Dewayne Reding stopped by my place last night on his way from Iowa to Aberedeen Proving Grounds in Maryland for some top secret military training. Still not driving the '53, but maybe on the next trip. We walked circles around the pile of parts in the shop that I'm passing off as a '51 F-1 for a bit, drank a couple beers, and swapped stories. Afterwards, we snuck in to my favorite watering hole and got his belly full of steak and a couple more beers, got serenaded by the karaoke singers, and B.S.ed for a while longer before he headed on to Indy for the night. Sorry, Dewayne! We're pretty simple folks around here! LOL I had a great time and hope we can get together again sometime. He was due in Ohio to visit with George and get a first hand look at Earl around noonish today and then hit Pennsylvania by tonight. I hear that George is putting in some big time hours at work lately, but hopefully he can poke his head in and update us on his visit and 'fenders' progress across the midwest. Take care, Dewayne, and we'll see ya back here on the board in a couple weeks!

 

glad to hear when members get together to chat and carows aliittle. aberdene is like 45 min to an hour from me. too bad im still confined to my room from surgery. glad you had a good time.
hows your 51 coming? mine has 2' of snow on her. cant wait for the garage!

 

Hi guys,

'fenders stopped by yesterday for a couple hours and we had a quick look at Earl and talked about various issues related to these old trucks as well as some family and other topics. It was great to finally meet in person somebody I've exchanged ideas with on FTE. Hope I get the chance to meet all of you sooner or later. Dewayne is a first-class guy and very personable. Hmmm, does that mean I have to start being nice to him on the boards?

WRT work - uuugggghhhh!!!! Dewayne knows what's going on at military sites around the country and the world to get operational readiness to where we need it right now. Sorry I haven't been around much but it's Sunday morning and I'm back to my briefcase full of work I brought home. I'm sure you all know how those months of seven-days-a-week, 14-hour days are.

 

Joe and George

The hospitality was appreciated. I managed to bust out of the hotel phone system here. We'll see just how far I can go with the 35 cent local calls from the Days Inn. Accomodations full on Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Tough break

I had a good time and learned a lot on my trip. I learned 'rage is a top notch fabricator. You should see the sweet motor mounts he made for the 351. Way better than store bought. I also learned you don't have to order drinks in Indiana. They just bring them till you notice and object. One more thing Joe, my wife better not see you with more than one girl at the 'Nats or she won't let me come to Indiana unsupervised no more

Look out Niolon, 'rages 351W blueprint looks to be a capable of spankin' a 460 that isn't built up real good.

Earl is "as advertised" Everything completed with precision. Those old column shifters, etc. can be restored. Also, I got to meet Hillary on my DC trip. No, not Hillary Clinton, I mean the famous one from Earl's World that christened George's truck with his name.

Gwillkers, I hope you get feeling better soon.

Later,

 

Dewayne,

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and thanks for the compliments. You're welcome back anytime. Believe it or not, this is my first experience with fabricating to speak of, so I'm sort of teaching myself. I've got plenty of world-class fabricators at work to get ideas from. ***'s would be my favorite hangout for a reason - I never have to order! Nuff said. And as for the 351, well, the license plate I saw on the back of a F-350 today pretty much sums it up IH8RICE. And Camaros, and 'vettes, and - you get the picture.

Gwilkrrs,

I'm in the process of dotting I's and crossing T's with the fab work on the drivetrain mounts and suspension before I knock the chassis completely down for sandblasting and paint. I'm shooting for a mid-June completion on the chassis and mechanicals. Then the body is temporarily going back on as-is until I get the kinks worked out of the mechanicals and the EFI. I want to drive this thing by mid-fall. We'll have to see how that works out. I hope you get to feeling better soon. Surgery and confinement suck, but you already know that. Be sure to let us know when you get back in the swing of things and get some bolts turned!

 

you guys rock. its excellent when guys alike canget together, it is what its all about! we all lern from each other. lately reading the boards when im well enough if all i get to do. some days the wife has to type for me. ive kept up with the posts on user anouncements for all concerned.
its great to have a plan and try to stay close to it. im putting a lot on paper but not able to work yet.

 

Well at least you guys can work on your truck. Mine is under two feet of snow. It would be nice to meet you guys. Maybe fenders might make a trip to canada. Since fenders is on the road he might have some new songs for us.

 

"Maybe fenders might make a trip to canada."

Nathan

I don't have any such plans at the moment. But it RMF keeps sassing me, hey you just never know.

Later