Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Dale, the back end is looking really good. Imaginative design coupled with impressive fabrication skills is really fun to watch and learn from.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks Doug. I'm quite pleased with the progress so far and we're having fun building it too.



We installed the second half of the upper gate bottom then added some filler strips to fill in the gaps. There was one other adjustment that needed to be made. The striker on the lower wall no longer lined up so we shifted it over 11/16" and tacked it back in.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

And that striker Dale, is what it's all about.

Making stuff work just right.

Loving it.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks Rian.


I had an idea recently on how to modify the hood. We're going to try pie cutting it by slicing it on the body line on the side. so to start we drilled the spot welds at the front and removed the front brace and the front piece of the hood.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Looking forward to seeing what you do with the hood!

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

This job I'm just making it up as I go



We started today by clamping a brace across the bottom at the front to keep the width correct. Then made the first cut along the body line on the side. At that point we realized that we couldn't do this project on a couple of saw horses so we made a stand to use the hinge mounting bolts to hold the hood up. With the hood supported properly we went back to cutting and made two vertical cuts 4" apart. We decided to stop here for the night and mull over the next steps. More cutting tomorrow.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

We have also done some finish welding on the back gate

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Dale, the rear hatch is looking good. Curious to see what you'll do with the hood...

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Hi All,

This is Sarah, Dale (65sub)'s daughter. Dad wanted me to fill you guys in since you're probably wondering why the productivity has slowed. Dad was in an accident on Wednesday afternoon.

He was driving northbound when a southbound vehicle left-turned in front of him. To avoid collision, Dad left-turned into the St. Clair River. He was in his yellow '67 C10. He was fortunate to have a good samaritan pull him upright to prevent him from drowning, and a group of people pulled him out of the vehicle. Dad was then airlifted from Wallaceburg hospital to Windsor hospital for treatment. He has two broken hips.

He has undergone surgery and is now stable. The surgery went well.

Rest assured, he can't wait to get back to the ol shop as soon as possible!

---------

Here's some pictures for you to mourn the damage of the shiny yellow truck:
The picture of the truck in the river is of the truck being towed out.

The dock with the flagpole is there to show you: Dad and his truck went into the water approximately as far as the flag pole.

------------

Thanks for being a cool, encouraging group. I know Dad always looks forward to updating you guys, and will be sure to resume doing so as soon as he is recovered!

Sarah

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Sarah, I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad's accident. I hope Dale's not too banged up... but broken hips... that's awful. When I had the pleasure of meeting Dale (and you) at Bothwell last summer, I got a sense of how passionate Dale is about his car & truck hobby. I hope that passion will get him through his recovery and back into the shop where he loves to be. Sarah, it must have been tough hearing about the accident. Thankfully it wasn't worse. Vehicles are replaceable but loved ones aren't.

Thanks for letting us know.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

WOW! very sorry to hear this. Even though the damage to both person and truck is not minor, it could have been worse. My thoughts and prayers go out for comfort and a speedy recovery.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Whoa, Prayers for a full recovery.

Take plenty of time to heal right. Don't rush healing hips.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

I'm sorry to hear about dales accident, hopefully he has a speedy recovery and gets better soon. Thank god the accident wasn't worse. The truck is no big deal, with his skills he'll have it looking like new again in no time.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Very sorry to hear this, prayers for a full and speedy recovery (from the UK) too

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Aaaaaarrrrrgghhh!!!!

That is really not the way I like to wake up, Dales thread is one of my wake up to in the morning threads.

Both hips, and the rest are bad news.

Really sorry to hear that.

This will have to be be a slow recovery and he needs to listen to the physical therapy guys to maximise his recovery and more importantly function of all joints, hips are real important and can take extra attention (this is your nurse speaking)

Wishing him the speediest recovery and thinking of all of you.

Thank you for updating us Sarah.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Woah, sounds like its a good thing the right people were around. Glad your still with us!! Take your time to get well.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Couldn't have put it better myself . Like Rian it's one of the threads I look at in the morning . Glad you are ok an still with us . Luckily the right people were there to help . Best wishes from here in the UK Martin

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Dale, so sorry to hear this has happened. Wife and I will be keeping you in our prayers for a speedy recovery.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Sorry to hear that. Our prayers are going out for a quick recovery.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Yikes!

Get well soon!!

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

im only a bridge away if he needs a nurse to mend him back to health and make him take his medicine. no sponge baths!!! hope recovery goes well, of course i know its not easy just keep looking forward...

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Keeping Dale in my thoughts.

