[RHClarke]

Bob drove his truck out of its storage container and attached his home made radiator strut. It took some adjustment, but Bob got it in place. The next challenge was to stop the leaking fuel bowl. It seems that the cork gasket dries if not in use, so a new gasket was found and installed. After letting the trucks warm up a bit, we decided to go for a spin in our trucks. We drove to the large field for some fun - a short trip of about 500 meters. On the way there we got some interesting stares from the local traffic.

At the field we tested out the 2 and 4 wheel drive features of our trucks. Bob took a tour of the back 40 and returned with a better appreciation for seat belts. After a few attempts to reach the top of the wood chip pile, we headed back to the barn for some clean up. The trip back was very quick. I had just shifted into third gear and had to brake fairly hard to make the turn into Bob's driveway. Bob was able to get up to fourth gear before braking for the turn. I have no idea of how fast we went, but the roar of the engine, the sound of the gears whining and the wind made the experience quite exciting. Bob and I parked the trucks and after a few moments we managed to settled down enough to get back to work on various projects.

Later in the day Grant arrived to work on setting up his radiator. I pulled out my tool kit from a storage tent only to find that the rain had somehow made its way into the tool box. It should be noted that the tool box was covered by a tarp. How it got into the box is beyond me, but I shouldn't have been surprised as the rain in this part of the country sometimes falls sideways. The water left most of my tools with a nice rusty coating. So the next hour was spent sorting tools to be cleaned and those to be tossed. Fortunately, most of the tools were salvageable. After an hour at the wire brush the tools were oiled and stored for more cleaning at the next visit. By this time it was getting late and I headed for home. It was a good drive home but not as fun as driving the HUP. I'm still smiling!

Photos:

1 - Strut installed on Bob's truck (just behind the rad)
2 - The wood chip pile at the Hammond CMP Testing Establishment
3 - Hammond rain has several effects - rusty tools
4 - Tools after a quick brushing