The truck

No cool pictures today, because this subject isn't worthy of pictures.

That subject, of course, is my truck. Its a rusty truck. Its white. It has a red dash and seat, rubber floor instead of carpet, and nothing else. It is a 1984 Ford F150 regular cab, long bed. I bought this truck from a friend almost three years ago for $1000. It had the 5.8L (351w) engine, four barrel carb, long tube headers, dual exhaust, and made big noise. I drove that truck for four months. It would often break down.

Then one day is asploded. Started pouring smoke out of it. I managed to limp it home, as it popped less than three miles from the house. I had to pop it into neutral and rev it to keep it running at the lights, all the while dumping smoke and oil out the tailpipes. I got it home and parked it out of the way, and there it sat for 7 months.

Then I went to a junkyard. Right there in row five at Amen Auto Salvage was a 1977 Mercury Marquis. Painted accross the windshield were the words "Big block, runs." It wasn't really a big block, it was a 400 cubic inch Ford V8, which is technically a small block, but who's counting? Anyway, we got a battery and started it. It did run. It didn't knock or smoke. I bought the engine and the transmission from the yard for $450. They even pulled it for me.

Over the next four months, I cleaned up that engine, replaced all the gaskets, put new cam bearings in it, a nice Summit RV cam, and had the transmission rebuilt. Since then, the truck has run well, but not perfectly. It had an overheating problem I ascribed to the 23 year old radiator, and it leaked oil badly, which I ascribed to the oil pan my father made for me because a rear-sump pan for this engine was $300.

Well, I put a new radiator in it last night, and during that operation, I found a bolt hole in the front cover with a bolt missing. The source of the oil leak. I'm happy to report that with the new radiator and that hole plugged, it no longer gets hot, and it doesn't leak. I'm stoked. Now I can think about getting a trailer so I can tow the Datsun around.