Rusty's end..

I keep clicking my feet together saying "there is no place like home" in hopes that I return from the nightmare before my eyes. It an unfortunate event this morning, a single bolt destroyed 3 1/2 years of work done by many family members... It's no one's fault, accidents happen. The important thing is that nobody got hurt.

I spent the day going through the car. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours. The interior is completely burned up. From the original steering wheel I went to Kentucky for, to the headliner that gave me headaches, to the seats my wife re-covered for me. The engine seems to be ok, just black from smoke. Tranny is shifting fine, the new stain-less steel exhaust is good at first glance, the gas tank isn't bubbled from what we see. Rims are rolling and dirty, two tires blew out. The hood, driver's door, trunk lid, and deck pan are warped from heat. The worse being the roof, and the trunk lid. All the glass is gone. Cluster is gone. Front grill... gone.

There was no insurance on the car. After speaking with our agency, we decided to wait til spring to put any insurance on it. If I could only re-due that conversation. I don't want the money for the car. I just want the car like it was, the way we built it.

Today a part of me got burned up in that garage. It hurts real bad. I sat in the car two days ago to start it up again and listen to that big block growl. I long for the day that I'll hear Rusty's sound again. From the day I brought Rusty home I was eager to pick up a wrench and strive towards getting the car back to life and on the road. I don't know when that day will come now.

Where do we go from here? I'm going to be honest, I'm devastated. After the smoke had cleared and my family was safe, all I could think about was Rusty. Everything we had been through, and everything we were going to go through. On my way over to my parents' house I was trying to tell myself that it is just a car. As soon as drove down the driveway I couldn't pretend that it was just a car anymore. A father-son project that evolved into a father-son-grandchild project, to a Howard's family project. I could not hold back the tears as I walked up to the garage. We had some great times around that car... I loved that car.

I still love the car.

Storage run

Even though the car is tucked away through the week, I make sure to spend some quality time hearing that engine growl. It's really cold, but The General fires right up with a touch of the key.

Front Bumper

That bumper looked like a baked potato all the way across. With a gentle scrubbing you can see what it looks like under that surface stain. This was done in about a minute. I'll get working on the rest of the cleaning shortly. My partner for this; scotch guard pads...

Primer Bar

I sought to smooth out the welding spots on the bar. After a little grinding I painted the primer grey and let it sit. Can't wait for spring to put it on the car and leave it.

The Push Bar

My oldest son, Lukas, gave me the push bar for Christmas LAST year!! It was only fitting that he was there for the actual building of it. We decided to piece it together on the car instead of on the ground. Turned out pretty darn good too.