It's not complicated

He was a coward. Cowardice is like a cancer. You can walk by most people on the street and not even know they have little coward viruses in their blood, in their bones. The worst thing about the coward sickness, you may not know the person next to you has it, breathing your air. They're just like the rest of us, you say, but oh you just consider that they may be your neighbor, your co-worker, your friend. The coward is just sitting there, waiting to come out and drastically alter the course of your trusting, believing, wholesome life.

I won't let my brush with cowardice change my outlook. I won't even speak the coward's name, thereby giving the coward life. A coward does not have a life. Did you know the color black is not actually color at all? The color black is the absence of color - just like a coward is not a life, it is the absence of life.

So this guy, this guy walked and talked like the rest of us - a normal, decent, God-fearing person, just trying to do what he loved and get a little coin for his hard work. You're pulling for him to succeed really. You want to believe that good things happen to good, hard working, God-fearing people.

I met him many times. Gave him lots of my hard-earned money. Lots of my wife's hard earned money. Lots of my daughters well deserved money. Walked his shop. Spoke with his wife. Times are tough, but he's making it. I was rooting for him. I could picture my finished truck blasting down the trail with his sticker on the back glass. Proud. And I'd tell everyone how hard he worked to get me my truck, my project, my dream. He was a good guy. It took me too long to realize that shit smell after every excuse or conversation I had with this guy was the smell of coward.

From the coward came lies. I am and will always be a trusting person. I will not allow this act of cowardice diminish my life. Much like the color black next to a bright blue, I will allow this cowardice to brighten my life. The darker the black the brighter the blue.

He lied to me. Said it was running. Having moved from Colorado to St. Louis, I had to take his word. Each step of the way, there were obstacles, some reason that the truck wasn't quite ready. I was patient. I hadn't paid him a dime since March 2013. I didn't have the room where we were living initially, so what's the rush? Take your time. Get it right, coward. So we'd exchange texts and phone calls. Hey it's running great, but I think your rear end is going out. Let me tear into the rear end. Ok have it, but I'm not giving you any more money. Don't worry about it. He didn't want more money he just wanted more time.

We checked in on it in September 2013 before we moved. The motor was on the mounts and the transmission was on the floor. I got my truck June 2014 and it was exactly the same. It never ran.

Getting it back as I gave it to him - not running 

He robbed Peter to pay Paul. I was Peter.

All was not lost. I did get a motor. The motor is not the agreed upon motor, but it appears in good condition. I do have a transmission. The transmission is connected to my transfer case. And. That's. It.

No, I'm not going after him. I've lost enough. The coward is being sued by many of his previous customers. Even if I were to win judgement in a Small Claims Court I doubt I would ever receive a dime. I will not spend any more of my money or my life thinking about It. At least I have my truck - Wally Wagon.

I haven't wanted to write this blog. I didn't want to sound stupid. I didn't know where to start. I didn't want to explain. I thought about letting it die - the absence of life.

Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I do sound stupid. Perhaps I am a bit too trusting or naive, but I'm not a coward.

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.

Steering Gear

So when I pulled the body off the frame one little piece just refused to allow me to actually remove the body from the frame - the steering gear, actually it was a few pieces, but overall it was the steering gear.  I was able to get the steering gear off the shaft, but I really hated the shaft hanging from the firewall, so I went to work and by 'went to work' I mean I broke something. The steering yoke busted. The steering yoke connects the steering column, by way of the steering shaft, to the steering gear. The shaft was completely rust-fused to the steering yoke. A little heat from a torch. A knock here. A knock there and the steering yoke lies dead on the ground.

I wasn't too worried about busting the steering yoke, because it was surely going to be soo long until I needed to worry about how to fix it. The time has come for me to worry about getting the steering to work again. The suspension is done. The brakes are bled. The tires are bought (!) - next blog. It's time to make it steer again.

The yoke was broken clean along a seam - easy. I'll use JB Weld - no luck. A local shop would weld it together perhaps - no luck. On to the salvage yard - jackpot! $15 later and we're set.

The yoke was already dying on the cold, concrete, ground when this photo was taken - there was so little time

U-joint removed - I only wish I knew what I was doing... 

Ah, the u-joint after I got done with it - nothing a 4.5in angle grinder won't solve 

Next up - figure out how in the world to install u-joints. Thankfully NAPA has old part numbers and for once my '84 LandCruiser has parts that are readily available.

U-joints installed - oh what a pain. 

