Monthly Archives: March 2012

Things You See Along The Way…

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Today was an interesting Spring day.  Started out cloudy and overcast, then it turned into a “typical” Spring shower.  Sun came out after that at which time I decided to hit the road and put some miles on my bicycle.  About a dozen or so miles from home it gets overcast again and stays that way for a few hours.  Later in the day a thunderstorm moves in,  rains like hell, along with pea size (and larger!) hail.  Hmmmm…

Must be some of that 2012 Mayan Calendar stuff and the planets getting in perfect alignment…  BTW, today is:  12 Bak’tun.19 K’atun.19 Tun.4 Winal.15 K’in.

At any rate, I’m pedaling along on my titanium SevenCycles bike and I see this:

The photo makes no justice to the beauty of the moment…  I have no clue as to how to raise chickens but this all struck me as very special.  The two mutts in the foreground were not all too happy to see me there, but by the time I retrieved my iPhone and pushed the button to take the picture they had calmed down and their tails were wagging.  Needless to say, they were there to protect the yard-birds which incidentally did not get all too excited when these two K9’s started barking.  How about that arrangement?

There must have been a time in the history of this great nation of ours where folks raised a bunch of chickens, had fresh eggs for breakfast and fresh poultry for supper. I remember my Dad telling me stories about how farm-life was like during the days of The Great Depression – they did not have much, but there was always food on the table.  Somehow this moment made me think about him.

2,400 Miles and Counting…

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I’ve been able to rack up about 2,400 miles on bowtie6 so far.  And, it has been a blast!!  The frame is rock solid, and with the ECM tweaks the engine is so much more responsive.  Yet we have been able to see 28mpg in city driving no less.  Not too bad considering the tune is now more so towards performance rather than for economy and I’ve been really putting my foot into the electronic throttle pedal.

A few weeks ago, I found a vendor that makes an awesome coilpack cover for the Ecotec.  You can see this in the above picture.  Four screws with spacers hold the water-jet cut aluminium cover and very nicely hides the valley between the cams.  Looks trick.  I was thinking about unbolting the intake, cover and valve cover and perhaps having this all crinkle coated in black.  Maybe later this year…

Along with the great news, there has been on unpleasant development:  a bad wheel bearing on the new rear axle.  It seems like we got hold of a crappy “foreign” made wheel bearing and it started making a racket last week.  New ones have been sourced and I’ll be taking apart the axles this weekend.  All good – the diff fluid needed to be changed after “break in” so this should be a fun Saturday.

I’ll have pictures and a full report once we get the new bearings installed.

Custom Ford Pickup

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After work today, I stopped by a local bookstore to pick up a couple of magazines.  When I stepped out, I saw this custom Ford pickup.  If I am not mistaken this is a mid 60’s vintage Ford.  My Dad had a ’65.  His was red with white with the exclusive “Twin I Beam” suspension.  Dad really loved that truck and this truck reminded me of how much he enjoyed driving it with me riding shotgun.  At any rate I figured I’d take a few pics and post them here for you all to enjoy.

Here are the photos.  I took them with my iPhone (amazing thing the iPhone) this afternoon around 18:30 – the light was a little dim but you get the idea.

I think this is an extremely nice truck.  The stance is spot on – not too low and not too raked.  It does not have huge tires or huge wheels – these are also “just right”.  Paint is tastefully done and the interior is nostalgic but well made.  The dash was also nicely done.  The back of the cab had a really cool chrome trim (Dad’s truck did not have that).  I say this fellow really pulled it off well and has an awesome truck.  Unfortunately, I did not get to meet the owner.

I am not a Ford truck expert, however I’m sure somebody will probably give me the 411 on the exact year and model.  I would imagine the chrome trim on the cab had to come from a “De Luxe” version or such.  If you know what this is, please let me know.

Update

Thanks to Dennis Baumgartner’s comment (See the comments on this post), I did a little research.  Indeed, this is a 1961-63 F-100 “Unibody” truck.  My Dad’s ’65 had a separate cab from the bed; this one is one solid piece.  In my opinion, this makes it really nice.  I did find a very interesting writeup – CLICK HERE – that describes these trucks.

The part that is even more interesting is the difference between the pictures of the “original” truck and the ones above.  I realize there is a time for “originality” but the one pictured here is such an awesome looking truck!  🙂

Pair of TR6’s

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Just an awesome pair of TR6’s in the late afternoon light…  🙂

Pictured here is bowtie6 next to my friend Adam’s Mimosa Yellow TR6.  I did the paint job at my cousin Jim’s shop and it turned out very nice indeed.

Adam’s TR6 features an original TR6 engine and overdrive gearbox.  However what makes it special is the supercharger fueled by a big SU carburetor.  Although not as quick as bowtie6, Adam’s ride is a real looker…