Honey, I Finished The Internet

7 Replies to “Honey, I Finished The Internet”

1. A snipe would make cranking a bit easier, but I’m very surprised that engine could still function.

2. Reminds me to ask how the new van is doing.

   1. Good. And it gets better fuel mileage than my old 6cyl Astro.

      1. Excellent! May it run for 81 years. The way things are going that may be required of her.
         I was hoping the ambulance sparked interest, same engine. I’ve seen with mileage/age the intake manifold gasket can be of issue in colder climates and difficult to diagnose. A note that there is an upgraded replacement ( teal in color) which may someday be required.
         Highest regards…

3. Oh what fun it is to play with a wrench and oil can, eh ?

4. Reminds me of when a buddy and I, as teenagers, got a 1952 Pontiac Chieftain running. It had sat abandoned in the yard for years. We cracked it loose with a big pipe wrench on the front pully. Put a battery in it (6V) and poured a bit of gas down the carb. Started up right away.
   Ran very rough, though. Then my buddies Dad came out to see what the ruckus was. Told us to fill the rad, and then try to rev it up and trickle cold water down the carb while it was running fast. Said it was “carboned up”.
   We poured, slowly, an entire old tomato juice can of water down the carb with the throttle full open. Smoke and actually chunks of black stuff blew out the tailpipe. The it settled down and purred. Flathead 6, as I recall.
   Broke farmer across the road took it, as his truck had just died. Fine with us, we weren’t old enough to get our drivers licenses anyway. Think he went back and forth to Saskatoon from Bradwell for a couple of years with it.
   I wonder if it’s still sitting in his yard? It has been over 40 years… Sigh.

5. I don’t know if anyone remembers..a veeeerrry long time ago, in the triangular piece of ground where old highway 7 and 7a part, there sat an absolutely ancient Ford model T, quietly returning to the earth, up on wood blocks..

   The plate was from Ontario, last taxed in 1932..

   Once, when all the kids had to pee on one our family trips, we all piled out there and explored for a bit..I went over to the Ford and rummaged around a bit..it was fairly complete and I rummaged through the paperwork I found behind the seat..a map of Ontario, and a little pouch with the ownership documents as well as the original bill of sale from a dealer in Toronto..

   Every year we would go past this car and it progressively got picked apart, until one day it was gone entirely..

   We went back to the spot a few years back, 50 years on, and deeper in the woods found one of its wheels.. we propped it up against a tree and wondered if the car was scrapped out or lives on as its own entity or as components in other people’s restorations..