This project is still in it’s infancy, but several pieces and parts have sort of fallen in my lap. There’s someone “up there” who wants this car back out on the road, and I feel the same way. If it is divine providence that I get this project done, who am I to stand in the way? My dad and I traveled to New Ellenton, South Carolina to pick up a parts car.
The trip to S.C is one of the most breathtakingly awesome benefits to taking on this project that I have experienced so far. My dad and I took an all day road trip together and that time together is something I will always treasure. If there is not one single usable part on that car, the going to get it was worth a million dollars to me, maybe even more. I am still flabbergasted that the car was given to me, but without being too corny, what Richard Hayes gave me was not a parts car, it was unforgettable time with my Dad. It’s not that it was a pristine example of a 1959 Dodge. Quite the opposite, this thing is completely falling apart, but the parts I need are all there including the engine, transmission and drive shaft. In addition to these, there may be several other things that are likely to still be good that are general unknowns with respect to my own car. One of the things I may have to get creative in order to restore, for example, is the radio. I want an original radio, and the buttons on mine are completely and totally gone. The buttons on this one at least still have the chrome surrounds. I am planning to make some wooden blanks and employee some of the mechanical engineering fabrication ideas I learned in college to make new ones out of resin. Who knows how successful I might be, but then again, I might wind up with a good way to help others who are restoring these cars to fix things in their cars.
This is yet another big motivation for me to get a shed roof in the air so I can start some serious work on my car. Here’s a thought, when I build my car, I want to use only stainless steel fasteners, and I want every single metal surface to be coated with the most resilient and longest lasting protective material possible. These cars are beautiful and it is sad that they are so vulnerable to the elements in their stock form. It’s so important to have a place in the dry to park them. There are so many nooks and crannies where water can pool up behind trim, inside various cavities where the bodies are put together, and everywhere else. That coupled with what appears to be a pretty lousy manufacturing process that permitted metal surfaces to go uncovered, and allowed water to enter places all around, make these cars particularly vulnerable. All of these are things I want to do my best to address as I re-manufacture my car.
I am considering a modified version of a plan on this page (Plan 6356) which is a 24′ x 36′ pavilion style structure. My plan is to alter that room at the end to have a sliding door, basically just a sheet of plywood hung on a roller track, so a car can occupy that spot near it and still allow you to have plenty of room to get in there. Also, I plan to locate that end of the structure over my current well house, which will serve the dual purpose of providing dry storage for parts and tools and replace my very sad looking well house. Also, it gets me what I need without having yet another building in the yard. This is probably one of the single biggest expenses for this project, but it will serve me forever. Eventually, I see the entire building being enclosed. My Dodge is 18 feet long, so a 24′ deep building should provide enough space to build cabinetry and work benches. This space will also eventually serve as my long desired woodshop after all is said and done.
And about that trip? I missed one of the more important details. Dad and I met up with my awesome little sister Susan, her husband Jeff and their two boys, Matt and Harry, to eat at Gary’s. Gary’s is a burger place in New Augusta and they have excellent onion rings. Thanks to Susan for making the time!