Ok, time to celebrate!
Put a new battery in the old truck, and dang! if he doesn't start right up.
I had been fightin' with him for a couple of weeks, now. Sometimes, just didn't want to start in the respectable manner I expect.
You may recall that Mando and I did the "tune up" thing back in August and that made all the difference.
Then, just after Thanksgiving, soon as some colder weather (understand, we don't really have COLD weather here in Central Texas) set in, the old truck just started giving trouble bein' cranked up. Never failed to start, just a little slow on the git-go. Until this week.
Makes me mad at myself, 'cause I knew it was gonna happen. I'm less mad than I could be, though, bein' as he sat right there in the driveway, turned over a few times when I mashed the starter, then just decided that was enough, it ain't gonna happen.
The trouble with the '46's and their friends is that ya gotta take out the floor pan to replace the battery. Maybe that's why I put off doin' the job.
Yesterday was too dern cold to tackle a job like pulling the floor pan (or much else) in the driveway, but today--not a bad day for fiddlin' with an old stovebolt.
So, this afternoon, I went after 'Ol Blue with a vengeance. Success was met with success as I removed screws from the pan, pulled the whole shebang out of the way, disconnected the negative braided strand from the post, pulled off the positive cable from the stud on top of the starter, replaced all the necessary stuff, and smiled at the possibility of having a truck that would, once again, crank up on command.
I finished the last swallow of coffee (now cold), lit a smoke and climbed in behind the wheel. Lets see, been settin' a couple of days, so I tromped down on the footfeed a couple times and mashed the starter to give him a chance to demonstrate the fruits of my good work before replacing the pan.
I was rewarded by the notorious sound of a 216 coming to life.
Yes, there are a few things I like more than my ton and a half Chevy, but I can count every one on a few fingers. As I have been known to say, "....cowboy, it don't get no better!"
