Saving The Old Rustbucket--My 1982 FJ40 Tale (5 Viewers)

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OOPS my Bad

Am sitting in the corner with my pointed hat reading all the posts about leaking gas tanks. Trying to figure out how I posted a reply and not a new post. I guess everyone was a new guy at one time or another.:eek:
 
Am sitting in the corner with my pointed hat reading all the posts about leaking gas tanks. Trying to figure out how I posted a reply and not a new post. I guess everyone was a new guy at one time or another.:eek:

You will figure out how to post; but while you're here you might as well climb on in. We'll scoot over and make room for another on this ride.
 
Wow, 44 more "Thanks Lee" posts and we'll hit 300,000 views! Welcome to the madness Savage. :flipoff2:
 
Wow, 44 more "Thanks Lee" posts and we'll hit 300,000 views! Welcome to the madness Savage. :flipoff2:

Mornin' Gentlemen, and Ladies. Just logged in and saw that we'd passed the 300K mark. Mind boggling. I remember being quite surprised when the thread hit 1,000 views.

I'm halfway through the next chapter. Should have it finished and posted by the weekend. Hope no one will be disappointed that we're still in Montana. The Turtle and I had a random encounter, a sign that couldn't be ignored, and made an unplanned stop in Missoula. Yeah...that Missoula, home of Moose Drool, unofficial brew of the rustbucket thread. ;)

Madness indeed. :steer: :beer::beer::beer:

[URL="http://steamboatpics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/BuffPass-10-2010-Moose1.jpg"][URL="http://steamboatpics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/BuffPass-10-2010-Moose1.jpg"][/URL][/URL]
 
Mornin' Gentlemen, and Ladies. Just logged in and saw that we'd passed the 300K mark. Mind boggling. I remember being quite surprised when the thread hit 1,000 views.

I'm halfway through the next chapter. Should have it finished and posted by the weekend. Hope no one will be disappointed that we're still in Montana. The Turtle and I had a random encounter, a sign that couldn't be ignored, and made an unplanned stop in Missoula. Yeah...that Missoula, home of Moose Drool, unofficial brew of the rustbucket thread. ;)

Madness indeed. :steer: :beer::beer::beer:

[URL="http://steamboatpics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/BuffPass-10-2010-Moose1.jpg"][URL="http://steamboatpics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/BuffPass-10-2010-Moose1.jpg"][URL="http://steamboatpics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/BuffPass-10-2010-Moose1.jpg"][/URL][/URL][/URL]

Anxiously awaiting the next chapter :cheers:
 
We where sitting in a small bar in downtown Omaha NE, this summer. I had just finished reading a chapter about the ole Rustbucket. The wife was talking to her sister and the kids where playing with their cousins. The waitress came up to take our drink order and I told her to surprise me with something on tap, my wife looked at me funny because I always drink the same old boring beer. She brings out a mug sits it down I take a drink, smile look at her and she says " that's Moose drool its pretty popular around here" Right then I knew there was something strange about this ride.
 
Greetings Commander,
Suz and I were out for a putt in RC the 40 recently and happened upon the Bucksnort Saloon in Sphinx Park, CO, near the South Platte River. We'd driven by the place a few of times but never when it was open, but, happily, this time it was so we stopped in for lunch. Moose Drool was on tap! Made a great 40 trek sublime.
Carry on.
2013 May Sphynx Park 008.jpg
2013 May Sphynx Park 001 little red truck.jpg
 
Thanks Commander. I enjoyed the read. A short note about the affect these vehicles have on people.

The other day I was heading into our local national forrest for a day of putzing around and stopped somewhere for my morning bathroom break. Parked the 40 right in front and headed in for about 10 minutes. When I came out there was a gentleman in his 70s leaning against the wall looking at my own rustbucket. When we made eye contact he asked if the 40 was mine and proceeded to tell me his 40 story. He bought one in DC from a foreign embassy, I think Nigeria. He said it was an 82 and mentioned how seeing my 40 brought back a lot of happy memories for him then mentioned how he wished he had never sold it. I hope I remember that encounter if I ever entertain the thought.
 
not much for gushy praise. started reading this thread a month or so after you started. got caught up and stopped. the thread went on without me, so now i'm playing catch up again. just got to where someone hadn't ever heard of john prine (i grew up in his territory, so i've been a fan for a long time), jen is in your rearview mirror, and travolta sucks (yep).

here i am faced with a dilemma. stop reading and get out and get my rig ready for a panic run to cali for rubithon or keep reading and remember the fun i used to have in my first cruiser a couple decades plus ago, tooling around the midwest with no wipers, howling three speed and a v8 that would drown out a decent stereo.
 
Greetings Commander,
Suz and I were out for a putt in RC the 40 recently and happened upon the Bucksnort Saloon in Sphinx Park, CO, near the South Platte River. We'd driven by the place a few of times but never when it was open, but, happily, this time it was so we stopped in for lunch. Moose Drool was on tap! Made a great 40 trek sublime.
Carry on.

wish i'd known you were going to the snort. been over a decade. used to be a favorite spot for me and a long gone bf.
 
wish i'd known you were going to the snort. been over a decade. used to be a favorite spot for me and a long gone bf.

