2024: What are you doing today?

[kb426]

I replaced the shocks on my Dakota. 103,000 miles. The fronts were junk, the rears might have been working. It took O&S 1.5 hours. Someone that knew what they were doing would have been less than 45 minutes. Typical of replacement parts, the fronts had different bushings than the originals. I would expect a person working in a repair shop to have many sad stories.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Friend of mine bought a 1962 Rambler wagon.  Kinda surprised since he hates 4 door anything car wise.

196 engine , automatic (leaks like a sieve) trans. Front suspension is worn out. Brakes are weak he says.

I am telling him to get mechanicals fixed and drive it.  He says no.  Wants to sell the power train. He is open to various engine trans combos.  I mentioned 4cyl Eco Tec turbo engine with plenty of power.  NOPE.  No computers on this car he says.

Narrow engine compartment , so he is even looking at more modern inline 6 engines

[58 Yeoman]

The problem with that factory cowl air conditioning vent, for instance, is that you might find it after you've done so much other work to the vehicle, that now you're into it for so much cash and time, that you can't just quit on it.  So you fix that, and then you get to the kick panels and find them perforated, so you have to fix them.  You could just dip the vehicle and see what it all needs, but that's not cheap either.

I rented the mini excavator this morning. Fun times. They have the trailer sitting there with the mini ex behind it so I have to connect to the trailer, then load the machine. The machine weighed in at about 3800 pounds, and I don't know how much for the single axle tilt trailer, but the old 2014 V6 Tacoma was feeling the load.  It was fun using it to dig up the yucca plants and dump the crap onto my landscape trailer.  Going by the loads of black dirt that I buy, I dug up at least a ton of rocks, dirt and yucca plants.  I dumped it all on the downhill side of a short retaining wall.  I don't care if the yucca's grow there.  Then I had to go buy another ton of dirt to fill the hole.

[idrivejunk]

I remember why I quit doing pics  now. All it does is generate ridicule. May your retiree worlds and dreams and air conditioners remain rust free in perpetuity, I'll be here on earth wallowing in scrap.

Is shaving cowl vents something the HAMB doesn't like or something? Never mind that. Don't care and won't share.

[WZ JUNK]

Matt,  I have owned several of the AD series trucks over the years.  I have found that the cowl vent allows air to flow through the cab especially on the early years that do not have vent windows.  I am not a fan of air conditioning in most old cars and so I like the cowl vent.  It has nothing to do with styling or whether it is traditional or not.  And you or the customer are certainly entitled to build or do whatever you want with your own vehicle.  If someone has offended you, just let it go. Remember that there are many on the internet that the only tool they own is a keyboard.  I like to see the photos of the work you do.  I have learned from them.

[58 Yeoman]

Same here, Matt.  I wasn't criticizing any work you do, just stating that once you start, you open a whole can of worms.  When I started on my red Corvair, I thought it was going to be a sand and paint job.HAH! Replace the front floors, two front lower corners, quarter sized hole under the windshield, and a whole lot of mechanical work.

I've had two vehicles with cowl vents.  A '46 Ford 1/2 ton that I used as a truck, so didn't need a/c.  The '41 Pontiac never made it to the road, so that ones moot.

I've been amazed at the work you do, and always wonder why they give you such a hard time where you work.  Keep the pictures coming.

[idrivejunk]

I just get weary of foruming long about each November. It is an observable pattern.

Like the crash fixing daze, I do the tasks given. Just welded pinholes above rear roof seam. The collective desires only seam sealer there.

Everybody having stuff built wants and gets air conditioning and that is also an observable pattern. Eliminates the need for the vent.

[idrivejunk]

It takes time for me to generate a proper response to most situations    so here is that:

A possibility exists that the shop gets too-far-gone projects because we can handle them. Get a load of this area inside front of roof-

[kb426]

Looks good, Matt. I agree with your answer. I've been watching for years and the shop has a steady stream of customers. That speaks to me.

