Telemarketing Can Be Funny

This morning my phone rang, unusual in itself, and a lady with a nice voice was on the other end.  She told me that this was my second warning that my vehicle warranty was running out.  I thought, hmmm, and looked out the window.  Sure enough, my 1974 K5 Blazer was still parked next to the house.

Yeah, I think the warranty has run out.

2004 Chevrolet SSR For Sale By Owner/Sold

Right click pics for full size






This truck has 43,000 miles and is in excellent condition. It is the 1SB option pack without chrome wheels. This option pack includes carpeted and "wood" stripped bed, side saddle bags, cargo net, storage bag for toneau cover, and hide away hitch and 6CD Bose stereo and gauge pack. This is the 5.3L 300HP w/4 speed OD auto and 3.73 "Posi" rear.

Serious inquiries contact cbutcherATbakervalleyDOTnet

$20,000

Rental, 2010 Mustang Convertible

The initial rental was a 2010 Corvette Convertible, the necessity of carrying three people brought that idea to a halt. The Mustang seats four fairly comfortably, provided those in the rear aren't real tall. This car had slightly over 1K miles at time of rental. I have never had a Mustang.

There have been slight body changes, which I think of as improvements from the previous iteration. The smoother sides and the more hooded headlights are more appealing to my eye.
****click photos for full size****


The tail lights have been changed, wrapping around in a more angular fashion and with larger barred backup lights. I think this emphasizes the shape of the rear end more and adds appeal - not to mention superior lighting for reverse.

The cabin is pretty comfortable and the forward angled headrests do make them more useful during driving. The controls are pretty comfortably placed. I do not at all care for the tilt steering activation. It is a latch/unlatch position mechanism rather than a self-latching mechanism. There is plenty of front seat foot room.

This is a 6 cylinder 4 speed automatic car. It has enough "butt" to get out of its own way, but isn't particularly impressive nor is it particularly easy on gasoline. I do not like the feel of the transmission shifts, there is a noticeable lag time in shifts and the initial gear engagement feels mushy. The lighting system is particularly annoying to a Chevy owner which turn their lights on with the ignition, the dash lights on the Mustang light on ignition but the headlights require switching, easily fooling one into thinking the head lights are actually on.

The car's handling and braking are crisp, but for some reason this car is prone to wandering in slight winds. I find this tendency very aggravating, on a smooth flat straight road I expect a new car to stay where it was pointed when my hands are staying still. I have checked the tire inflation and looked at the wear pattern (what there is at this low mileage) and I can see no evident reason for the wandering.

The power top mechanism is pretty simple and seems to latch securely and seal well. The top is pretty quiet, no noise from its material but no more sound proof that you'd expect from fabric. The top folds down into a well behind the rear seat, take note that anything carried back there will break the rear window if the top is put down. There is an unfinished look when the top is down because the front of the top does not rest flush with its well. According to the manual there is an optional cover of some sort. If you care about looks, it would seem a loss to not have it.

Over all it is a nice car. It is not something I'll rush out and buy but despite my general lack of Ford enthusiasm I have no problem recommending giving one a real look if someone is in the market for such a car. I have had the car 6 days at this point and have not had any difficulties with it and I have been impressed enough to write about it.

Last Of The Favorites

I know, a lot of doggy pictures for political blog. The last of Gus' four favorite things, the work truck. He kind of shares the seat, he's not allowed to drive, though. This is a '78 K20 Chevy, with a gadzillion miles on it. 400 SBC w/TH400 tranny, fulltime4x4 ordinary running weight 7500 - 8000#. There's a fullly covered roll top utility bed back there and that is a 40' Class 1A ladder. I've driven this truck for 18 years and Gus has been riding for 4 years, both are well known around town.

Don't bother giving me crap about American iron, this truck is 30 years old, it's on it's third engine and second tranny, two 350s and one other TH400. The 400 SBC gets about the same milage on the open road as the 350s but can pull grades better, a little worse around town. Good milage for this thing is anytime it gets better than single digits.

