Auto Restoration

Did you ever attempt restoration of an old car? What seems like a romantic project can often turn into a nightmare or at least a non-project. Twice I have been smitten with this malady and twice I tested my wife’s patience.
My first restoration project was a 1940 Chevrolet, four-door sedan—probably not the most desirable project. The old Chevy seemed to be in pretty good shape-good solid body. It didn’t appear to have ever been wrecked. The interior was original and in fair shape. But, the engine needed some work. It had a bad connecting rod. I tore the engine down to see what it needed and went to the nearest Chevrolet parts department. Surprisingly, they still carried the needed parts. I put the engine together and started it up. It purred like a kitten.
My employer then transferred me to California. So I purchased a tow bar and headed for California. The experts say you cannot tow that model without disconnecting the drive line. In my wisdom, I decided to attempt it because the driveline was the old enclosed type and rather involved to disconnect. All went well from Maryland to Needles, California. There, my son said "Dad, it sounds like the Chevy is running." I stopped and found that the transmission had seized up and indeed the engine was "running". At least it was turning over as we rolled. I then got to crawl under and disconnect the driveline. If you have ever been to Needles in midsummer, you know how hot it can be. I lay under the car on several layers of blanket to keep from burning my back on the hot pavement. After I disconnected the driveline, we continued on to California. The Chevy sat in our garage and gathered dust for the four years we lived in California. It was finally sold to some other dreamer and I purchased another dream car. I'll tell you about that one at another time.