It has been quiet on the Rusty Truck Project.  The Bleeker's stay pretty busy from November through the first part of January.  Plus I divert funds from Rusty to the holiday season, and our anniversary and Taylor's birthday fall during this time.

However, I have started to put myself back in the resto frame of mind.  After I put up all the holiday crap, I cleaned the garage, again, so I could push Rusty back in her stall.  I was happy to see that the months under the tarp didn't do any damage.  There was no water leakage or critter nests.

Over the last couple of months, I have been surfing eBay for a few items I was missing and can't find replacement parts for.  The main things I was looking for was a complete turn-signal hub, the clamp that mates the column shifter to the shifter box, the column shifter handle, and the lower piece to the column to dash clamp.   I was able to find all four.

• Turn Signal Hub - purchased for $30.  Turns out I was missing a spring and that was why my existing one wasn't operating properly.  All I did was transfer the spring to my cleaned up one that also has a new switch.
   
• I will have to lump these together since what I found was overkill.  I found a guy that was selling the entire steering column and box, shift box, my missing clamp, shift arm and shift handle.  I paid $60 for the entire thing.  Cost me another $35 to have it shipped!  Fortunately this thing has a busted up aftermarket turn-signal so I don't have another one of those.
   
• Because the auction was ending at the same time as the above, I bid and won an entire shift box, clamp, shift arm, and shift handle.  This one only cost me $9.
   
• I also found a column to dash clamp and I think I paid $15 for it.
   
• A couple of bonus items I found:  an original working radio in great shape - $85, ceiling speaker box cover - $30, and 58 fender emblems for $55.

All in all I'm pretty happy with how it went.  I'll have some good spare parts, or maybe I'll be able to help out someone who is in need.

One last item to mention is that I have had a change of heart regarding the dash gauge cluster.  I have decided to fix the original one.  Unfortunately, I alternated the dash wiring harness to adapt to the AutoMeter gauges, so I will have to drop another $120 to replace it.  If I have to replace everything on the original gauge, then I could be looking at an additional $200 - $250.  I've listed the Billet Gauge Cluster on eBay in the hopes that I will recoup the loss - I got the thing discounted $100 so I'm hoping I'll get most of the original price back.  Note: it sold for $340!

On to the next chapter....

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