Click picture for full size.

A Rotten Snow Plow

When your oil pan is plowing a groove between the tire tracks, you've probably asked an awful lot of your car. The 04SSR is parked, without studded snows it is helpless and buying wheels that will fit it along with snows is way more money than has been floating around the last couple years.

The upshot of those budgetary considerations is a 400+HP premium burning beast out in the snow. It copes. Without a high stall torque converter and posi-traction it would be unmanagable. My wife used it for four years all year around but there have been other vehicles in between so she's trying to get used to it - again.

The pictures are a bit deceiving, the car is sitting on packed snow tracks in the alley behind my house. The car's home is the steep roofed building ahead of the car in the lower picture. There's quite a bit more snow due and I don't much care for the idea of shoveling the entire alley.

Life in NE OR

Winter Driving

Today while I was trying to get a 12 pitch roof going the temperature plummeted and it started snowing and blowing. This job is about 20 miles up the freeway in NE Oregon running around 3000 feet elevation, roads get real iffy pretty quick. About half way home there was a Jeep SUV in the media up right but with the roof crushed and two state police cars and an ambulance. Heading toward the wreck closer to town were five sheriff's cars and another ambulance, that's a lot of attention for a one car wreck indicating a fatality or real serious injuries. There is nothing unusual about winter wrecks on the freeway around here, we get lots.

Let's start with something pretty simple as a concept, when the roads are crummy and you drive fast to cut time you need to recognize that being in a ditch or an ambulance is going to add significantly to your trip time. Depending on your vehicle and equipment there is a safe speed to travel and it is wise to recognize that marginal conditions can quickly turn drastically bad.

Vehicle types lead to a lot of over confidence, the fact that it can go doesn't mean it can stop or steer, that SUV or front wheel drive may get going and stay going but that isn't the whole equation. If the darn thing can't stick to the road for steering, slowing, or stopping the fact that it could get going fast only means problems. Chains, studs, or specialty snow and ice tires will help keep the thing where you need to to be, not your "all weather radials." Whatever your capabilities you have to assume stupidity on the part of other drivers and allow for it.

You have to realize that some time something is going to go wrong out there and you'll have to deal with it. Over-steering or over-corrections lead to most single vehicle mishaps. Gentle is the rule and a scrape on a guardrail or stuck in the median or the side of the road trumps going upside down or tangling with other vehicles. You may really not want to mark up that paint job but reefing on the steering wheel will lead to disaster.

Your brake pedal is not your friend if you're losing control, brake systems put most stopping power to the front wheels and going to the brake will accentuate whatever else is going wrong. If the front isn't steering, going to the brake will simply cause it to slide worse and if the back end is trying to go around you'll get loopty loops, a bad thing. If you go into a slippery curve too fast hitting the brakes will pretty much ensure you'll not turn, sliding tires do not steer.

There are other issues involving the end that drives the tires, front wheel drive is completely different from rear wheel drive and four wheel drive is neither. Lifting off the throttle slows the tires, this may or may not be in your favor. If the back end of a front wheel drive car is coming around slowing the front tires will accelerate the rear drift. There are only two things that will get the back into line with a front drive vehicle, either throttle up or go to the hand brake. Accelerating is the more controllable method but circumstances may prevent that in which case the emergency brake will slow the rear, in which case the brake needs to be modulated, if it is a hand brake (most likely today) you need to hold the release while gently slowing the rear tires with varying pressure.

Rear wheel drive vehicles will respond to throttle downs if the back is coming around, though automatic transmissions will do so gently and possibly too slowly in which case a down shift will help if you aren't going too fast for the next gear down to not break the tires loose. Down shifts are tricky and not knowing what is going on with it could be bad. With rear wheel drive it is pretty rare for going to the gas to be of help. In matters of control in bad conditions rear wheel drive is easier to deal with although it is not as desirable for getting going; you generally get more warning with two wheel drive that you are pushing conditions.

