Hi there! In keeping with forum tradition, I'll start by introducing my new addiction/new addition, a 77 FJ40, which was recently purchased out of SW Wyoming about an hour south of Jackson. She's called the "DB". Basically, a barn find that hadn't been driven for the past 3 years. I picked her up sight unseen and took possession on the first good snow of the season. Short wheel base and ice and me who hadn't driven a stick for decades made for a series of quick and interesting moments. Got all the fluids, oils and grease taken care of that morning and drove her 2 hours down to Utah to meet up with my GF's dad to fish the Clear Water. Left the 40 behind but returned to drive her back to Portland. Driving through Utah where the posted limit is 80 was a little shocking cause 55 makes 80+ seem like warp overdrive. I found I had to keep all the windows down since the muffler had broken off making the cabin full of fumes forcing me to wear a hat, down coat and insulated gloves to keep warm. I've read the thread about "saving the old rust bucket" and didn't understand why Mr. Seaknight wouldn't drive more than 5 hours. Now I know - I went six and regretted that decision. I was given a set of ear plugs I used every driving moment. Helped a bunch. Speaking of which, my trip wasn't like Mr Seaknight's…no interesting people, awful hotel with a loud TV next door, nothing historical or interesting in the town, burger king instead of a sweet greasy spoon. I want that guy's magic. However, I did have a grin on my face the whole time! I happened upon a thread where a dude was looking for advice on what to pack for taking his 40 home and received a long list of items. I didn't find that till after my trip and all I packed were the above plus some frito chips, an apple and some water. It's true the straight 6 does run…thank god. I didn't even have the tools to fix a flat.
It's home and the magic it does have is the thumbs up magic from strangers. Once upon a time I had a 73 white BMW 3.0 with red leather interior that had that magic. This does too - lots of thumbs ups and approval nods from all sorts of people. Also, the rad thing is my very picky 15yo daughter loves the DB and wants to drive with me whenever possible. Here's to material possessions bringing family together! And she'll even let her friends meet me now. Wow. Who knew. My girlfriend on the other hand refused to ride with me until I got the muffler fixed so we didn't drive around in the freezing cold with the windows open. First thing fixed was the muffler. Anyway, there's more stuff like that but I'll stick to the meat of the introduction. I'm in Portland, OR and happy to meet anyone else, grab a beer and TLC talk and say how nice your rig is if you do the same to mine. I'll have a follow up posts with more photos detailing its lovely rust and such. Thanks for reading!
It's home and the magic it does have is the thumbs up magic from strangers. Once upon a time I had a 73 white BMW 3.0 with red leather interior that had that magic. This does too - lots of thumbs ups and approval nods from all sorts of people. Also, the rad thing is my very picky 15yo daughter loves the DB and wants to drive with me whenever possible. Here's to material possessions bringing family together! And she'll even let her friends meet me now. Wow. Who knew. My girlfriend on the other hand refused to ride with me until I got the muffler fixed so we didn't drive around in the freezing cold with the windows open. First thing fixed was the muffler. Anyway, there's more stuff like that but I'll stick to the meat of the introduction. I'm in Portland, OR and happy to meet anyone else, grab a beer and TLC talk and say how nice your rig is if you do the same to mine. I'll have a follow up posts with more photos detailing its lovely rust and such. Thanks for reading!
