What the heck am I doing?

I found one! What? A new truck. Where? Mmmmmm, Arizona? How are you gonna get it here? I just figured I would fly out there and drive it back. How old is it?

1973. Don't laugh. I mean it. It's not that funny. It's not.

OK, here's the background. I had one in high school. It was cool then and I think it still is. I just sold my Chevy Tahoe, a big, fat, SUV. I loved it but it did awful on gas and I couldn't justify having two cars anymore. Besides, my insurance would go down a lot, wouldn't it? So I sold the Tahoe and gleefully called my insurance company. And my insurance went down. Forty bucks. Per year. Geez. It seems that I lost my second car discount and the Tahoe was cheaper to insure than the car I kept. "Why don't you buy a beater so you can get your second car discount back?" was the suggestion the insurance company gave me. OK. You want me to get me a second car? More pollution? More congestion? Fine!

So I bought a 1973 Datsun pickup. Having had one before, I know the things pretty well. And since it's older than 1975, it doesn’t require smog tests. I can basically do anything I want to it engine wise. Racing carburetor? Yep. Racing exhaust? Absolutely.

So I found one in Tucson. Eight hundred bucks. Sweet. I got on a flight and the guy met me at the airport. We headed to his pad and looked her over. Not bad. A few bad fenders and hood, but I had already located a parts truck in town for one fifty. “Will it make it to San Diego?” I had asked the seller. “Oh, definitely.” Was the response. So I headed to the local Kragen, got some oil, fan belt, tape, and other stuff I figured I could get the thing going with in case it started to fail. Things were good for about fifty miles until the “CHG” idiot light started to flicker. I called the seller and asked him about it. He said he wasn’t sure why that would come on. He just put a new alternator in it last year. Hmmmm. The battery had water, belt was tight. Maybe the voltage regulator? Don’t know. I decided to keep driving. Turns out that the battery wasn’t getting charged.

I found this out just as I passed El Centro.

I pulled over and called for a tow, which got me back to El Centro just as Pep Boys, who stay open late was closing. Oh, well. I got a motel room and went out for pizza and beer. I managed to find the one bar I town and had drinks with a doctor and nurse. Not a bad time.

I woke up in the morning and waited for Pep Boys to call. They finally called and said, “It needs a battery, alternator, and voltage regulator.” I responded, ”I have a better idea." Sell me two batteries, I’ll put one in and drive back on battery power. They sold me the batteries and I headed back. I made it and only needed one battery. I’m going to return the other one today. The little truck isn’t much to look at right now but I see that it has a lot of potential. I’ll keep you updated.

Ride your bike.

-Shake