Originally Posted by steelsoldiers

Well, it looks like it is time for one final installment on this series. I am working on a 3-way trade with a SS member, 19kilo, and another fella who's not on the site yet. So, I needed to get the truck ready for transport. I drove down to my old office in VA on Tuesday to load up a bunch of spare parts that I squirreled away for later use.

I then headed to Winslow's to prep the truck. I used John's Bobcat forklift to load a seat in a crate, a parts winch, a battery box relocation kit, 3 bare rims, and 4 rims with tires. That pretty much filled up the bed. I then tossed in any extra intake parts, wiring, etc... that I found laying around my work site. It was starting to get dark by then and mosquitoes as big as half dollars were coming out of the swamp to dine on me. I packed up and headed to my brother's place to bunk up for the night.

After 4 hours of sleep I hit the road again for John's. I had to dodge passing thunder storms for most of the morning, but still managed to sort through all of my spare parts and box everything up for 19kilo. After that, I drained 6 gallons of water out of the cooling system and added 6 gallons of anti-freeze. It is starting to get cooler here and I didn't want anything to freeze and bust. Once the fresh coolant was in, I buttoned everything up to take it for a 10 mile run out in farm country. I was a little bothered by the fact that one of the check valve was sticking and letting air out of the system faster than the compressor could put it back in at idle. I had replacement valves, but didn't have the time to swap them out. The truck makes a ton of air on the road because the compressor is fed from the intake, which is pressurized by the turbo. At 2000 rpm it would pump things up to 110 psi or so and then the expeller valve would dump out of the bottom of the air dryer. So, I got the air built up to release the brakes and off I went. The truck ran and drove fantastic. It was quick to reach 55 mph and held that speed without an issue. The brakes felt great too. The real bonus was the air leak had stopped when I returned from my test drive. I'm guessing one of the check valves had a little dirt or corrosion around it and was sticking open. A good long run and plenty of brake use must have cleaned it out.

I was a little sad at the thought of saying goodbye to that truck because of everything we have been through together, but I know it is going to a good home and the project will be completed. I also felt a great deal of pride at what I had accomplished with that truck. It was residue when I got it and now it is a runner. With some body work, paint, and finishing touches, it will be like new again.

Thanks to all of my SS friends for sticking with me through this project and helping me find all of the parts I needed to complete it. I know Craig c'dub will look down with pride knowing that the fan clutch he gave me helped bring new life to this truck.

Well, I guess that's enough of the sentimental stuff. Here are a few more shots of the truck as it sits now along with one from where I first got it. Enjoy.