[jaybee]

Dang, Matt, that came out! Someone bought it, someone's willing to pay to fix it, and someone knew where to find someone who knew how to fix it. Something didn't go in the crusher. Sounds OK to me.

[enjenjo]

Matt the shop rate where you work must be much lower than it is here. A $2000 rust free cab VS $112 per shop hour doesn't give you much time for rust repair. I always tried to make my customer's money go as far as possible, so if money could be saved by getting better parts that is the way we did it as long as that made the customer happy.

It's harder now but there are still rust free bodies out there at reasonable prices. Mostly on the west coast, but  Montana and Wyoming are good places to look too. One of the nicest early F100 bodies I have seen came from Little Rock Arkansas. My Studebaker truck came from Kansas. Any place but the rust belt.

[idrivejunk]

Frank, there are a couple other major factors.

We aren't a car and truck finder or seller. People don't order a truck from us. They bring us the truck they want to build. If they need help looking around, assistance or advice can be provided but a customer with a vehicle and rough plan is the normal and of course preferred starting point. For us, here. Once a vehicle is at a stage where it can be accurately evaluated as a nonsensical specimen, customers are made aware and have control of their next move. If a customer drags their feet, somebody else won't so the foot dragger may have to start over... waiting for another job slot like the one they just waited a year for.

Your assumption about labor rate may be right. However, no standard exists for labor times. For example if one tech does in two hours what another does in four, how many hours are billed for that task on job A vs job B? There is no accepted standard for reference on labor times, and... not all employees are paid the same internal rate.

So I think it fair to say you have jumped to a conclusion in trying to figure out whether my boss or my customers are the idiot. I don't need to know. Do you?

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I've been correcting wires in the house we bought.. I finally fixed the mess the guy made of the 240 volt wire that he split to 2 120 volt lines in a half A** method. One line fed into the garage on the house. 2nd line ran out to the patio with exposed romex stapled to the wood beams of the patio.  Sweet !

I ran full new line of  12-2 romex on 20 amp breaker for the 2 car garage. I've have Not run any lines to the patio yet .

Enjoy the photo of the cluster wires... This was wrapped in black electrical tape and dropped into the attic insulation.

Saturday I will fix the rain gutters. They are trying to fall off the front of the house.

[WZ JUNK]

I have been cleaning the shop and throwing away stuff.  Both things that are hard for me to do but I am trying to get ready for winter.

I had been wanting to make something that a friend, who is an exterminator, uses to catch snakes.  He uses plastic pipe but I found this cardboard tube with plastic caps and I think it will work.  You remove one of the plastic caps (labeled snake in) and place the pipe in front of the snake.  The snake see the hole and goes for it.  You replace the cap when the snake is inside the tube.  Take the tube to your neighbors yard and remove the cap on the other end,(labeled snake out)

[idrivejunk]

4 3/4 years in (Including several long pauses to gather additional funds. I started the job and a thread here in Feb 2020), the '51 F-1 5.0's appointment with the out-of-state custom interior fabricator approaches. Was supposed to be like a month ago but the 49 Merc truck interior build is still ongoing there. So I hear. Scrambling to make ready for this is ongoing here, but it is still a work in progress so nitpicking is still disouraged at this point.

It charged my batteries a few percent to see the hood painted, albeit with only one coat of clear because accents are to be added yet. FYI I asked the painter how he shot inside the air extractors. He replied that he shot from both sides. Then I looked at it. Of course theres just dry spray down in the holes. I tried to tell them (powers that be) this as the idea hatched. But "Paint day is a long way away." was the senseless retort. Tough to argue with logic like that. The chicken wire in grille (vintage Mustang-esque hex pattern) also goes behind grille and in the extractors, in bezels made by the guy who made the rear roll pan and eliminated fender bolts in the bed. Years after my involvement ceased.

Yesterday I walked up and saw the first image. Nobody around. The smirky chuckle of vindication erupted, sure. But I busted out laughing. Not at it, but with it. Because I put a smiley face on it in metal.   

It ain't every day a guy gets to do something like that.