she performed flawlessly today

[soulpatchfr]

well, i was a little anxious of taking my 13yr old, 236k mile truck on a 380 mile round trip journey today, but man - what a pleasure this ole girl still is to drive
was also a little leary of dragging home that Scout with just a towbar & very little towing experience... i barely knew it was back there. ********* pulled like a team of oxen, i kept her at 65 - 70 the whole trip without skipping a beat (& passed a few 'strokes at that). the dual straight pipes weren't as bad as i was expecting, the kicker? judging by the 1/4 tank of fuel i have left & the trip odometer, i think i got better than my normal 17-18mpg
i'm a little beat, & got home right at dusk, so not many decent pics til tomorrow, but i did get this:

 

[budtoh3zo]

she looks good. Good to hear she is running good.

 

[argve]

Frank,

She... let me correct myself... Both of them look good.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Frank,
Good to see you finally got of the lazy horse and went to go get "Green Death" MUUUHHHAAAAHHHHAAAGG.

They do look good in the yard!
I don't think the airlines will let me take a 7.3L as carry on luggage, but keep em cold, will be more that willing to help drop one in place of that 345cid this summer.

Ron

 

[F350camper]

Glad to hear the trip went well.

 

[mocetane]

Good deal. Will like to see more pics when you can.
I like the scouts. Hard to find w/o rust.
Would be cool if it was one of the diesel models they made in the mid '70's.

 

[Agnem]

Good deal Frank. The towbar was a good idea. Perhaps better then the towdollly that PAFixItMan enjoyed recently. ;p I had no doubt your truck would do fine.

 

[Nickbf2504x4]

im convinced that the international diamond is what kept her running so good

 

[soulpatchfr]

im convinced that the international diamond is what kept her running so good

:Sly i concur. she really did just purr along (WAIT! I CAN'T USE THAT ANALOGY! I NEVER SAID THAT!) she really did just roar along for hours on end without a skip. in my 'city boy' 30 mile congested commute, i guess i forget how much fun she can be. i couldn't find any talk radio, so i slipped in a Joss Stone cd & cranked it up to 'earbleed'. every time i'd glance in the reaerview, i'd be startled - "get off my ass you tailgatin' son of a... Oh Yeah

*was off base on the mpg - checked out at 16.87mpg on today's fill-up. seems that needle settled a bit overnight.
*the towbar was fine except for slow, tight turns... seems the towed vehicles' front wheels want to turn in the opposite direction if you don't have room for long lazy turns - so i found out. with any momentum, she followed right along. guess that's why they work well for Gram & Gramps.
*the straight pipes... i'll have to start a new thread on my thoughts there...
*which brings me to Green Death :
she's a real bucket of bolts, that's for sure. i'll bet she lost 100 pounds of what was previously sheet metal on the trip home! turns out it was running last 4 yrs ago - not the year or so i thought.
'79 II, 304, not the 345 we assumed. odo reads 43k(ish), a/t, tilt wheel, cruise, first step is to pull the sparkplugs & give the mystery oil a few days / week to soak, then try turning her over by hand. it'll be a long project, so pack tools, Ron.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

which brings me to Green Death :
she's a real bucket of bolts, that's for sure. i'll bet she lost 100 pounds of what was previously sheet metal on the trip home! turns out it was running last 4 yrs ago - not the year or so i thought.
'79 II, 304, not the 345 we assumed. odo reads 43k(ish), a/t, tilt wheel, cruise, first step is to pull the sparkplugs & give the mystery oil a few days / week to soak, then try turning her over by hand. it'll be a long project, so pack tools, Ron.

Looks like I need to bring some PB and a roll of tin.
I'd better leave the 85 ga$$er home tho. Cause she got the same issues and if I park Big Red too close Green Death might rust some more.

Good project

Ron