Finally got new truck...pics!

[stllookn]

It was an epic journey of about 700 miles in one day but worth the effort.

We went to the Ranch House to pick up the truck and had to do some work on it. It needed oil in the rear end, the spare removed from bumper mount, a little water in the radiator and all the fluid checks before taking off on the 350 mile return trip in the hot sun! We depart Hunters and head toward Davenport, Huntington and Riztville. 42 miles into the journey, I am getting used to the truck...it is big and heavy but rock solid! Exactly what I would expect from a 1 t. with only 63,000 miles. We stop at Edna's in Davenport for a burger. I check the rear end to see how it is doing, expecting it to be dry and the pinion shaft seal to have stopped dripping. What I see is a major puddle of oil and a continuous drip from the rear end pinion seal. I am thinking this is going to be a long trip. Brian suggests we get our burgers to go! A stop at the hardware store to buy four quarts of 90 weight gear oil is next on the agenda...$16.95. We gas up and are on the road again. We plan to stop in Ritzville to oil up the rear end and gas-up Brian's Suburban. I crawl under the truck with wrench in hand...remove the drain plug and put my finger in to check the level. Funny, it seems almost full. I add less than a quarter of a quart and it is running out! It must only leak when standing still...cool...better keep moving.

About 3.5 hours and about 200 miles later we reach the top of Snoqualmie pass. The truck surges and makes one huge backfire. "What was that?" I say to myself as we head down the pass...at least we are going down hill for the next 30 miles. About 10 miles later it starts surging badly...this is not good. About that time Brian flashes me to pull over..."He must see something" I am saying to myself. No, he just wants to tell me how great the trip was, how great my truck is running and he will call me tomorrow. "Not so fast" I say...we need to check this out and discuss the problem...raise the hood and look for obvious leaks, hoses off etc...gas it a few times and it seems fine. He follows me about 5 miles and the truck seems to be fine but I keep it at 50...he calls on the cell and says run it up to 65 and see what happens. I oblige and it starts the surging again and now slows to about 25 mph...I barely make it to the next exit. "Thanks Briain...that was an excellent suggestion!" I leave the truck running and we decide that it has to be fuel related...maybe a clogged filter. We see no other leaks or obvious problems. I suggest we try for another exit. I get the truck to 40 and it starts surging and drops back to 25 mph, barely running now. We decide to try to blow out the filter so pull off on a road into North Bend. I crawl into a church parking lot and we pop the hood for another look...now we both spot fuel leaking from fuel pump. I turn the engine off and it is now running out of the bottom of the pump...it's trashed.

I move the truck out of the parking lot...we don't need to piss of The Man by melting his asphalt...we got enough problems already.

Into town...it is 5:15PM...to look for an auto parts store. About a mile up the road is a NAPA...it is still open Saturday night and I get a new pump for $19.95! Brian buys a new set of tools for his Suburban saying "These could come in handy when we replace the pump." I remember we have only a couple of tools. How cool is that...I guess The Man is paying us back for the gesture about his asphalt. Back to the truck and 20 minutes later I find the inlet fitting is the wrong size...gas runnig down my arms and meeting in the middle of my back...I hate working on broken trucks in middle of the road on a hot Saturday evening. I went to college so I wouldn't have to do this anymore...what happened? The wife calls to tell me we have been invited over to Skip and Paulines for dinner and could I hurry things along a bit. "Where are you anyway?" "On my back on the shoulder of Interstate 90 by North Bend working on a fuel pump...I will get there when the good Lord sees fit to grant me a bit of luck!" I say with appropriate sarcasm.

The pump is wrong...fitting is too large...so we scramble to get back to NAPA for replacements. Brian says we have 6 minutes until NAPA closes so we had better hurry. Gas is still free flowing from the bad fuel pump...I hope there is still some left in the tank when we get back with the correct pump. I take the tubing and fitting this time to make sure we get a fit. We make it to NAPA with minutes to spare and they find the right pump in stock..."'67 for a 2 barrel fuel pump with the little fittings...all '68s had four barrels he states with authority". "Yeah, whatever" I say...no time to argue as my stock '68 (with 2-barrel) is draining itself in the gravel about about a mile away. "Sure glad you guys are still open" I say as we run for the Burby with more new tools and new fuel pump in hand. Did I forget to mention that we took this 350 mile test drive without tools and spares? Hey, are we confident or just plain stupid?

Under the truck in the gravel I find the clamps are a little too small for the inlet side. I struggle but there is no way to make them fit. McIver hands me a piece of baling wire and a pair of pliers and says "Make it work... Alice". followed by..."Nice job is your husband a mechanic too?" 15 minutes later the pump is on and the truck booms back to life without a hint of a leak anywhere.

Back on the road again we stop at a Chevron Mart and stink up the restrooms with the smell of gasoline and grease as we take a bath in the sink to get a little cleaner for the last 50 miles of the of trip. The manager looks at me in disgust as I walk out the door saying "I'd buy some food in here if it didn't all smell like gasoline."

Brian and I salute each other with obscene hand gestures as I pull of I-90 onto Highway 18 and he continues into Seattle. We call each other on our cell phones and agree not to do any more trips like this without a full complement of tools and a truck load of trained lackeys to operate them...hey wait a minute, we are the trained lackeys!

Pics of my new truck to follow...nice interior...all original NFS.