Goodbye to the green machine

The 96 Tracer has a new owner. Yesterday I was prepping the car for a trip to Denver. Elle and Adam Lloyd were going to ride with Alvie and me to find a car. After I loaded tools, rotated tires and made it clean, a thought came to me. Why drive 285 miles in a car that is low maintenance and gets better than 30 mpg to get a car that does the same but not one guaranty of road-worthiness? So now I am back to a truck and a truck with a camper on it.

Somebody likes Fords and Mercurys

How much is the doggy in the window?

Camouflage

...and there's always old reliable

The Grand Marquis wagon came from somewhere up north around Longmont and we parked it at Fred's while we cleaned the glass enough to get it to Thornton. I had it up to 130 mph on I-25 and it ran just like it had never missed a car-wash. The 429 ended up in the super-cruiser. That's because it wouldn't fit in a 96 Tracer. Oh well.

Silverjack

 Besides leaving my fishing rod at the lake it was a nice day last Saturday for a fishing trip to the secret location. Mike ran back up and got my rod back. I've never caught more than two fish a trip at this place but I threw back four and kept these two. The light one had the tastiest pinkish/orange meat I've ever eaten. Amazingly enough, the really red one had white meat. It was okay but nothing like the other. I spent two days earlier in the week up there.

The other neat thing about it all was Neo learning to swim.

He is my favorite action figure for the month of June.

...and it was fun without too much mud. The camper is the best trick I know. I am spoiled!

I drove up the middle fork to where there were no more big tracks -- just 4-wheelers. The snow and ice were up to my axles and then some. It might all be open now but I'll give it another week.

Cleanup 2013

Yes a mess

I started before it really got hot last week.

It's getting somewhere

Still before

It did look foreboding but you know I like the challenge.

The little 302

Somewhere in this there's a 454 that was attached to that short tail 400

More of the mess with a turbo-400 and Samira

 Now I'm getting somewhere

Good enough!

And now it's hot, windy and all dried out. The driveway is reacquired.

Still Recovering

Twice in the last four days I've taken the truck for a ride into the City of Montrose. Olathe is just a town in case anyone asks. I forgot how fun that truck is to drive. So here's the status of this year's project.

I've broken the glass on the dash twice now. First time I dropped it on the cab floor while trying to talk on the phone and bounce ping pong balls off the wall with my mouth. Don't ever swallow one of those things. It really hurts! Twice! I silly-coned the old windshield in for the present so I can drive it down the road without deer or ducks flying through the hole you get when the windshield in not in. The other glass isn't really necessary yet. I'm not going on any monster truck cruises to Moab or Engineer Pass in the near future or eternity in this truck. I already tried Engineer once. That went worse than the ping pong ball (if anybody cares). So when I put the new glass in the dash I didn't notice until the next morning that it would have been wise to wait until the morning (when there's a lot more light than at midnight) to tighten the speedo/instrument cluster onto the remnants of the super glue I used to put the first two broken pieces together so I could blame some one besides the usual suspects of tampering with more than just ballots for County Sheriff.

Meanwhile I've managed to get most of the lights in working order, the bumper is in primer, the transfer case has a good rubber mount now and the 302 runs as smooth as a 302 can run when bolted to a 850,000 mile frame that's seen things even fish can't understand. I got Dwayne to make another lens for the speedo head this afternoon and I promised myself not to sleep walk out there after midnight and attempt the impossible one more time. For now I'll watch Hidalgo eat locusts and take my meds with a little ice cream.

Tomorrow I'll try texting without my glasses and see who all I can alarm with the same message I read this evening in tomorrow's New York Times: You're ugly! and if you want another opinion; Your mother dresses you funny!

The Ford Collection

 There's the color. That's cherry red and real gloss white. A couple of hours ago I got two kids looking for bike parts to help push the Fairmont back into the drive.




The old 302 has a bent rod from the number four hole. I'll get it back together soon so the Fairmont can move again.

 This shot is headed to Ford for their archives. The Tracer is parked to my right in the shade.

Some day I will find the picture from Fred's when we lived in Lafayette. But this is just more proof that we can stock pile old Fords forever.

The engine from the 81 T-Bird that I put into the Fairmont is now in the truck and it purrs like Mr. Alexander Maliciousness Anderson. 