Getting together at the 'snort is something we should do. Please join us, Commander, and make it all the sublimerer!
Moose Drool on me. Wait, that doesn't sound right.
Oh yeah, Ige, see you on the 'con.
 
New Belgium puts out some good beer, I discovered it in 05' while in Fort Collins been hooked ever since!

it is good beer especially the 1554. i miss it. i won't buy new belgiums stuff since they contribute to anti ohv charities:frown:
 
Mornin' Gentlemen, and Ladies. Just logged in and saw that we'd passed the 300K mark. Mind boggling. I remember being quite surprised when the thread hit 1,000 views.

300,000 views! :cool::cool::cheers:
 
not much for gushy praise. started reading this thread a month or so after you started. got caught up and stopped. the thread went on without me, so now i'm playing catch up again. just got to where someone hadn't ever heard of john prine (i grew up in his territory, so i've been a fan for a long time), jen is in your rearview mirror, and travolta sucks (yep).

here i am faced with a dilemma. stop reading and get out and get my rig ready for a panic run to cali for rubithon or keep reading and remember the fun i used to have in my first cruiser a couple decades plus ago, tooling around the midwest with no wipers, howling three speed and a v8 that would drown out a decent stereo.

Panic run!
 
What an awesome read...

I joined the forum after reading this (although I have an 80)

We have driven over Europe, Oz, and some bits of the USA, and the story of a roadtrip is one of my favourites to share

Keep on keeping on, excellent work.
 
He said it was an 82 and mentioned how seeing my 40 brought back a lot of happy memories for him then mentioned how he wished he had never sold it. I hope I remember that encounter if I ever entertain the thought.

I hope you remember who has first dibs!

Commander......more Sir....MORE:D
 
Father's Day

Last week I picked up some brake parts at the neighborhood Auto Zone, and while checking out I noticed a big display of Liquid Wrench products near the register, all in new packaging, colorful aerosol cans that resemble little space ships. There was an assortment of lubricants--original penetrating oil, lithium grease, silicone spray, and several others I didn't recognize. Without thinking I reached over and picked up a can of penetrating oil, and added it to my order. Back home, unloading the parts, I began wondering why I'd bought the oil. I already had several cans of PB Blaster on hand, and a partial container of Kroil, so I certainly didn't need another lubricant. I'm not an impulse buyer and this was odd behavior, but it only cost three bucks so I tossed the can into the 40 and thought no more about it.

That is, until yesterday. I was fighting some frozen bolts on the old rustbucket and found myself reaching for the Liquid Wrench. Then I remembered. It was my Dad. From earliest childhood, watching him fix things, there was always a little can of Liquid Wrench in his tool box, and a quart container on a shelf over his work bench. He used it liberally on lawnmowers, bicycles, carbs, brakes, my Red Ryder BB gun, even my Mom's sewing machine. Any mechanical device that didn't cooperate, out came the Liquid Wrench. For a while there was a cartoon character featured in their advertising, Mr. Wrench or something like that, and I sometimes imagined that my Dad was the model for those ads. Silly, I know. It was a kid thing, and I never mentioned it to him. He said the oil was a remarkable substance that he'd discovered while in the Army, that GI's had used it on everything from Jeeps and tanks to M-1's and machine guns during WWII. He told me that no serious tool box should be without a can. It was the mechanic's silver bullet. That advice must have stuck somewhere in the back of my mind, like so many other things he taught me, little things I'm remembering now that he's gone.

Cruiser Corps completed their body repairs on my wrecked 40 in October of 2011, and over the following weeks, before Army became ill, he'd sometimes sit in a chair in the corner of his garage and watch me work at reassembling the old truck. Whenever I'd struggle with a particularly stubborn fastener he'd say "Son, I have a cheater bar over there under the work bench, and there's always the torch, but maybe you should try Liquid Wrench first." And when I did, it usually worked. 91 years old, barely hanging on, and he's still out there, trying to help. That was my Dad.

This morning I woke up early, built a pot of high octane coffee, the kind of heavy brew that only my Dad and I would drink, and thought about him. Then I did something peculiar, even for me. I removed a vase of freshly cut flowers that my wife had carefully arranged on the coffee table, and replaced them with the partially used can of Liquid Wrench, greasy fingerprints and all. She breezed through the room a few minutes later, saw me staring at the can, and stopped abruptly. "Where are my flowers? And what's that dirty oil can doing on my table?" I said "It's a tribute to my Dad. Just a small remembrance. Just for today. I'll move it tonight. OK?"

She started to object, saw that I wasn't joking, then "Sure...sure, leave it there. I miss him too." And there it sits in the middle of the table. It's a quirky thing, but so was my Dad. So today I remember him for a can of oil, and a lot more. I think he'd understand.

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers. And don't forget to give your Dad a call. :cheers:
Liquid Wrench 3.jpg
Liquid Wrench Cartoon.jpg
Army and the FJ40_10x8-compressed.jpg
 
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