In the Words of Samuel Israel III "Suicide is Painless."

For those of you who don't know who Samuel Israel III is, feel free to Google his name (John's been watching too much CNN, lately). We've made a few modifications to the cab, starting with the vintage pin-up girl postcard. No, it's not Tracy! Tracy agreed to be photographed in a swimsuit like this one and have it posted on the internet as long as John would wear the same suit and do the same...hence we went shopping on Ebay and found this beauty for less than two bucks. John says he never bought one that cheap before. (Postcard that is!)

We also found this vintage Suicide Knob that we decide to restore. This thing was in rough shape. There was a small disagreement on which one we should purchase and after many words of encouragement John went with the one that needed the most work and fewer dollars. Had a comment for George Bush here but didn't want to turn this into a platform for another one of G.D.'s political rants...oops, I mean educational intellect from my elder.

John first sanded the layers of grime and who-knows-what-else off the knob so it could be re-varnished.

The sweat shop elf then got to work applying the varnish under the boss-man's supervision.

Finally, the metal parts of the knob were painted red (page the shop elf again). The finishing touch will be a bit of a surprise...

P.S. to G.D. ...John says, yes, he knows that "Suicide is Painless" is the M*A*S*H theme song... :o)

Cows, Cars, and Die-hards

In search of cooler weather, we took a break from working on the truck and headed up to Prescott for a car show. We figured the truck could stay home this time, considering the 110+ degree weather in Phoenix and the prospect of driving in it with no air conditioning. (Wise choice!) John found this lost little dogie along the way up north. Now that's one huge Hereford!

On the way back, we stopped for lunch at the Amish Kitchen. Hmm... Guess we were looking for something a little more...Amish (you know, dark clothes, horse-and-buggy, etc.). Instead, it was a very typical lunchroom diner with the very predictable menu. They did have this special peanut butter spread that was out of this world. It tastes just like Bit-o-Honey candy. The bread pudding was also good, but alas...where have all the Amish gone?

On the way back, we decided to go by the Scottsdale Pavilions to see just how early some people go there to secure their parking spots for the evening cruise night. Note the time...

...and the cars. There were already about ten cars parked and ready to go. One older guy was actually polishing up his ride (it was 111 degrees!) and seemed totally dumbfounded when we asked him if he always got there this early. His attitude very clearly was that, of course he did, and why would he come at any other time? We think the poor guy had heatstroke... John went down to the show that night and the die-hard was still there. At least he had put his shirt back on...

Up north it was a little cooler (in comparison). The show was on the field of the middle school in Prescott. Thayer and Jilly found someone they recognized right away.

Thayer tends to gravitate towards the orange cars. He's not too particular about the type, but they MUST be orange.

Jilly likes the pink cars (or anything close, such as peach).

The only Studebaker at the show was this Champion.

This panel wagon was one of maybe four trucks at the show. John's thinking about getting one of these and putting a waterbed in the back. You have to wonder what kind of sign he'd want to paint on the side of THAT one...

Smitty's Glass Shop Would be Proud...Kinda ..So Much for Family Tradition

John's grandfather used to have a glass shop...maybe that's why he figured that since the driver's side window on the truck was broken, it was up to him to fix it (you know, instead of allowing a professional to do the install). After ordering the window and having it arrive on our doorstep (Tracy didn't know you could do that...it seemed like you should have to have a special license of sorts to order vehicle parts that could shatter so easily), John pulled out his copy of Window Replacement for Dummies and got started. Okay, so it was actually the original shop manual for the truck, but you get the picture...


"Mr. Smith...we have a package for you." Our first look at the new window glass.
According to the manual, step 1 was to remove the wing window, as shown on the passenger side of the truck.
Here is the wing window removed. (Tracy wasn't much impressed at this point, as it wasn't the taking APART of the window that had her concerned...)
After taking the window out and apart, John discovered that the gasket holding the window glass in the frame was pretty much disintegrated. He needed to find something that would work effectively and would be available to him at that exact moment.
This 3M windshield tape looked like it had potential!

Hey, this isn't so hard after all! Tracy was pretty impressed with the ease in which John placed the glass in the frame with the help of the tape.

John makes sure he has a good seal before he installs the completed window into the door. It was at this point that things started to get ugly...
Tracy walked out into the garage to find John pulling the window back out of the door, covered in what looked like black, tarry bubble gum. Oh how she wishes she got the full effect of the mess as it stretched down a good 6 inches before it sprung back up and shriveled into a goo against the glass. (Her apologies, as she was laughing too hard to capture the moment in time!)
Another day, another plan: ASK a glass professional what to use! John took a little field trip to an auto glass shop, where he was assisted by a (white) Rastafarian-looking man with a lazy eye (or two). Seriously. We don't make this stuff up. The man beckoned him to the back room, where he apparently had a secret stash of glass installation tape that he gave of John free of charge. Or so he tells us. Hmm.... There quite possibly could be more to that story than someone's letting on...

It's amazing what the right tools will do for the job! In less than a half hour, John had completely installed the window beautifully, and we no longer have to leave the window down in embarrassment (which works fine in the summer, but was going to be a little hard to explain when the weather cooled off!). Way to go, Mr. Auto Glass Repairman!

Organization or Insanity?

