Bobacuda

I went to the New Braunfels (TX) swap meet this past week end. Always a good one. Unfortunately, no old Mopar stuff; however there were two really nice driver's in the Car Corral - a '63 Buick convertible (V6) and a '62 Rambler convertible (with a great history). Asking $7K for the Buick and $10K for the Rambler. The photos will take me several posts

My son saved the phone number for Brent...

Front view. Things I noticed that the truck is missing are nameplates, all trim, glass, side window apparatus, anything remotely resembling an interior, drive shaft, radiator and brake pedal. Even the headlight buckets were rusted out.

Side view with munched driver's door

The Powell was just too rough. The rust and bondo were everywhere, but the panels could probably be made and replaced by an untested rookie body man (like me). The big body problems was a crushed driver's door, the fiberglass nose is now mostly bondo and missing small parts. It would cost a lot to put it back on the road, or you would have to pull the body, make the multitude of repairs and then put it on another frame. It was damn unique, but we chose to walk away. The photos don't do the rust justice. I'll try to add photos.

They built a truck and a sport wagon. We are going to look at a truck. Powell's were built only in the early '50's in California (just over a 1000 were built). Used a '41 Plymouth frame and drive train, made their own body. Simplistic and pretty damn ugly with a fiberglass nose. You can find more on them on Allpar. It's a barn find that needs restoration that I may have to talk myself out of...

From the looks of things, had I been there the photographer would have had to switch from a wide-angle lens to a panoramic lens . Genetics, father time, good food and old Mopars seem to be having the same effect on the majority of us.

I rewired my truck in 2016 and posted where to find the firewall grommets: (Don't know about car grommets, but a while back I found these for my B4B. They had LOTS of sizes and shapes to choose from.) Cableorganizer.com Inc. 6250 NW 27th Way Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309 866-222-0030 Part number: (SKU) OMAR-0545 Description: 3/8” x 1/8” x ½” x 5/8” x 13/32” rubber grommet $0.81 This is the one the oil line goes through (truck) Part number: (SKU) OMAR-2872 Description: 1” x 1/8” x 1 3/8” x 1 3/4” x 1/2” rubber grommet $4.13 This is the one the wiring goes through (truck) These two grommets fit great.

Glad you found a good one this past weekend. The weather in Texas was great, so we took a road trip to the "Big Country Swap Meet" in Abilene, TX. Online, it is a jumping, great swap meet - in real life it was a long drive to see a few sets of used, rusty headers, several used deer-grilles (aka brush guards) and some V8 Chevy parts. Very few vendors. Very disappointed. They charged me $5 to park - they should have paid me to attend. I will never go back. For a road trip for me, the Pate (at Dallas Motor Speedway) and Decatur swap meets are large and worth going to. The next two swap meets for me will be in New Braunfels (April) and Fredericksburg in July (fairly local, within 50 miles). They don't always have stuff I need or want, but they live up to their advertising.

Emmy - check out this website for truck bed info. http://www.horkeyswoodandparts.com/

If you get a chance, find the "Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles" album. It was great.

I tried several sources for the windshield and window "seals" and weatherstripping. The ones I got from Clester's were the best in quality and price. https://clestersauto.com/

Back when I was in college, I am pretty sure my truck ran on beer...

Cheatham Street Warehouse was a converted train warehouse and definitely a honky-tonk, country music dive...in other words, a great place. One thing everyone that went there remembers is that they did not discourage bathroom wall graffiti - as long as it had wit and not just profanity. The walls (and ceiling) were covered. Two classics I still remember are: "I would give my right arm to be ambidextrous." "Profanity is the linguistic crutch of the inarticulate motherf-----." I still find myself quoting those on occasion.

PC - Knew that (and I thought it was funny). I was just providing more info for everyone that did not experience it.

