I had an experience like Thunder 54 backing through his yard only magnified. When the driveway was repaired they piled the old asphalt chunks in a pile on the front lawn. The Texas sun soon melted them together so at near dark last week I used the forks on the forklift to break them up to load into my truck. There was a steering column from a 41 Ford 1.5T truck waiting to be sandblasted that fell over and I mangled it with the forklift but in it's dying breath it reached up and put a 3 inch gash in the hydraulic oil tank on the forklift. It's about a 1/4" thick. With the asphalt cleared up it was getting pretty dark but wife and I walked through the tall grass before I got the riding mower and promptly run over an alternator that we had missed. Got a couple blades and maybe the crankshaft. All bad but time to even the score. I paid three times the normal $50 core charge for a GM 2004R overdrive transmission and delivered the core to my transmission guy to be completely gone through, usually a 400-600 dollar job. He called me and told me to bring him $30 as the trans was all brand new inside. Karma comes and Karma goes.
Maybe all that leaking hyd.oil will soften up the asphalt chunks some more. My luck would be, it would soften up the newly repaired asphalt. And now, I'm guessing you have to find a steering column for a 41 Ford truck.
Attitude Indeed ; In the end it all works out . I tend to have wild extremes of good or bad ' luck ' so I don't sweat it too much when things go sideways . For decades I knew where the steering column complete with banjo steering wheel , all five wheels and the torque tube rear end of a '38 Ford were piled up just sitting unwanted.... I wonder if they're still there .
Evening out I do appreciate the coaching. I would prefer to drive my 54 from the coast up to Plano to have my front fender tenderly repaired by Evans team. Because the truck was disassembled and reassembled in my back yard when restored, it is far from perfect. If I can coax a young body shop man to smooth out the new dent, I will likely continue to pick up a show and shine trophy once in a while around here. Since I retired at the first of this month, I plan to drive Thunder with much more frequency. I will have the fender repaired soon. It is all about attitude! I appreciate all the advice and support. Jim
Collector car insurance I just checked my insurance policy. No deductible for collision! At least I won't be out of pocket for repairs. With a little inconvenience, this repair may be a simple "bump in the road". Jim