1957 Chevy 3100, meet 1994 Dodge Ram 1500

[Purcell69]

Yes it is Joe. My goal now is to address all the minor issues that I can until we get the shop built. Once that happens and I can keep Ethyl indoors, out of the weather, I'll begin removing and painting panels. That way I don't have to worry about the engine sitting in the open, or animals having access to the interior.

She did earn her keep the other day. We got soaked with about 5.25" of rain over 8 hours Tuesday morning. Of course, we were also expecting a 40' shipping container to be delivered, across a newly established rock roadway that skirts the swamp in the yard. The driver did a great job of backing down the driveway and then through a 90* turn onto the new roadway. He got the container about 15' onto the pad we had built before his right side wheels got off the road and into soft mud, rendering him stuck.

I hooked up Ethyl and had him start to drop the container where it was, allowing us to move it later when things dry out. 22k pounds of Dodge Dually, a tandem axle deckover gooseneck trailer and the bulk of the shipping container and Ethyl never skipped a beat and never spun a tire. Just good traction and lots of grunt.

Also, the calibration box for my fuel gauge arrived today. No more guessing by way of the odometer.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Okay, some things got put on the back burner, then winter came. Then Siberia showed up in Oklahoma. I've been slacking a bit with getting much done on Ethyl, but when Siberia hit, she never disappointed. Even when it was stupid-cold (-14*F), she'd start up without assistance.

I did shoot a few cell phone videos playing with her in the pasture. I'm sure come spring time, if Google Earth takes a current photo, you'll still be able to see where we were playing.

https://youtu.be/qWeEPjwIPKs

https://youtu.be/0f8lGEViQJs

https://youtu.be/eENGM_vHq9M

The snow is all but gone now. Power is working as it should and the plumbing is no longer frozen. The temperature is back to the 50s and 60s and it's a melted, muddy mess, but spring is on the way!

-Joe

[Rickysnickers]

Glad you are ok Joe!!!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Glad you are ok Joe!!!

Thanks Ricky! I felt like we were sent off to Siberia last week, but other than some inconveniences, we fared far better than many. I got this really cool pen and ink drawing of Ethyl in the mail today from a very talented friend. I’m thinking this is t-shirt material.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

This was the inspiration for the pen and ink drawing.

-Joe

[bosco]

Looks like a lot of fun playing in the snow with Ethyl. Stay warm.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by bosco

Looks like a lot of fun playing in the snow with Ethyl. Stay warm.

Thanks Bosco. It was a hoot. I'm going to hazard a guess that we are done with the winter weather here in Oklahoma for the rest of the year (fingers crossed). Tuesday it was 75* and felt like -14* never happened. We're back to the season 50s and 60s, so I should be able to start getting more work done on Ethyl again soon.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Okay, here's a quick update...most importantly, the new seatbelts arrived last week and are finally installed.

https://youtu.be/2aWeKVWwpKQ

Second, I had some annoying slack in the steering, mostly in the steering shaft slip-joint. I did a little goof-off video but got that all fixed up nice and snug now.

https://youtu.be/ysrfPlEp0lk

I have some engine work to do with Ethyl coming up, but in the meanwhile, I'm overhauling a 4.0L Jeep engine for the daughter's XJ. There should be some video of that coming as well.

Enjoy!

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I also finished the video for the hit & run repair today. Thank goodness it was just our trailer.

https://youtu.be/BL6XyOoLlUE

-Joe

[Purcell69]

After 26 years, I finally got around to fixing the missing sun visor. The bare bracket had just been sitting there, mocking me and the rainy weather seemed like a perfect opportunity to complete a small, indoor project. I looked online at replacements, and while $25 for the part seemed pretty reasonable, the shipping for the same was $16. I just couldn't justify spending nearly $50 for one sun visor, when I could build a replacement for less than $10. Granted, it doesn't look like a factory part, but the function is what matters in my case.

I had a piece of 1/4" leftover Lexan that I could cut down to size. I just needed a strip of aluminum and some small screws and lock nuts to finish the job.

https://youtu.be/0tCNX4V-XdQ

-Joe