Tracy wasn't too concerned when John asked her to get a white board for the garage (hey, what better place to post her "Honey Do" list!). This changed, however, when he summoned her out to create the master TRUCK "TO DO" LIST. One list was not enough...he had the nerve to divide it into sections. Yes, sectionS, plural. We now have a list of parts "waiting to arrive," a list of things "needing to be done," and in case we should ever forget, a list of parts we're "looking for." If anyone has any suggestions for other categories of lists, please keep them to yourself, as Tracy specifically got out of teaching to AVOID writing on white boards anymore... Does anyone else think this is slightly obsessive? Compulsive? Or as John states, pure genius?

Never Give Another Man a Key To Your Studebaker Parts Shed

Wow! Check out that shiny new chrome hood latch on the truck. I'll bet GD wishes he had one just like it. Well, funny thing is that he DID until about a week ago. Seeing as John was feeling shorted in the birthday department, he decided to take matters into his own hands. One trip to Smitty's House of Studebaker Parts, a few new nuts and bolts, and it's "Happy Birthday to Me" John-style! Other items he "received" for his birthday will be disclosed at a later time. Thanks, Dude!

Hmm...now here's something that needs replacing, as well. You know all those hours Tracy spent painting around the gauge panel (apparently it's called the "gauge cluster")? All that pretty red that stayed on her hands and clothes for eternity? Well, that's old news now. Baby needs a new set of gauges. Now, to John's credit, the gauges aren't actually working, so they truly do need to be replaced.

Take, for example, this lovely, temporary temperature gauge that currently has the place of honor on the front seat. However useful it may be, one might argue that it lacks a certain charm.

But, what if we used (strictly an example, here) a spare glove box door as a new gauge panel? Wait a minute, what's that in John's hand? WHEREVER did he find such a perfect, authentically Studebaker piece? (You guessed it...."Happy Birthday to John!") Look at the sparks fly (seemingly from Guam?) as he carefully removes the hinges and removes any possibility of ever using it as a glovebox again (plus any identifying serial numbers, fingerprints, etc...)

Here's a template of where the new gauges will be placed on the panel (unless John changes his mind, which he reserves the right to do at all times). The hole on the top MAY house the ignition switch and the small dent in the bottom (wasn't me!) will be "removed." Hmm...

GD's last ride! A tribute of sorts...

Before everybody gets teary-eyed about John not seeing his Dad race, keep in mind that he was 3 when all this was taking place. And he really wasn't interested in cars until about six months ago. That probably still would be questionable if he didn't have Tracy working next to him (plus, he is a tad bit obsessive once he starts something, in case you hadn't noticed). Keeping that in mind, you should have seen his face after pulling into the cruise night at The Pavilions on Saturday night. Next to us was not just one, but THREE totally restored Rambler Scamblers. This is the car he had heard his father talk about most of his childhood but never got to see one in person. He instantly emailed his Dad in Guam(using a camera phone) and sent him the above pics. We enjoyed his return email so much that we decided to share. It's obvious that John gets his passion for life and the willingess to say "I can do that" (and then do it!) from his Dad.

GD's email read as follows:

Awesome, where was it? If it's an original Az. Scrambler I may have raced against it (only lost once and that was to a 428 mustang). I still have a picture of mine. Like mine this is the son model- the father model had a different paint scheme. Only 1,500 of them made. All were made by the Hurst shifter company. Sold for $2,995 1969 AMC scrambler new- worth around $20k now. 390 cubic inch engine, muncie aluminum rock crusher 4 speed, 315hp, 2650 lbs. Best time showroom stock 13.90 in 1/4 mile. Jennifer got rear ended in a parking lot when it was 3 months old and let the other person talk her into believing it was her fault. Fortunately, it was only a dent in the trunk lid. 26 straight wins in one season, nobody from my family ever watched me race. Took it apart in 1971. Put the engine in an idiot's stock car, quit being involved in Arizona racing in 1974, never saw the car or the engine again. Last race was 1977 in a super modified at Sedelia raceway in Mo. Ran Jennifer's uncle's car, first time driving in over 4 years. Only trophy I still have. Good thing was in those days you got to kiss the trophy girl, bad thing was she was my friend's 15 year old daughter so no tongue. If I had all the money I spent on racing I could have quit work 15 years ago, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Now that I've bored you to death, thanks for the picture.

Saturday Night & No Curfew!

When we lived at our old house, we'd often drive by the Kmart/Target shopping center on Saturday nights and look at the all of the cars displayed. Sometimes, we'd even take a walk through and see who had pulled in that night. I don't think we ever thought that we'd be taking our own vehicle and pulling out the lawn chairs...

Well, what do you know? It's our '55 Studebaker truck on the freeway, headed to the old Kmart parking lot. (Hmm...I'll bet if you looked a little closer you'd see some chairs in the back, too!)

We pulled in to the lot at about 6:30 PM, John driving the truck and Tracy and the kids following in the Tahoe (no, she did not park it at the show!) There were all kinds of vehicles present, from fully retored beauties all the way to the primer gray ugly ducklings (and everything else in-between). With people pulling in and out all evening, we got to see a little bit of everything and visited with all types of people imaginable.

The kids had a blast demonstrating the versatility of our truck. How many other cars at the show had two kids dancing in them? This truck gets to LIVE! It's fun to have a vehicle that can be part of the party and not just a pretty decoration.

John and Tracy showing off our Studebaker. We have even more fun with this truck than we ever imagined we would. It's such a great family project.

Thayer and Jilly love the truck, too. They think that cruise nights are fun!

It's hard to say what's the most fulfilling part of these events...the fact that people are starting to recognize us and welcome us into "the scene" or just meeting so many people who have fun Studebaker stories and memories to share. It's easy to see how this can be addictive!