Hot Rods Instigator over the years

Avoiding posting pictures of Centerline wheels and big tires to stay within the HAMB rules
[which I agree with 100%] here's a shot of it in an article that my buddy Dave H. submitted for me around 1969 in Popular Hot Rodding Magazine.
No, the pickup isn't sectioned but it sure was nice of him to do that,
Mick

 

More HAMB friendly cars at our Friday Night Gathering,
been meeting on Fridays for the past 15 years or so...

 

Thanks Mick not only for your servive (and all other vets) but also for such a great thread so far. I really like your short style of writing, really is engaging.

 

Hi Pete, glad you're enjoying it.
Must be interesting living in Japan!
More to come,
Mick

 

This was a couple of decades ago, we were at a car show, probably the Oakland Grand National Roadster Show, I'll have to see if I still have the t-shirt,
Mick

 

Just came across an old shot of when I had Mustang seats in it, shag carpet [jeez],
mini 8 track, different gauge center, tuck-n-roll headliner...

 

Shag carpet needs to make a come back.

 

I guess that was the days of the hippy vans....

 

We attended an All Fords Car Show three blocks away from the house today.
Didn't register, parked in back, didn't want to get booed for having a Chevy engine.
Still, got a lot of looks and answered a lot of questions, they seemed to like it.

 

There was a nice stocker there as well...

 

The wife and I leaving our Friday Night Gathering, her in her 34, me in the 30 pickup, short video,
Mick https://dl-mail.ymail.com/ws/downlo...4MhdsM4TX1D8rtjolM69XO-BSF1TqZwMmO69mkrgQ20PV

 

Video link not working

 

That's strange, when I click on the red highlighted portion it comes up [????].
No computer guy here, maybe I'll try it again later, thanks for the heads up,
Mick

 

IMG_0197.mov

 

What a cool story, and a great hot rod! Thanks for sharing it all with us. I think the closed cab pickups make the best looking Model A hot rods, too bad the leg room is so short. They sure are a hoot to drive. I can't imagine what yours must be like!

I didn't know the Mustang seats would fit. I checked out the Jeep back seats, I suspected one would fit good in there. It's so tight, hard to find something that fits well. I ended up with some small bucket seats that help maximize the interior space/leg room.

Thanks again for sharing, and thanks for your service. I was just a kid when that all was going down, but I had older siblings, a brother-in-law served in the Green Beret, I guess he spent a lot of time on the Ho Chi Min trail, which I really don't know what that means, except I know he was a bad ass. He used to communicate with my sister by small reel to reel tapes, which I have now and am converting to mp3 for her, so she can listen to them again. He's now a retired Lutheran pastor. Another B-I-L also served, and he had post traumatic stress as long as he lived afterward, couldn't sleep, haunted by bad dreams, still fighting. Young punks like me have no idea. To think you were dissed when you cam home is shameful. Alright, I don't want to get the thread side tracked or shut down, just thanks for your service.

 

Sorry Mick but that doesn't work either.

 

Good looking 30 Pickup!
Lube tech and a blues musician, talent!
I initially used a rear bench seat from an old Jaguar but the best fit has been the rear bench from a CJ5 Jeep but..you've already got it done.
Thanks for the kind words about Vietnam, a lot of my friends didn't fare so well.
I took 8mmvideos and sent them home back then too.
Enjoy that cool pickup,
Mick

 

That's so strange Denny,I can view it when I click on the red lettering here on the HAMB [?].
Oh well, no biggie.
Thanks for the heads up,
Mick

 

I'm back.
So as of March 15, 2025 I've been driving the car for 56 years.
I've changed a few things, upholstery, tail lights, axles, etc.
I'll explain as I go along.

 

I made some templates for the upholstery then had a local upholstery shop sew 'em up.
Then the same with the carpet, attached.

 

Signed out by mistake, here's the upholstery.
Then the carpet...

 

Bought some new tail lights [old Chevy style] always liked 'em.

 

just read the whole thing. good story.

 

Thanks, glad you like it; a few more to go,
Mick

 

Installed a new mini starter, what a difference.
Now I'm sticking them in all of our cars.

 

Daly City? Another story [had a blast] I'll get back to ya,
Mick

 

The wife and I cruisin' back from our Friday Night Gathering [her 34],
Mick

 

I was just getting ready to PM you for a welfare check when this notification showed up about this thread. It's been a while Mick, where the hell ya been?

 

Hey Sleeper, as they say "life gets in the way"
but doing good.
Turned 78 in January so what used to take me a 1/2 day to repair something now takes me a 1/2 week
but doing good/hangin' in there.
Five cars so been staying busy.
Good to be back, thanks,
Mick

 

Here's a scary story, scared the h-ll of out me.
I was getting gear oil on the rear brakes so it was time to replace the wheel bearings [showing wear]
so I figured might as well buy some new axles as well.
$950 for axles, bearings, collars...
Installed them, piece of cake.

The wife and I were heading to our Friday Night Gathering [took both cars] and all of a sudden it felt like
I was in an earthquake. The back of the car was swaying back and forth, what the...
My new driver's side axle slid out of the housing which in my case that also meant no brakes.
We were 40 feet away from the freeway entrance...the roll cage would have been put to the test.

The wife got on the horn, she scooted into a parking lot [I have to say, she saved the day], I followed
and was able to come to a stop without crashing into anybody nor anything.
That sure got my attention!
Got the car home and into the garage, whew!
Please don't ask who the manufacturer is because I got a call from the owner, got my $ back and told him
I wouldn't take it any further although on other HAMB there's a section about axles coming out of other cars.
I have to keep my word/old dude.
The bottom line is the new axles are fine, it was the bearing collars that were NOT made in USA.
My friend has a machine shop so he made new collars that fit very, very tight and it's been fine since.
Anyway, man, be safe out there fellas,
Mick