[Digger51]

Here is one of two:

I was heading from Las Vegas to the MCAGCC (a prize for anyone who knows what that is) with a 7:00 am deadline. This was July and it was easily 110 degrees, maybe more. I end stuck following a tractor trailer rig down California 247 which is a two lane road in the middle of nowhere. After 10 or so miles the truck in front of me spits a rock out that is big enough that I see it immediately and think it is coming through the windshield. At the last second it takes a wicked curve downward and clears the grill bars of the GMC and goes right through the radiator leaving a large hole.

Fortunately, I had a ton of stuff in the bed to make repairs including almost 20 gallons of water. I cut up a soda can and covered the holes as best I could using sheet metal screws and filled the radiator.

I spent almost an hour and a half doing this and during that time a grand total of zero vehicles came by. It was now about 7:30 pm (and a Sunday). To say I was nervous about my prospects was an understatement.

The twenty miles back to Barstow took all of the water I had plus a fill up at a closed gas station. Once in Barstow, around 8:30, the entire town was closed, and I mean closed. I was lucky enough to find a salvage yard that the owner lived in and was able to get this attention and convince him to let me in.

He helped locate the best radiator that might work (late 80's 4x4). Since the hose configuration was not even close I still needed hoses. The guy at the junkyard called his buddy who was the Manager of the local NAPA and convinced him to meet me to find hoses.

This guy spent at least an hour carrying hoses in and out of his store until we had a pair that fit. After some serious surgery with a utility knife, bailing wire and more sheet metal screws the truck was all sealed up.

It was now 11:45 and I had about 115 miles to go. Fortunately, the repair worked perfectly and I made it back before 3:00am.

Those two guys really went out of their way to save my butt and hardly charged me anything.