Four wheel drive brings the worst of either front or rear wheel drive into play if the vehicle is getting out of shape. All tires react to throttle changes so throttling down will probably mean an accentuation of the problem of which ever end is having difficulties. Four wheel drives tend to have a higher center of gravity which means that in a sideways slide will very possibly result in a roll-over if rough or soft ground is encountered while in that condition. It is most likely in a four wheel drive that throttling up will help most, the problem is that if you're in trouble you probably were already going too fast.

There are some hidden dangers in winter driving, over passes freeze much sooner than road way does, and in bright sun will thaw and then freeze sooner because it lacks the heat sink of the earth. In sunny weather road ways thaw and if that area becomes shaded at low temperature it will freeze while the rest of the road is not icy. This condition is most common in hilly or mountainous country and that tends to mean curves and solid objects. Paying attention is much better than trying to rescue the situation. Fog and very light rain are prone to creating ice when temperatures are low, and the nasty part is that it is black ice which looks very much like wet road way.

The best way to avoid having to rescue a situation is to not get into it in the first place, if you have winter conditions to drive in; have traction devices and drive at a prudent speed. Know how to drive in that kind of weather, if you're unfamiliar find a large vacant parking lot with those conditions and try it out. Park the vehicle and spend a night in a motel, it is cheaper than smashing up a vehicle and you can never get back the time spent in a hospital or worse - dead. I will assure you that people will die on the Interstate within ten miles of my town because of winter driving conditions, they do every year and it is a sad waste brought on by ignorance and impatience. Don't be one, here or there.

No Riots?

Nancy Pelosi lays out that all stake holders in the Big 3 get to take a hair cut. Bush mouthpiece Dana manages to only mention UAW while talking about wanting a Car Czar to make sure money isn't wasted. Alabama Republicans think Chapter 11 is a good course. Of course Big 3 aren't in Alabama, foreign ones certainly are. Also, they're not investment banks - they make things...

And nobody is burning the damn place down?

Baker City Memory Cruise

**Click Pictures for full size**
Baker City Memory Cruise, the 18th annual, kicked off this morning and considering the price of gasoline had a great turnout. I only shot a few pictures to keep the site from loading too slowly. What I did was to shoot a few representative shots and some friend's cars and some that had particular meaning to me. This year the cars were in pretty much a first come, first parked rather than the usual of being grouped by classes. Cars came from all over Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.

This '58 Chevy Impala is equipped with a tri-power 348 "W" head Chevy engine. It was a classic high torque engine, a performer for its time. The car is owned by a particular friend of mine. You may have seen the house I framed, sided, roofed and painted for him. There were shots on the site from that job, a three story house. The 58 is a convertible, a fairly rare vehicle, restored a couple years ago. This car was pretty beat up, a friend of mine that I stop to see pretty often runs the restoration shop that did the work and I had the chance to see it in various stages.
Terry has been involved in the Memory Cruise for quite a few years and the Baker City Thunder Mountain Car Club.



This is a "W" head 409 in a 62 Chevy Belaire 2 door. I lost the picture of the car itself, a beautiful black auto. This is a twin 4 barrel high performance 409, the motor which was made famous by the Beach Boys. I have a special place in my heart for the power plant and the cars, I owned a '63 Impala SS 409, purchased my senior year of high school. Probably a bad choice of transportation for a teenager. I, obviously, survived it but that is too much car for the judgement level associated with such as me.

This blue 38 Chevy came over from Twin Falls, Idaho. we were parked within a couple cars of each other and made friends. The car took an award for Best Interior.
My 62 Chevy II parked next to a bone stock 55 Chevy Pickup Cameo. The 62 went to the show because it is for sale, I don't particularly want to sell it and don't have to sell it, but it is silly to keep it in a garage and pay a full ride on insurance for a couple hundred miles per year. It is the kind of car that will sell easily - to the buyer that wants this particular car. You cannot tell from the outside that this car is a 62 Chevy II body and back seat and no more. It is so heavily and specially modified that it is buyer specific.



