First Cruise Night

I can remember driving by cruise night at the Sycamore in my hometown of Bethel, Connecticut as a teenager, wishing like crazy that I had something cool enough to take part. The stock '70 Ford Torino (except for the Cragars) with the 302 I drove at the time was only a dozen or so years old, and I figured far from worthy of sharing space with all those gorgeous hot rods. I think brother Pete would have fit right in with this old truck, which looked a lot better then than it does today, but it was busy being a work truck. Part of that work, by the way, included regularly hauling hot asphalt to make curbs and speed bumps. As much as this made me cringe back in the day ("Hot asphalt in the back of that beautiful truck? Are you nuts?!"), I think it actually helped to preserve the now refinished bed wood that remains.

Fast forward 30-plus years to yesterday, when this dream ride finally rolled in for its very first Sycamore cruise night:



Other than giving a couple friends a quick look at the engine I didn't leave the hood open, figuring just another dusty old straight 6 is hardly something to be showing off. Especially considering all the other incredible power plants on display. Someday I'd like to have maybe a small block V8 with some chrome and a nice neat engine compartment, in which case we'll sit there with the hood up like everyone else. For now I'll just try to keep the hood from becoming partially unlatched whenever we hit a good bump.

A great time overall. Spoke with lots of nice folks, including one guy who had actually been driving by our house regularly for years, all the while wondering if John's Old Truck would ever move from its spot in the driveway. He recognized it with a big smile as he approached, seeming genuinely surprised that it was finally going down the road under its own power. The moment that topped the evening, for sure. We're gonna have a lot of fun with this old thing...


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The Dream is Finally Real

Still smilin' 24 hours later! I'll let the video tell the story...




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One Week to Go

Insurance and registration secured this week as planned. For the first time in 30 years, this truck is officially street legal. Upgrading from the original single feed master cylinder to the new dual feed required some metal fabrication, but the word from Alex is that the hard part of his work is done. Now it's just a matter of running the new lines and bleeding the system.


After 60 minutes at the DMV on Thursday we're officially registered!


Also Thursday - Stopped by to check progress, Alex had his gorgeous '69 Firebird out


The original single feed master cylinder bolted to the driver's side of the frame but the new dual feed will mount toward the front, which required the new mount


Test fist of the new MC. Directly above is the access hole for the original (on the floor of the cab), which we'll need to enlarge for full access to the new one

As Alex pointed out in our conversation yesterday, there are plenty of things on this truck that will need attention "sooner rather than later," as you might imagine with any vehicle that's been sitting for so long, but we will be safe and ready to go down the road when the brake system work is done.

Hard to imagine that in just one week's time the dream will finally be real.


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