I WAS Afraid to Look....

Dear Jimmy,

Things are rather annoying right now, so I figured I'd post a photo of a decent enough looking tractor to lighten the day up....ok, enough of that crap....

I am sure I have dozens of things more important in life to do than to fix another old truck. Cracker Apollo has all the basics in place, but like I mentioned before...has been hacked at by untrained monkies. Today I got to looking under the hood...well...after I tried to tighten the simple between-the-seats storage box that was loose in fitting the floor. Turns out the monkies had used some bigger size bolts for something that left wear patterns but was now missing. The poor box itslef is covered with holes made with a Demel tool or worse. Whatever, it ain't bolting down solid...and the floor of the truck is what it mounts too. Time to go get more, larger, self-tapping sheet metal screws to drive into it and solve the issue.


THEN I looked under the hood. Coming off the battery is a wad of nasty looking wires running every which way under the hood. Guess every time they wanted more power they ran yet another wire to the positive cable and put in a longer bolt. I will have to search out a terminal block of some sort, and run a cable to it, and then split up the wiring in a more professional manner for sure. It would scare me to depend on things right now. "Truck Fire" comes to mind if something goes wrong.


Then there is the wonderful K & N air filter. They are good for a million miles...unless, of course, you drop your truck under water while running, in a muddy river, and never clean it up afterwards, and don't care about the truck in general....well...you get the picture. The filter is almost solid packed with mud. Its amazing it runs at all, and how it passed smog is beyond me. The local auto parts store has no clue what number the replacement filter is- but there is one on-line that might be it. I am going to toss it in the Miata when I run south for class tonight, and stop at K & N Copr HQ. They have been helpful in the past in getting the correct number for me and others. Guess you really don't want a guy with a grimy filter with no options standing in your lobby when bigwigs from other companies are due to drop in....


It appears there are actually speakers in all four places there are supposed to be speakers. However...the wiring under the dash seems to have been hacked for some sort of amps or what not. Just why in the hell would idiots put amps in and leave the stock Ford speakers anyway? I am hoping that the set of speakers from my little old Escort will fit (I think they will), and I will install them and wire clean from the start..rather than using existing wires. I mean, have you ever seen 3 splices in the space of 1 foot or less...instead of just using a longer wire.....?!?!?!?!??


Speaking of the dash, the right side bounces when I drive along. I found a broken peice of a plastic thing that the rest of the dash mounts to. It will have to be replaced for sure, and its a good deal that I have a perfect one from Cracker Skylab to use.


Lastly, on wiring...I had water in one of the fancy off raod lights mounted on the front. Took it apart to clean it, and found it had been submurged at some point ( got me guessing why the rest of the truck looks the way it does under he hood). Now, I need to get new connectors, paint the housings and polish out the netal reflectors before putting them back on. At least they will be solid then!

All in all, its very frustrating to have lost a PERFECT Truck with no issues. I will set this one right as I go along, but I didn't need the extra work to do right now!

Wish me luck..I am going to need it!

Introducing....

Hi Jimmy,
Here it is...the replacement Truck! The original one was a 1993 Ford F-150 with a total of 34,000 miles on it. I didn't have a scratch or dent on it anywhere and had all new belts, tires and a rear bed cover.

This one, however, has a ton of miles on it and some worn out stuff. Its also a 1993 Ford, but its an F-250 four wheel drive. It has some great upgrades, but many seem to have been installed by untrained monkies, as the wiring and fitment is CRAP! It means I will have to take this truck apart to get it all cleaned up, adjusted, and properly installed. The first step was what I call "Restoring the vehicle's original dignity". That means...removing all 21 stickers plastered all over the outside of the truck including that pesky one on the freaking roof I didn't even see until later!

The idea is to take apart the first truck and install needed parts into the new one. The rest of the parts will get stored for later use if needed. At least I won't suffer knowing my beloved truck is being picked over and abused in some junkyard. I suspect the remaining amout will be sold off as scrap since there won't be anything left.

Now...the big problem...how do I drain two full tanks of gas that I had just put into the original truck 5 miles before the wreck? I mean thats almost a hundred dollars right there!

Stones Song

Hi Jimmy,

Remember that Stones song that went "You can't always get what you want, but if you try some time, you might find, you get what you need..."?


OK...I can see the theme for the day unfolding already! I have been planning, planning, planning my return to school so I can get certified to work on aircraft. I mean, why not? I haven't done this in life yet and always wanted to. It just took me 44 years to figure out I wanted to try it.

So this morning I finally got to register for classes...and to my dismay I found NONE of the ones I need are offered over the summer! My girl suggested I take some other class, just to get a higher priority on enrolling for them for the next semester...so I signed up for a Paint and Body class. With the impending arrival of a new truck that needs tender loving care...and some body work....I might be able to prep and actually paint said truck myself over the summer for a much reduced fee than letting a body shop do it...THEN...I will be able to do paint and prep work on aircraft also...;<>!

I love my girl, she has such a good head on her shoulders and even uses it a lot.

I have been trying to get into this whole MySpace thingie too..and found a page that claims to be Jimmy Buffet...hmmmm...I wonder if it is actually him or not.....

A Tale of Two Trucks

Ok...so its NOT a Truck...or even a Ford...but it IS my Jeep and I can now post photos to this silly thing! One must always have an example of something you actually finished before starting a new adventure. It gives Mr Murphy something to ride around in instead of hanging around the garage...

Ouch...That Hurt....

Hi Jimmy,

Well, Mr Life got in the way of all my plans it seems. A month ago I was driving my 1993 F-150 XLT truck and got hit head-on AND from behind. It totaled the truck and rather messed up my head too. Nothing external on me showing damage, but it triggered all sorts of brain injury problems from a previuos bad wreck.....so I have been a veggie for a month now.

A word about the F-150. It wasn't JUST an F-150...you see, it was my father's and we flew down to Florida to pick it up in December and drive it back to California. It had only 34,000 miles on it, becuase dad just NEVER drove it! The goal was to use it to move equipment for work when needed, and to try and keep it as perfect as possible. It never even had a brake job it had such low milage...and I am more than upset to have it destroyed.


In typical fashion, I refused to admit it was totaled and brought it home. The insurance company gave me a payoff subtracting the value of what I kept. Only Sunday did I find enough damage to the frame to make me decide it wasn't going to be fixeable....that and the big peice of the tranny laying under the truck with a pool of fluid around it. At this point the amount I got from insurance couldn't possibly fix it to even near drivable condition......


....so.....like everyone was telling me, I have been searching for a truck to replace it with. Yesterday I found one, with a worn out interior and some issues...but instead of an F-150, its an F-250...you know, a BIG, HEAVY DUTY TRUCK that sits higher andtends to run over other things in wrecks rather than get destroyed! Ok...I have over-reacted to my wreck. That's ok, it fits me.

The inside of this one ain't looking so good, and its covered with nasty sickers. I paid for it, and on delivery the starter died! Its been fixed and I will drive back down to bring 'er home tomorrow. Then the work of taking every single peice of good parts off the original truck begins. Some when be transfered in right away, others will be stored in case I ever need them. You know..the complete A/C system and the like...doors, electric window parts...etc..

Once I figure out how to put photos on this here Blog I will do so. I'll have some of the original Truck- named Cracker Skylab....and the incoming monster which seems to be named Cracker Apollo already...(Its so big it reminds me more of a Saturn Five than a Saturn 1B like Skylab used....).

I have always said I need a "B.U.T"...and now I will have my Big Ugly Truck.

Stay turned as this blog becomes "A Tale Of Two Trucks" for a while....