17 March 2017

Big 3 parts exchange and more!

I'd been preparing for the Big 3 parts exchange for months.
Ok more like mentally preparing.
If this PDX thing seemed to work out,
then the February swap meet was gonna be the parts purge.
In typical form,
physical preparation started when I flew in Friday,
thrashing to get to the spot that night.
We did exceptionally well,
so much so we filled the van up a second time Saturday night.
The rule this year was not leaving the stall.
Instead of scrounging the stadium lot for goodies,
Jaxon and I focused on giving junk to new owners.
It worked!
At the end the garage was still full.
Remember we had emptied the shop the week before,
and sorting keepers and ditchers took a lot of space.
In hindsight with one more day,
we could have gotten rid of so much more.
The marginal keeper chit was better than the majority of junk other swappers had brought. 
Of course it rained all day Monday,
the cleanup day.
Even the dogs didn't want to be outside.
One thing that didn't sell was this rearend,
we spent an hour dismantling it.
I told the kids never to use the torch in rain gear...
This ended up having the best '36 radius rods,
and the shiniest torque tube I've ever seen.
Perfect parts for the cradle robber.
The kids kicked but,
the rain was a non-issue.
They're ready for wet Portland!!
The hoods are hiding their smiling faces...
The flurry of the weekend didn't last long,
and not enough time was spent just hanging out with the wife,
but we really accomplished a ton,
and I could pay off the credit cards a bit.
Or so I thought!
As ya may know the Mazda beater had disappeared.
Definite bummer to walk up to an empty spot.
Fortunately the old hot rod took charge.
Actually it wasn't charged,
the rain had wreaked havoc on the 6-volt system.
Even with a reserve battery it wouldn't start.
Fortunately I had a spare 12-volt to jump it...
This lasted all week!!
No biggie it ran great.
(How to charge 6's with a 12 volt charger!)
After 8-9 years I can't believe these optima batteries are still functioning!
I'm gonna be in trouble when they die,
as the battery box is designed specifically for their flatness.
With no rain for that first week,
the roadster was the perfect daily driver,
however with long rainy days in the forecast,
Marathon craigslist hunting paid off,
as this jewel was scooped up for the exact amount of junk we had given up.
Nothin like exchanging parts for parts!
The credit cards will have to wait.
TP

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