I parked the Chevy II and got to thinking that the 50 COE dump truck was only a few blocks away. It takes some kind of nerve to put something like this in a car show, but people don't see these things. I walked the 5 blocks, drove the thing to a car wash and knocked off 2 1/2 years dirt and entered it. I had no thought that it was a prize winner but I was quite sure it was the biggest thing in the show. I got two Poker Run cards for two entries, the one for the COE drew five 5s and won $100, how funny, that trumps plaques.



I'd never seen this particular paint treatment before. I thought it was one of the really unusual and cool things I'd seen. It is a very nice car, but it just struck me.

You have to really work to do this, you have to think and you have to plan and you have to work smart. This is an Olds 455 and Tornado front end in the back of the Corvair. The back seat is in stock position so what you're looking at is an absolute monster and an exercise in complete pointlessness. If you tune the engine to perform it wheelies so it needs to be run de-tuned.

It takes a certain kind of person to dedicate the time, energy, and resources to a thing like a car. These are not transportation, they are an extension of the owner and an expression of something not concrete made solid and substantial. Some of these beauties are driven regularly, the purple 78 Chevy PU next to my COE is driven regularly, frequently with a camper into the mountains - it won best 70s Truck. My wife drove the 62 Chevy II all year around, with studded snows on all 4 in the winter for almost 4 years while I used it for weekend fun at the drag strip. Most people use an auto to get around and that is the extent of their interest in them, something to get from here to there with as little hassle as possible. Maybe they'll watch other people's being used for racing or such, but in the end, just a vehicle.

When I first found the 62 in drastic condition I saw a possibly cool body with the potential to be much more than what Chevrolet dreamed possible in 1961. All it took was a lot of research, planning, innovation, and damn hard work to get to a car that they could have built if they'd had late 90s know how. It is fast, it handles, and it stops...and it produces power with out being unmanageable. There are 355 cubic inches producing 425 horse power and 400 pound feet of torque, power that in late 60s would have meant a shuddering shaking gas eating monster that would start once in awhile and only idle when it felt like it. Cars of the period packing that kind of power would stop pretty well, a couple times in a row, but the drums would begin to fade with heat and real pressure was required for hard stops. The suspension systems ranged from comfort sloppy to tank like rigidity and even that didn't assure quick and accurate response. Even the sports cars of the day couldn't handle with most newer cars to day.

It is monetarily more sensible to buy a few years old car than to build a thirty plus year old car that rectifies those short comings, but you would then have the same car anyone else could have. It would look like and sound like any other car. It would be just a car. Here's the deal, the things cost too much money to run and insure and generally keep in repair for it to be just a thing. If I must put put the effort into it, I want something back other than here to there. I want to know that I did this, that this fine piece of machinery is unique and special. That it is not only presentable, but strikingly attractive. Where ever it goes, it is seen and known as an expression of American ingenuity...and power.

There certainly is that bit. On the drag strip with racing tires the car goes from the line to the sixty foot mark in 1.74 seconds, 0 to 44 miles per hour - a head snapping affair. The tachometer goes from the pre-launch 1800 rpm to 6000 rpm in about 1 second, a very busy interval. Life is very interesting for a little over 12 seconds. If you don't get it, that's alright, you don't have to - but it is something, emphatically something.

New Reader?

It occurred to me after I put up the Democratic truck that I'd just recently done a travelogue and interspersed truck and travelogue with a bit of McCain bashing and that new readers might find themselves saying, "what does this guy think he's doing?" Ok.

