Today was a parts running day, mostly... Actually this is more about how this hobby is having good friends help you with your projects, and meeting new friends along the way. Some of my best friends are "car" or "truck" guys. They just get it, and they seem to go out of their way to help people who have the same passion.
Here is how today went. I started out the day going into the shop and pulling the transmission fittings off the trans so I could make hard lines. I went to Napa and saw my buddy Scott (he is a legend!) and we went back into the warehouse and found a reel of 3/8" hard line. I asked Scott how I was going to make this hard line into a straight line? Well the roller straightener, duh! We go further back into the warehouse where the tool benches are for hydraulics, and he hands me the roller straightener, and says bring it back when I finished. They rarely use it but just Wow! (see below pic of tubing and tool) So while I'm checking out I ask Scott who he knows that has used 4" exhaust tubing (yeah I'm a cheap DIY guy and don't like buying overpriced kits
) He gives me a name and a number for a guy just north of town.
Enter Benny and his amazing truck bone yard. Now before I tell you about Benny, I did make a stop before this at a friends shop where he had a 4" straight pipe DEF delete kit he wanted rid of. (pic below). I got it for next to nothing, and he was happy it went out of his junk pile, score! Now back to Benny. I called Benny and asked him if he had any 4" mufflers for sale, yes sir he said come out to the yard and I could poke around and see what he had. Now for those of you who like junk yards, and especially old truck bone yards this was a cool place. However his place is not clean and neat like most of the salvage yards today, nope this was an old school yard, less the junk yard dog though...
Benny and I found the perfect specimen and he and his hired hand pulled it for me. Benny BTW is around 85 or slightly older, they will never make guys like him ever again. The cool thing is we sat on the tail gate and swapped stories for quite a while, and I made a new friend. When a junk yard guy from around here says you are welcome anytime and to come back soon, you have made a great bud.
Now why am I including this in my blog? Because this is the best hobby I know. Not only do you get to use cool tools and make cool stuff, but you get to meet folks that make this land great. I don't get why some guys get all wrapped up in shows to the point that they forget to keep it fun. Your only going to get a plastic trophy that is going to collect dust somewhere in your shop or garage. Guys like Benny and Scott are what keep me going. They are the cool part of this hobby. Like Ronnie on C10 talk says "The trucks are cool, but the people are cooler!" Remember to go help a friend out this weekend. You will never regret the time spent hanging out and making cool stuff.
Stay tuned!
