Saturday, August 30, 2003 - I finally went to pick up this $200 '70 Ranger parts truck last weekend. Loading a truck with no steering column is an adventure! I brought along a spare steering column, but found out whoever took the previous column also took the rag joint, so I had no way of hooking the column up. Thankfully the seller had a tractor with a front-end loader, so we were able to pull it into line with the trailer and then push it on, with me furiously kicking the tires in an attempt at steering it onto the trailer. My wife thought it was funny enough that she had to grab the camera. The trailer was barely big enough...the truck tires were rubbing the trailer's siderails on both sides...but we finally got it.
     Once we got it back to the shop (which is on a corner lot in a residential area) we backed the trailer onto the front lawn and pushed the truck off. About the time the front tires hit the ground I threw a large block of wood under the tire to stop it, but the truck just rolled right over it and out into the street, dragging me with it! Fortunately the curb was shallow and we were able to roll it over the curb and back into the yard.

We then got busy hauling away scrap sheetmetal. The original '67 cab and the cab from the green '70 got loaded onto the trailer and hauled to the recyclers, along with the Chevy cab and box left over from my Studebaker pickup project. With the shop now cleaned out enough for me to get this truck indoors, we pushed it inside...and I got started stripping it down. This truck will supply a good wiring harness, front-end valance panel, engine/transmission, air-conditioning (just the engine-mounted stuff and hoses...the actual underdash unit is will be going up on Ebay soon), rear step bumper, door panels and glass. The radiator core support has some rust but is usable...and it has to stick around at least long enough for me to use as a template for drilling holes for the AC condenser and hoses in the '77 core support which I'll be using. Most other parts will also find their way to the recyclers...although I HAVE been contemplating using this box for a cheap box trailer. By the time I came home from the shop last night about 10PM, the front end was mostly stripped and I was about ready to pull the engine and transmission.