Persevere!

I must have been beaming last October as my pal Doug and I wandered the Hershey Swap meet. I had just scored a 40 woodie rear bumper which was riding atop my swap meet wagon flanked by a pair of 39 ford bumpers (which I had bought moments before finding the correct bumper) . Doug was on the lookout for anything JEEP,and at one "corner" we happened upon a pair of new englanders.. (Mr C.)

Mr c's first comment was something like: "hey kid, what are you doing? CORNERING THE MARKET ON FORD BUMPERS??" however his tone was friendly and I quickly informed my new acquaintances that the rear bumper was for my 1940 ford woodie, and the 39's were for a future project.
To my surprise Mr. C indicated the he once had a 40 woodie, that he had disassembled many years prior.

When I inquired about the availability of these "saved parts" (without even knowing exactly what he might have) the situation became more muddled, when we explained that the parts were at his friends (Mr T's) "garage in a box, in the corner.....for the last 10 years!"

I didn't call right away, as I was too focused on obtaining the cowl from ROD, but when I did contact Mr T. he promised to send a digital photo to me..

A few weeks passed, and I received this digital photo.

a few more weeks passed and no communication came, I could have done without all the parts shown, but knew at a minimum they were good trading fodder.


life got busy, and it wasn't until february 13th that Mr T. and I would speak again.. at that point he indicated that he would "have to determine a price"

fearing the worst I almost gave up...

however, late in March (on a friday) I called again and Mr T. "threw a number at me"

following our conversation I indicated that I need a day or two to decide, (because I was going to look at another car) and as I was about to hang up Mr T mentioned that another "part" had shown up..

what part I asked..? "The steel panel that houses the latches in the upper portion of the lower tailgate."

As I contemplated the purchase over the weekend I gave little thought to the lower gate upper panel. In fact, it wasn't until I spoke to Mr. T again on monday that I realized "perhaps the rear gate handles are still be attached to that lower rear gate panel.."

to my amazement they were..





































as well as a host of other goodies..

as paul harvey would have said..
"the rest of the story"

this deal took so long..

because..

As it turns out, Mr. C and Mr. T couldn't determine how to "split" the proceeds of this sale.

The parts technically belonged to one man, but were stored at his friends home for many many years. Neither friend felt great about the money..

in the end... neither man's name was on the check..

Every time I turn the handles on my rear gate, I'll think of the good that came from a simple conversation at Hershey..