get to work!

I got to spend a couple of hours last week at Christ Church Brenham taking down an old carport and some other stuff. It's good to have the truck do more than just look pretty! (8 foot beds rule.)

leaks and legality

It's been a couple of weeks but in that time the truck is now roadworthy. It began with a new starter from AutoZone. I found out in getting it that the engine in this truck is not the original but instead a 1975 350 v8. Anyway I replaced the starter myself and was stoked at how easy and cheap it was until I left the starter-to-battery cable touching a header and it shorted out and melted the negative battery cable clear off. I had my friend Alex pull me to Allan's Automotive where I had them replace the wires and take care of a transmission fluid leak. Once they got it running again I took the truck to Mill Creek Glass here in town where those guys put in a new windshield.
So it passed inspection and I've been driving it almost daily.
Next on the list of leaks to fix is a lower radiator hose. Besides that one the rear differential needs a new gasket and the oil pan looks like it could use one too. (I'm really having to fight myself to not replace all these parts with chrome plated ones. What can I say? I like shiny stuff.)

$1,630 and counting.

Dylin and I bought some headlights today from AutoZone and I put some steel wool to the grill and headlight frames. Nice.

Before.

During.

After.

Moonpie and Buddy.

Even though it's not a Chevy, Dlyin made a "bow tie" for the front.

The Jalopy

You'd think I didn't have anything going on since I haven't reported for several months but in fact we have recently enjoyed our two year anniversary in our beloved yellow house. (I will be posting some comparison shots soon). Besides that I recently acquired a pick up that was on the list of cars I'd like to own ('64 Impala SS, 67-69 Camaro, '63 Caddy, etc) This one is a 1971 GMC C1500 longbed custom. I plan to keep a running tally of what I do to the truck in order to keep things straight and so that I don't become distracted and end up turning it into an art car.

Pluses:
-Paid $1,500 for it. Bought it off a nice guy named Scott in Cedar Park and drove it 150 miles the first day. (Wouldn't start the next morning. More on that later.)
-Drivetrain. Fairly tight rebuilt stock 350 5.7L V8 engine. Smooth 3 speed tranny. Headers. 4 barrel carb. Flowmasters.
-Brand new tires and rally wheels that don't look too bad.
-Wood bed! I love wood beds.
-Long bed. The 64-72 Chevys are the only longbeds I prefer. Yeah SWBs are great but overrated and over priced in my opinion.
-The color. I like the two-tones and I wanted either blue, orange or green. Happy to have a blue one.
-In my limited opinion this truck has much less rust (and bondo) than one I could have paid over twice as much for. I think I'll be able to set it up for a paint job only needing a few holes filled and a driver-side rocker panel.

Minuses:
-I have yet to get the full story but it seems as though the truck was near a fire at some time as the windshield is badly cracked and even separated and the park light lenses are melted.
-A windshield repacement is gonna set me back at least $250 and from what I've read about the job it's a pain.
-The starter has died and needs replacing. Besides that it looks covered in oil and I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it's death. The problem there is that I don't want more oil leakage to destroy a new starter.
-I had to shell out $85 on a new battery.
-Needs new headlights and aux light lenses all the way around minus the tail lights.
-Leaking from the rear differential.
-Leaking steering fluid.
-No power brakes or power steering.
-I tested the parking brake only to have it engage and refuse to disengage.
-Door locks need replacing and may not work once I do.
-Passenger door needs a new exterior handle.
-Outside trim molding is 80% there but pretty beat up.
-Steering wheel off a early-90's GMC.

As for the interior it's really not a plus or a minus. Mostly all still factory so I'm glad it hasn't been messed with but no air (maybe a heater) and no radio. The rest of the glass is in pretty good shape and won't need to be replaced.

My overall goal is to have a daily driver that will allow us to have what it is: a truck. I won't mess with the interior other than to clean it and have the doors able to lock so I can keep things inside the cab.

that'll do pig...that'll do

ok so here we are with 3 more feet of fence (and a door) added to the top thus making the chicken pen 6 feet tall. getting the chickens in this time was easy. i opened the door there and cornered them then they walked right in.

the next few days will prove if the problem has been solved as i'm sure they will test the weak spots. in fact i saw them huddled under the coop earlier today planning their escape. just like in 70's soccer film "victory" starring sly stallone, michael caine and pele.

the last shot here symbolizes the constant reminder of the city that is always just a watertower away from our little farm...

back to the drawing board

the plan was simple: designate a small area behind the shed where the chickens could poop wherever they wanted to. so i start by catching all 8 birds (with the help of the expert bird wrangler moonpie) and clipping a few inches of feathers off their right wing. not too tough and only a couple of bleeders. well i had the summer interns out to help as we built up two pieces of 3' tall fencing and a 4'x4' elevated chicken coop. james, phil, and the other phil did much of the fence and i made short work of the coop then spent the rest of the day re-catching chickens and chunking them into their new "home".

two hours later and all but the rooster had escaped back into general population. apparently a clipped yardbird can still fly over a 3' fence...

tomorrow morning we'll add another 3' feet to the fence and if that doesn't work i'm tying rocks to the chicken's kneecaps.

Back to Pedaling...

We had a few good months of Moto-cycling around the greater Washington County area but the darn thing was starting to sit more than it should so I'm back to the original cruiser.

More back story: I bought the Sabre for $4,000, then put about $250 into it. I started thinking about selling when I noticed I was only getting 35 mpg on it. So I put it up on craigslist on Thursday morning and by Friday night it was gone. Sold for $5,200.