Martin's mi-STRESS, 1965 Long Fleetside C10 "Rebuild in ENGLAND"

[Grizz1963]

I will be doing these updates in photobatches of 10 photos maximum as Volkszone only allows 10 photos to be posted at a time.


For the trip we decided it was best I pick up Martin in my company car as I live another 30 minutes further from the airport than he does.

I was awake at 03.30 and headed to his place by 04.25 to pick him up.

This was done as the M25 motorway is totally unpredictable, and with car parking, transfer to the airport and then check in, security etc, we neede to be neurotically early for our 11.50 departure.

All this was achieved, including a massively overpriced breakfast at Terminal 5 where British Airways depart from.

11 hrs after departing London Heathrow we landed in at DFW Airport.

After checking in with our ESTA status verified, finger prints taken etc, I ended up in a loooooong wait to get my Passport checked, no rubber gloves, thankfully, but Martin who had walked straight through to baggage reclaim, had to wait about 45 minutes for me to get there, then there was a second Customs agent station to get through, we chose the wrong Q and ended up waiting for all sorts of disabled grannies in wheelchairs, off international flights to be given priority over us......

Eventually we made it out of the airport onto a bus that would take us to the Alamo car rental depot for a fast check in.

We had opted for a medium sized car at £614.00 for the period, unlimited mileage and a full tank of fuel to startups off.
The agent gave us the options of a Jeep, Ford or a Chevy Captiva.
Obviously, going to a Chevy gathering at Clem's we could not arrive in a Ford and the Jeep just seemed small for the spares we had bought and planned to collect along the way.

So we were off eventually.

SatNav set for Searcy, Arkansas which is where Ta2Don lives, we knew we wanted a few hours away from the city limits of Dallas before finding a hotel.
At this point we had been awake from the equivalent of 9.30pm USA time the day before, no sleep on the plane at all.

So we hit the i30 motorway and drove as far as Sulphur Springs and checked into a Best Western Hotel. $100.00 down, breakfast included.
We crashed by about 11.00pm US time and we're both awake by 04.00 or thereabouts.
Breakfast at 06.00 then to a local Walmart for a mobile phone SIM card that we ended up returning as we could not get it going.

We eventually hit the road from Sulphur springs around 11.00am back onto i30 with mouths agape at just how many old cars were on the side of the road, some for sale, some not.

Of course as tourists, and truck guys we loved all the cars, trucks and stuff flying by, many old cars, trucks etc that the U.S. Takes for granted made the trip already worthwhile, 250 miles in.

Headed into Texarcana we settled into an easy pace on the speed limit.

Then we passed a Body and Hotrod shop, seeing these cars outside, and took the next off ramp and drove back on ourselves along the service road with SatNav protesting loudly........


THIS WAS OUR ROAD TRIP GETTING REAL.



We went inside, shop empty, then through the service doors leading to the rear...... Nobody.

Zombies?

So I shouted a couple of Hallooooo's and got a reply from out the back door, saw a small lady in work clothes come toward us, turns out she does all the body work, prep and finishing on the cars. Enquiring about the lack of staff, she replied "Lunch time"
Can we take a look around? Take some photos? "No problem" she replied, telling us about the cars in the shop and what they built. Generous people these Texans.

So the first photo I took..... (Because I do take loads of photos) was this one of Martin next to a lead sled that was being built. Look at the firewall, and front end with the electrical actuators to get an idea of where they are headed. Much work to be done still, but it will be good with electric flip front, air ride, solenoid openers on all doors, trunk lid etc.



Other cars included 60's Fastback and Convertibles Ford Mustangs, as well as this gorgeous beauty.




We were told Scott, the painter and John the mechanic would be back in a while.

Next we heard the unmistakable rumble of large bore straight through pipes and Scott pulled up.

Niiiiiiiiice...!!





I just Loved the headlights.



Of course we had gone out to the side of the building to take a closer look and met Scott, a super nice guy, again, totally humble and unassuming.

Told us the car had belonged to his dad, who had removed the 4x4 running gear, he then later fitted Air ride to it all.
Next up will be a Big Block.

We then got joined by John with his bag of lunch in his hand, got chatting about mods and the lights on Scott's truck and at one point he looked over to Scott and said "Do we have some more of them there lights?" Which Scott confirmed.

He then asked If we would be interested in a set, Martin and I looked at each other, asked him how much, as we already knew they were 24volt LED, ex military application lights, that would cost around $1000.00 a set fitted when the Hummer was built for service in Afganistan and other places. John replied "How about three?" We looked at each other and Martin asked "How much?" To which John replied "Free, for nothing, you can have a pair for your truck in England"
So the question was of course..... Is the Pope Catholic? Just clarify, when these military vehicles meet their end of service and get sold to civilians and get converted to civilian spec.

Anyway, I ended up with another pair too for my truck. WINNER !!!

I have to say, that when the first set of lights were offered, I popped out to the car to grab a pair of T-shirts and a UK flag for their shop, as I had bought about 15 Large, X-Large and XX-Large shirts through the year and between Martin and I we also had about 5 brand new pink hoodies to give out at various places as well as a load of Union Jacks and Cross of St George flags for people's garages. It's just how my head works. These were litterally just as a thank you for their time, not the lights.

The guys were chuffed to bits anyway.

Martin and I fighting to get the lights off John. We would spend another 3-4 hours with him and his family on the way back. His daughter is seriously big Dr Who fan as well and had stolen her dads" I love London" shirt when he got home.



Lastly, before we left, I had a little go in Scott's sons NASCAR car. I will build a Tot-Rod one day.



My lights tightly clenched under my armpits we packed them in the car then said our good byes



We spent about 2 hrs on this stop, then got back in the Captiva and headed out for Searcy, Arkansas..

To see Don, at his Tattoo shop.

More with the next write up of the rest of the day.

If you are still along for the read and ride.