Grandpa's '55 Chevy Ch. 04

"Give it a punch," Mindy prodded.

He shook his head. "I'm a much better mechanic and fabricator than driver. A car like this can get out from under you in a heartbeat if you're not familiar with it. I'm enjoying it like this just the same."

Mindy admired Gabe that he was confident enough in himself to not be macho'd into doing something he knew wouldn't be smart. He was truly content with himself and she found that very sexy.

They pulled into Gabe's driveway a little after 5:00 pm. Mindy said he should just park out front since she had to head home soon. Gabe was disappointed but he tried to hide it. "I have to stop by my folk's house and get the mail and make sure all is well there. I also have laundry to do at home for the work week."

Gabe remembered he had washed her sheet and he told her it was folded on the kitchen counter. They went in the house and got her things together for her short trip home. He grabbed her burger and fries carton so she'd have a quick meal. When she was done packing they walked back out to her car and put everything in.

She turned and kissed him, saying, "I'll be back before you miss me."

"But I miss you already." They hugged and Mindy seemed to be trying to end the hug early. Gabe knew he had to let her go, but it got harder each time.

Monday morning was a long list of things that Gabe needed to finish so other things could get done. He finished the front suspension and steering in the morning. He jumped in his truck and went to Mickey D's for lunch and texted Mindy while he ate. She didn't respond. On the way home he stopped by the tire shop to pick up the tires he had mounted on the newly painted wheels.

Once back at his shop he unloaded the tires and finished the chassis work by bleeding the brakes. Gabe had to run a new fuel and return line from the in-tank high pressure fuel pump needed for the fuel injection. He put the new wheels and tires on so he could load the wagon on his trailer for his appointment at Scott's Performance the next morning.

It was Scott who was going to make sure everything was working in concert with the new system but Gabe had to be sure that all of his work was ready to go. He checked that the fuel pump was working and making pressure, that all of the wiring had power where it was needed and that the distributor was oriented correctly and close to spec. When Scott was done the Chevy would be tuned for bullet reliability and have better performance added in. The next time he looked up at the clock it was 6:15. No wonder he was tired.

Gabe locked up the shop and walked up to the house, entering through the garage. There was an empty parking spot where Mindy's Mustang should be. Even though he had been happy on his own for several years, the events of the last couple weeks showed him what he'd been missing in life. However, if Mindy couldn't convince herself that she could be faithful to him he would have to start adjusting back to life on his own. He was trying to be patient but that wasn't always his strongest suit.

As had become his routine, Gabe went to the fridge to see what was in there. His evening picked up a bit when he spotted his Burger Garage carton. He popped it into the microwave and had punched in a minute and a half when his phone rang. His evening picked up a bit more when he saw Mindy's name on the screen. He pushed the screen to answer, "Hey, baby! Whatcha doin'?"

"I just got home and was going to have my leftover burger for dinner."

"Hey, me too! We could have dinner together on the phone."

Corny but sweet, she thought. "Okay....." He sensed her hesitation. They talked while they ate and Mindy hated to admit that it was better than she thought it would be. Certainly better than having no Gabe in her evening. They only spent about fifteen minutes on the phone before hanging up. The conversation seemed a little labored tonight, not the easy talking he was used to with her. He felt a loss when they hung up, but the subject of Mindy moving into his house wasn't broached. He didn't want to bug her, thinking that a parking spot in his garage, a key and a closet in his room said all he needed to say.

Tuesday was a really big day.... the engine was going to be started or at least cranked over. Gabe had the wagon loaded early, wanting to give Scott all the time he may need to run down any problems. He was sitting in front of the tuner's shop door when Scott arrived. He got out of his truck laughing that Gabe was there so early.

"Do you think I need all day to get it running?"

