Found the
dash is tack welded in and that is bad news. We talked about removing the entire dash to re-wire it easier but not now. Now, it will be a tougher, longer process. But at least we know before that process got too far along.
In mid-October and Craig and Dan worked on reducing the shelves in the garage and organizing the space. Craig and a few others pushed the truck into the garage so Craig can work on it this winter in his heated garage. I doubt this truck ever was in a heated garage in its life and once the finishing touches are applied, out it will go again into the elements.
I got an email from Danese from Patricks in Arizona congratulating Craig and me on our efforts to to properly restore this truck correctly. She also invited us to come by for lunch if we are ever anywhere near them and tour the shop. I assure you I will go out of my way if I am close to them.
With the dash apart, Craig removed the vacuum motor for the wiper blades and it worked. Might replace it as I just cannot risk this failing at a later date.
Craig installed the
replacement master cylinder and the rear engine mounts again. Replacing the motor mounts helped the situation outlined earlier and obviously we needed to replace the defective brake cylinder. He also discovered the body mounts are nearly gone after 64 years so we will need to figure out if it is worth replacing them. That would involve lifting the body off the frame and that has a lot of issues associated with it.
Craig told me that he dropped off the
front exhaust pipe so a shop can make a new one with the donut shape at the manifold. The guy got it done in a day!
He dropped off the generator at a shop to be tested and check out the brushes and such. The generator would be completely rebuilt and done for a mere $79. Two days in a row now where things came back less expensive that I thought.
Now that October is almost over, and so much has gone on, for the first time ever, I dreamt that I drove the truck. It was very slow and hard to drive and somewhat noisy. The top of the gear shift knob kept unscrewing from all the vibration while I drove. Yet, the dream as a pleasant one and short.
I wonder how it will really be when I have the real opportunity. I have a feeling it will be like riding a bike for the first time. Excited, yet very afraid.
I plan on going out there after the first of the year to assist with some final details to get this truck ready to ship to me in Pittsburgh. Hopefully we can complete his work by the end of January 2014. I would like to get my part done and be driving by spring.