Plymouthcanbrook's guess on the band prices should have been for the 1975 - 1983 time period. During that time, the legal drinking age in Texas was 18 yrs old, and every college town in Texas had a live music beer joint on just about every other corner - held the prices down, I guess. Most of the acts played for a small amount of the gate and a % of beer sales. BTW, fresh longnecks of Pearl, or draft from a fresh keg (prior to Stroh's purchasing the brewery) were excellent. After they Pearl was sold to Stroh's, it was not the same. I switched over full time to Shiner Bock.

One more photo. This is at the back. Bands would open the door and load their equipment here.

In San Marcos, TX. This is the beer joint and live music venue where George Strait got his start (and I killed many brain cells...). Back in the 70's, lots of good "cosmic cowboy-progressive country-Texana-Americana" musicians have played there, as well as a mix of other musical genre. We used to see Strait for $0.50 when he started and $5 when he hit it big. Got to see Townes Van Zandt, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Rusty Weir, Alvin Crow, Jerry Jeff Walker and others up close - never paid more than $2 to $5. Pitcher of Pearl (Texas beer) was $1 from noon till 6 - best way to get over the stress from math and chemistry exams.

You are making your own HALO wing to go with your jet-pack?

I wish I had asked this question back in 1994 when I built my first shop. If I had, I would not have needed to build my second shop. My new one is a 2 bay shop made to house a 2-post lift. I went with the 2 post so I could pull the suspension without interference or the need for additional lifts. Got to admit, I may still get a 4 post sometime in the future (easiest oil change, vehicle stacking). Figure out who's lift you are going to buy and ask them about building requirements before you build. My lift folks told me that I needed 14' of clearance from the top of the slab to the ceiling and that the slab will have to be at least 5" thick. Once again, your lift company will have the specs. The company I bought mine from installers - two guys working about 8 hrs, using lots of tools I did not have. I am glad I paid them to do it. My shed has drive (or tow) through access to the lift. I plumbed air from the compressor in one of my other sheds to the new one. Plan on where you want the compressed air and how you are going to run the lines (not PVC). I put a 240 V plug on each end of the shed (middle of the shed, between roll up doors) so that a welder could be run where ever it is closer. I also installed electric plugs every 10' on the side walls, about 4' up from the slab. That way plugs are about work bench high, and I don't have to bend over to plug something in. If you can afford to build your shelving now, plan them out as well. Make sure they are heavy (and large) enough to hold tools or parts. Leave access to the electric plugs. I put in LED lights. They were not that expensive. Finally, decide how much of your new shop (and shelving) will be converted to general storage by your wife and kids (guess how I know this one...).

One other thing, if you are going to continue with a 6 volt system and you plan to use a rewire kit, make sure the wires are the proper gauge for 6 volts.

I thought the new CA law was about weed smoking, not weed whacking...

So, my part of Texas has been freezing the past several days, which made me wonder, "Will my truck start?" 25 degrees (30 predicted high for the second day in a row) and it fired up. Will wonders never cease? May not seem like much to you folks that are used to freezing weather, but having any 6V flathead start in cold weather has not been a common occurrence without the aid of ether, a long slope or jumper cables. I am familiar with my family's '41, 49 and 51 Plymouths, as well as our '51, 53 and 58 Dodge trucks. All of them were cold natured and required outside forces and divine intervention to get them going when the temp got anywhere near freezing. Once they started, all was well the rest of the day. This same pattern held true for all of the flathead vehicles of any make that we serviced at the gas station I worked at as a kid. BTW, I have always envied you folks that are able to run your 6V flatheads in the dead of winter. Hopefully, this is a new trend for my truck.

I did all the wiring in my B4B using cloth covered wires from Rhode Island Wires, including the cost of adding directional signals, for roughly $270. Took me two weekends and several hours a day after work. You won't find a "drop in" set of wiring harnesses, specially with cloth covered wires anywhere near that price.

Plymouthy beat me to it. I have found and purchased one from a person on the FABO forum. I was also informed that the A Body convertible interior rear view mirrors are for A Body convertibles only.