Time for a break from shortcomings we homo demi sapiens have from changes that occur more rapidly than we evolve. I am sure that you realize that I am not opposed to thinking short term, power, and order. All of the post Neolithic styles of thinking are still necessary. They are just no longer adequate, as can be seen from following what is going on in the news (liberal and/or conservative.. I will return to the topic from time to time.
As you may know from past blogs, or knowing me, I am a commited fan of working with the hands. I not only get great pleasure from this, but the house benefits, I can make furniture and yard art for my wife (and myself), I can collect friends who recognize the same need, and finally I can keep from going nuts. There are many arguments for this. I have gone over a few in past posts, but suffice it to say that our hands are wonderful and the reason we humans have survived this long.
As you may also know, my favorite hobby is rescuing antique machinery from the furnaces. My present project is perhaps the most difficult one I have picked on, but important because it has a history. It is a 1957 Peterbilt truck. A photo of it being driven by my son probably 40 years ago is below:
The truck belonged to my friend, Marc Faye, who I met in the Air Force, and who when his tour was up, took over the family farm on whose property I built a barn (with my hands, aided by quite a few power tools) to serve as a base for some of my machines. My older son, Bob, although he has worked as a musician, a product designer, a consultant in several areas,and a teacher, has farming in his blood. He became a friend of Marc’s son when too young to get a commercial license, but would spend his summers working on the farm, beginning with kid jobs (following the nut shaker and picking up the nuts that did not get caught in the shaker), and working his way up through driving tractors and harvesters to getting his license to drive highway trucks. This was a big deal. I road with him a few times when he was pulling 80 tons of fruit up to a dryer in a town north of their farm, and he clearly loved the work (and the truck). In a sense, driving large trucks is the ultimate blue collar job, and Bob has always loved big machinery, and has always loved blue collar work, although he is highly qualified for white
The truck saw lots of service and finally was replaced with a new one, but during its life received a lot of banging around and was repaired and “improved” by many people, including many people who were not professional at doing such things. On my 60th birthday, I heard the horn of an obviously large truck in my driveway,and there was Bob with the truck. He had acquired the truck and was giving it to me as a birthday present. I was thrilled.
It had been shined up before it was given to me, but restoring it was clearly going to be a major job, and I have lived all my life with a surplus of things I wanted to do, so I built it a lean – to on my garage and I am ashamed to say left the truck sit for 25 years, which did not help it’s health any, but it has amused and attracted a lot of people, It is now on the operating table and with the help of a friend I have torn into it and we are putting it back together. We are approaching the job from the inside out. A few before and after photos below give an indication of where we are, and what we have to do. I am shooting for next summer.
Radiator housing restored. Rest of exterior not.
Before
Door before restoration
Top before restoration
Another shot at unrestored ceiling
Wiring under dash before restoration
Rewired and dashboard restored
New interior complete
Lots left to keep me off of the streets!
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