I like to write and I like to write about what interests me and try to be interesting while doing it for your sake. (since the site meter says some people actually read this stuff) I like cars, or maybe more accurately, vehicles and I like guns and shooting and I like politics because they're important. You get what I've got today. Today I loaded 3600 pounds of roofing and tore off shingles and coordinated a political event and media and tried to get another one going - you get pictures of my wife's cool truck that I just spent the evening detailing.


How about a Democratic hand cannon? A Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt, a modestly powered round? Nope, this thing will put a 365 grain bullet out at 1350 feet per second, 150% the weight of a 44 Magnum at just barely less velocity than the magnum's 1400fps. This pistol will reliably hunt anything in Oregon. It also pounds your hand. With standard Colt rounds it is a joy to shoot, well balanced with a slick trigger and easy to be accurate with. I stand firm on the 2nd Amendment because it is important and I bring that to the Democratic Party because I'm sick of losing elections over stupid stuff and a Republican mantra that Democrats hate guns. People like to talk about stolen elections; well here's a news flash - you can't steal 'em if they ain't close... (h/t to Mike - you know) Al Gore and John Kerry lost their elections over guns and that's a damn stupid thing to do. (really - consider George W Bush for a second) Go ahead and ask me why I'm Vice-chair of the DPO Gun Owners Caucus and why we'll go hunting those votes.


No this is not reasonable transportation, my wife drove this thing for 3 years, all year around, studs on all four in the snow, it has 32K on the odometer and if you're gentle with it will get 15 mpg on Premium - these Bush economy days it stays parked - a lot. It goes from 0 to 45 mph in 60 feet on a dragstrip, it's kind of like the world exploded. I spent 4 months taking this car apart and putting it together the way Chevrolet would have built it 35 years after they actually did. Unlike the muscle cars of yore this thing stops and handles. It's a 1962 Chevy II Nova, sorta.

Here's a funny thing, my Democratic friends, I shoot competitively and drag race with some of the nicest people I've ever met. The guy you just beat will help you find a replacement for a broken part or give you a hint for improved performance. These folks tend to vote Republican. As a construction contractor, shooter, and drag racer I'm a bit of the odd man out as a Democrat. This really isn't reasonable.

If you don't like these kinds of things, find out about them before you oppose them, if you want to talk about something like gun control, know what firearms are and what the laws are. Reasoned discussion is impossible from a point of ignorance. Economically these are Democratic voters.

I'm going to spend several hours with Ben Westlund Saturday, so maybe I'll have some political insights you won't get from MSM...

Democratic Truck - SSR

Saturday morning Senator Ben Westlund Democratic candidate for State Treasurer will ride in the Baker City Miner's Jubilee Parade in my 2004 SSR. Two years ago Carol Voisin did the same in her run against Rep Greg Walden (R-OR2). I used it in the OR2 Primary as campaign transportation, it runs in the Haines OR 4th of July Parade bearing Baker County Democrats banners and it sports an Obama sticker. It is a perfectly good Democrat.

Since Chevrolet didn't build many of these there aren't a lot of people familiar with how they work, or even what one is. If you push a button on the console with your foot on the brake pedal, the top goes away, as you see above. It is fascinating to watch, even when you're used to it, a gadgeteer's dream. It becomes a sleek convertible with no effort on the driver's part, nice weather fun that takes about 30 seconds to accomplish, a red light is sufficient if the weather changes or desires change.
No, it is not a car, it is a 1/2 ton pick-up, the saddle bags in the rear remove easily, about 1 minute each (if they're empty) and the toneau cover is held on by two self-aligning bolts though it takes two people to remove and place into its storage bag. The wood strips are also removable.
Seats are heated leather, driver's automatic adjusts for two drivers, full gauges, 4 speed overdrive automatic tranmission, full info readout on odometer screen, steering wheel controls for 6 CD Bose stereo with automatic equalization. It is one of the most comfortable vehicles I've ever driven or ridden in and by far the quietest convertible I know of, it is quiet compared to luxury cars. All this with a 5.3 litre (327cid) 300 horsepower V8 that gets 22 mpg highway.
The handling is outstanding, sort of a 5000 pound Corvette - with a really big trunk.

