A very interesting presentation by ‘Exposures Photography” was given atthe meeting of the 23rd. For those few who were there I hope it gave some insight into the world of professional photography and just how they get those fantastic pictures. If you were not there, basically they cheat. Well maybe not cheat but with modern technology, adjust the base picture with outstanding results. You could polish your car all day and still not get it looking so good.

The next presentation will be on Radiators, maybe not as high level and glamorous as photography but very essential for most cars. I have heard that Mr Gullible is interested in the Radiators as the “never ending mission of trouble” is in need of a new one.

The variety of people who do regularly come along seem to gel no matter what the car is they are driving. It is not always a Ford as sometimes the owners loved Fords are on holidays or unwell. In saying that all but one car was a Ford as the driver’s car had some issues so still participated in a BMW. This cruise that took three hours that included a long mid stop, was once an all day affair from sunup to sundown back in the early thirties. That is one way only. The early trucks went slowly especially through the hills.

Some more interesting things that did not come up on the cruise about life as a pioneer in early Australia is that after work on Friday night, my Great Grandfather would set out on foot from Nadia (an area about 17 Kilometres east of Swan Reach for Adelaide. Arrive on Saturday to place a penny on a horse at the races then start on his way back home. We are talking walking at night as the crow flies across terrain without roads being some 180 miles there and back in a weekend. He never missed a Monday morning start.

Now compare this to the driving in a truck that was two days there and back. The mind boggles!

“Mr Gullible’s never ending mission of trouble”. Progress has been made on the project with the Galaxie almost totally stripped to its last nut and bolt. Most of the detachable body parts have been paint stripped. Metal blasted by Colon from “Access Blasting”. So far luck has been falling Mr. Gullible’s way and no rust other than surface rust has been found. Even inside the windscreen seels the metal is still metal.

The cleaned parts have been ferried to Romano at “All Car Restorations” (see add on back page) and the little dents and buckles have been sorted and the parts looking fine. His biggest challenge will be when the body has its turn. Romano explained to Mr Gullible that before the car is ready to paint, the body needs to be reassembled so it can be taken apart again. Mr Gullible assumes it is a practise run to see if he has been watching. It is a shame that all the numbers that were on the parts to match the numbers on the bolt are now gone. This won’t be a problem for Mr Gullible because he has a photographic memory. Yes he can spot his Mother in Law from 30 feet away. Problem is that the bolts look nothing like the Mother in Law!

As mentioned earlier, the parts that have come back from Romano’s are fine. In fact that fine that the first few parts that came home caused a bit of confrontation. Mrs Gullible saw the parts and was a little miffed why Mr. Gullible was still buying new parts from EBay. It took a little convincing that these were the original parts that had been cleaned, smoothed up and etch primed ready for painting.

BUT WAIT! Everything was going along fine and that in its self is an omen for trouble. Sure enough trouble presented it self. To be able to lift the body off the chassis, the steering needs to be separated. The point indicated by the manual is a little impossible without the right tools but there is an alternative. This is proving to be just as unwilling. So far this has caused a little frustration as some 5 hours has been spent attempting to achieve this separation. Not to be outdone, Mr Gullible has brought in the thirteen pound sledge. This will be a success or disaster. You will need to wait the outcome.