If you havenβt figured it out yet I like to do it myself.
I have an old truck Iβve been finding parts here and there for and it ainβt easy.
Ever since Cash For Clunkers the pickins are slim, so I work with what I can find.
Sometimes that means refurbishing a part and bringing it back to life.
It ainβt perfect, but it suits me just fine.
I find that the more I do of this the more little tricks I find. Practice makes perfect.
This was a quick job today to test some paint that Iβve just started working with. I also needed to gauge the space on this piece so that I can install some switches for cut offs on my power to my dash cam and stand alone GPS point. Iβm doing that so as not to put any drain to the battery when Iβm parked and in store at work. Not that either of those are big battery drainers.
Itβs not just the finding and refurbishing, this is fun for me.
Itβs satisfying.
Itβs a thing that I can sit back from and say, thatβs done.
Nope. It was back pain. Sciatica. Intense horrible pain.
Anyway, I got up and made the coffee, stretched a little and got ready for work. Not much to do for except suffer through it and wait for whatever Iβve tweaked to get better.
Getting old ainβt comfortable. But it beats the alternative.
On the way to work Iβm keeping an eye out for the right junked Ranger. Iβm driving past a car lot thatβs going out of business and he has seats, consoles, dashboards and all kinds of other stuff piled outside for different cars. I stopped to take a look because you never know.
No one is there so I decided Iβll stop back by on the way home.
Work was uneventful, one of those days I like so much. Low drama, everyone working. Knocking it out.
I got to hang with Kevin and Riv a bit which is always a treat. We work and cut up and it makes for good days.
I stopped by the place I mentioned and the owner was there. I asked about the possibility of any Ranger parts but that was a negative. He waited around to see if I could possibly use any of the other parts he had. Sadly, no. I didnβt see anything I could mod for the applications I want.
And then he told me about Kenny. βIf you go down 102 and cross the three bridges and take the road at the top ofβ¦β.
Well, you canβt beat country directions. And I found Mr. Kenny easily.
Do you see what I see? Ainβt she purdy? With a lot of elbow grease and love she could be a jewel.
Unfortunately, Mr. Kenny had only square bodies. Older than what I need. But he started talking junkyards and car guys with me and gave me a lead on another spot. A friend of his.
So off I go on another country direction adventure after filling up my tank (you never know).
As luck would have it this is sorta on my way home with a minor detour.
And then I meet Tim.
And Tim has a goldmine in his back yard.
You may see junked cars. I see possibilities.
I walked in an introduced myself and we talked and shortly he gave me the run of the yard.
This is my kind of place. You go out, find what you need, and pay the man after the haggle. If thereβs a haggle. Kenny says Tim is a fair price kinda guy.
Iβll find out next week. I didnβt have the cash with me today and he was getting ready to leave in the morning with his family for a vacation weekend. And thatβs cool. I wish Iβd known or I wouldnβt have held him up at all.
I probably spent an hour out in the yard and I was lucky. I found several pieces that I can use. Iβll be back next Wednesday.
The time out in the heat with the sun on my back seems to have had a therapeutic effect, that and the stretching in and out of junked cars probably helped as well.
Iβm a little stoked about my new gold mine. I love a good junkyard. Thereβs nothing like it if you love cars or trucks and working on them.
Today was long. Today was good. I profited.
I made three new contacts that may become friends but at the least are friendly.
On the way home from church there’s an old store. The man who owned it , Jimmy, recently passed away.
Surrounding the store was a junkyard. Tons of old cars. Some are left but they’re cleaning it out now, I imagine a lot of these are worth a quite a bit to the right person restoring a car. Money to be made.
I’m sure many saw it as an eyesore. I saw beauty in every single rusting part.