critters

[idrivejunk]

Phil, my ex cream puff 68 Malibu was a 3OTT. It ain't so bad. Those things tend to get into two gears at once though once wear is present.

Now tell me... what is a short cab Bronco? I entered the world at the same time they did.

I have a soft for 67-72 GMTs due to a teenage summer job at a lumberyard.

[58 Yeoman]

Short cab was like a small pickup, the top only covered the front seat.

[kb426]

Like this. Also called half cab.

[58 Yeoman]

Thanks, Bill, that's the one.

[idrivejunk]

Bronco truck, yesss. I remember now.    Eventually I do that but for some reason the Falcon trucks or Econolines were what my noggin search was pulling up. Not batting a thousand today, I sawzalled a lower rad hose before draining.  

 A wiley elusive critter, that Bronc truck. I wonder, did the top go to the floor or was there a bed bulkhead in the body?

Dig the vintage Warn hangin offa this puppy.

[idrivejunk]

I had to "make sport" of the bed script on a smog era...

hey wait, that last Bronco I have screwed together is smog era. '75. Score two unleaded stickers for enjenjo if trucks count.

...um F250. Long wide bed 390 granny 4 speed 2WD. Two tone white n yella. Had the plastic grille but is year-swapped to the metal kind, yknow. If you're into those. But the bed emblem script on it says Sport and Custom. 

Now you tell me... whars the either one of those in that?

Bill, you need that emblem for yours.   Then use a cursive Imp SS "Sport" script with a C10 "custom" placed together on the other side.

[kb426]

No emblems for me, Matt. I want it to be as simple to clean as possible. No sharp areas to catch myself on. The ss emblem in the right place would cause thinking. I have a friend with the half cab. it's been so long since I looked at it, I don't remember what the back of the cab looks like. Tom's bronco parts shows a metal bulkhead and fiberglass top that only comes down to the bed rails.

[idrivejunk]

Well we all learned something. Now you know they are also called Bronco trucks or pickups by the uninitiated.

Half cab, short cab, long cab extended cab, cab over, crew cab, call a cab, club cab, super cab, extra cab, Cab Calloway...

hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho

Wonder why we don't see Broncos running around with the doors off like Jeeps. Maybe due to Broncos folding as easy as a cloth napkin.

[enjenjo]

They are called trail doors They used to make fiberglass "snoop doors" for them too.

[kb426]

When the bronco was 1st released, it was common for the farmers to remove the doors for work purposes. That was long before anybody was concerned with safety.

[idrivejunk]

I worked on one with some little half door thingys on it and figured they were aftermarket. Heck one Bronco we did got a fiberglass tub.

If I never saw another Bronco for the rest of my life, that would be too soon. So of course I will probably get all of the Bronco jobs from here on out. While the rest of the crew just customizes cool things that I have tore down and cleaned up and will sand every stroke on. And like the last decade, nothing I touch can be finished and go home. For the record, I simply don't give a crap about anything Bronco. Never care to even write that word again but doing so generated a comment or two to help pass the days.

Excuse me. The most recent attitude inversion was abrupt and intense and may last a spell. Used up all my cheery facade and am in nightmare mode that could easily last weeks or months. Sorry.

I met the current project's owner. Seems like a fine and fun woman who knows the way to a man's heart. Her objective is sentimental stock but with auto / OD.

[idrivejunk]

That ^^^ blasted critter (blasting began yesterday) was wearing bondo every bit of an inch thick. Over every bit of a gallon of kitty hair just on one corner and rocker. Probably at least rolled onto it's side at some point. So the only thing minty about it was the color. Front pan braces had the body mounts stuffed into them.

The 73 Stang has IED syndrome, so many holes underneath it looks like it ran over a land mine. Reminded me of the X frame car jobs I did. Severe cowl rot, the whole nine yards.

I see critters in the news today, one shot K9 unit (AKA "dog") having a blood transfusion. Another tried to eat a delivery lady. Meanwhile by some kind miracle, dog barking in my neighborhood has lessened. Dogs aren't people. If I write a sentence about a black dog, do I have to capitalize it's color?

I'll say one thing for sure... Kansas deer are a whole lot bigger than Arkansas deer. Perhaps not smarter though. Went to KS over the weekend and wow, the many many roadkills there were twice the size they are here.

And the Smithsonian / Nat Geo would have us all believe there never were giants. Because they ate people.

One more news blurb...

The ivory billed woodpecker, considered extinct for most of the 20th century, escaped the latest round of official extinct declarations. Yay! I say that because like so many things people see that supposedly aren't real, there was a fleeting moment of bewilderment during my sitting in cold woods with rifle phase, when this freakishly oversized flying hatchet briefly investigated a nearby tree. It would stab the tree then twist head and tree chunks the size of hot dog buns fell away. Did that several times then split. One day I finally got curious and researched it and at that time it was considered extinct. But the size of the critter could leave no doubt.

Saw yesterday a handful of footage from like fire tower cams that, while maybe not officially confirmed, show the species living in northern Louisiana. I was on a tall bluff overlooking the Illinois River here in northwest Arkansas when I saw it. They are extremely easy to spot. I called it a flying hatchet because that was about the size of it's body. The pale beak was the size of a body hammer head. The sound and the effect on the tree were comparable to a sharp hatchet.

[58 Yeoman]

Matt, I worked at a small Ford dealer in the early 70's, and the owner hired the mayors son to work in the body shop. He put a gallon of bondo in the right door of a two door Olds.  We called him Bondo Baker after that.

We have Pileated woodpeckers in our area, which are the largest woodpecker that we have, about the size of a small crow.  We've had two show up at our wooded area, but they're rather shy, so they don't stay long.  Here's an article about the Ivory billed and the picture also shows the Pileated.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a37858906/ivory-billed-woodpecker-extinct/

[idrivejunk]

Like those other Arkansans and at around that time, I thought it unmistakeable. I looked it up and while I'm no ornithologist I found my sighting to be unmistakeable. Kept looking at pileateds and nope not big enough. Plus the giant pale bill. I thought surely I was wrong or would not be believed and was right about that part.

Finally have the mint color critter tore down... well except disassembling dash. Ordered tin for it. Now to mark, pack up, and shelf every stinkin part. Chassis got stashed out back where the critters and varmints roam.

[idrivejunk]

This was the article I only saw today. Just a few months old.

https://www.4029tv.com/article/videos-show-purported-ivory-billed-woodpeckers-as-us-moves-toward-extinction-decision/43932566