Aftermarket & OEM * Wholesale Prices * Salvaged Radiators * Used & Cheap Radiators * Lifetime Warranty

 

Are you ready for this stuff again?

          Bob Townsend from Laramie, WY sent us this picture of his '47 last year. If this was Halloween, it would make a pretty scary truck!

          Bob has since sold his "Big Ol' Honkin' Farm truck" to a landscape business in San Francisco. So, the old Stovebolt is still working!

          Thought this would make a good word picture for the new Search feature on the menu bar (see story below). Remember those comments " ... like finding a Stovebolt in a snow storm?" This must have been where that saying originated!

 

 

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December 15 update

2004 It Ran When I Parked It photo contest

          Okay, okay. Even though our theme was "no voting allowed here," we softened up a bit. I mean, how can we have a "People's Choice" winner unless we actually hear from you all (geez, politics). So all the votes were cast and professionally counted by Fred Scott ("joker").

          Here's the line up:

** NEW ** NEW ** NEW ** NEW ** NEW ** NEW **

 

Guest Forum

          Our first "Guest Forum," The Chrome Forum, worked really well and thanks for the good participation and feedback! We've saved the forum pages and will incorporate the rest of the information over the next few weeks. Thanks to Bobby Baker, too. He's going to send us some pictures of Classic Finn's grille going through the chroming process. Ought to be interesting. And you'll see it here! We hope to do a few more of these in coming months as a more interactive and informative way to pay for running the site than just plastering banner ads all over the place.

Links

      A big thanks to Woogeroo for sending us a batch of new links for this month. Here they are, as well as some pulled from from the Forums.

• D&M Restoration -- They repair speedometers and other guages
• Athey's Classic Truck Parts -- '47-'72 truck parts. In Front Royal, VA
• H&H Classic Parts for Chevrolets -- '55-72 truck parts
• Harmons Restoration Parts -- '47-'80 truck parts
• Old Highway Truck Supply -- '55-'80 Chevy truck parts
• Classic Chevrolet Parts -- '32-'80 Chevrolet Pickup parts (cars, too)
• Classic Industries -- '47 to current year Chevy & GMC truck parts
• Early Classic -- Specializing in suspension parts for '60-'72 GM trucks
• Grumpy's Truck Parts -- '47-'87 Chevrolet & GMC fullsize pickup parts
• Tucker's -- '47-'87 Chevy truck parts
• Vintage Chevy Trucks -- '67-'72 parts
• Deals on Wheels -- Nationwide classifieds
• BelAir Parts -- Specializing in '49-'54 Chevy passenger car parts

 

FAQ's ~~ thanks to Norselander for helping with these FAQ's for use in the forums

          Well, it was good to see many of you update your profile in the forums. Now FACES to go with the names (well, you can look at them if you really WANT to -- although here's a mighty friendly group!). We've added instructions with images on "How to post a new message" and "How to post pictures and images" in the forums. We have more in the works.

 

Search ~~ Doing the Stovebolt Google

          If you think finding stuff on the site is overwhelming, join the club! The site is really packed with helpful information -- not only from our regular sections (Tech Tips, FAQ, Sagas, etc.) but also most of our readers submit some really great detail with their Gallery submissions. So, we've added the Stovebolt Google to the menu bar.

 

Feature

You ... naaa ... Your STOVEBOLT ... oughtta be in peechers!

          We got some email last month from the "Picture Car Coordinator" of Charm City Picture Cars looking for a particular truck (older model GMC with a manual transmission) to use in a television episode of America's Most Wanted.

          (Can you imagine having a job like that -- someone PAYING you to hunt down old vehicles?) That's really Jackie's job ... "to find the director the vehicles he or she wants for a show. My most recent shows have been "Something the Lord Made" for HBO and "Tuck Everlasting" for Disney .... I've seen your website before while looking for vehicles."

          Jackie thought one of the trucks in the Gallery would have been perfect but location was a concern. Between location, the short notice of her contact and the truck needing to have a manual transmission, we ultimately weren't able to help her ... this time.

          "The manual transmission was essential to the story," Jackie explained. "Evidently the girl they kidnap kicks the truck out of gear. I've found a guy who has an 1982 GMC. However I just found out tonight that it's an automatic as well. Sometimes we cheat a little so I'm looking for a 1982 or so Chevy with a standard transmission to pretend to be the interior of the GMC. If you know of anyone, let me know. I'm definitely keeping you in my files and will get you up to work for me at some point."