It isn't a reasonable family with kids vehicle, two is the seating, no matter how good friends you are. It isn't the sort of thing you'd dump a frontend loader scoop of rock into. It has a limitted tow capability, the hide away hitch is cool, though. It certainly is a nifty parade vehicle.

Chevrolet began production in 2003 1/2 model year and finished in 2006, '03-04 were 5.3 L and from then 6.0 L/400HP, 4K units the first partial year and 6K there after. This car is the fully optioned model with running boards, full gauges, finished bed, and 6 CD player.

If you're in Baker City Saturday, wave enthusiastically as we pass by and stop at Paizano's Piza on 10th at noon and have lunch with Senator Westlund and Baker County Democrats. We are all grateful to my wife that she lets us use her truck.

A Pictoral Tour Of Portland to Baker OR - Almost

On Saturday and Sunday 7/12-13 the Democratic Party of Oregon held meetings in Tualatin south of Portland. On Sunday afternoon the Merkley and Obama campaigns held the opening of their office at SE Division and 30th in Portland so I stopped by to pick up some campaign paraphernalia and save shipping. Since I had bailed off the Interstate and was inside Portland I decided that I was tired of driving 350 miles on I-84 and I would cross Oregon on OR 26 which runs from Portland past Mt Hood and pretty much across the center of the state. Many of my readers are unfamiliar with the territory so some pictures seemed in order. I didn't get out of Portland until after 5 PM . ***click the pictures for full size***

Below is OR 26 outside Sandy approaching Mt Hood after driving across Portland and Gresham and Sandy. Mt Hood is white in the center and the highway cuts along the southern shoulder of the mountain, right in the picture. This is the wet side of Oregon, though it is drier than the coast. Traffic was light and running at the speed limit - for a change.

Below is just east and south of Mt Hood, central OR looking east. There's not much out there.
Leaving Mt Hood behind, in the rear view mirror, driving very nearly due south. This is the western edge of the rain shadow of the Cascade Mts. and it is dry.
North of Madras is the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, picture is looking west across the valley/gorge with the town of Warm Springs at its bottom. In the distance is the Cascade Range. The Deschutes River (h/t Hanna) runs through town. The trees in the foreground are junipers, a deep rooted species found in semi-arid conditions. The color of the wood ranges from a light tan through orange into dark brown with a very twisty grain. Some folks make furniture from it and the colors are quite pretty, though it is difficult to use and seldom is utilized. When juniper spreads uncontrolled it draws the water tables down quite badly. The SSR seems to sneak into photographs.

About half way between Prineville where OR 26 turns nearly due east, it is a very curvy road, ducking around lots of things, like that knob ahead and frequently following streams or rivers. This is at the foot of the Ochoco Mountains, leaving that range.
Entering Picture Gorge of the John Day Fossil Beds, I'm just a little late for the sun to pick up the colors well, the background is still lit showing the colors that are beginning to wash out of the foreground.
In the middle of Picture Gorge following the N Fork of the John Day River on about the longest straightest stretch of road in there. Lots of 25 mph curves and very little off the road you'd want to involve your vehicle with. Sharp rocks are a consistent tire hazard from falls.
Just exiting Picture Gorge looking across the John Day River with the Strawberry Mountains in the background, I've always felt as though this is the entrance into Eastern Oregon. The river has some nice trout though on much of it barbless hooks are required and some fish are catch and release only. The highway will take me to the north of the Strawberries, or left in the picture. As you see in the picture the light is beginning to fade and I still have a couple hours to go to get home. Bad planning for any pictures near Baker City, an hour out it was pitch black and the half moon wasn't sufficient for photography.
By home I've left Portland a bit above sea level, crossed the Cascades, crossed the Ochocos, and crossed the Elkhorns for mountain ranges and several pretty good grades that aren't actually mountains in these parts. Running at 63 mph with the top down on the SSR hurt mileage a bit, it managed 19.3 mpg rather than the 22+ it would get otherwise. I'll take the trade off, it was a nice day and a nice drive with only a few suicidal Mule deer requiring hard braking. I always pack a handgun for euthanasia purposes though it's been years since I hit one. My wife would be pretty hard to get along with if I bent up her SSR with a critter.

