Hot Rods Does anyone else forget that they already bought a part?

I usually remember I bought it, but can't remember where I put it when I'm ready for it.

Gary

 

Are you KIDDING! Happens all the time, now more as I age.

 

Guilty....

 

I needed to buy oil for ot vehicles, time for a oil change for the daily driver and also wife car am in the middle of a engine swap and need oil for it .... I needed some antifreeze for the 49 dodge .... I want a gallon in it and only had 3/4 of a gallon so I bought that also.

This month rolls around and we drive to town again ... I remember need oil & antifreeze .... now have 4 buckets of oil and 2 gallons of antifreeze

 

As We age there 3 things that go
First thing to go is memory.
Next is, is, wait a minute....ahh

 

What part?

 

It can’t be a problem if everyone does it!

 

Hello,

One year, our parents asked us to go with them out to dinner at one of our favorite places. It was a new concept back then, with the customers sitting around a flat grille plate with serving area in front as a long “U” shaped dining area. Each cooking area had its own chef and there were about 7 to 8 seats around the cooktop location. Yes, today, some of the top restaurants have this set up and we went to one of the first ones in Los Angeles. There in lies the problem or anxiety.

Our dad was always punctual kind of guy. If he said to meet him somewhere at 2:30 pm, at 1:30 pm, he was out in front waiting for us to arrive. Being a little goofy 20 somethings, time was important, but when someone told us to be somewhere at a certain time, we usually arrived within a minute or two. The “two” being the key word in this scenario. But, as 20 somethings, we did try to make it on time or a little early.

This time, we knew if we arrived late, it would not be good. We still had to drive to Los Angeles for the grand opening of this unusual restaurant owned by my dad’s friend. It was an invitation dinner, soft opening event. So, when we arrived a few minutes late to Long Beach, there was our dad pacing in the front driveway. Known pressure makes one do thing fast or too fast with no so good results.

Jnaki

Since this was a Saturday afternoon, and hot, our only car with a/c was the 327 powered sedan delivery. the directive was to drive it in cool comfort 60 miles to their house and take our dad’s riviera to Los Angeles. So, we had our car and route planned. but, in checking all things hot rod on the 327 powered sedan delivery to make sure everything was going to work well getting there and back, I grabbed the hood latch to lower the hood back in place. As soon as I grabbed the hood latch, it lowered and snapped off into two pieces.
similar idea for open and closing… not the best idea, for sure.
Now anxiety and a little anger flowed as I pondered what to do. We had to take this A/C sedan delivery as it was hot outside and no way would my wife go in any other condition or weather, except for an A/C car. So, now, the hood was latched and I made sure it was secure with some nylon straps to keep the hood in place. The broken latch was evident to all hot rod folks and that was our fear, accidental hood opening on the high speed roadways while getting to Long Beach.

We did make it in total A/C comfort. The dinner was a first and so tasty that it became our favorite way to eat in any restaurant in our coastal area or back to Los Angeles. As the years rolled on the Los Angeles restaurant opened up its second location in South Coast Plaza and that was a plus.

So, did I fix the broken latch? I had to use locking vise grips to open the hood until I could get a new replacement. A N.O.S. model in a sealed bag was located at the Ford Parts Obsolete Shop near our mom’s house. So, that was a simple matter. The next time we were in Long Beach, I stopped over to buy the N.O.S. item, by my self. But, for some reason, we had to go to our mom’s house the very next week for an emergency.

No big deal as I repaired the emergency with ease. But, in the same time, my wife had gone with our mom shopping for groceries while I was working and she made a pit stop at the Ford Parts Obsolete as a surprise gift for me. She knew the latch was still broken and saw me open the latch with vise grips, so, she thought she would surprise me with a brand new N.O.S. chrome hood latch mechanism. Since our mom was with my wife, my mom bought the item as a gift to both of us.

Note:

My wife did not tell me about the surprise gift until we got all the way home. I was certainly, surprised. When I told her that I had a similar one in the auto supply/parts drawer, she had a laughing fit. I told her I bought one on the emergency trip to our old house the week before, but did not tell her about the short stop at Ford Parts Obsolete. She told me about she and my mom stopping at Ford Parts Obsolete. They were the only two women in the whole parts store… We laughed all over again…


So, now, we had two of them in sealed N.O.S. bags… what a dilemma!