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  • Another fighter is gone

    I'll move this to Obituaries when I get more details, but Norris Edmonds passed away last Friday. Norris who? Norris was the man with Parkinson's who bravely drove his '57 1/2-ton pickup 6,000 miles on our Potomac Chapter Route 66 Trip in 2003. His truck was a V-8 five-speed overdrive, but with his handicap it was hard for him to drive, especially in heavy traffic (like LA). Compounding the problem- he had a mini stroke on the westbound leg of the trip, but never said anything, just kept going.
    He was re-restoring the truck with plans to make the chapter Lincoln Highway Trip in 2007. He came to the last Martinsburg Atlantic Zone Meet driving a beat-up Chrysler mini-van with "Studebaker" painted across the hood. He was pulling a trailer to pick up a restored 2R frame to put his cab and bed on. However, first his house burned down forcing him to live in his garage and then his Parkinson's got bad enough that he couldn't do mechanical work. Forum member John Batka bought his truck and is still in the process of getting it back together.
    Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.
    '64 Daytona Wagonaire, '64 Avanti R-1, Museum R-4 engine, '72 Gravely Model 430 with Onan engine

  • #2
    Paul,

    I remember all of your gang that made that Route 66 road trip and remember meeting Norris and seeing his beautiful truck. If I remember correctly when you lifted up the tonneau cover on the bed he had made an AC unit that ran off of a small auxiliary motor inside the PU bed. I was the President of the Northeast Oklahoma SDC chapter then and our group shared a meal with your group at Spaghetti Warehouse in Tulsa, OK as you headed west on Route 66.

    Thanks for sharing this with us.
    sigpic
    John
    63R-2386
    Resto-Mod by Michael Myer

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    • #3
      Originally posted by okc63avanti View Post
      Paul,

      I remember all of your gang that made that Route 66 road trip and remember meeting Norris and seeing his beautiful truck. If I remember correctly when you lifted up the tonneau cover on the bed he had made an AC unit that ran off of a small auxiliary motor inside the PU bed. I was the President of the Northeast Oklahoma SDC chapter then and our group shared a meal with your group at Spaghetti Warehouse in Tulsa, OK as you headed west on Route 66.

      Thanks for sharing this with us.
      Hey! We had a great time with your group that night. You all had some very nice cars.
      Actually, the truck you are thinking of belonged to Paul Thrush. It was a blue '54 3R-5. He knew it didn't have enough power for a conventional A/C so he built in the bed a 10hp Briggs engine with electric start that he could control from in the cab. It powered the compressor and piped the coolant into the evaporator in the cab- extremely clever man. We could always tell when he kicked in the A/C because there would be a puff of black smoke from the little exhaust pipe under the bumper when the Briggs took on the compressor load. I can't find any shots of the A/C layout, but the truck in the thumbnail is the one. His truck had only one minor failure on the 6,000-mile trip- he had to replace the stop light switch.
      Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.
      '64 Daytona Wagonaire, '64 Avanti R-1, Museum R-4 engine, '72 Gravely Model 430 with Onan engine

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      • #4
        Gosh I'm real sorry to hear this. Norris had the neatest truck I named him Bud nickname of my father. It was amazing to me to see what Gus looked like new. One day he will look like that again.
        Mabel 1949 Champion
        Hawk 1957 Silverhawk
        Gus 1958 Transtar
        The Prez 1955 President State
        Blu 1957 Golden Hawk
        Daisy 1954 Regal Commander Starlight Coupe
        Fresno,Ca

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