Good day, folks! I am a "formal" newbie to H.A.M.B. My birth name is James; I go by Jim but prefer to be called "JT". I met a couple of fellows here who helped me when I attempted to rebuild the steering box for my '46 Deluxe Coupe. THANK YOU!! I appreciate the thoughtful guidance! It works like a charm! I am 73 years old, mostly retired but still doing consulting work for my employer. I will get to my current project later in the introduction. I started painting when I was 13 years old. Formally painted for a Ford dealership when I was 16 and beyond in my own garage at the first house. Until one of the neighbors pitched a fit and the local police department made a formal visit. I attended a couple of universities here in Illinois, focusing on mathematics and programming CNC machine tools. While I have had a great career that has allowed me to play with cars from the time that I graduated, I am very appreciative of all of the people that I have met while pursuing this hobby. I purchased my first "vintage" car as I was leaving school. One of my neighbors in the dormitory had a '52 Buick Special. that he and his girlfriend used to commute back and forth on weekends. After that, I have owned four GTO's, four Mustangs, and a number of other Buicks that I used to flip back in the day. My wife and I currently own five Fords. (I grew up in a Ford family.) Two Escapes disguised as daily drivers, a '17 Mustang GT convertible, a '46 Deluxe coupe, and most recently, a '39 Standard coupe. The '46 is my attempt to recreate an early fifties old school hotrod. Someday I need to do something about the Mustang wheels on it, but it is as crude as it gets... but serves us very well. We have already traveled over 28,000 miles with the '46 all over the Midwest states to attend car shows with our friends. The '39 was intended to be a retirement project. But part of me feels that I purchased the wrong car and therefore bail out before I get in too deep. Part of me also thinks that if I can pull this one off, even if it never gets a slick pain job, I should forge on. I have already learned the tough lesson about the difference between the Standard and Deluxe coupes in '39. I have enough front fenders to build a fort for my grandson. While I think the fellow that sold the car to me was honest, I don't think he understood the differences between the two and led me to believe that the '40 fenders, grille, hood, and running board would fit the car. Oooops! I will keep you up to date on my progress as I am going to be looking for some advice and guidance along the way. Thanks for letting me participate! JT
The Jalopy Journal
