Round One:

C3S, race stories got me to remembering H1, who might have give you a run for your money as a character. This was a guy who got back from in country in Nam, finished his tour as a DI and took a second job as a bouncer at the tittie bars just cause he could.

One fine spring Saturday I decided the hardwood floors in the living room needed a fresh coat of varnish, so he helped me put everything out on the porch and then asked what he could do to help, to which I replied "Get out". He put on his leathers, hopped on his rice burner and waived as he went down the road at 8:30 in the morning. I did what I wanted to, floor varnished, house cleaned, truck organized and relaxed for the rest of the day. Well, you don't keep a man on a leash with any success so I didn't start wondering where he was until about 10:00 that night. Called his sister and asked if he had been down to feed the horses and when she said no, we both started to worry; he might drop off the face of the earth but those horses would get feed around sunsetregardless. She calls about 11 said she had him and he was toasted to the gills, I said she could keep him, I'd be down the next morning to collect.

Turns out it was Kentucky Derby day and when you run into some HD boys at the bar you start talking about fast horses, then fast cars, then fast bikes. The Harley boys bluffed it, yes H1 could take them light to light, but over the long haul they had a change so my darling said prove it, they ran Albuquerque to Gallup 5 times in a day(about 140 each way), doing shots at both ends. Thank god he didn't want to take the time to come home to get the car.

I of course am a meek little lambkins who has never gone over the posted speed limit.

 

I of course am a meek little lambkins who has never gone over the posted speed limit.

Sure Toots, I beleive ya!

I'm not so sure about bikers. I've known a lot of them, and still know a "Few". They can be an.....uh.....odd bunch sometimes.

 

So true, I laughed myself sick at your bird to the brain snippit.

Round Two:

When I met him H1 was dying, as in a more pre determined short time than the rest of us. He needed a heart transplant and was already living on borrowed time,six months past the time the medicos had given him. We got married in December so he'd have insurance and he got the transplant in April but the months inbetween were pretty touch and go. The thing that really kept him going was that vette. He'd had a repair shop and the car was in one of its morphing stages when he got sick, so it was in various pieces, but there is a pretty major custom hotrod show in town each February and he was determined to enter his car. This was a man who needed a reason to live and literally, getting his baby back in show condition was it. I'd fetch this, go get that, run to the machine shop but I was just the mobile part of the team, H1 and the vette were bonded in a way I could only help with. Came down to the afternoon it had to be delivered and set up and the car wasn't ready. H1 sent me down to talk to the orginizer, he was buried under the hood, wouldn't take the time to come out. I tell you, I used everything I had to convince the people putting on the show he'd have that car there bright and early though I didn't know how. Next morning I woke to the most amazing "Lub, Lub, Lub.....", he had pulled it off. He and his car made it, took second place.

He had the vette from 67 to 07, raced it, showed it, waxed it and loved that car. I always put a roof over our heads and food on the table, but there were times it was a hunt to find the money for his anti-rejection drugs. There were times I really wanted him to sell that car, when I knew the money could make life easier but he never would.

 

I have to admire the man's tenasity!

 

Good Lord, toots, what incredible stories there. Thank you so much for sharing with us; if you have more, we'd love to read them!

 

Might have one or two more but its someone elses turn to lay it on thick,............you out there Blueshark?

 

Ya,.....c'mon George.....give one up!

Oh......Lee.....? I know you got ta have some!

And Scotty, Luke, Matt, L. B., and Lamont......come on guys, quit tryin' to hide.

 

When I was a senoirin High School, I was a manager of a service station in King's Beach, Ca., on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.
The station was about 1/2 mile from the Ca., Nv. border. There were4 casinos right across the border.
From time to time I would get people that would come in lookin' for a deal on gas, in order to get back home to Sacramento, San Francisco, and all points west in Ca.
I should have opened a pawn shop. I collected several spare tires, lots of hand tools, a couple of leather jackets, 4 suitcases with their clothes still in 'em, about 20 wrist watches, and the list goes on......!

Spare tires......$3
Wrist watches..$5
Tool boxes, w/tools......$15
Leather jackets......$7
Suitcases......$3
Wtih clothes.....$7

One guy wanted $5 for his shoes, wrong size, no deal.
A few people were return customers. They'd pawn a wrist watch, and go back to the casinos. They'd come back later to pawn their rings or somethin, and go back to the casinos. Really kinda sad, but what Idiots!!!

Another guy tried to sell me his car for $500, probably worth a couple of g's. He didn't have the title with him, and I wasn't about to get charged with auto theft, should he decide he wanted his car back.

The oddest one.....
A guy left his girl friend as collateral, for $20 worth of gas, while he went to Western Union to get the money from his Mom. She was there for about 4 hours. I had her washin' windshields, while I pumped gas.

I know what you're thinkin',......no,..... her name wasn't "gas"!

Anyway, I sold most of the stuff at school and made as much as 300% profit on most things. Most of the clothes went to the Salvation Army.

 

That's funny...I can believe that completely. People do similar stuff for a drink(firewater). and worse for the dreaded "dope". addicts is addicts I guess. as for the gilr's name bein' "gas".........okay, I believe ya. Great story.

 

More from the service station.......
One winter day, a 2dr. '55 Chevy sedanshowed up in my parking lot. It had been hit in the passenger side by a snow plow, and the pass door was caved in. After about a week, my boss told me to have it towed.
The more I looked at it, I got to thinkin'......"Stock Car"! I loaded it onmy Dad's trailer and hauled it to school. Some of my buds and I stripped it out in auto shop.The teacher wouldn't let me do the roll cage at school, he said the school might be liable if it failed. IF IT FAILED!!! He didn't know mevery well. ( Dad taught me how to weld when I was about 10. )
I took it home and put it in the shop owned by the company that my Dad worked for. I'd pull it in after everybody was off work, and then pull it out each night. I had access to welders, saws, all the tools I would need, and an overhead crane with a powered winch. I had that car in about every positionbut upside down.
I put in the cage, pulled the 6 banger out, and put in a 283 with a light cam.
Painted it, put on the numbers, and I was ready to roll.
Dad said he wouldn't help, cause if I was goin' to race it, I needed to know everything about it, and how it was done. I picked his brain pretty heavy though.
I used to work on it, on Fri. nights, gettin' ready for the races on Sat. night. I remember fallin' asleep while lyin' on a creeper under the car. I'd wake up starin' at a transmission, somewhat startled, then remember whereI was and why, then continue workin'.
I'm gatherin' up some pics of familly race cars, and hope to post them soon.
I'm goin' to hav'ta get them on disc somehow, so it may take awhile to get them organized, but I will get them posted. ( I only have negatives of some of the shots, I have no idea what happened to the pics.)