Dorsai

Boy, you all sure have been busy since I checked in last! I've been super busy the last year or so, but plan to get back to my truck, this forum, and all of you over the summer as much as I can. Needless to say, please put me down on the donor list, Gary - as valuable as this forum has been to me, I'd be happy to chip in any reasonable amount (and then some) to keep the party going.

And a happy New Year to you as well! I'm going to try to be more active here for the coming year - I haven't lost interest in my truck or anything, but it's been on the back burner thanks to switching jobs, high school robotics, etc. Time to get back to it!

So this will be what, the third time I've come on here to comment that the project isn't dead? Well...it isn't. And there is progress to prove it! I mentioned a while back that the project had been delayed due to a friend of my brother's being delayed on *his* project, so no shop was available. The plan was then to do it all in my brother's garage, but there wasn't enough room. So...he built a shop. It's not super fancy but it *is* big, and has a lift in it. That's actually why I was there this week to take photos - my son's car has been having knock sensor issues, so we brought it over to take care of that (and the coolant leak that killed the sensor). As you can see from the photos, the engine is in, as is the transmission - the truck is fully driveable. The turbo plumbing was a bit tricky and in fact may not be in its final location just yet, but otherwise there was relatively little difficulty in getting everything in place. As for the transmission controller I was going to build, James was able to get a deal on a commercial controller, so he's using that instead. But the parts won't go to waste, as he needs a controller of some kind to control the grid heater for the Cummins. That's even easier than the transmission controller was going to be, so I am putting that together now - the last piece I needed was a temperature sensor that arrived just yesterday. Now that the drivetrain is pretty much done, he's moved on to interior work...the inside of the truck was a complete disaster zone. He's got new carpet and door panels in, and has procured new-to-him seats as well, which need to be reupholstered. Once those are done and go in, it will be fairly well habitable in there. After that comes the 4WD conversion. He still has all the parts I mentioned in earlier posts, but I don't know what the plan or timeline is there.

How funny...family legend is that my Oklahoma grandmother is a descendant of William Clark. I've tried and so far failed to find a link to him via Ancestry, but it's still a good story.

Not so fast...are you aware that Canada has massed 90% of its population within 100 miles of the U.S. border?? We must be ever vigilant against the Maple Leaf Menace!

I'd never heard of this guy before today. Does he always sound drunk in his videos, or was that a special feature for this one?

My question is, are these trucks F-150s (and -250s, etc) or F150s??

Buying a new lens was one of the first interior repairs I did when I got my truck in 2010. I also bought from LMC, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a Ford branded part. It fit perfectly and I haven't had to touch it since.

Does anybody's speedometer NOT bounce? Mine does it as well at low speeds. I've got a new cable standing by, but I'm not going to install it until I'm ready to do other work inside the dash. The bouncing mostly goes away after 35MPH, so it's not a huge issue.

Interesting. When I was last futzing with the brakes on my truck, I got the brilliant idea to trim down some vacuum caps and put them over the bleeder valves to keep them clean. Maybe I am not as smart as I think I am...

AKA, "French Cathouse Red" - my unlamented '89 Tempo had it.

Even worse, superglue will destroy the coloring of the lenses - I am reminded of this fact every time I signal left.

Thank you...and indeed she did. I suppose technically I am now free of my obligation to keep and maintain the truck, but as you point out, the truck is worth a lot to me. So I'll be sticking to my plan to keep it running into the 2050s before giving it to Dominic if he wants it. And have no fear...I already had every intention of coming to the next show if possible (and the Labor Day + 2 weeks date works GREAT for me), this just moves it up to a guarantee, barring disaster.

Another case of not so much doing something TO my truck, but WITH it.In this case, I made it work: This past weekend was the work weekend for my son's Eagle Scout project, which was to build raised garden beds and a gravel footpath for our church. He didn't want one of those projects that looks good to begin with but starts to degrade right away, such that five years later it becomes an eyesore. So he built it out of railroad ties, which weigh about 200 pounds each. That's 1500+ pounds of wood in that photo, which is the most I've ever had in the truck. I'm happy to say the truck barely noticed the weight and drove and handled just like it always has. In less happy news, my grandmother (the patron saint of my truck) passed away last week at the age of 97. She'd been in declining health for the last couple of years, but recently she took a bad fall and broke her hip. Her initial prognosis was pretty good, but that's still tough to come back from at that age. Per her wishes she was cremated, and I've been tasked by my mother with bringing a portion of her ashes back to Oklahoma, to be with my grandfather. So Gary, that makes me a confirmed attendee for the '23 show.

I assume the next experiment after that will be proper thermite? You're definitely the cool grandpa!