The old blue truck is once again parked on the street. For the past two years it was been sitting off to one side of the front yard.Here's the story - a little over two years ago the gear shift on the steering column broke. There was no way to change gears without lifting the hood and manually moving the rod that connects to the transmission. So, when the city decided to re-pave the road we had to move the truck out of the way.
After that I pulled the steering column completely out. The inner shaft was broken in several places and we needed to replace the column assembly. Over the course of the next several weeks we tried to locate one at a salvage yard. No luck. So the truck sat.
One day I was getting a ride home from work with one of the deputies. He is a bit of an automotive tinkerer and asked about the truck. He said he would see what he could do to help. Over the next several months he tried to find a replacement column. No luck. Then he came over and asked to have the parts saying he might have found a supplier of parts. He ordered parts and said they sent the wrong size. He returned it and they sent another one that was still not right. Finally, he managed to do some welding and put the whole column back together.
Now the steering column is in the truck and working once again. Hopefully we can get the rest of the needed items attended to and have it re-licensed and functioning in the next couple of days.Old blue is back.
2 comments:
We applaud. We cheer. We still miss our 72. You tell "Ol' Blue" that we will come visiting one day. :)
I was beginning to wonder if this day would actually arrive. That truck is a classic and deserves to be restored to it's former glory. With love and attention, that truck can easily surpass one million miles. They just don't build them like that anymore.
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