Thursday, February 27, 2014

Mama's Little Red(neck) Truck

I have wheels!

Now don't be jealous.  If you are prone to the sin of covetousness, you might want to skip this post.  I don't want to lead you astray.

For my birthday last year, Mr. Marvelous and I went truck shopping.  And we found this little beauty out toward Locust Grove.



It's a 1987 (the year we got married) Mazda B2000.

Don't you just love it?



It's such a southern kind of truck, isn't it?  Even down to the mud spatters (and how it got there is a story for another day, OK?)



At least 5 other people stopped by to drool over it and make an offer while we were talking to the man who was selling it.

But we got it!

Mr. Marvelous says that half the value of the truck was in the tires.








The seats were made in 1987.











That's OK, I have beach towels.










 I think they add a certain je ne sais quoi, don't you?















It needed a lot of work.  New head gasket, and other stuff I don't remember.  Because I'm not the mechanical one in the family; why should I be when Mr. Marvelous is so good at it?

It had to wait on those repairs for almost longer than I was patient.

Finally after Mr. Marvelous injured his back, we agreed that we would call the son of our good friends who was just getting a car-repair business started.

Mr. Marvelous had started the repair.  Gavin the Hero finished it up for me.

I need to make Gavin a cape, I think.  His kids would love it!

The first time I put it on the road it changed its mind; it didn't want to that day.  It over-heated because the radiator cap was not the exact right size (picky, picky!)

We replaced that and it has been doing just fine ever since.

We will need to replace the carburetor soon (that's a tricky word to spell, by the way).

Mr. Marvelous says that when we do it won't keep conking out and will get better gas mileage.  It might even quit the nasty habit of smoking for the first mile  couple of few miles.  It's that or try a Nicotine patch.  A new carburetor will probably be cheaper.

My favorite part of this is the quirky way in which I start the engine.

First you put the key in the ignition and turn it.  The only function this serves is to unlock the steering wheel.



Then you flip the toggle switch on the right up.


Then you push the button on the left in.



And away we go!


I took Mr. Marvelous Jr. for a ride the other day.  He's still shaking his head.  Bless his heart!

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