Mid 60's Dodge Seat a perfect fit

 Measuring 1450cm the Dodge seat looks like a perfect fit.  Just needs a bit of elevation and it will be perfect! 

So hard to find a decent seat as well, and these were a $100 bargain! 

The Search For a Bench Seat Part Two

 So, fortunately, the search didn't take too long, nor stretch too far and wide. Ironically, the seat I found was only two suburbs away from where I bought the truck. Anyway, good old Facebook comes to the rescue again and Marketplace on Facebook seems to be where people are shopping a lot these days, and that is where I located this nice old Dodge mid sixties truck seat. Measures a full 145 cm wide, and fits the space quite nicely. The seller had affixed a base to the seat and used it as a seat in the home or garage or wherever it had been living, but as it turns out these were only bolted on and not welded in as I first thought. Should be here in a couple of days. 

Donor Clevis found for handbrake cable

 I bit the bullet and bought the second handbrake from another seller on Gumtree, and this one had a clevis attached. It arrived the other day with a set of spare side windows for the truck which should clean up reasonably well. I may not ever need them, but these sorts of parts are not that easy to come by nowadays, and we're talking 70 year old trucks, by the way. 

Had a bit of a tough time getting the old cable out of the clevis by using just a pair of multigrips on the the threaded part of the cable, but that was never going to work. Had a bit of a brain wave and stuck the cable in a vice and twisted the clevis off, Worked a treat.

Bit of a comparison between the old and the shiny old. As current tastes reflect, I still kinda think the old, rusty look doesn't look too bad, but since this truck has new pieces, some chromed components are not going to look out of place. 

Tried hard to unscrew the old cable this way but it was impossible. A stroke of genius made me reverse the objects into the vice and voila! 

Hooked up and ready to go with a new cable. 

Clevis has left the room

 Elvis that is, Clevis has left the room. 

Just got this gorgeous Handbrake from Paull, and I can honestly say I think it puts everything else on the truck to shame as it stands. 

This thing is finished in chrome and is definitely gonna be a talking point inside the cabin. Initially, I thought the chrome was too garish, but the steering column is chrome, so it will suit pretty well. In fact, I loved it so much I went and made a box office blockbuster movie out of it on good old YouTube. Care to check it out? Grab the popcorn! 

I also coughed up and bought this extra handle from Luke who lives up in Queensland because I needed the Yoke / Clevis off it as the chrome one was missing that piece and don't ask me how much it was gonna cost me to order one from the USA. The shipping was just absurdly expensive. 

You'll notice a few goodies here worth picking up, but I only forked out on the handbrake and had to buy the side windows as they were excellent value and probably quite hard to find, and I think mine are pretty much rusted through. 

retro cruise in Dorothy my 1954 Ford F100

 Little flashback to January 2016. A quick cruise in the truck to get her weighbridge ticket for registration, Ah, those fun  days were so short lived. 

The search for a Bench Seat Part one

 Well, the project came with Pajero seats, and while they look like really good, solid bucket seats, they don't sort of fit the theme that I am envisioning with the truck, which is an old school truck, just prettied up with the only "hotrod" look to be the shiny Cragars. So, the hunt begins to find a seat. 

I met Gary who very graciously arrived with a nice (mid sixties) EH  Holden ute seat that I liked a lot, but when we fitted it in the cabin of the truck it looked very tiny and kind of comical. But at the end of the day we decided it wasn't the right size. Gary, as I said, being very gracious, took the seat back without accepting money as he said he had another guy who might be interested in it. And he came out in the most torrential rain this place has seen since, well, since a couple of months ago when it almost flooded down here. I can tell you half the NSW coast is under water as I am typing this, and I am VERY grateful I don't live out in the Wollondilly Shire area of NSW as they are in great peril out there. 

Here's a view of the road as I was driving out. See the storm water drains bubbling over! We have had a hell of a lot of rain! More than an entire month's supply in several hours. 

So, here is the seat. A pity it looked so small as I really liked it, and it was streets ahead of the Paj seats, but I had to relent and give it back to Gary. 

Gary actually made contact that night and told me I should chase up an F100 seat on Gumtree, which I have done but have not received a reply as yet.

The EH seat was 130cm long and we really need one that is at least 140cm and we could even go a bit longer than that, possibly 145. 

Stay tuned for more adventures as we track down an elusive bench seat for the old tart. 

On another note my beloved and short lived affair with the 302 Windsor has reached its conclusion as it arrived safely to its new home and new owner in Queensland. 

Ode to a Spring Washer

 Ode to a Spring Washer.

O' spring washer,

thy mighty tightener that grips my nuts.

How purposeful in design!

How natural in repose!

Who could conceive that little piggy tail curl 

can hold a heavy weighted world?

I suppose, 

I must reveal 

Belleville.

The Sunshine coast has the big pineapple, Coffs Harbour has the big banana, Robertson has the big potato and Goulburn has the big merino.  But what does Lake Illawarra have? The Big Spring Washer! What a great tribute to that 19th century French inventor, Julien Belleville!

Of course, if you walk up to this thing, you will see a little plaque that states the sculptor's intent was to recreate shapes that appear in nature. Um, okay. So Julien Belleville wasn't the inventor. This is wondrous creation of God! 'Cos, I've always wondered how it got there, as I didn't think the council put it there. The answer is, it came from the heavens above! A gift, for all of us! Rejoice! Just waiting for God to send down a matching bolt and nut. Any day now...