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Sort of looks like the wagon is inspecting its new living quarters. There is room to expand the garage and add shop space. This photo, along with the previous two, were taken in late January. Oh, the GMC belongs to Tracie's parents and the Toyota belongs to our realtor. | As noted before, the original spare tire cover had been lying on the ground, within reach of the sprinkler system, for nearly a decade (before I bought the car.) I knew it would eventually have to be replaced. Roger Howard spotted a good one at Newburg Auto Salvage in Oregon. He sent me some photos and I called the yard and had them send it down, along with other odds and ends. I initially decided to set it aside until the wagon needed another repaint, but the old one rusted so quickly that I was afraid it would fall off and bounce off the pavement into the windshield of a vehicle following me. So I installed the replacement about a year ago. Seeing it gives me extra incentive to get some body work and a repainting done soon! | This is the house we bought during February, 2004. Over the years,the wagon has become something of a "neighborhood mascot" (in the area around our previous home.) Most people around there were used to seeing it plying the neighborhood streets. Once we moved into the "new" house, the gawking and questions started again. The most common questions are "Does it have a Hemi?" and "Can I see your push button transmission?" I have to disappoint admirers on both counts. | My '58 parts wagon. This photo was taken by the previous owner (Brandon Frame) before he finished removing the parts he wanted to keep or sell. That included, among other things, the luggage rack, side trim, power steering column and box. But it was worth it for the glass, rear axle and other components. |
The recently acquired '59 parts wagon leaving for Las Vegas from Roger's place in Burien, Washington. | I forgot to post this image in sequence. It took four of us to carefully position this freshly painted "hatch cover" into place over the freshly painted cargo hold. We removed all the interior vinyl and simply painted the sheetmetal. All those years here in the desert Southwest had made it brittle beyond belief. | Dead storage, 1990. After getting married in early 1989 and then moving from eastern North Las Vegas to the western side of Las Vegas, the car remained on the back burner. It wasn't until the mid 1990s that I finally found a new old stock harmonic balancer and got the car on the road. | Now to put the darn thing back together. Finding a replacement harmonic balancer was a real hassle. Over the next few years, I wound up rebuilding the engine, rebuilding the front suspension, had the bumpers and other components rechromed and then had to let the car sit for a while. |
Considering the damage, this part of the wagon came out quite well. Since then, John has improved his welding techniques and can handle such repairs with less fuss and less body filler. | While neither the colors nor the two tone effect were correct, the results still looked pretty darn good! | Painted at last! The roof color turned out to be just a few shades off from the wagon's original color. Notice that the two tone application is not in the proper pattern. The upper door frames should have also been the darker blue. | In addition to the collision damage, the spare tire cover had been lying on the ground from about 1976 until 1985 and was rusted through. John had to patch it up as best as he could. It took me years to find a replacement. I found two. The better of the two was sent to another Forward Look enthusiast as a pattern for a patch panel for my two door wagon. The other is now on the car. |
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