- Thread starter
- #21
It's home and happy. (an so am I). 
I picked up the pickup this weekend and arrived back home last night.
I was quite a long drive (about 1600 miles) but totally worth it.
On the way back we nicknamed the truck Stewie (as in Steward Little or the little guy from Family guy) I normally don't give names to my vehicles but I might make an exception to the rule.
The road trip turned out to be a most excellent adventure! We were about 15 minutes into the trip and we almost hit a deer. So I got the chance to test the brakes on the LX and the trailer and they worked great.
We loaded up the truck in Marquette Michigan in the evening and decided to drive part of the 28 back to Saulte Saint Marie. It is just about the most boring road in the world. It turned out to be quite challenging because we counted no less the 40 deer. We also saw a huge wolf. I have never seen one this big. We had mistaken it for a deer and it had the same height as the hood of my Lexus.
And the border crossing on the way back turned out to be a breeze ! All it took was about 20 minutes for both custom offices on a sunny Monday morning.
US customs: The officers there were very friendly and professional. They stamped the document in no time. All I needed was the title, the bill of sale and my passport.
He accompanied me outside, was very enthusiastic and amazed about my purchase.
He briefly glanced at the vin number gave me the form and told me what to do with it.
Canadian customs. We stopped at the booth, the person asked me a couple of questions. Where is came from, if I had anything to declare (duh!) typed the details into his computer and instructed me to park. Inside the office was also pleasant. A girl did the paperwork for me while chatting about her Jeep. I signed a form, had to pay tax and that was it, I was good to go. They didn't even step outside to take look.
All in all exporting or importing was easier and faster then fixing the flat tire on the trailer
I have made a new gallery with pictures which I will try and keep it updated.
I know this forum is not really the correct place for little Stewie (it too old and it actually hates mud) but I can you updated if you want. I won't be off roading it and have no plans for a restoration because it is pretty much a time capsule. I am keeping it as stock as possible.
Stewie went to the shop today for safety and a few other tweaks.
First thing we did was giving it a good undercoating. I won't be using it in the winter, but it's not going to hurt.
They also fixed the small chip in the windshield (or the zit as they called it in the shop lol)
It also needed a brake adjustment and a couple of bulbs and we gave it some fresh oil.
And that was it. It was good to go.
Getting it licensed and plated was a breeze (although I had to pay tax).
I got a chance to take it out on a good drive, from the shop to home, which is about 20 miles (in the pouring rain) and it preformed flawlessly.
It is quite zippy, feels tight and the transmission shifts like butter. I just can't get over it that it's 36 years old.
There was a slight rattle under the hood at specific rpms. It turned out to be a dried out gasket under the air filter so that was an easy fix. It was amazing how easy those bolts came loose.
Stewie came with a box with two period correct bumperettes. I put them on and I like it.
Other plans are fixing the upholstery and the OEM radio.
I am also considering using Line-X for the truck bed. I am still on the fence on this one, because it is not really period correct but it will add some protection and I would like to use it as a real truck.
I picked up the pickup this weekend and arrived back home last night.
I was quite a long drive (about 1600 miles) but totally worth it.
On the way back we nicknamed the truck Stewie (as in Steward Little or the little guy from Family guy) I normally don't give names to my vehicles but I might make an exception to the rule.
The road trip turned out to be a most excellent adventure! We were about 15 minutes into the trip and we almost hit a deer. So I got the chance to test the brakes on the LX and the trailer and they worked great.
We loaded up the truck in Marquette Michigan in the evening and decided to drive part of the 28 back to Saulte Saint Marie. It is just about the most boring road in the world. It turned out to be quite challenging because we counted no less the 40 deer. We also saw a huge wolf. I have never seen one this big. We had mistaken it for a deer and it had the same height as the hood of my Lexus.
And the border crossing on the way back turned out to be a breeze ! All it took was about 20 minutes for both custom offices on a sunny Monday morning.
US customs: The officers there were very friendly and professional. They stamped the document in no time. All I needed was the title, the bill of sale and my passport.
He accompanied me outside, was very enthusiastic and amazed about my purchase.
He briefly glanced at the vin number gave me the form and told me what to do with it.
Canadian customs. We stopped at the booth, the person asked me a couple of questions. Where is came from, if I had anything to declare (duh!) typed the details into his computer and instructed me to park. Inside the office was also pleasant. A girl did the paperwork for me while chatting about her Jeep. I signed a form, had to pay tax and that was it, I was good to go. They didn't even step outside to take look.
All in all exporting or importing was easier and faster then fixing the flat tire on the trailer
I have made a new gallery with pictures which I will try and keep it updated.
I know this forum is not really the correct place for little Stewie (it too old and it actually hates mud) but I can you updated if you want. I won't be off roading it and have no plans for a restoration because it is pretty much a time capsule. I am keeping it as stock as possible.
Stewie went to the shop today for safety and a few other tweaks.
First thing we did was giving it a good undercoating. I won't be using it in the winter, but it's not going to hurt.
They also fixed the small chip in the windshield (or the zit as they called it in the shop lol)
It also needed a brake adjustment and a couple of bulbs and we gave it some fresh oil.
And that was it. It was good to go.
Getting it licensed and plated was a breeze (although I had to pay tax).
I got a chance to take it out on a good drive, from the shop to home, which is about 20 miles (in the pouring rain) and it preformed flawlessly.
It is quite zippy, feels tight and the transmission shifts like butter. I just can't get over it that it's 36 years old.
There was a slight rattle under the hood at specific rpms. It turned out to be a dried out gasket under the air filter so that was an easy fix. It was amazing how easy those bolts came loose.
Stewie came with a box with two period correct bumperettes. I put them on and I like it.
Other plans are fixing the upholstery and the OEM radio.
I am also considering using Line-X for the truck bed. I am still on the fence on this one, because it is not really period correct but it will add some protection and I would like to use it as a real truck.
