Moving Day Plus Seven!

Good news is to come.

I cashed out. It's over. The check has been received and cleared.

My hopes to have a diesel installed are essentially dead in the water. One of the main reasons I wanted a diesel was so that I could run vegetable oil instead of diesel fuel if fuel prices ever skyrocket, which I'm sure will happen sooner or later. I failed to consider that if fuel prices did skyrocket, I likely won't be driving my lifted, over-tired, old, designed-to-be-inefficient Land Cruiser. I own a Prius - hello??

Ok, moving on to better things and a company that shall be named - although, for the sake of me not knowing the future ever since my Magic 8 ball lost all its blue dye, I will not name the company - but they're the good guys. He runs a good company. I should've known something was amiss when the company that shall not be named provided me an estimate in an excel spreadsheet and this guy provides me a pdf with company letterhead and outlining everything he'll do, everything. I should've known.

I met him last summer when I was still narrowing my build options. He wouldn't do a diesel, so ultimately, I went with the company that shall not be named - who has two thumbs and made a bad choice - this guy.

So I met him last summer, got good vibes from him, got an estimate for a 4.7 Toyota V8 - interesting. If I am going to put in a V8, a Toyota is super interesting, but... it's more expensive to repair thanks to the dual overhead cam,  more expensive to install because it's not as available as the Chevy 5.3 Vortec, it's not as powerful as the Chevy 5.3 Vortec either. As much as I would like to stay all Toyota - I wasn't going to stay Toyota with the diesel, so why hang on now? The ball is rolling.

We talk a few times and nail down the details. His motor guy uses late model take-outs and can wire the motor according to the builder's needs, thereby saving him hours and me money. Ok, let's go with the 5.3 Vortec and automatic transmission. His motor guy had 50-60k motors available with NV4500 manual transmissions! We talk turkey and I end up with a 6.0 Vortec!!

I go from attempting to build a low powered, old, and likely worn out, inline 5 cylinder turbo diesel with over 300k miles and had 125hp and 180 lb-ft torque from the factory 28yrs ago to a 6yr old 6.0 V8 with about 60k miles. The motor was pulled from a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer SS! From the factory the SS came out with 395hp and 400 lb-ft torque!! The V8 will surely not get as good mpg, but it'll start every time I turn the key - no worries about freezing temperatures, no worries about fuel starvation while climbing a steep, rocky hill off road, no worries about getting parts, and to top it all off the build will likely only cost me a $1-2k more! Deal.

Lots of stress from the company that shall not be named, but if I had to suffer that stress to get to where I am now it was worth it. My truck will be so much better when it's done. I am excited.

Getting ready for shipping and just in time - not 5mins prior my neighbor asked me to move my truck

Happy days - I was going to have to spend $900+ for shipping to Utah, this guy - $60! 

There is so much work to do even when I get it back, but for now I couldn't be happier. 

Moving Day Troubles

Ok, so I finished the last post typing, "Pictures to follow tomorrow". Pictures did not follow tomorrow and I'll explain, but be advised I'm typing with frustrated finger strokes and scowling face - just picture Mr. Potato Head with his angry eyes and you'll get the picture.

Moving day was supposed to be Tuesday the 11th of December. I was hoping the guy would be in before noon, but noon came and went. I called the shipping broker - "Oh, he hasn't called you yet? That's strange. Let me call him (ring, ring....). Not picking up. I'll leave a message...."Great. Good sign.

The guy calls me after 3pm to tell me he's not going to make it today - good thing I didn't take off work for this nonsense, but he can be here on Wednesday or maybe Thursday - "What are you doing Thursday", he asks me and can I pretty much be available any time he wants to come to my house he wonders. Great. I happen to be off with my newborn, but this is nonsense. Glad I'm not working because this is just plain poor management, lucky for me I'm not paying for this service - oh wait, I am paying for this ridiculously, terrible service. He and I talk for a few more minutes to confirm that he is a poor planner and I am the one who has to live with it. I confirm that he knows my truck does not run and he will need a trailer with a winch - cue the dark ominous tones...

