Projects What was your best mistake ?

@HOTRODPRIMER Danny: Exactly!!!
My younger brother sent me the HAMB 'address'. (he's always been 'amused' with my passion for old hot rods...He said, "Try this site". I almost didn't, as everything he says is B.S.
I typed in a 'search', and logged on...Wow! Best 'mistake' yet!
The color came on...everything being said made sense...(then) I was in...OZ! ('Oz', like Dorothy's Oz. Not Australia)
It was all glorious.
Then... the strange questions, and people relating tales that were just...like 'warped'.
I looked around. The scarecrow and the tin man were real!
Ah, the HAMB. My best mistake yet!

 

My best mistake was to marry my (ex)wife. We made two beautiful children together. We are divorced, now. The children are still the best part of it all.

 

Bump

 

Hello,

My wife and I were anxious to get our first car together. We had the funds, decided that we needed a station wagon of sorts. Each of us had a car before we got married, but it was time to get something we liked. Her 1962 Corvair was running a little thin. Perhaps, a full size truck or even a panel van would be a nice change of pace. We needed room to carry a bunch of stuff for our fledgling photo business.

Then one day a yellow 1946 Ford Woody popped up in San Diego. It had a 283, chrome rims and a 3 speed floor shift. The wood looked good in the photos and we were all set to buy that 46 yellow Woody. We spent the day planning and visiting the dealer’s wares and came up on the yellow woody.

It was all there, just like the description in the ad and over the phone. We were willing to pay the price, as it was right in the ballpark. We had enough saved and were ready to write out a check for the woody. When we were going all around the woody, underneath, and inside of the woody, questions arose and the owner gave us information that he had.

It came time to pay for the woody after shaking hands to close the deal, something happened. As my wife was writing out the check, the owner said that he does not take personal checks. What? We don’t carry around several thousand dollars in cash, either. Our bank ok’d the amount of transaction from our checking account on Friday. It was Saturday morning when we went to buy the woody.

Now, the owner started to decline on the payment, saying "no out of town checks." We had a local hot rod guy that knew this owner and had him call back to talk to the owner for references. As well known as our hot rod friend was, the answer was still…"no out of city checks." His final comment was to go back to your bank and get the cash. (we lived 1 hour and 45 minutes away in coastal OC, on a Saturday when banks were closed back then.)

Jnaki

Finally after 35 minutes of going back and forth, our friend on the phone slammed the phone and the owner jerked his head back. Now, he was angry at us. Saying no cash, no deal. We even offered $200 over the original price. It was still a no go, so my wife saw the steam building up in both of us, so she escorted me outside and drove to a restaurant. Those days did not have Saturday banking and also, our bank was local to our own city. No luck there. Finally, after a nice lunch and another thank you phone call to our friend, we drove home knowing something was not right.

On the way home, my wife told me that it was pointing to us not buying that woody and something else would pop up for us in the near future. One week later, with cash in hand, we drove to a Santa Ana Speed Shop to check out a 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery with a 327 motor, auto trans, full upholstery and A/C, but still needed a lot of work. We were in a stage of denial on the woody and wanted a hot rod that we could start driving right away with some necessary repairs that were needed.

It took me two weeks to find the right parts, install them, get the adjustments finalized and get the sedan delivery, road ready for our next adventures. That was the best mistake we made and it worked out in the long run. (4.5 years) Everything fell into place each time we took the sedan delivery somewhere in So Cal. It was a fun time for us, as twenty somethings...

What about that choice of the woody station wagon? In all of the years since, we had our reliable daily drivers. Very little repairs on any of the cars and station wagons. But, just the other day, my wife asked me if we decided to buy another hot rod in any stage of build, what would it be? My answer was a 2 door, 4 speed 1965 Chevelle Station Wagon. Asking her the same question, she answered, a yellow 1946 Ford Woody with a Chevy V8 AND A/C. What?????

(After years of fun, driving the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery 327 with A/C everywhere…and that dreaded right rear blind spot, that individual memory, probably left a bad feeling that continued to linger.)

 

When cutting my fenders for frenched 59 Cadillac tail lights I cut too deep but I like it because it's not like everyones frenched tail lights.

 

Any pics of that frenching job?