old tough iron

[garry rudd <grudd@domain.elided>]

Spent Monday afternoon at a local wrecking yard looking for a new
computerized dash board for my wifes old 87 Buick which has been sitting
since I bought her a very cherry 79 Traveler last July in Montana. Packed in
the back of the wrecking yard was a very ratty looking Traveler, also a 79,
that looked as though it had been used for artillery practice. The body was
close to being gone but it had a nice roof and good glass. I popped the hood
and everything was intact. It had cruise, tilt, air conditioning, 3.54s, and
the 345 was equipped with a 4brl Thermoquad. I figured what the hey I'd
offer the guy $200.00 for the whole truck for parts. Deal done. Rented a
U-Haul car trailer, had an old boy winch it on with his wrecker after he had
fished the old IH out of the weeds and snow. Pushed it off of the trailer
with my tractor when I got it home. Today I checked the oil and it showed
full. Decided to drain it, nothing came out. Poured in a gallon of kerosene,
let it sit for a hour, poked my jack-knife up into the drain hole to get the
sludge moving and let this whole mess drain for awhile. Fresh oil, new
filter, hauled a battery out and clamped what was let of the cables to the
battery with vise-grips, poured a little gas down the carb, turned the key
and 2 seconds later the old wreck was sitting in my yard purring like a
kitten. Amazing, absolutely amazing!

Regards,

Garry

Thought for the day.

"If it stinks, don't stir it."