I just drove my wagon for the first time in a long, long time. The last time I drove it I was 16, when it was my cousin's. Now I'm 37. He passed away in 1985, and it's been in storage since then. The last 2 years it was actually just sitting out in a field in Salmon, Idaho, slowly rotting away. My cousin's widow called last year to see if I was still interested in it. I have fond memories of the truck, and of course my cousin, and couldn't pass it up. I grew up with my two cousins and he was basically the older brother that I idolized, so you can understand how hard it was to see his most cherished vehicle slowly waste away. Anyway, I don't really have the time or skill to restore it myself and decided to send it to TLC 4x4 to figure out how to approach it. I know a lot of guys here think Jonathan's work is expensive but I've found him to be a great guy. And I wanted it done right more than just getting it done cheap. After talking to him back and forth we decided that I wanted to use the truck and focused on going through all the mechanicals, but leave the cosmetics alone, at least for now (It was getting expensive to go through everything). So long story short, I finally came to Southern California this weekend to visit his shop and check on progress, etc. WOW! I drove it Saturday and haven't stopped grinning yet. I scared the hell out of myself pulling around a corner a little too quick, not quite used to it yet, very humbling. It certainly has a little more umph then I remembered to say the least. (But we did put in the RamJet 350, a NV4500 trans, atlas transfer, and dynatrak axles, so what the hell did I expect.) I apologized to Jonathan who took it all in stride. Anyway, I'm at my brother in law's place so I can't post any pictures, but I do have a picture at the owner's post thread. I have to say that Jonathan's best advice was to get to know everybody on this site, especially the 45LV owner group. So, I hope I'm not boring everyone, but I figured if anybody would understand my excitement it would be here. I can't wait to get the vehicle home, maybe start working on the cosmetics slowly (I already signed up for a welding class at the local adult education school), take my family on some outings, relive some old memories and make a whole lot of new ones with my wife and kids. I have to laugh at all the things Jonathan found wrong on the truck, the typical stuff you see here followed by "look what the P. O. did..." The fuel gauge didn't work so we had a rope with a knot in it that we dropped into the tank, if it came out dry, time to fill up. The horn knob was replaced by a tin lid from a can of copenhagen snuff, an old electric fan aimed at the windshield served as a defroster, and my favorite... after cleaning off the inside of the tailgate discovered a mural of the Boise hillsides that I forgot my cousin had painted there. My favorite quote from Jonathan "looks like somone rolled up a fat one, got out some paintbrushes and went to town." So that's it for now, I'm sure at one point or another, I'll be pestering other owners for advice, etc.
Happy fourth!! Hope you are all smiling as much as I am.
Happy fourth!! Hope you are all smiling as much as I am.