I stopped in Dayville (pop a couple hundred) at a cafe thinking I'd just grab a bite, but they were just closing. A handful of locals on the front porch sipping some suds were quite impressed with the SSR and considerably less impressed with my "I'm A Grassroots Democrat" badge. Some light banter was exchanged, but having lived 20 years in E OR I learned long ago to keep it light and not take it too much to heart. If you intend to be a lefty Democrat in these here parts it pays to have a sense of humor. I have that.

Eagle Caps Memorial Day Weekend

***Click for full size***

Shot from about 5500 feet on the eastern slope of the Elkhorns above Baker Valley, the Eagles are about 25 air miles from here. Running N-S they peak at around 10,000 feet.
Shot from the Valley floor, a couple miles closer, this is the same section of the Eagles less cloud obscured.

Scottie, Gus, and I needed to get out of dodge for awhile and the roads into the mountains are fairly recently clear far enough in to make it interesting. So load up some fun stuff, pour 23 gallons of not cheap gasoline into the 30 gallon tank and take off for a few hours. We putted around off the main road for awhile and saw a couple mule deer looking healthy and not much else in wild life. My wife's excuse to me for dumping $80-some of gasoline in the K5 was to go cougar hunting, I have a tag, which I found entirely hilarious and went along with it anyhow - including taking the hand cannon .45 Colt Vaquero. For aficionados it's loaded with 365 grain cast lead/silver gas checked bullets going 1300fps, so I'm not exaggerating. I also took something I thought I might be able to shoot something with - the Fuji digital and I bagged something, above.

If you don't know anything about cats, the reason I found the hunting justification humorous is that cats don't like people and a high performance 350 cid engine with performance mufflers on a mountain road is a fairly large hint that people are about. Cougars are a top of the line predator with a large range they jealously protect and they don't waste energy that must be replaced by a kill by taking walks. They hunt or rest and resting isn't done in places where they're likely to be bothered. You will virtually never track a cat or ambush one, I buy tags for them for use during deer and elk season when the chances of an accidental meeting are a bit higher.

It was a good day, the temperatures were shirt sleeve with the sun ducking in and out. The roads weren't dusty and the air smelled of damp duff and pines and firs. The clean sharp smell of snow flowed down hill giving the air a bite, not cold, just that hint of deep cold snow a few thousand feet higher. The 74 K5 was its usual self, lots of squeaks and a few rattles rough riding but powerful and nimble machine. When I reach the foot of the mountains on the gravel road I lock in the hubs and put it in four low to minimize the shuddering and jumping on washboards and reduce the need for shifting. In 4th gear with the gearing that low it ranges from snarls to growls and only needs the odd shifts to 3rd gear. Second and granny are reserved for pretty special situations. It is a 35 year old truck and one of my favorites, nicely capable on the freeway at 70 mph and yet in town it will turn a corner in 4th gear and accelerate away smoothly, but it certainly isn't real easy on gasoline getting 15 mpg if you don't abuse it.

It was nice to put a smile on my cabin fevered wife's face with an outing to the mountains. She says that if I'm going to maker her live in this forsaken place the least I can do is take her to the mountains. I'm ok with that.

Craig Watson's Nova

"This was from my (Craig Watson) first pass last weekend, I had to pedal it back down to keep it off the bumper and it went through the traps at 5.81@121.4"

A little info for those out of this particular loop, this is a 1/8 mile run and it is on 8.5 inch tires. Craig is from Kentucky and a correspondent of mine from a Nova listserve. I've watched this car move through many iterations and recovery from a meeting with a wall. No, you're not going to go for groceries with this particular automobile, but in a quarter mile you'd be in the upper 8 second range at 150+ mile per hour.

