Gravel Bed

Here's a pic of the finished product, I'll leave it up to Matthew to tell the story, hint hint!

Gravel pad

Next weekend, we're going to spread out a pad of gravel for the F6 to sit on. We still need to buy a tarp for it. We'll try and get some pictures on here.

till the next time we meet

Ok, I know no one reads this, but just in case, I will mention that my wife and I are moving! The bad news... our truck will probably not be able to go with us just yet. If we find a place that allows it, maybe, just maybe, we will be able to continue working on it. Anyway, it may be a while, so until the next time, thanks for reading, and talk to you later!

Yet more of nothing accomplished!

Ok, so it't been a while, and nothing has been done. This is partly because the truck is an hour drive away, partly because today is the start of finals week, and partly because I am out of money to spend on the truck. Ok, so it's mainly because of a lack of money, but hey I am in college and only work part time. Hopefully soon something will happen and either I will have more time, more money, or maybe even both, so that I can get the beast on the road again.

The Nitty Gritty

I guess what I have learned this weekend is to stay out of his way while he's working on something that heavy and complicated. Also I hate big black fuzzy spiders, so don't ask me to hold the clutch pedal up when there's one dangling menacingly over my head. I did do some polishing and helped wash the truck with cold soapy water. brrr. At least the raccoon footprints are gone from the windshield now :-) I also helped scrape off a lot of built up dirt, grease, etc. and helped take out the cardboard headliner. I also learned that my instincts are pretty good. Small chewed-looking hole and bulging headliner probably means mouse nest inside. Indeed. It burned pretty good once we added some straw to it. Smelled awful though! The mouse smell now seems to be gone, it just smells like old dirty greasy truck now. I think we just need to take everything apart and put it back together again and it will work. Case in point: engine, clutch. I hope I'm providing enough moral support. I may suck at anything other than using a screwdriver, but I have damn good ideas....

Another weekend down, but it drives!

Well this weekends progress turned out to be pretty decent. My wife and I started off by trying to polish the old faded paint. After we got it, are you ready for this, we decided to wash it... hmm think we should have done that first? Well its ours and our choice so too bad ;-) Anyway, yeah we decided to wash it inside and out, and ya know it looks great now. So after it dried out I pulled it into the garage once again. This time I planned on pulling the transmission to measure for a new clutch. Well, first thing I found out, the emergency brake which resides on the back of the transmission needs to be removed before you do this so it doesn't hit the floor of the cab, and second, I was an idiot to do this on my own. Anyway, I did get the transmission pulled about 6 or seven inches back, but I ended up running out of time and patients so I never got the clutch removed, I just put everything back together. So after many hours tearing it all apart, then maybe half as many putting it all back together........ I get it, start it, step on the clutch just for grins and what do ya know, it slides right in gear. I ease out on the clutch and she starts to roll back. I decide hmm if the clutch works I might take it for a drive, so I again step on the clutch, put it in first and take off down the drive. I get to where it sounds like time to shift, push in the clutch and slide it into second, then the same for third, and once again for fourth. I get as far as the edge of the pasture and decide to downshift and turn around. I push in the clutch, pull it out of gear, then have to let go and push the clutch again to shift to the next lower gear. I get back to the house and again, just because I can, I stop, use the clutch to shift to reverse, and back into its parking spot. I am absolutely amazed that the clutch now works so I pull forward and back a few times. Anyway, I also think we have decided to go with a flatbed, but keep the dump gear there to make it a dump. Here is a picture of a bed we like.



We shall see what happens, but I think for now our progress may be a bit stalled.

What's in a name?

Obviously, the truck was an old farm truck, probably used for grain. It still has the "old farmer" name on the side, to correspond with the 60,000 original miles it was used to transport the gold of the Midwest from field to usable product. We will be the second owners.

So, what should we call it? Give it the name of our upcoming land purchase (many moons from now), just give it a first name and not paint on the side for now?

Share your thoughts...