Man's Second Best Friend

I know I've had stranger pets like the skunk and Deputy Dog (I think he was psychotic) and the turtle that the kids thought was dead so they buried him. But this little guy came in to say hi, hopped back into the laundry room and waited for the Mr. Alexander Alouicious Anderson. So should I relate progress on the truck? It was a long day at it again but the overload springs are gone, the bed is almost ready to cover (I'm going to use OSB and paint it), John Watterson brought his grinder with the BIG wire brush, and I raised the whole body up almost 4 inches. 

When I looked at it after I raised the bed in the rear and the cab, the doors, hood and fenders all line up almost perfectly. I'll get seals for the windshield and back glass then make a seat for it. I might have it on the road next month. So anybody up for toad legs?

This Can't Be Happening Again

Dave Mossburg stopped over this afternoon to tell me we are going to watch a sunset tomorrow evening and to bring your own dinner. I still have a venison steak or two left. That should be good. Then he said something about not liking Ford trucks because 9 out of 10 sold in Phoenix had bent frames. Amazingly the rail transport company tied them down too tight and bent all the frames. He found out from his brother who has a friend who worked in a garage who went to buy a new Ford and noticed the wheels didn't line up front to rear. So, I guess that's how 9 out of 10 Ford truck frames got bent and drive down the road crooked. I asked him why they didn't fix them. He doesn't know. I suppose Ford just figured most folks won't mind buying a new truck with a bent frame. Next time you're behind a 73-79 4 wheel drive Chevy pickup, Blazer or Suburban look at the offset on the front wheels on them, too.They are made that way so the rear doesn't track in the same line. Go figure.
But there's more. Dave informed me the other day (for about the last time I hope) that he dislikes George Bush more than he hates Fords. He said he watched a movie a few years ago by some guy named Micheal Moore and it had the whole truth about George Bush. I  must've missed that one. But it's all good now. Dave is still convinced Hollywood did the recordings of the back side of the moon. Us humans couldn't figure out how to open a pickle jar let alone make one if we hadn't all climbed out of caves at the same time. So figuring how the physical world always works the same way we might be better off if the ancients had not figured out that the stars are too far away to hit with a sling shot. I'd like to take a tennis racket into space and see how far I can hit a golf ball.  Evidently Dave believes we can't make it past the ozone so I might not get that wish, but how did they get all those satellites up there anyway?


Herbert Spencer is quoted saying:

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation."

I told Dave to do his own research the other day. I already do my own. He didn't like it because he doesn't like to read almost as much as he dislikes Fords. So he watches NBC and then tells me how bad the world is because of George Bush and all the bent Ford truck frames running around all over the place. And one more thing - Halliburton is owned by the devil's ugly step sister.

Please, not again.

Ford Truck

Who wants to hear the story behind this truck? Those who know me are more than aware of how long this has been around. When Dave Mossburg and I got to Shiprock to pick it up I was a little disappointed with the rust. But inbetween the Jeeps I'm working on now, I have found some time to clean the old Ford up some more.

First off, don't surprise yourself too much. This is a short wheel base styleside 1961 Ford unibody with the large wrap-around rear window. The tail gate has been rusting on the Navajo Rez behind my brother in law's old place for longer than the truck sat at Buck's in Shiprock. The 302 is from a 1970 full size Ford passenger car. I had it in a 1969 Ford Ranchwagon. That is another story.

About 25 years ago a friend gave me a bell housing from a 300 6 cylinder Ford used for his power plant for a lumber yard. It fits the frame and I already had motor mount stands for a 390 ( two in this truck) and a 352 my brother Bob put in it the very early 70's.

In 1988 I put a 223 six cylinder from a 59 Fairlane into it to replace the 262 I swapped for a 1968 Mercury 390 I had in my 65 ragtop and then in the truck. Then I traded some model 80 Scout parts to a fellow in Ouray for the running gear from a 1960 Ford F100 4 X 4.
It was really quite easy mainly because Bob helped with drive shafts.

Later on I found a 75 F250 4 X 4 and put the New Process 4 speed, a much better Dana 44 front and a 60 rear (4.10 and 4.11 respectively) and rebuilt my 302 and that's what you see now.