Thought I'd better live up to my statement that fast cars get in this blog ...

I have another correspondent - Dat - who needs to send me a picture for publication, you there?

1950 Chevy COE

This truck is for sale - contact 541-523-7520 or cbutcher1@hotmail.com Truck is sold
***right click follow link for full size***

Nah, it's not a fast car, this is a working truck. 1950 Chevrolet Cab Over Engine dump truck plated in Oregon at 24,000 pounds GVW. Those are not cheap plates, though in OR they're probably cheaper than a lot of places. The bed is 13.5 cubic yards, with side hung rear doors for loading or unloading.

It's so homely it's almost cute and when it's on the job I'm not the oldest "tool" there. Equipped with a 292 cid 6 cylinder, a 4 speed granny tranny and split axle it can run at 65 mph on the flat, empty and loaded just about get out of its own way. In granny 1st with the axle split down to low range the engine tops out at about 5 mph so it can climb just about any grade loaded, but it sure takes awhile to get anywhere.

I like the old beast, but once you've driven it for about 4 hours you gain a great appreciation for modern equipment - that I can't afford... Since it spends most of its life parked on job sites as the trash truck it should last very nearly forever.

AWOL Chuck

I've been missing for awhile, things just got completely out of hand. Four 10 hour days in mid 90's heat with unusual humidity (most of you'd think it was dry) as a work week, followed by unexplained email problems, sleep, and travel and you'd think I'd have an excuse. Last weekend I went to the Portland OR area to visit my son and deal with DPO's Platform and Resolutions Committee. That meeting went pretty well and we got something accomplished.

Throw into the mix pulling and replacing the engine and 4 speed manual tranny in a 1974 K5 Blazer and life gets pretty interesting. Making it truly interesting is that the tranny and transfer case are the old iron ones from the mid-late 60's. In 1974 GM/Chevrolet decided that options were expensive, this truck could only be had with an automatic transmission and full-time 4 wheel drive. I like neither in a mountain crawling truck which is one duty and the other is use as a tow vehicle for car trailer and race car. The ability to down shift and use the engine as a brake is of considerable importance in mountainous terrain whether on the highway or on forest service roads/off road. This is the third engine since I've owned the truck and the 3rd tranny, one was broken when a good part of a mountain fell in front of the truck on a highway - at 60mph. That particular incident also required an entire frame, fender, hood, and bell housing. I took the time and energy to rebuild that wreck because other than a top that removes from windshield to tailgate it also was one of the few vehicles that could take what happened and let the occupants survive.

The massive drive train parts require one of two approaches, lift the body off and set the entire drive train or remove engine, then tranny with the grill area removed and install in reverse order. Mounting an engine onto a manual transmission involves some challenges, at 350 pounds hanging from a chain on an engine hoist it is rather obnoxious to steer around from underneath a vehicle and a precise fit is required.

Sunday evening I got the thing put together minus hood, started and a 20 minute run in on the cam at 2000 rpm (mostly driving). All systems performed as they should, though the clutch needs some adjustment and the timing needs a little tweaking, so I am pleased with it and happy to have it out of my hair.

Maybe I can do a little blogging now...

This Is Fun-Maybe Not Politically Correct

This particular run at Firebird Raceway; Eagle, ID will be 13.14 sec @ 102 mph with a 1.78 sec 60 foot (0-42mph in 60'). I built this little beauty as a daily driver/weekend warrior. The left front tire is coming off the ground in the right picture. This is what constitutes fun for a political junkie. No, it's not reasonable transportation, but it sure is fun and it sure is fast, and what's cool is that it stops and handles as well as most new cars, better than some.

Fast cars, guns, and hard core left politics...what more could you want?