Hi FbP....you been gettin slammed way too much....unreal....btw...im in St Helens country....they say, last I heard it SUPPOSED to be the eqivelent of a mountain size burp....I remember 1980....the dome grew BIG before it blew...
Anyway....thanks for the heads up bout those less then savory characters doing stuff for people in need....I hate that bigtime....as for your trailer...sigh....I hope those individuals get nailed to the nearest telephone pole in some new lake....would it have been practical to pull 2 or 3 of the wheels and stash them at a buddies with the lug nuts ???? Its extreme, but the trailer Gods arent building cheap things either....

Hang in there, it will get better soon


cs65

 

Yeah CS65, it's been a rough 6 weeks for sure!
The trailer was locked up and locked in a secure chain link & barb wire military style compound with a security Camera system at the Airport. (the place we don't want any terrorists to sneak into,[yeah right]) which is municipal property and has about a 15minute rotation of law enfircement personnel. It was 80-85% loaded with Aircraft parts. Tail Sections, complete elevator assemblies, some heavy landing gears called "Oleo Struts", things like that, heavy stuff. A lot we loaded with a fork lift.

Not only was chain link fence cut, the cameras got a coat of black spray paint, and they unloaded the parts by throwing them on the ground & on top of each other, A lot of damaged parts resulted. Anyway they cut off my landing gear lock & my ball latch lock too. They were good grade Master Locks, not PRJ el cheapos. . . . next they cut a 5/16th chain to get the gate open. Then they left with the trailer.

They must have waited to let the patrol go by, I doubt they were done & out of there in the 15 miuntes of 1 rotation. . . maybe 2 rotations. I don't know why the guard didn't respond to the blacked out security cam when it came up on his monitor. He really blew it with that move. I wondered if maybe he was in on it or ? ? ? ?

dagger

Tolerate it? Hell man we understand it! Why do ya think we're messin around with these great ol' trucks. One time Mamma asked me what's so special about my rods & triucks. . . I told her it was the best fun I could have with my clothes on.

I do not like Idea of bed liners, perhaps a spray on one, maybe?
But those "Rubber Maid" insertable ones are a bad idea because they never quite seem to dry out completely. Water is the catalyst in oxidation, generation of Ferrous Oxide. I am gonna tell ya the absolute worst thing possible if kepint the bed floor and the bed floor laminate seams moist damp and wet for long periods, or for days at a time.

Really the best deal is one of those tonneaus with support bars if ya ask me. It keeps all moisture out, Plus it enhances your "Aero - Envelope" while keeping bed dry and preserving it.

As for asking questions, here's the real deal on that. . . .the only dumb question is the one ya fail to ask, because you will never really know the answer, or info asking it would have gotten you. Besides, the other real deal with Automania and other types of Vehicular fixation is to pay it ahead because "pay backs are hell".

Long long ago & far far away I had an uncle who was a machinist mate in US Navy.
He was stationed at San Diego during WWII. He got into the SCTA, the LA Roadster Club, and the birth of Rodding in So Cal of the early 40s & late 30s. He brought all that back when he came home. He was my mentor and coach. He opened the doors of special interest vehicles, an drag racing, and lots of stuff. He's a certifiable Gear head to this day, All he kept insisting was that I do for others what he did for me and it would be kewl. That's one reason I try to help people who I think are real, and are serious about their passions with machinery, especially vehicles and especially especially special Interest vehicles like Slicks, and sweet 26 27 Track T roadsters, or any real Deuces, and so forth. That's paying ahead & it pays off because the hobby just keeps getting better and better doncha know?

I'll help anybody I can as long as they are serious and comitted. I understand your passion and can empathize with ya. After all that's what it's all about dagger! And keepin that passion goin' for ya, and healthy is what keeps ya rockin on. Folks think I'm strange, I'm 19 years old. I been 19 for last 46 years, do the math, it 's workin good for me. It's got a lot to do with being intouch w/ feelings / passions like Slicks.

I have a burning passion for Fox bodied T-Bird Aero Coupes like 30th Anniv editions, except with 5.0L Roller engines running MAFS/ EFI with SVO or SHO EPROM and some tweak here and there. Peoples' eyesglaze over when I get cookin on EFI Stuff, but hey it's what's going on and where it's happening as far as I an concerned, Didja ever hear of "Shoot Out" racing ane E-Legal competitions?

If not it's about running emissions legal output standards but winning heads up drag races at same time with the same car. . .

time to go SEee YAH'

FBp

 

Thanks Pete for the moral support! And I've got to give my wife a big OXO - she's a 100% behind me on this. We're going to take a nasty financial hit dumping my 7 month old Nissan LE Titan (sweeeet 5.6L, DOHC aluminum V8) - but my local dealership sucks when I want them to fix something (like cabin rattles - answer: technician doesn't hear anything, etc), and I'm really surprised this truck didn't float my boat like I thought it would. This '66 Slick does already and I don't have it yet, but my wife is pushing me to get it even with the negative $$ impacts (btw, I will teach my children to never make a financially irresponsible mistake like this). Gotta love her!

