Bought some sand bags to improve the traction over the rear wheels. To keep them from sliding around I built this little keep-your-sand-bags-from-sliding-around thing.
Traction
Reply
Tag Archives: pickup
Pickup is home
My first gardening run. Hattie is digging up the yard looking for moles. My job is to fill in with top soil. No long have to use Barb’s Lexus for this chore.
Update: January 5, 2019 – Plumbers cut up the old acrylic shower-tub in one of our bathrooms to make room for a walk-in shower. Contractor hauled off most of the old shower but didn’t have room for some.
So I tossed it in the bed of Minty Fresh (along with some other junk) and hauled it away. Pre-pickup, that would involve paying someone or borrowing a truck. How did I ever get along without a pickup?
On your radio dial
I have not listened to a radio station in years. Some of that is attributable to the iPod and the iPhone and some to the decline of local radio. But as a teenager in the 60s, radio was a huge part of my life. Great memories of WLS in Chicago and, later, WWL in New Orleans.
How familiar that radio dial with its five pre-set buttons. If your station wasn’t good enough to get one of the buttons, well, that car wasn’t listening.
The video clip above is from the pickup I recently purchased. Hadn’t bothered to turn the radio on and wondered if it worked. Don’t imagine I’ll do much listening in the truck but I kind of like having it there. For old time’s sake.
New upholstery for the pickup
The gentleman in the photo above is Dave Weiberg of Greenridge Upholstery. He gave me exactly what I asked for at a great price.
Preparing a home for the pickup
Once I decided against keeping the pickup in a storage unit across town, it was time to think about where to park her. I still need to cut some grooves and seat the logs. After that, spread some gravel and throw a tarp over her.
For some reason, the photos I take of this spot do not convey how steep the grade is. I’m guessing it’s 20 degrees which you can certainly feel carrying logs.
40 years of crud
We pulled the bench seat out of the pickup today and hosed out forty years of nastiness. There are some rust spots but no more than you’d expect from a truck of this vintage. I’m having new upholstery put on the seat (as well as some new foam) and it should be ready in a few weeks. I might put down a couple of floor mats but I like the idea of being able to turn a hose on the cab when it gets dirty.
As if the fuel tank (right side of the photo) wasn’t large enough, there’s a second one. Still trying figure out how that works.
Glovebox Time Capsule
Stuck in the woods
I briefly considered keeping the pickup truck in a storage unit but it was too tight a fit so I decided to keep it at home. We have about three acres so plenty of room and lots of trucks live outside. Today, while experimenting with just where to park it, I managed to get down in the woods and couldn’t get back up.
The grade isn’t that steep but the ground was soft and slick from last night’s snow. And I didn’t know how to engage 4WD. Not at all like the Land Rover. Lock-out hubs on the front wheels, unfamiliar shifter, my utter cluelessness.
But this will give me an opportunity to use the fancy “snatch rope” (I love that term) I purchased for the Rover. Once rescued, I’ll wait for dryer weather and firmer footing (and a lesson in 4WD’ing) before driving down in the woods again.
UPDATE (11/16/18): Mechanic George had the truck out of the woods in about 90 seconds after engaging the lock-out hubs on the front wheels and putting the transfer gear in four-wheel low. I’ll have to practice this a bit before the next snow.
Pickup clean up
I spent a couple of hours ripping out some truly nasty carpet and padding from the floor of the pickup. I really wanted to pull the bench seat so I could get it all but wouldn’t have been able to get it out and back in by myself. I leave that for the guys at the upholstery place.
The interior of the cab will need a good power wash to kill all the cooties and then some basic rubber floor mats to cover the rust.
RP’s 1971 Chevy pickup
Life-long friend Richard Peck (RP) with his 1971 Chevy truck. Almost certainly, at some subconscious level, this kindled the flame of my desire of an old truck. For reasons unknown, RP got rid of his truck. Like snipping off a couple of feet of your soul because you don’t need it anymore.