When I go to Pigeon Forge in June, I thought about coming back down the Natchez Trace. I have never been on it

 

Thats all I have right now. Finally bought a I6. Either run 351w/m or 400s before. Thinking about putting a 7.3idi in my 77 when I get to it.

 

@Jeff: We rode a couple of short sections several years back on our way to and from Grand Bay, Al. The whole thing is like 444 miles long. Gonna start at the Nashville end and get off when we get tired of it. Very beautiful and peaceful, but not sure how long I can stand the low speed limits on my bike

@John: Step away from the Kool-aid! You do realize that diesel prices are higher than premium, right? My ol' '61 with the 302 in it likes that lower priced(ain't none of it cheap anymore)stuff just fine. Also only takes 5 quarts of oil and a filter at changes, also much quieter, also smells better.
I'm just yanking these diesel guys chains. If I was pulling big trailers, hauling rocks or logs or hay, I'd probably have an oil burner too.
Trouble is, I like to hear the exhaust note over the rattle of the engine...that's why I run drag pipes on my Harley. Just sad when you pull up next to a truck with wide open 4" exhaust and the motor's louder than the pipes.

 

Me? Its James but with still being new around here yet again I dont expect yall to know my name for a while.

The '77 is going to be the truck that does everything but daily driving & going fast. Some work, fun, towing, camping, a general purpose 4x4 truck. I got to thinking about motors, sure a Cummins would work great, pull like a **** but just isnt Ford. The 6.9/7.3 IDI are, seem to last a good while when owned by a ******* (so they should last a very long time around here) & bolts up to the parts I have or have access to. Plus they are all mechanical!!

Dont get me wrong, I love all the power of newer diesels but I want simple & reliable for the '77. Dont want to worry about a damn sensor going out in ten years only to find out that its been out of production for 8 years. The 2wd '77 will be full of wires to keep an eye on the motor. I just want to go FAST in it & make it look like Ford built it.




In other news, Im going to play paintball today.

 

Up until Feb 08 all I had was my 66 gas burner.. unfortunately it needs more time and money than I can give it at the moment, so she waits patiently..

Diesel is more, yea, but with a light foot I can get 20+ mpg..

 

Sorry James, at least I had the first letter right.
OK, watch me light the room on fire.
My first choice for an engine for my F100 when the 6 finally gave up the ghost was a Chevy small block 400/T400 out of a '72 Chevelle Laguna that my boss has sitting in the woods behind the shop. Just couldn't get him to sell it to me.
Then my kid's '84 F150 blew the motor and got towed to my place(stuff happens when you've got 9 acres to store cars on). It was a 302/C6 truck.
Next, one of the customers at the restoration shop where I work needed to get rid of the original 302 out of his '72 Mustang(went with a 351C instead). I did some minor work on his car on my own time to pay for it. Came with an Edelbrock 4bbl manifold and Edelbrock carb. When I opened it up I discovered that the motor had been freshly rebuilt. Still showing crosshatch in the cylinders, new bearings and clean as a whistle inside. I think it's got a bit of a hi-po cam in it, too.
Cleaned it up, took the tranny out of the '84, along with the Duraspark ign and the alternator charging system, modified the rad support and used the rad out of the '84 also. Finally, I took the 3rd member from the '84 swapped in the side gears off the original and got rid of the worn out rear end gears.
Ended up spending just over a grand for the complete engine swap including eng and trans mount kits and a floor shifter for the trans.
So that's why I don't have a SBC in my Ford.

 

Morning gentlemen...you too Jeff. I'd brew a pot of coffee for everyone...but it would be cold before Bill and/or Walley could get over here to pour their cups.That's not true. The only thing I have that burns diesel is the Pavement Princess, everything else burns gas (3 rides). And with the price of the diesel, I will be burning allot more gas than diesel for the coming future. Especially if our friends in Little Rock get their wish and jack the taxes on diesel...again.Back in '04 the family and I spent the weekend at Vicksburg, MS. On one of the mornings we decided to drive the Natchez trace. I don't remember where we got on trail at...but we ran it all the way to Natchez. I can see where it would be fun on a scooter. One recommendation...DON'T shut the a/c off on the camper during the months of June through September. No matter how "cool" it is during the morning...it will be hot & humid very soon after the sun gets off the horizon. We learned that one the hard way.AMEN! But unless I missed it somewhere...diesel is still cheaper than Premium.Nah, not going to get a rise out of me. I know Chubby parts are cheap and easy to come by.I wouldn't worry too much about that...every so often when I call dispatch, I get called the guy I'm working with's name. That's okay, I've gotten to know a couple of the dispatchers enough to fire one back over the bow that repays the favor. I'm far from an expert on diesels...but I think Jeff would agree with me that if you stick with a "popular" motor you shouldn't have to worry about a parts supply running out. Caterpillar hasn't offered the 3208...let alone the 3406C since about '89/'90, yet you can still get all kinds of parts for them; including complete crate engines. Granted you can't put a 3406C into a F250; we're talking about an "electronic engine" that is still supported 20+ years after it left production.

 

Not around here, premium is $3.97 and diesel is $4.09

 

HOLY CRAP Batman! Yeah, another reason I may leave the Pavement Princess at home for the wedding this summer. The last time I brought it to Warm Water I hit buck and lost 3 injectors.

 

Got over to the dealership today to go over the damages/estimate with the guy at the body shop. If you ever wondered what $10k worth of damage to a SuperDuty looks like.....








For the record, the hood is fine, just left open. I still don't understand why they took the OEM hubcaps...and only one battery.

 

Think about selling my '90 F150 cause I cant afford to rebuild it how I want right now. Would be a ton of work to the barn to get it in there to store it. Plus my '94 gets better mileage. I think the only thing keeping me from going through with it is it was built on my son's birthday, just 19 years before he came out.

 

Everyone make it through the storms okay last night? My sister in Cabot made it sound like it was getting interesting at one point...but I went to bed early so I don't know the whole story. I know we didn't see a drop of rain let alone a bolt of lighting at the fort. I was hoping it would pour like a cow peeing on a flat rock just to get that #$%* pollen out of the air. Not a good time of year to wear contacts.Is it costing you $$$ to let it sit where it is now? I know you have to pay the state property tax, but can't be that much. Just thinking out loud.

 

Not really costing me to sit there, in a weird way saving me like 5 cents a year cause I dont have to mow that spot. I pretty much have the trucks I want, just a matter of getting them started & finished. The money I could get out of it I could use to get other stuff taken care of around the house.

 

Not a drop of rain here last night, a little light show to the north is all we got.

 

Boy how I can relate to that statement!