Just to be a little on topic for pigdaddy1 - did you decide which body/truck you're going to go with yet?

 

no not yet... been toying with the idea of letting my son have one and me the other. see who has more fun. its only taken ten years to get my but in gear...im one of those procrastinators, once i start.....stand back because it becomes an obsession. anyways thanks everyone for the input, it will go a long way.
as for pete, i hope they didnt take the plane parts...thay didnt know what they were taking i guess. what kind of plane was it for. im an a and p by trade

pigdaddy1

 

Thanks dagger, good words in hard times are a nice thing! I'm comitted & I'm here to be what help I can, and all for free too. . .hey!
FBp

pigdaddy,
Good Plan for Slicks you found. If I can help, ask. Keep Kids involved & moving forward
and they will become fine adults with real values. As for the Aircraft Parts, long tale.

They're a mix of a Republic Shooting Star (also called a T33 w/ tandem seats) USAF JET from late 40s, and our beloved WWII Warbird, a 1940 TBF 1 Grumman,Avenger a USN Carrier based Torpedo/ Bomber /Fighter, USN took away from poachers who got it off bottom of Lk. Michigan w/o Naval Authorization. FWIW All US Navy Craft, meaning Air or Water, which go down are "protected" by law & do NOT Qualify for salvage of any kind without approved, written, authority. A group of smart Butt divers decided to raise it anyway and syteal it, however they were near the Great Lakes NTC & some fly boys saw them out there with a barge & crane and guess what, Hah they got caught.
I gotta ask how stupid is that move anyway. Raising Wrecks off the bottom near naval training center, how dumb can people be, I mean really or are my standards too high?

We got the aircraft out of USNAS- Pensacola FL where it had been impounded until after poacher trial was decided. It's Bu No 01747 it has a conservation numer too. It made a water landing in June of 1942 on a training mission. Then sat on the bottom for nearly 60 years. before it was tampered with by some Civilian Divers there. They also "picked" it over, taking stuff off it over the years. I work with DNAS Museum here. We're restoring the TBF to static display quality for a local NAS Museum.
The big problem is stuff stolen from the aircraft while on the bottom, and/or damage done by the idiots trying to get a momento from a dive, I might add an Illegal dive. It seems they like to cut rip tear and break things off much like Vultures or Buzzards will shred flesh off a dead carcass. Only Problem is the TBF was niether a dead carcass or up for shredding, It has Historical Significance divers had no clue about because they never bothered to check it out. They were greedy like the FEMA Followers are.
We had the Pilot, a ensign trainee when he water landed, come to a ceremony @ the
DNAS Museum to reconnect him with his Plane. He became a Lt. and continued flying for USN through end of WWII. He was well over his mission limit, yet he still flew the 1st mission off a carrier against Japan mainland itself. He had perhaps 40 more sorties before the War ended in '45.

He was recognized with the Distinguished Flying Medal in a Post War Ceremony. TBF1
# 01747 is Aircraft this distinguished WW II Pilot earned his wings on. He was doing touch & goes off the deck of a converted Great Lakes Steamer, USS Wolverine, when hs encountered cabin smoke & thought he had a fire on board. He did a requested "Fly By" and was instructed to water land since the bridge saw smoke outside the Nacel in an area near the oil tank. THe carriers has wooden decks and you dont land burning airfcaft on wood deck carriers.
During our tear down, 60 years later we discovered handles from a pair of semafores
that a deck monkey stuck in the fusilage at the exhaust outlet port. It was a thing of convenience, a place to stick the flags until the Aircraft was ready to go. . . Only this time it took off with the flags there. Guess what was on fire? Right, all that's burnt is the fabric off the semafore flags. . . .the ditched for nothing. . . .how d'ya like that story. . . The handles are in a display case in the Museum with a story and some pix.

Anyway, you're right the trailer thieves had no clue and left a few $K's worth of rare and hard to locate vintage aircraft parts on the ground behind when they drove off.
Not only are they low life scum, but they're thieves and total idiots too!. . . . I got 2 words for 'em and they are not "Happy Motoring" . . . .

On a positive note I volunteer time, skills, equipment, & tools because I agree with Tom Brokaw the WW II Vets Are the greatest Generation and they are leaving us fast. They ask for nothing, and don't see themselves as the heros they really are. Were it not for those folks, we could be speaking German and eating Sushi everyday, ya know?
SO anything I can do to help memorialize those people, and honor them & their efforts in that crisis, I'm gonna do, and do 100%. . . . . It makes me feel good to make them feel good, and to se them realize we know how much we owe to them, our hero from the past. Rearl Harbor in 1941 was the same as September 11, 2001 is now.

God Bless our American Vets!

FBp