Gabe walked over and shook his hand and chuckling, "It's not YOUR work I'm worried about." Scott winked at him assuring Gabe they'd get it running right shortly. The shop door was opened and Gabe winched the Chevy off the trailer, right into the service bay, the nose of the car pointing out. Scott was already heading for the car with his laptop, the new tuning tool, replacing the dwell-tach, feeler gauges and most of the old school tools Gabe was familiar with. He told Scott he'd get out of his hair and hit Starbucks up the block for some breakfast.

"I'll be back shortly. Want anything?" Scott said no, SOMEBODY has to work today!

Gabe walked the half block and ordered his coffee and banana nut muffin. He found a table outside and relaxed, watching all of the 'suits' rushing here and there, worried they'd be late to their cubicle making him very content with his career choice. He scrolled through the web on his phone, checking the latest news. Next was the local car corral, seeing if there was anything interesting for him to buy and rehab. He decided to text Mindy, just saying 'Good morning, miss yer face.'

Again, there was no reply.

Gabe spent forty five minutes people watching which went against his work ethic but he was waiting on Scott to work his magic. 'Enough with wasting time' he thought and headed back to Scott's to see what problems he'd have to fix. As he arrived he was confused. The back of the Chevy was at the shop door when the front was there when he left. He got closer and heard it running!!!! The lumpy cam sounded great through the glass pack dual exhaust. Gabe was shocked and walked up to Scott, sitting in the passenger seat, clicking away on his lap top that was connected to the car's computer.

Scott saw Gabe had returned and smiled at him. "I just set a couple parameters and it started right up." That was great news to Gabe's schedule. Scott drove the Chevy forward onto the dyno to get the best set up. Gabe tied the car down while Scott made the diagnostic connections. A dyno lets the driven wheels ride on a roller which records the speed, horsepower, torque and many other pieces of data.

Once everything was ready Scott got behind the wheel and went through the gears, the rear tires spinning on the rollers. He brought the speed up to 60 mph and left it there for a minute, looking at the cruising data, clicked the data collection on and floored it. That little 283 screamed up to 5,000 rpm and Scott took his foot off the gas, then turned the engine off after the wheels came to a stop. He looked at the graph on the screen, made a few adjustments on his computer which adjusted the fuel injection and did another dyno run. Almost happy with the results, he bumped the timing up two degrees before the final run.

Scott gave Gabe a print out with the final dyno results. "Three hundred and twenty eight horsepower, three hundred and fifteen pounds of torque. That is a great little engine!" Gabe told Scott the car's story and Scott said he was honored to work on it but he still had to charge for the tuning! They laughed and headed to the office to pay the bill.

Gabe's next stop was the alignment shop and amazingly they had an immediate opening. All of the techs came over to check out the little car and were impressed with the upgrades he made. The two chores he thought would take all day were done before noon!

Back at his shop Gabe unloaded the wagon and backed it into the last bay, like it was the last time Mindy saw it. He put it up on the lift and took the tires off, looking as if it hadn't moved at all. The clock on the wall hadn't even hit eleven thirty yet. The paint and detail guy was coming Thursday so he was way ahead of schedule. He checked his phone but there was still no response to his text to Mindy.

The upholstery shop called, telling him they were ready for the Tbird so he spent the rest of the day loading it on the trailer and dropping it off, an hour away. On the way back he picked up the next restoration project he had been trying to get, a '32 Ford pick up. It had been hot rodded in the 50's with a later flathead and dual carbs but hadn't run since the early 70's. It was a rust free truck and would be a fun project.

It was late afternoon when he got back to his shop and he called Mindy to see if she was coming over after work. He told her he really needed her help if the car was going to get done. She said yes but had an appointment right after work and wouldn't be there until about 6:15. She also said she was sorry that she had to get home early. Unanswered texts and shortening a visit made Gabe felt like she was pulling away from him. Was she really? Or could it be just his ex-wife's mind games coming back to haunt him?

He ordered a pizza from Aldofredo's on the shop phone, like their first dinner at his house, but he didn't have any wine this time. He left the shop open for Mindy's visit and headed up to the house but he was feeling a little weight on his shoulders.... it was doubt.