I planned to do this ten years ago. It was going to be my 50th birthday present to myself. Now, back in my possession is not just the truck but, a new reason to look forward to 70. Although I cannot certify the mileage on this old Ford but after 7 engines ( 3 sixes, 2 390's a 352 and the 302, I feel confident that the original 9 inch rear (3.70's) had more than half a million miles on it when I put the 1960 9 inch (3.89) and 3.92 front in it. Until Colorado started using salt in the sand, this truck had hardly any rust. I've been at this off and on for the past month and all I can say is my yard will have plenty of iron after I'm finished with this.
But this is not the whole Ford story. I have photos of many old Fords and Mercurys I've owned and restored. We restored 3 Mustangs from the 65-66 stash of my friend Scott in Denver. I also restored a 72 Maverick plain jane 302 three-speed but my kids (I helped, too) blew the top of the radiator off on the Navajo Rez before the turn of the last century.

Right now I am waiting for cash for a radiator. It was gone when I picked the truck up last month. The seat, from a 62 unibody,  needs some help. But I've cleaned and primed about half of it now and when I get the carb back in shape I'll fire it up so it can be moved.


So for all you Ford fans stay tuned. Somewhere in my collection of pictures I have another picture of this Ford before I removed that straight axle with the bad kingpins. It was parked between 2 Mercury station wagons (a 69 and a 70), my red 69 Ranchwagon, Fred's 73 Montego, Bobby's 62 Ranchero (later on a 4 X 4 itself on a 1968 Wagoneer chassis) and the dogs. We also made a 1960 Econoline into a 4-wheel drive and that was one of the coolest rides I've ever been in. We put a little 200 six-banger in it with leftovers from another Scout and a three speed ford transmission. Bobby also put a 1976 Chevy Vega camback wagon on a Scout frame with a 305 small block, turbo 400 with quadratrack transfer case and 4.88s front and rear. Top speed - 45 mph. But it would do it in a few feet. 


I like my Fords and Mercurys and one in particular which I should not have traded but I had to have a 57 Chevy. I traded a 54 Merc Monterey with a 390 and a 3-speed for it. There is no comparison to the two.

















I found a picture of Bob's first 58 SW with the 332. He raised a lot of hell on the streets of Denver with it.Then he bought Becky Lynn, his wife, a used low miled 68 Torino GT with a 302 C-4 automatic and that last about a month so he put a 410 Merc with a hot Crane cam in it with the big Ford top load 4-speed. I turned a 13.18 with a blown right rear tire in it one afternoon east of Denver. So many stories from years past.


We stuck that cam into a 65 Merc 390 I gave my buddy Ed for his 59 Fairlane. The 292 he had was used up so we changed out the whole deal That car was dangerous. Keeping tires on it was one thing but the first time we started the headliner shook loose and my teeth fell out one at a time until I stopped racing everyone with it. Last I saw of the car was in Dick Wyatt's storage lot on South Raritan under an old cottonwood tree. Had to have been when my boys were little. No hang on. Thomas was a baby. Mike came along the next year (1977).




So from the pictures here I assume we can all tell that there are some very usable parts on this old Ford. This had an engine heater on it when my dad got it in 1968 or 69. My grandpa bought my dad a 69 F-100 240 six banger and automatic so we put a 302 with a C-6 in it.


Hard to believe if you look at the box of wiring that all the switches, wiring, lights, cigarette lighter and all fit into a small box. The tail lights are the only thing still left on the truck.


But it's all fun for me. I am in my element again. Two years ago I swapped out a 1981 Thunderbird and my my 1981 Ford Fairmont a custom ride. It now has a 302 and AOD with split bench cloth interior, tilt wheel and Pink Floyd album cover on both sides.


I should like the truck to be my patriotic ride. And there are still tow more Fords I haven't mentioned. I have a 96 Mercury Tracer I drive around in and a 1989 F-250 4 X 4 with an efi 351 Windsor. It has less than 55,000 original miles on it. The interior has been well taken care of.




So I believe I should rest a little this Memorial weekend and then make the Ford go again this next week. Enjoy the photos. More are ready for copy when I get some time.

It is the same one.

 Before and after. It's getting there. I have to get the Jeep done soon but today I'll get the steering column cleaned up and put the wiring in. But the Jeep is first.