Chapter 10: Cognochevy
Chapter 10: Cognochevy
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Original ad featuring the 1951 Studebaker Commander,
retouched in the approximate colors of the one we saw. Note the happy
farmer.
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November 13, 1999 A Saturday like any Saturday, much like the Saturday before.
I appeared at Lazlo's and helped out. The Thriftmaster is now completely reassembled, from the air cleaner to oil pan, fanbelt to bellhousing.
Leaving the hardware store after picking up some odds and ends, we had an encounter with an old vehicle that was both fascinating, pathetic, and a fine cautionary tale. It came in the form of a 1951 Studebaker, spray painted a garish hot pink and sporting Illinois plates. As Lazlo and I close-inspected it the owner came by.
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The Beast, waiting patiently on the curb for her
new engine. Nuzzling her rear end affectionately is the Great White Weasel,
Lazlo's 1960 Ford. Don't worry, they won't be allowed to breed.
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The mid-thirtyish gentleman was at the hardware store, it turned out, to get the right mechanism to attach a small boat propeller to the justifiably famous Studebaker bullet nose. He tried to hire Lazlo to do some interior welding (forget it, he's booked up for quite a while). He eventually took off, the engine making an unhealthy noise, while we stood there stunned. The guy had a perfectly good, fully complete vintage auto and wanted to do stupid s**t like putting a funny propeller on it. He had no idea of the potential value of what he owned.
Mind you, I've ruined a few potentially collectible vehicles in my day-- a '69 Continental, a '74 Camaro, and a '65 Valiant, to name a few-- but back when I was too young and stupid to know better and too poor to do anything about it anyway. The Studebaker encounter really hardened my resolve to do this rebuild right. A stock-restored vehicle is a dignified vehicle.
Anyway, we got the engine dropped into the compartment with a minimum of fuss. It still needs to be hooked up and the the tranny isn't attached yet. The next big milestone is initial startup. That has to be done carefully, as there's a risk that if everything isn't in good order damage can occur. If the oil circulation is blocked, for instance, the bearings can be damaged and we're back to square one.
Aside from helping remount the engine, I pulled out the nasty smelly deep-pile shag carpeting Dad put on the cab floor. It's only purpose of late was to collect dirt, twigs, and coffee spills.
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A nice look at the right side of the engine, with
all of the important details attached.
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November 14, 1999 Among the many things I did that day, I attended the Goodguys Hot Rod and Antique show at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. It was the first Hot Rod show I've been to. I scored some pretty good deals on trim parts in the vendors sections, and If I had gotten there earlier I pobably could have purchased everything the Beast needed for quite a while at substantial discount. I also ran across Dave Gaitan from Auto and Truck Bumper (his cool old trucks are for sale!) and met Dave Hindman (the guy with the license plates) in person.
The vehicles on display there dramatically pointed out the philosophical differences between Custom and Stock restoration. As mentioned above, stock restored vehicles express the design excellence of the manufacturers, and the respect the restorers have for said excellence. In the narrow field of trucks, I actually laid eyes (and hands-- don't tell) on a 1957 Chevy Cameo Carrier, original right down to the spark plug wires, and a 1958 3/4-ton with NAPCO 4-wheel drive.
On the other hand, the customs are breathtakingly cool. I saw a number of Task Force, Advance Design, and even Art-Deco Chevies with independent front suspensions, turbocharged fuel-injected engines, power everything, and plushy interiors. they are the obvious result of a LOT of effort and expense, and earned the respect accorded to bad-ass rods. I suppose the Dignity of Stock and Bad-Ass of Custom represent opposite but equal qualities.
Other things I learned at the Goodguys show:
• The guy who owns Grumpy's Truck Parts is indeed grumpy;
• The guy who owns John Milner's yellow 1932 Ford Highboy from American Graffiti is kind of a jerk.
November 15, 1999 As Eddie K (lifelong pal and Alcatraz guide). and I returned from Silicon Valley, he coined the term "Cognochevy." To wit, he remarked that when the rebuild is finished I'd be driving the beast around, "educating the vehicularly ignorant and impressing the Cognochevy." It really stuck.