So I install the new yoke to the new, greasable u-joints, but now I can't get the shaft to attach to the u-joint because I already have the shaft attached to the steering gear and because the shaft was designed to be the correct length - I couldn't jimmy the thing on. I had to remove the u-joint from the yoke and reassemble the whole thing. Oh and after reassembling it I realized the steering gear has a cover, damn. No picture of that, but I had to take the thing apart again to get the cover on, damn.

The Surprise Visitor

He's older than me, alway has been. In fact, if time stood still for him, but not for me and I caught up to his years, he'd still be older and wiser and smarter than me. I guess there's just some people who you never outgrow.

He called me shortly after the suspension was finished. He wanted to help. He was willing to fly from Fairbanks to Denver to help me. It had been 3yrs since I had last seen him. He and his family were traveling through Colorado to pick up a truck. He bought the truck on my word that it was a good purchase. I, reluctantly, handled the logistics while he took care of the costs. They stayed long enough to have a meal and rest before they headed out, 16hrs perhaps. Three years ago.

We often speak of cars and building them and driving them and wanting to own more of them. He's far surpassed me in the purchasing department. I don't think I've owned a fraction of the cars that he's owned. I've often wondered what is it about cars that links us together and why do we always want something we don't have in our driveway, another time perhaps.

We've talked about my build and the various directions I've considered. Too many choices I say, but really I'm just so indecisive. My wife's been so good about my changing moods and directions the last thing I want to do is make this build too expensive. Expense is relative and so is my budget, so talking with him has been good for me because it's kept me grounded. I think the evolution of the suspension was too much for him.

I tried to set up the project so that when he arrived we could just roll. Where the rubber met the road - I had the front suspension done and that was about it. I got 2 wheels painted up in gray in preparation of the new tires that I was surely going to install on the second day of our work. I could get the other 2 wheels painted when we finished putting the body on the frame, which would surely take us about 3hrs of solid, beer-in-hand work. If everything went according to plan we could have the truck ready for the shipper before I took him to catch his plane.

One thing leads to another one thing and we barely spent 3hrs on the truck the first day. Run here. Run there. Run back. Then do it all over again. I had the best intentions to have everything - tools, parts, and whatnot ready to go, but it was inevitable that I was missing one or two items.

The body was on the frame the first day thanks to John. I was so excited to get the body off the frame I failed to realize that there were 2 types of body mounts, but 12 locations, uh that was for John to figure out.

I learned from pulling the body off - take...off...the...wheels. Body mounts in place - thanks John

We ended up having to lower the rear to about 3in off the ground. 

The body went on with no drama - none. I had to get my 34wk pregnant wife out to operate the engine hoist while John and I lifted and pushed/pulled the body to get the body mounts to line up right. I don't know how John is so clean?

I kept John working while I stood there - I think I was looking at the clock, it was about dinner time.

 The body was resting securely on the frame and that was the first day. I had an appointment in the morning that I thought for sure I'd be home by 9:30. My 'quick' meeting ended up taking all morning. I didn't get home until it was time to get some food for lunch. I do not pass up an opportunity to eat. I love to eat.

The doors were on by noon on the second day. John lubricated my door and window hardware. The inner fender would be painted before the install, oh yea. 

I think it would've been a good idea for me to have parts undercoated and painted before John got to the house, but yea, that didn't happen. Why do something alone when I could do it with my brother. I waited and it was wonderful.

Brake lines installed! Brakes bled!

Once we got the driver side doors installed - ok, John let me help install the driver side doors. I was worried I'd have to hang the doors by myself and meanwhile it was John who had to essentially hang the doors alone. It really wasn't too difficult, but I'm glad that I had him to lead the way.

Inner fender - painted. Radiator support - painted. 

Installing the inner fender. Note me doing the work - yea I did some work. 

Hood - installed, but I almost amputated John's fore, middle, and ring fingers... oops. 

I like the undercoating/painted look. 

Look at that! 

My brother John - another one for the wall. 

When the weekend was over 'we' had installed the body, doors, fenders, hood, radiator support, tires, and front seats. If it were up to John we would've installed the carpet, dash, lights, grill, and installed the motor and transmission. We didn't get as much done as he wanted, but as much as I wanted, so I was satisfied. I was satisfied with the progress on the project, but most of all I was so blessed to get so much time with my older brother. It'd been 3yrs since I'd seen him, but about 19yrs since I'd known him. I love the guy, my brother John.