Slick 60's

Young guy called me up a couple months ago
Somebody told him I was a Ford hoarder....
He Needed a 31 spline axle out of a 9" rearend
I didn't have one I wanted to swipe from a good rear , but i did have an old van
he said the Rear end would work (same leaf measurements)
After getting it out of the van.. he wanted to know how much
I wanted for it ... his negotiation skills are minimal ....
This is the type of guy who probably never got an A in school
Hard worker, knows right from wrong , never catches a break ...
I said $50 .. I did help him for an hour.....
He said fine , he would pay me tomorrow
A month went by....
He shows up and had a "sorry so late" and a $50 dollar bill...
Not a problem ...
then last week he needed a flywheel
I didn't have one
But after about an hour & half on the milling machine
He was able to bolt his new clutch on the one he already had ....
He asked me how much he owed me ....
I told him he could just swap some work some day....
Then he showed up yesterday ......
Said the transmission he was going to use wasn't going to work...
Did I have a transmission he wondered ?
Yea.......
If you want to pull it out of that truck ..
5 spd behind a 300 i6 .... I was "saving" for something... someday ...
I guess I was saving it for this kid
He got the tranny , driveshaft , cross member .....
Hopefully it will get him going
His dad passed away from leukemia a few years ago (I knew his dad)
Paying it forward

You're a good man Pat, well done.

My kind of man....

The BIGGER the heart, the better the REWARDS. You can never out give the Lord. It'll come back to you.

I don't mind helping out people, that are trying to get ahead
When I suggested the 5 spd
He sheepishly asked how much , knowing he couldn't afford it
When I said free, if he pulled it , his attitude brightened up
He was pretty excited , even though he knew several hours of work were ahead for him
He got it out of there by himself , while I did farm work

You have a big heart Pat bet you fall asleep with no problem at all

I think a lot of guys on this site would have helped him out
I'm usally a good judge of character
I overheard him talking to his wife/girlfriend on the phone
Definitly a nice person

Sometimes I wonder why I was put on this planet- and like you I would have done that too.

You just made that man a story, a life lesson and example of what it’s like to be a good person.

Reading thru this again I was surprised that someone would think you are a hoarder, Pat. lol

Probably half the trucks sitting around here were headed to the crusher
Advertisements on Craigslist would say something like
"$1000 bucks or I'm taking it to the crusher"
I'd message em & tell them ......
that I would give them what the crusher would
But I would haul it off , so they didn't have to ..
Several took me up on it.

I've got the space & the cows don't mind them

I'm glad someone is saving some of our trucks.

I text him last night & asked if he got his truck on the road
(I will admit I was a bit skeptical )
Got a message back & he said yes & had been driving it back & forth to work
The old saying "where there is a will, there is a way" is pretty much true

Very good, Pat!
Certainly not surprising, but VERY GOOD!
Paul

Good for you for helping out the kid. I do as much as I can when I can as well. Got to pay it forward to the less fortunate.

Good karma comes from it.