Some days.............

[wroughtn_harv]

Tuesday morning a bud took me to the dealer and I picked up Lucy. Then Tuesday afternoon I went with another bud and visited his factory and laid out where I'm going to put in about a thousand to twelve hundred feet of ornamental fence. It was a full day.

I'd left Lucy at the shop and taken Moby home. She has the tools and it is her home for now. The plan was to hold off doing the transplant of the bed and tool box for a couple of weeks until work gave me a break.

Yesterday morning as I slowed down to turn into the shop it was like Moby saw Lucy and realized what was eventually in store for her. She backfired and died.

I assumed it was another fuel pump. Number five or six, I'm not sure. When the first one went I had the choice of dropping the tank or making a door in the floor of the toobox for access in case it ever happened again. I went for the opening, one smart thing I've done in my life. A hundred dollars and a new fuel pump later and the problem was still there.

Moby's toolbox is now bare. The oxy acetyline rig is out and the only thing left is the welder. It'll come off this morning and then it'll be time to remove the toolbox. By tomorrow evening I should have the transplant complete. Lucy will now be the truck. Moby made the choice of timing. I guess she's been hanging around with me so long she's got my attitude. If you don't like the situation then let me hold the door open for you.

Lucy has been full of surprises. First and foremost has been the power. And I do like that Allison transmission. The first thing I noticed was that I didn't have the "tow--haul" button the smaller trucks with the Allison have. But when I drove her I realized that she came in "tow--haul".

If you're doing sixty and you let off the gas she backs down quick. As she slows down she downshifts and keeps backing down. It's almost like riding with one of those guys who hate to use their brakes and give the tranny heck just for being there.

My bud with the factory took one look at Lucy and told me his mama, bless her soul, would say she was redder than a foxes butt when the pokeberrys are ripe. Personally I think she is best described as shining like a ruby in a goat's back end.

If I can get the transplant completed by tomorrow afternoon then I can get the truck detailed and inspected by the dealer and get plates. When you buy a truck as a cab and chassis you can't get inspected or plates until it has a bed and can be classified as a complete vehicle.

Time doesn't allow me the luxury of doing the powder coating at this time. So I will shoot a coat of satin black on the bed and box and wait for a better day to make it red. BTW if you ever want satin black and can't find it at the store it's easy to make. Equal parts of flat and gloss mixed together will get you a satin.

Have no fear. I'm taking the camera. There will be pictures tonight.

 

[MDNick]

Harv,

My dad had a bright red 1982 F250. It was classified as "house of ill repute" red. Was christened the name from a standard resident of such house. Every time it got washed (all 4 or 5 times in its life) someone would say S.O.B. sure is red.

Hope ya like red,

Nick

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>If you're doing sixty and you let off the gas she backs down quick. As she slows down she downshifts and keeps backing down. It's almost like riding with one of those guys who hate to use their brakes and give the tranny heck just for being there.</font color=blue>

Harv, I spent a week in a Matco Tool truck (a Freightliner with, I believe, a 300hp CAT engine) that had that kind of transmission. I loved it. And the Chevy TopKick that my brother used to have with, if I remember right, a 200hp CAT and an Allison was just the opposite; let off the accelerator, the engine rpms dropped to idle and the truck rolled just like it was freewheeling in neutral. I didn't like that one at all!

 

[hazmat]

The big brother Allisons (MD3060 & HD4060 etc) have many options, you can even add a trans retarder. The shift points etc. are programmable. At my last job (ambulance & rescue truck builder) we had the rep in for a visit. I remember when they were introducing the 1000 series. Looked like just the ticket for the 1 ton ambulance chassis. Too bad the market is 95% ford....

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allisontransmission.com/servlet/DownloadFile?Dir=publications/pubs&FileToGet=SA3559EN.pdf>Allison 1000 series pdf</A>

 

[cowboydoc]

It has always amazed me that the idiots at the pickup mfg. can't make an auto that will hold up to the diesel. They put the same [censored] auto in their gas pickups, f-150's and suvs that they put in the diesel. We'll see if the new ones are any better. The problem is if they just would have done it right guys would have paid for one.

 

[hazmat]

<font color=blue>We'll see if the new ones are any better. The problem is if they just would have done it right guys would have paid for one.</font color=blue>

I know many who agree with that statement. There was always a rig in the service department for a trans replacement. Some ambulance companies were happy if they got 50K miles out of them. The last generation (4 speed) was better than the one before that, but not much.

Kind of stupid to have a 50K mile trans matched up to a 300K mile motor.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

This is Lucy coming at ya!

 

[wroughtn_harv]

A view of the business end before it's covered for work.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

And this is Iris removing the toolbox from Moby so it can go on Lucy.

 

[MikePA]

w-h, that's one nice looking truck!