I really hope whoever it was that decided to make a last minute left turn in front of a highly visible truck (I've been in this exact situation, but I took out the other car) at least stopped. If they didn't, it'll just make my blood boil even more - but that's a rant for a different time.

Either way, as I was catching up I saw the "I love Texas" license plate on the wall of your (Dale's) shop...

Texas loves you too, Dale. Get better soon, my friend.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

wow! sorry to hear that I hope the recovery goes fast.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Wow sorry to hear this. ..get well soon Dale..did.the other driver get charged

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

WOW it seems as tho drivers are getting worse. So sorry to here Dale, but glad your doing OK-ish. Take your time getting better, but not too long. Thanks for the update Sarah. Hope to meet you soon.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

awful news, also wishing Dale a speedy recovery

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

This sucks. Hope you have a speedy recovery. Sounds like you made the best of a bad situation by going in the water. Best wishes to you and your family!

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Does anyone on this forum live near where Dale is ??

Does he need anything ? Your country is massive, so I really have no perception of size, and space there.

I have no idea how far he is from home right now, but maybe even a phone call, check in, text, email.....

Just wondering if we can or need to do anything else for him while he is stuck in hospital.

Sarah, Dale, if you read this, please let me know, PM or on here.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

That's a great idea rian, I do live in the same country but your right about Canada being very big and Dale lives very far away from me. Johnny Lamebridge Does live in the same province as him and has met him in person before. I'm sure there are more Ontario members hanging around here that would be willing to help as well

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Hi All,

Sarah here scribing for Dale.

Thank you for your concern and support. Surgery is done and we're just taking care of post-op stuff. Should be home soon.

Dale

Ok, Sarah here:
Dad was tickled by all your messages I think they're what are keeping him most entertained during his long days in the hospital. So thank you for that. When the accident happened he was going to pick up a part for his truck. When I heard about the accident, here was the Order of business: arrange to get the part, find out the damage to the yellow truck, update the forum. Needless to say he has lots of fun and draws lots of inspiration from all of you. As I was reading your well wishes he was like "oh yes, he's the medical researcher" or "he's the young guy on the forum".

Mom is an RN so dads been watched over since the accident. She's only left the hospital once since Thursday. He's got s good team and a good head on his shoulders. Thanks for everything.

Sarah

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

EXCELLENT NEWS.
I AM A FORMER RN, RM, RPN AND SOME OTHER BITS....... So now I know he is in very good hands, I can just say we can all sigh a small sigh of relief.

Get well soon, but respect your injuries.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

X2 Great news, and great to hear he's in such good hands with your Mom

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Really good news, hopefully he'll be back in the shop doing what he loves in no time

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Hi Sarah...

Thanks so much for updating us on Dale's condition. It sound like things are going pretty well, considering the extent of the injuries.

All through the ordeal it appears Dale seems to have kept his priorities straight... parts... fix yellow truck... update forum. :lol:

Dale, we look forward to hearing from you when you're able to get back here...Get well soon!

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

So let's get this straight Sarah you mom is looking after you dad that's great so that means the truck repairs are now your job then . Only joking but glad he's on the mend and in good hands

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks for the updates Sarah. I feel like everyone on there is kinda like family. Glad to here your doing good Dale. Your wife as a RN should really help with a good recovery. When you feel up to it I would like to come see you and your trucks, it would be a great first 2 hr highway drive for my GMC and see your sick burb.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Same here... I'd love to join you. That is, when Dale is up to it.

A cruise to the Old Auto show in Bothwell would kill two birds with one stone, but that's not until august. Maybe some other members would join in?

"Mercy sakes alive... we've got ourselves a convoy!" :lol:

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Sarah Here:

I think that's a great idea, I'll be lobbying hard for him to get on board! there's always the backroads if you don't want to hit the highway.

I'll hope to get him to Bothwell. Bothwell is a very long push for us for the two days, which dad likes to do. So we'll hope for a quick recovery. If anything, we go to bothwell. We were also hoping to go to plunkett's show, which is a good mid-point for all. This will all depends on dad's recovery.

Mom is looking after dad but me working on the truck might make him ill!


Dad's coming home today, whether doctors agree or not.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

Thanks for keeping all us truck guys in the know.

Im envious in a way, awhile back I broke my foot, had to stay home. I was able to read through dozens and dozens of builds.

Always a silver lining in the clouds.

Re: My suburban's Twisted Little Sister
 

I hope your dad makes a speedy recovery, his work he's shown on here is simply magic! I'm an hour away and last year wanted to meet at Bothwell but was unable..I wish him well!