Haven't posted in a while

[cptstickfigure]

Between working on my project car and moving to the new house, I haven't posted much lately, mostly because there's nothing much to report. As rough as it looks, my '64 kept right on running.

Now that the project is back on the road, I'm starting to look at the truck with a more critical eye. The cab is pretty well shot (rusted through in all the usual places), the heat is iffy, the door handles and window regulators are sloppy, I'm still running drum brakes, and the wiring is downright scary.

I decided to make a scouting run to the local junkyards last weekend in the hopes that it would help me decide what to do with the cab. (Try to patch the bad spots? Replace the whole cab?) Well, my scouting run ended up taking the whole morning.

I ended up at a little yard I've never been to. The lady at the desk said they only had a couple of pre-1980 trucks, and nothing older than 1975, but I figured I'd take a look anyway. Glad I did.

I've never gotten around to lengthening my T5 shifter, mostly because I don't have a replacement if I screw it up. I figured if nothing else, the new S-10 shifter I picked up would make the trip worthwhile.

A little farther back I found a 250 in a clapped out '70s pickup. It turned over so well I had to pull the valve cover to make sure I wasn't just spinning the pulley.

Finally, waaaaaay back in the back, second from the last truck on the lot was a 65-66 C60. Score! It was rusted through in all the same areas mine is, but I figured I'd grab some of the plugs and whatnot, make a list of big parts to come back for, and call it good.



On closer inspection, I saw that this truck had not been touched in a very long time. It had big, thick, classic haunted house spider webs running between the doors and dash, and there was evidence of generations of mice all over the seats. Great.

As an aside, I always seem to need parts out of the really nasty cars. Piles of wet trash, evil mouse piss smell, spiders, bad vibes, the works. I actually bailed pulling some parts out of a '40s IH earlier this year because it gave me the creeps so bad.

Anyway, I opened the door expecting the worst. I was surprised to find that the door actuators worked very well. And the cab didn't smell bad. Kind of nice, actually. It just smelled like barn--dirt, old grain, and maybe a faint whiff of mouse somewhere in the background.



I started investigating the spiderwebs, which were full of big, weird bugs. Apart from a half-dead horsefly, I never saw any hint that they were still being used. Fine with me. The last thing I wanted was a big ol' spider crawling up my sleeve while I was poking around under the dash.

Right, on with the scavenging. Damn! This thing had a COOL old aftermarket turn signal! Yoink!



The wiring harness was in pretty good shape, so I just pulled as much of it as I could. What the heck, right? I was going to leave the ignition switch and key, but in the end I decided I liked the keychain too much.



By this time, I was really getting attached to the truck. I checked the glove box, hoping to find some more information on the previous owners (or maybe some cool swag), but all I found was a big ol' mouse nest.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. I had enough parts to cover my projects and a long list of stuff to come back for (including some SW gauges on a nearby flatbed), but I wasn't sure what this yard's pricing was like.

As I spread my haul out on the front desk, the lady at the counter looked shocked and asked me where I'd found them. Apparently, they have no record of this truck being in the yard.

All told, I spent $20, which was much cheaper than I expected. The yard here in town wants $10 for a proportioning valve. If I'd known how far my budget would stretch, I'd have grabbed a few more parts. Guess I have something to look forward to after payday!