Posted by Clint Dixon on Friday, May 20, 2005 at 1:23PM :
In Reply to: Pop quiz time posted by Clint Dixon on Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 5:28PM :
I didn’t exactly make it easy as I showed one door with glass and one without. The door with the vent wing and the big dent is the original door from my ’47 WDX. The dent was created years ago from someone apparently backing up and catching the door on something and forcing it to be swung into the front fender. The other door, without the glass, is a replacement door that I bought from Powerwagonjohn.
Anyone want to place odds on how hard it is to find a driver side POWER-WAGON door in great condition and in the correct color to match an original? It took me 24 years to find this one to replace my dented original without having to repaint either the cab or door so the parts match. The chances of finding a door that meets those qualifications must be about as good as finding a great condition series one tailgate of the correct color! (Are you reading T-roy?)
All I cared about was replacing a dented door with a good one of the correct color. What I gained by buying this door was an even greater bonus: a true gem, the Holly Grail. Until this door found me, I had spent my entire POWER-WAGON existence feeling that something was not quite right. I felt like I was four-wheeling through life with one pant leg tucked in a boot and the other one out. Like my NDT tires were mounted backwards. Like I had a loose nut, it was standard, and all I had was a metric Crescent Wrench. Like my barn door was open and everyone knew but me. I could hear the snickers and the whispers, but I could not quite figure it out. Then along came John with the answer.
You see, my WDX originally wore non-vent winged doors. Early on I replaced the one-piece glass with vent wing windows. But for 33 years my POWER-WAGON had existed without vent wings and full windows in its doors for occupants to rest their arm stylishly on the opening while plying America’s non-roads. Judging by the wear pattern, previous owners took advantage of this vast opening and rested their whole arm out the window and probably took a comfortable grasp of the rear view mirror during the process. The arm and hand always at the ready for signaling. The wear pattern is nicely centered in the opening. Well my new door always had a vent wing from day one. Its wear pattern obviously reflects that. The wear pattern is much closer to the rear of the window opening, indicative of resting only one’s elbow out the window because of the intrusive vent wing.
So you see, inadvertently messed up the orbit of the planets when I installed a vent wing in a door with a mismatched wear pattern. All is well now. It was meant to be.
Powerwagonjohn indicated that the whole mismatched thing had been bothering him for years. But, he could not bring himself to point out my mistake. I have to admit it would have been quite an embarrassment if it had been brought to my attention at …say…a Rally. Powerwagonjohn is a true POWER-WAGON collector, supplier, friend, and gentleman.
So, Pieter is the winner, having pointed out what has apparently been so obvious to so many for so long. Dwight gains Honorable Mention as he was the first to come close to the answer. (I really thought he was going to get it). Jeff in San Diego also gets Honorable Mention as he took Dwight’s lead and ran with it. He was very close too.
Pieter, Dwight, and Jeff: email me your mailing addresses and I will send out the awards. ;^)
Junior
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