The long ride home

So I got up early on Saturday morning and drove five hours to Lake Havasu where the truck has been in storage at my mother's house. This trip came a bit earlier than I had planned for. My mother is moving and I'm not positive her next living arrangement will have accommodations for my truck. It was destined to come home in about six months. I got to Havasu just before noon is quitting time at the local Uhaul. After procuring a trailer it was time to to tinker. I brought most of the tools that I needed to get it going. Except for maybe the one toll I needed. With fresh fuel and a healthy spark I couldn't get the motor to turn more than twenty or thirty degrees. If I had a 1/2 breaker bar, I could have turned the motor by hand and possibly freed whatever was stuck. I guess I could have pulled a spark plug and put a little oil on top of the pistons. Or pulled all the spark plugs and cranked it to see if the valves were sticking shut. I didn't find the problem. I gave myself an hour to mess with it before it was necessary to get to the hardware store to buy a come along. After dragging it onto the trailer there wasn't anything more to do with the truck but worry about how I would get it into my garage from the trailer. I honestly did prepare for the truck not starting. Overconfidence bites me again. For an hour or so I brainstormed as I was trying to get to sleep. Again as I woke up, and for the full six hours coming home. I came up with some really hair brained ideas. But the simplest idea was to gather friends and push it up my very steep driveway. I did all I could to level the playing field. I drove my truck tire up on service ramps and cranked the trailer tung jack all as high as I could. It was still looking pretty tough so I removed the valve cores in the tires in the rear axel of the trailer. That was surprisingly effective as it dropped the uphill end of the trailer four inches from eight at the start. Even with all this it took three good friends pushing three attempts to get it off the trailer. I'm a few beers in debt tonight but the truck is in the garage. I wish I could say that work will begin tomorrow. But the reality is, I probably won't touch it till the summer. I had intended to pick it up six months from now because that's when I will have the time it will need. My "grease monkey" accounts is accumulating every month. I still have some decisions to make regarding fueling. But when the time comes I'll be ready for a big parts buy. Most of which will be new kingpins for the front axel and shock mounts and everything else chassis related. I've got some time still. I'm happy to have the truck taking up space in my own garage again.

Ready for resurrection

This is what happens when I have too much time to prepare. I pack everything. I'm sure all I am missing is the one thing I will need to get the truck started. Worse case scenario I will have to pick up a come along at the hardware store. It would be a lot easier if the truck ran even a little bit. Not only to get it on the trailer but also to get it off and into the garage. I won't be able to get it into the garage with a come along. So here's to hoping.

New space

There is officially a 1953 chevy pick up sized hole in my garage.  The truck is coming out of storage and will be parked here in exactly seven days.

Five years intermission

Wow. It's been five years since since my last blog post.  The truck has made no progress.  I have spent this time focusing on more important things.  How many people stop mid-project because lack of funds or time,  then never get back to it.  The fact that this is a family truck has kept it in play for me.  For these last five years when I could not afford the time or money that the truck needs,  I've never felt that getting rid of it was an option.  I am determined to finish this truck in a way it can be driven and enjoyed for a few more decades.  My son is seven now.  I think he will always remember when his dad brought the truck back to life.  Which is important to me.  What makes this truck so valuable to me is the memories I have in it with my father and grandfather.  It's time to get it back to burning gas and building memories.

Pusher fan installed

I didn't get a picture of the fan fully installed. But it came out very nicely. I painted the horizontal brackets gloss black and riveted them to the radiator. The fan sits about 5/8 from the radiator core(and it's centered). I'm very pleased with the install. Drivetrain wise all I am waiting for to tune this think up and drive it is the exhaust. Im helping my grandma move this weekend. But next weekend I am borrowing a buddy's welder and doing it up. Once its running I'll be able to tell if this fan is going to get the job done. As much as I would rather have a mechanical fan there is a piece of the is happy that its not there. Ive seen some blades come loose on jeeps and reek havoc on hoods and fenders. I don't want to think what a fan blade would do to a person.

Looks like a truck again

FIRE!

Just about wet my pants working on the truck today. I had just finished setting my static timing and I was testing to see if I was getting spark. I had one spark plug out and grounded to the frame. When I hit my push start button the engine fired right up. With no coolant, not exhaust, and running on five cylinders blowing out the sixth spark plug hole. Running a bit rich flames were shooting out the exhaust manifold. The only thing I could think to do is throw my hand over the carb which stalled it. I cant wait to get this thing put together. And to let it run for more than a few frightening seconds.