          The rest of the story? Well, the show aired November 13 and they ended up using a Ford! To give us an idea of what goes on, Jackie sent us a story on "Something the Lord Made" and Josie O'Donnell from the Baltimore Chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America had participated. We thought you'd enjoy the story.

          So .... besides just getting your Stovebolt picture in the Gallery, you might want to include a few more details / location (as we mentioned earlier) so when someone does a search for "three on a tree," your Bolt just might become a STAR!!

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Stovebolt Hoo-ya Store

          Well, there's not much new but we did a little tinkering on the mousepad, lunch box and a tile coaster using George Mills' 1946 Chevy 2-Ton Flatbed grille. (The CafePress people were looking for some volunteers regarding their site. In exchange, they helped us get this one right!) The mousepad is Steppenwood's (John Sandoval) 1945 Chevy 1/2-Ton. We were kinda inspired by all this chrome talk in the forums! We'll still be tinkering in the store ... got a lot of neat calendar pictures to square away!

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From the readers:

From Barry Weeks -- "In the recent "ebay forum" thread, I saw a few complaints that the Swap Meet was hard to use and not user-friendly. I view it everyday and find it very easy to use, so I'll tell you how Ken (Motion Guru) taught me to check it a couple years ago.

          "At the top of the home page click on "Swap Meet." When the Swap Meet comes up, click on the red "browse ads" right in the middle of the page. Bang, there's every ad from all catagories posted in the order they were placed. This morning there were three new ads. None were of interest to me so I backed up to the home page where I started and clicked on Forums. This morning, I timed it and it was a 12-second detour on my way here (to the forums). And I'm on dial up.

          "A couple times a year I place some ads for parts for sale on the Swap Meet before I go to eBay with the parts. Would rather give the guys here first shot and it is much easier for me than the eBay hassle. I'll admit that the Swap Meet won't take my regular user name that I use on the Forums (Barry Weeks). I'm a pretty simple guy and can't remember lots of new, different stuff, so I skip the space and use BarryWeeks for my Swap Meet name. Same password and everything. So yes, I do have to remember to leave the space out when I log into the Swap Meet. I can do that. If I have problems, I know I can ask Joy for help and get personalized service. For this she is paid the same as Tony gets for being moderator. Let's see, multipy by 12, divide by 3, carry the 1, that would be ... $0.

          "John and Peg have never charged anything to post ads on here either. So my total cost to advertise some parts on here, including help if I need it, is $0. Same cost for a wanted ad if I'm looking for parts. My monthly eBay bill when I sell parts on there is staggering, so I'm thinking the Stovebolt Swap Meet is a pretty good bang for the buck really. And I can't get any help at eBay!

          "On my recently placed ads here, I have had little response, but if I do sell something of value, I will be sure to send John and Peg a little donation to help keep the site going. It's only fair. My recent ads here took me about 20 minutes to place and cost me nothing! I have no complaints here, and really appreciate Joy keeping things inline over in the swap meet."

          Appreciate those comments, Barry. We are going to use the information from this thread (as it's on-going at Press time), and make an FAQ to help folks use it smartly. We are looking into some updated classified software, probably very similar format (we know how people react to change!!). Also, in the Swap Meet, several Bolters had suggested a Freebie section. Well, that's there now, too. That was a good idea. "I'd rather GIVE my stuff away to a fellow Bolter than send it off to the dump" -- a comment made by several Bolters, including Joe W (TooManyToCount), who was the first to place a freebie in the Swap Meet! Good on ya!

From Chuck and Tammy -- "Hello. I was just dropping by to say that you have a wonderful site for the truck lover and for people like me that although are not new to the whole mixed grease and blood thing that flows thru your veins, I am new to this site and am really impressed with its direction and control over posts that have nothing to do with the related site. I am a member on several other sites as well and do not read the posts as often because of the topics and the content. It's a shame because I've become good friends with some wonderful people I've never met, and I don't visit as often as I should because of a few apples that are hanging on the orange tree. Once again great site ... hope to learn alot. "Canadian"

          The forums do get a bit lively (is that an understatement?) at times. Folks get off topic some times. But I think everyone can agree that good truck stuff is going on here! AND some great friendships are being formed. We do have some changes in the works -- but you'll just have to wait and see what shakes!

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And in case you've missed any of these ...