Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026

The new Auto Gage vacuum gauge arrived here last Saturday, as as expected, it came equipped with a black bezel, but also had a optional chrome bezel that snaps on if chrome is your choice — which it is for me.

After I got home from the Whiskey City Cruisers’ cruise-in, I set abut installing the gauge, which wasn’t very difficult. I removed the Stewart-Warner gauge and had the new AutoGage installed in short order. The gauge matches the other three perfectly — including the backlight, which was exactly what I wanted.

The cruise went well, my son shot photos of the cars. The turnout was pretty good. The weather was beautiful, the sky was clear, the sun was bright. Overall, it was a great way to close out a nice cruising season.

Of course, I’m already planning improvements to the Chevy and the garage as I write.

GARAGE IMPROVEMENTS.

• Install our old kitchen wall cabinets to use for storage
• Move the rototiller out of the shop
• Hang up or store more effectively my QuickJack 5000
• Be on the look out for more cabinet-type storage. My old lockers in the old garage would work well.

55 CHEVY WAGON IMPROVEMENTS.

• Belt-driving AC system
• Finish installing plywood in cargo area
• Install b/w vinyl flooring
• install metal trim
• install the spare tire cover
• finish fenderwells
• apply tint to rear windows
• add carpet to front and rear floorboards
• Make emergency brake functional again.
• Replace burned out dash lights.
• Add return spring to clutch pedal
• Replace headers with rams horn manifolds
• Remove 2-inch lowering blocks from rear suspension.
• Install quartz dash clock
• Install door panels and rear seat side panels.
• Modify the Ford T-5 short-throw shifter for use on my GM T-5.

There’s probably more to do that I have time or money to complete, but some of these will be priority items. Examples include adding A/C; remove lowering blocks; add carpet and door panels; dash lights; tint rear windows; finish up cargo area.

I may even replace the rear leaf springs with some that are heavy duty.

And frankly, I need to write all of this down on a white board I have in the shop and mark them off as completed. Some of these will be easier to accomplish than others.

QUICKJACK PROBLEM. I wanted to use my QuickJack 5000 on 55 Chevy wagon, but I quickly found out that it isn’t going to work. The problem has to do with the headers. On my car, the headers come down to the collectors well below the frame; you can’t move the QuickJack under the frame due to interference from the exhaust and headers! Pretty much useless as it sits now.

Well, enough planning for now. I’ll have to list priorities on my list outside.

And actually, getting our taxes done is top immediate priority, so not much else is going on until that’s finished — hopefully sooner than later!