What a weekend, Friday night after work I took the three hour drive home to give my father a hand finishing up his truck and helping him get it stored for the winter. The truck, a 83 GMC had just got out of the body shop where it had undergone a complete frame off restoration and last week my father swapped a new set of heads and intake onto the 327 under the hood. So he had got it running except for a problem with the choke, every now and then the choke would close for seemingly no reason and the truck would flood out and die.
Now my father isn't the most patient man when it comes to anything automotive, so after fiddling with it for a bit and not making any real headway we decide to just drive it to my uncles barn (where its staying for the winter) and worry about the choke in the spring when its a little warmer outside. So he hops in the truck and I get in my vehicle to follow him. About half way to my uncles the choke comes on, floods the motor out and the truck rolls to a stop on the side of the highway. Now we're on the side of the road freezing our butts off trying to figure out what to do about the choke. We finally were able to tie it open with a piece of shoe string and got the truck running again.
By this time, my father (who for some reason just didn't see the humor in the situation) is not in the best of moods so he jumps in the truck and I jump in mine and now I just know what's coming, the little 327 bellows through the dual exhaust and both 275 60 series tires out back go up in a cloud of smoke, the truck kicks sideways and my old man's just not gonna take his foot off the floorboards, then as I'm watching this spectacle the back right wheel says "to heck with this, I'm outta here, and I'm taking the axle with me!" The truck slides to a halt not 30 feet from where we just were, and the wheel and axle bounce merrily down the road a little ways and into the ditch.
So here we are once again sitting on the side of the road with a 1983 GMC Tricycle and no amount of shoe string or duct tape is going to get this mess mobile again, We get a tow truck and drag the truck back home where we started. All in all, a pretty unproductive day.
Anyways, sorry for the long post, I just figured I'd share my misadventure with you guys, and remember, sometimes a little patience now can save a lot of grief down the road.
tow home $35
new axle $40
a lesson in patience.......priceless
Now my father isn't the most patient man when it comes to anything automotive, so after fiddling with it for a bit and not making any real headway we decide to just drive it to my uncles barn (where its staying for the winter) and worry about the choke in the spring when its a little warmer outside. So he hops in the truck and I get in my vehicle to follow him. About half way to my uncles the choke comes on, floods the motor out and the truck rolls to a stop on the side of the highway. Now we're on the side of the road freezing our butts off trying to figure out what to do about the choke. We finally were able to tie it open with a piece of shoe string and got the truck running again.
By this time, my father (who for some reason just didn't see the humor in the situation) is not in the best of moods so he jumps in the truck and I jump in mine and now I just know what's coming, the little 327 bellows through the dual exhaust and both 275 60 series tires out back go up in a cloud of smoke, the truck kicks sideways and my old man's just not gonna take his foot off the floorboards, then as I'm watching this spectacle the back right wheel says "to heck with this, I'm outta here, and I'm taking the axle with me!" The truck slides to a halt not 30 feet from where we just were, and the wheel and axle bounce merrily down the road a little ways and into the ditch.
So here we are once again sitting on the side of the road with a 1983 GMC Tricycle and no amount of shoe string or duct tape is going to get this mess mobile again, We get a tow truck and drag the truck back home where we started. All in all, a pretty unproductive day.
Anyways, sorry for the long post, I just figured I'd share my misadventure with you guys, and remember, sometimes a little patience now can save a lot of grief down the road.
tow home $35
new axle $40
a lesson in patience.......priceless