Cruise night with Bill

[Merle Coggins]

Bill (Willis) Pingel has been trying to get me down to the McDonald's car show/cruise night in Racine for a while now, but I couldn't seem to fit it into my weekly schedule. Well, this week I finally made it. When I pulled in there was a lady waving at me to come up and park right in front, and when I got into place I look over and there's Bill, "Ya made it.", he says. I'm not sure if he had anything to do with my parking space or not, but it felt like a place of honor being parked right there. It was a nice event with several nice rides.

I was parked behind this nice Plymouth.

Bill had his "other toy" there, since his truck is still a work in progress.

We even saw an interesting hood ornament on a Metro

It was a fun night. Afterwards I stopped at Bills house to check out his truck. It's starting to come together, considering what a basket case it was when he got it. He even showed me a video clip of it's maiden voyage to the end of his driveway and back. (no he's not been hanging out with Norm )

My truck did well in the freeway drive down there and back. Although on the way there it was rush hour. Keeping a good following distance was only one thing to focus on. With the little slop in the steering gear and the rough ride of the solid front axle with 3/4 ton springs, the truck would tend to hop sideways on harsh bumps. Then it was a guess to see which way you'd need to compensate with the steering wheel. It was never out of control, but you had to keep on your toes. Coming home with less traffic wasn't so bad.

Merle

[Willis Pingel]

Sure injoyed your visit, Merle and hope you'll come back some day soon. Now I've got to figure out how to post that maiden voyage, it was exciting. I tryed to upload it in photobucket and after 12 hours it was at 50% and stoped????? I'd like to thank everybody, especially you Merle, for all the help. I'm hoping I'll get it ready for the car show this summer, with or without fenders. Bill