RSchnell

I had some business in a town nearby that had a HL. First time in months I stepped into one! Grabbed a couple of the '60 F-100 kits but what surprised me was they had all their airbrush stuff on clearance. The Iwata Neo's were down to $29/each. I thought about grabbing one, but I've already got a few airbrushes.

I didn't get so much as an allowance as I did more like a regular paycheck, except paid in cash! My family was heavily involved in the citrus industry here in FL (before the mass influx of transplants from other states), I not only got a share of the crop profits, but got paid for doing stuff around the house & out at the grove. Being agricultural & the owners we weren't subject to child labor laws so it was normal for me as a teenager to put in a 40-50 hr work week. When it came time to spend the money it was usually on model kits, camera gear, clothes (you make money, you buy your own clothes), etc. My mother was an accountant and taught me the value of saving money so a lot of the money I earned went into savings. That paid off when in High School everyone else was driving clapped out Hondas & Chevrolet Caprices, I had a '65 Vette(this was in 1995).

Like I need another project car, much less one on the complete other end of the country- I worked a deal on another '55 Ford today. So it looks like I'm headed back out to California again in a couple months to get this one ready to drag home. The price was too good to pass up and it'll give me something to putz around with while I gather parts for the convertible. It's amazing as you age your perspective changes. I used to buy Fordors for parts cars, and here I am buying one to fix & drive. It's hell getting old LOL!

I have a pretty decent collection of Ford "Z tools" these were used by the assembly plants & dealers to build & service Model T & Model A Ford cars. I don't have a photo handy, as they're all in storage. I collect anything pre-1965 Ford related. Here's a small portion of my collection. The Ford tomato juice bottle is incredibly scarce. This was one of the many products Ford sold from his farms.

That's how we say it down here! Just like we say "oil" a bit differently LOL. Dave gave me hell about that the whole time I was out there and even after I left LOL!

The '55 convertible made it to FL and in true FL fashion, it started raining as we were doing the offload. I stuffed it into a storage unit for now until my relocation is complete. No sense starting a project until I get the shop set up.

I told him the same thing! I'm tentatively headed back out there in Feb or Mar, working a deal on another car I found while I was out there. This time I'm going to take a few days and play tourist along with car stuff.

After dealing with one transporter that never showed & going through another broker, the '55 Ford Convertible I bought in California was loaded up this morning and is finally headed to FL. Quite likely the first time the car has ever left the state! Working a deal on another car out there, so likely headed back first of the year!

I'd go with 600 or 800 if you're attempting to remove all the white paint. That 400 is way too aggressive! The paper wrapped around a block and some soapy water will make short work of that white! Your hands will appreciate the block too. I like how your project is coming along! I'm a dyed in the wool Ford guy, but I've always liked these mid to late 50s Chev & GMC pickups.

That's exactly why I posted them! I'm in FL and there's nothing left like this here. Everything got crushed out & the land sold off for more transplants to move down here. I'm headed back out there after first of the year and plan to get more photos of this yard and another one that's nearby that has some vintage iron. I give guy's that run these places credit. It's certainly not the easiest way to make a living, but it can be fun!

Here's a few more as I finish sorting all the photos I took on this trip...

I'm still plugging away in my 2019 VW Jetta. Bought the car with 7 miles, now has 114K and other than a set of plugs and pad/rotor change, I haven't had to do a thing to it repair wise other than routine maintenance. I'll probably drive it until it dies. It does everything I expect it to do while getting 40+ mpg on the highway with the cruise set at 75 and the A/C on.

Spotted this 1957 Chevy big truck still earning it's keep in rural North California earlier this week.

The right quarter needs to be replaced. When this car sat in a field, someone got sassy with it using a front end loader! LOL There's a full original rust free convertible quarter stuffed inside the car. This is my next to last full all out resto project and wanted to use my metal working skills one last time! While I was out here I picked up the front end, a nice rust free tail pan, rust free decklid & other stuff that is hard to find in FL.

That hood is actually pretty rough, We just threw it on the car to keep help keep water off the motor.