"What? They didn't tell me your truck doesn't run! I can't pick it up. They're going to have to schedule someone else to pick it up." Good thing I'm not paying for this terrible, poor-excuse-for-professionalism, service. Oh wait, I am paying for this terrible, poor-excuse-for-professionalism, service.

All ready for shipping

I pulled it out of the garage the night before in preparation for getting it into position near my neighbor's house

We can get you another truck by the weekend, I'm told. Great. I only have my truck parked in front of my neighbor's house, I'm sure he won't mind having my truck outside his dining room window for an undermined amount of time. I can't move the truck back to my house because my driveway's on a hill. Great! I'm so excited that your company is incapable of providing a timely service. Good thing I'm not paying for this terrible, poor-excuse-for-professionalism, service... you get it by now. I'm less than satisfied with my customer experience at this point.

The shop where I was shipping the truck - the shop that shall not be named as it will be referenced from this point forward, was expecting the truck on Thursday. I wanted to contact them to tell them of the delay, but not until I had an ETA. When Thursday came and I still didn't have an ETA, I decided to just drop a short email. I sent the email late afternoon, so I didn't expect a response on the same day.

Friday morning - cue the dark ominous tones, again...
My response email from the company that shall not be named stated that they will not be able to do my engine install... That was it. I initiated conversation with the company that shall not be named in March. I would bet that I've exchanged 30-50 emails with the company that shall not be named. I would bet that I've had 15-20 phone conversations with the company that shall not be named. My truck was supposed to arrive on 12/13. On 12/14 I am informed that they will not perform my engine install - via email. Let me spell it E-M-A-I-L. They tell me by email that my plans to have them do the work wasn't going to happen. They tell me by email that the build that we had discussed and discussed that they accepted was not going to happen. They told me by email?! The email didn't explain why - nothing. They're not going to do it and that's it. Email. They sent an email. Completely unprofessional. Utterly irresponsible. Embarrassing business practice. Email?

At this point they did me a favor. Any company that fails to realize that I am the one who pays for the lights - I am the one who pays for the insurance - I am the one who puts braces on their kid's thumb-sucking-teeth - me - the customer - you work for me - you are a dancing monkey on a street that I'll drop some shiny coins into your top hat after you've entertained me with your freak show - any company that fails to consider that it is the respect of the customer that shall be, at all times, reaching towards -  will die and likely by their own sword - it won't be pretty, but I'll do my best to suffer through the show. He told me by email. Classy.

Good thing I'm not paying for service from the company that shall not be named - oh wait, I had already spent $1,700 in parts that they had in their shop! The brief email stated that they needed to ship my parts to me, but there was no mention as to who was expected to pay for this shipment - remember they thought it best to communicate this information to me by email.

Immediately I called the office. Voicemail. Five minutes later I called again. Voicemail. I then replied to his email - asking him to call me immediately so that I may understand what is going on and what I can do to get my parts and so I can just figure out what the hell was happening. He replied in about 3 minutes - we're closed on Fridays, he responded. Classy. Responsible. Good business. "We're closed on Fridays". I'm still struck by how lemonade-stand-in-a-subdivision-on-a-weekend this company is operated. "We're closed Fridays"? Who's closed Friday?

A number of emails later, he says that he'll attempt to call me quickly - it was 11:45am. He called me at 16:30ish or about 5hrs later and later at 20:40. At least he tried getting in touch with me - something he should've done before sending the first email. I missed the calls. I have a 2wk old daughter. I missed the call. I was so upset I was trying to stay away from the phone. Silly me, I believed him when he said he would try to call me very soon - 5hrs later he called - nonsense. Later email exchanges he said to just call on Saturday anytime.

