The Thunderbird Chronicles: Finding the First Jedi Temple

Rey thinks she has found Thunderbird parts

When the decision was made to go all in on a 25 year old Thunderbird for the sake of saving one, I was aware that finding parts could potentially be a hit or miss, tedious affair. Knowing where to look for parts would not be the problem; getting the right ones would be.

This week has been a bit of a conformation of that. In the last post, I discussed ordering parts from a repair list given to me by the mechanic working on the Bird and having him install them. Turns out, getting a few of those parts is like being at the end of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens when Rey goes to Ahch-To to find Luke Skywalker. She hikes up to the top from the shore ready to bestow Skywalker with his lightsaber, but instead of finding Luke, she finds a hermit squatting in an abandoned church. It looks like Luke, but it is not Luke. I don't find what I was looking for either, just some clone parts. Specifically, the parking brake cables. (THIS)

I have ordered two sets of cables allegedly one for each side (left rear, right rear). However, both times I have ordered, they have been right side cables only. So, the right side is done and ready to go, but the left, not so much. I was under the impression both sides were equal length cables, but in fact they are of unequal length. What led me to believe that?  1. Faulty research. 2. The rusted piece of parking brake cable the mechanic gave me to match it confirming my faulty research. Turns out, it was so rusted the left side cable broke in half and the part I needed was in fact twice a long. I am sure Rock Auto appreciates me sending back stuff they probably had to go on an archeological expedition in their supplier warehouses to find; I will take a credit instead of a refund.

All in all, no harm, no foul. These things are all part of the experience. However if I'm honest, this situation is more of an example of user error; but it would not be as interesting to say there were mistakes in ordering the parts and miscommunication with the mechanic. If I said that, I could not use clever headlines and make Star Wars references. So in the words of Agent Fox Mulder, "that is, essentially exactly the way it happened."