MAGAZINE

Happy Thanksgiving. And whatever else ya need to celebrate in November. The best months for using cars are pretty much behind us, and the best months for the band-aids are in front. Put on them overalls, Bub, we're goin' in.

Not that we weren't in for most of the summer, finishing a project, what with the motor and trans in and out three times in the last month. Disclaimer here: the three causes, the three culprits, the three causes of our angst....were from somewhere else. We make lots of mistakes but these three were dead nuts traceable to something else. Hey. It's part of the game. Now that the car made the 1000 mile maidenhead voyage after only 70-80 break-in miles on it, all is forgiven. Now that the cool-livin' Daddys all said, "Is that yours? Oh, Man! Oh, shit! Oh dear!", it's all behind us.

Now that it's been to the Donut Shop and all the right guys nodded with wry smiles and head shakes........it's Ok. Dougie pushed his deuce back a little to make a power park spot for us and, hell, we just had coffee, throwed our shoulders back and savored the moment.

So it takes real introspection to go back to the moment of disgust when we knew that the goddamn motor had to come out yet again. If Brad hadn't looked at us so patronizingly, we probably would've left the motor in it and walked away for a couple of weeks. But he said, "Let's start pullin' it". We did, it got fixed and it runs like a bitch now and we don't know if we ever felt more like a hot rodder....like a HOP UP GUY...than we do, cruisin' 75 down a state hiway in a rod what is dramatically more efficient than it looks. Now we know why Jake gets around like he does. Thanks for the chassis work, Bub. (And even though you counseled against it, it's as low as possible , and we don't mind that the right rear tire rubs the fender once in a while when ya got a trunk full of stuff and an ‘overweight' guy is in the car with you, thank you.)

You can't be too low.

The evenings are a little less dedicated these days....no dead-nuts, drop dead date by which we have to have something done...but maintenance is always good. You've heard us talk about fixin' stuff that needs fixin' and we reckon that'll be the program in the ol' barn for a few weeks. But there is that need to jump to the next one...the one you envision just before slumber. That's the one that is getting planned out now. Strategized. Formulated. Budgeted. Layed out. It's the subject of plenty of daytime dreamin'.

We can't help but think that as the winter oil change gets done, the zerks are all zerked, brake shoes relined, fasteners tightened (do you always look at the pitman arm, drag link and all, while you're under there?) that our thoughts - which are usually conveyed here in this hick stream of consciousness - will turn to a new one. It isn't about the bucks, either. You can put a lot of sweat-equity into a project (see, Sweet Thang, I'm goin' Cold Turkey!) without going right to the ‘spensive crap. We'll be getting some parts powder painted and one or two things chromed and fitting up a trans (already rebuilt) and...and.........and

Maybe that oil change can wait. We might be able to have this thing runnin' by Spring.......

and hopefully the only mistakes we have to fix are our own!!!

And we'll make ‘em, Boys.............count on it.

God Bless America