Saturday morning
I call him at 9am - nothing, 5.5hrs later I call him again - nothing. Later he returns my call. Nonsense. All nonsense. He did offer to pay me for the items I'd purchased and shipped to them or to pay for shipping where ever I wanted. A bit of silver lining for all the bullshit. Hum...

The motor I purchased had waayy more miles than I initially thought - thank you Carfax, too bad I didn't look at it beforehand. I probably paid too much for the stuff too. Hum... Should I cash out or should I pay a ton of money to have a 28 year old, underpowered, motor into my project - doesn't make much sense any more. How did it make sense, ever? This nonsense could be a huge blessing. I could get a fresh start.

I cashed out, but now what to do? What motor should I have installed? Where should I go to have the work done? Where to go? What to do? I'd wanted to install a diesel for so long, but getting one licensed in Colorado is extremely restrictive. What to do?

Moving Day!

I spent all day on Monday getting the truck ready for shipping. I planned to get a ton done before it was pulled onto the trailer - no problem - I only have been sitting on these little side tasks for months, oh and there's a new, little person in my house now, no problem.

I've found that people with kids LOVE to tell you that 'oh, you're not going to have any time when she comes along'. No kidding. I am firmly planted in my thirties. I understand the change that will occur when we have a baby - haven't yet experienced it, but I understand that some change will occur to my free time. I get it. 'Oh, but you don't understand how little time you'll have once she comes'. Yea, yea, yea, I get it.

I didn't have any free time. Happy now?

The wife has set me loose to work on the truck. I had some guilt associated with her taking care of the baby while I got to fuss around in the garage. I took her up on it on Monday. She didn't want me to wait till the last minute - You'll get stressed out, she said. I got stressed out. Many profanities were exchanged between me and inanimate objects.

• Finish the front end - I snapped some electrical connectors, but it's done. 
• Finish the rear end - It didn't take too long - easiest part of my day. 
• Install the rear seats - Ah yea, didn't get done. 
• Install the rear seat belts - Ah yea, didn't get done. 
• Install the front seat belts - Mark that one in the 'win' column. 
• Install the HVAC panel - Ah yea, didn't get done. Ugh, mark that in the 'profanity' column. 
• Load the truck up with parts they'll use at the shop - Done. Thanks to my buddy Josh for helping to muscle up the transmission/transfer case. 
• Install ... was that it? Geez, I'm in trouble. I'm going to forget something extremely necessary. 

Pictures to follow tomorrow!  

Tires!

I got some new tires!

I got suckered in to the deals after Thanksgiving. I was going to get them anyway, so might as well get them while the deal is good. I ended up getting them from Discount Tires. Those guys are usually willing to give you a deal, although very small deal, when you mention having looked at other places.

I ended up with BFG All Terrain T/A 33x10.50x15 (33in tall x 10.50in wide on a 15in wheel). BFG used to have those tires in a 9.50, which was what I really wanted. I love the look of tall, skinny tires. Those trucks were designed and built with tractor motors, literally, so I think the skinny tires fits the original intent of the vehicle rather than fat, clunky, mud tires that you can hear a mile away. They fit the truck really well. I did want the thinner tires, but the 10.50 look good too. I wanted the tires to stay tucked inside the fenders and these do, so I'm happy. They're 50k tires, so they should last for a while - the way I'm planning to drive it. They're all terrains, so they should do decent off road - lots of guys run these tires. And they're rated for severe weather conditions, so they should do good in the snow and ice. I'll believe the snow handling when I get to drive it on some snow pack.

Now with the tires on it's a rush to get the truck finished, or as finished as it's going to be before it's shipped off. December 11 is fast approaching and boy do I have a bunch to do. I have decided to have the truck shipped back home, so I don't have to worry about finishing everything completely, but the more I get done the cheaper it'll be in the end.

Photos to come on shipping day! Tuesday. This Tuesday. Oh, no... I type as my perfect, 10 day old, little girl sleeps on my lap.