Perfection may be impossible in a street rod. Budgetary constraints assure that work will not go on forever. Despite the tedium of seemingly endless trial runs, the fitting and refitting of heavy and awkward parts, sanding, smoothing, putting it all together and taking it apart again, and again—it’s the only way. But don’t expect it to be finished next Friday like on TV shows. Ralph sands until his hands bleed. It hurts my feelings to think about it but that’s what it takes.

Here are “before” and “after” photos of the front end. “After” does not mean “final” by any stretch of the imagination. The front view you see here (left) is the “before” view. Way back in an earlier post you saw the fenders and grille as they were when we acquired the pickup.  Of course, no part of this project truck will never be quite as good as when it left the factory 82 years ago. But then I don’t intend this exercise as a restoration.

Progress is evident, no argument on that point. How many hours, professional hours that is, would you think it took to get to the place seen in the photo to the right? I myself am not sure, but whatever you think the right number is, the correct answer is probably found by multiplying your guess by two.

Notice that the grille insert is missing, exposing the engine which is covered by a shop towel. The grille is out because it was sent off to a chrome plating establishment in Nebraska. That is after the bullet hole was repaired and the grille prepped by cleaning and sanding. Fortunately, there was only one hole. I am reminiscing now. When I was just 14, but with a driver’s license, I bought my first car. It was also a 1935 model. A Chevrolet four-door sedan. It wasn’t much to look at and I never drove it on a public street. But there were no bullet holes. I was 14 and thought of the ’35 Chevy as really old.

Permit me some memory time–I am reminiscing now. When I was just 14, but with an Idaho driver’s license in my pocket, I bought my first car. It was also a 1935 model. A Chevrolet four-door sedan. It wasn’t much to look at and I never drove it on a public street. But there were no bullet holes. I was 14 and thought of the ’35 Chevy as really old.

Here is a peek inside the cab. If you look carefully you can see the frame and the transmission on the right. On the left are the shiny new “patch” panels that were grafted in. Miscellaneous holes that won’t be needed, Ralph welds shut and grinds smooth. The floor of the cab will receive a heavy coat of a ceramic paint that seals and sound proofs the interior.

Holes or thin spots in the cab that look like potential trouble are also filled in. Many imperfections are revealed by the sandblasting process. Best to address these issues now before any more sanding and priming takes place.

Progress here is like my efforts to lose weight. It is so slow that only my closest friends notice even a huge change. Well for me 40 pounds is huge–that is two sacks of salt for our water softener and those bags are heavy. So why can’t we see change. We can but it requires paying close attention.

If you really examine the cab below you should be able to visualize the enormous amount of work that has transformed this complex piece of sheet metal. It is getting close to being ready for final paint.

This is the backside of the cab. If you examine photos from the first few blog posts you would recall that this is the part that gets beat up from heavy stuff spilling over the top of the bed and getting slammed into the back of the cab when the brakes are pressed to the floor. And this is where water accumulates and ice and snow. There is new metal grafted in to the back but it is now one seamless piece of body art.

Okay, patience is the theme here. It’s a quality that I have never enjoyed in abundance. There is a long way to go–a very long way and I will need to show patience here because this phase of the work appears to proceed at a snails pace. So serve me up a big portion of patience. I seem to have less than I (and others) think I should have. Fortunately for me, Ralph has a bunch of that useful attribute. And, I promise you, it will eventually have its own rewards. Stay tuned.