It's running!!!

After a very long day of being out in the drizzly, chilly day - the truck is running!! Jim still has to do some checking and tweaking but what a wait off his shoulders I know this milestone is.  Quite the time for celebrating!!

Or it was...until Jim discovered that the fuel line was leaking and diesel fuel was spewing.  Then it was down in the dumps time again.  Jim was looking things up and said that if he needed to buy a new one it could cost $2500.  Plus if we just get ours fixed, seeing as how the shop had the head for over 3 weeks...our trip this week is probably not happening.  Which sets everything else back.

The ups and downs are tough!

Finally we have truck parts!!

It's been a long wait for truck parts...nothing like poor Jim anticipating burning the midnight oil to get things done before we leave again.  It was getting very stressful - the weather hasn't been real cooperative and this will be an enormous job standing outside in the cold to put everything back together.  But the forecast showed nice weather for today and through part of Easter so we were desperate to get parts back so that Jim could get busy.

Our plan is to go back to New York over my spring break - which it is now officially spring break.  Originally, we were going to leave Monday and had hotel reservations through Friday.  However, the shop has had the head since Jim got it out and just today got finished with it so that Jim could pick it up.  So...plans are made to be changed so if all goes well, we will leave on Wednesday.  That will give us a couple days to check out the apartment, find a storage unit, unload all of the stuff on the truck...as well as talk to the well driller, electric company...  Okay, maybe that won't be enough time but we'll do the best we can with whatever time we have!

But anyway...Jim picked up the head before lunch today and is very happy with the job they did.  It looks like new!

All fixed and spiffied up!

I went to see my mom today since I had the day off - I knew we wouldn't have a chance to get down for Easter.  It was a nice day and it was so good to see her!

But while I was visiting, Jim started putting everything back together on the truck.  Here's the head back in the truck!  Lots more work to be done tomorrow!

Goodbye orange couch!

Today was our first official moving day.  Since Jim doesn't have the truck parts back and the weather is more frightful than spring-like despite what the calendar says, Jim decided to enlist the help of his friend, Mike, to move some of the bigger things out of the basement and into the garage.  A lot of them will go on this first truckload to New York, along with whatever big tools Jim wants to take that he will need to get started up there. 

So first thing to come up was our old TV that had been in the basement.  We aren't going to take it with us, but it is very heavy and difficult to get up the winding staircase so it was great to have Mike's help.  Jim bought some moving straps to help with the process and they seemed to work pretty well for this.

The next thing to come up was the orange couch.  Some background is probably required.  This couch has been in Jim's life longer than I have been!  It was in his house in Dayton - one of the last reminders of bachelor days!  An heirloom may not be the right word to describe it, but it has certainly become part of our family.  Jim and the boys held fast to keeping it throughout all the moves, even though its springs and cushions have certainly seen better days.  Nonetheless, it was sad to see it come to its demise.

First, Jim and Mike tried to bring it up the stairs intact.  But it's very long and wouldn't fit around the corners.  So back down it came.

 

The next step was to remove all the cushions, hoping that would give enough leeway to fit.

But no such luck, so down it came again.

 

This time, it required surgery.  First Jim cut the underneath...

 

and then had to take the saw to it!  Sparks were flying...

 

Then the whole thing was cut in half...

 

until the poor couch was in pieces.

 

At least it fit up the stairs this time!

 

All that remains of the poor orange couch...gone but definitely not forgotten!

Success!

Well...yesterday Jim got the head off and out of the truck - no small feat since we're talking about over 150 pounds of steel. I still can't belie he got it done so quickly. The weather cooperated and it was beautiful - sunny and 60 degrees! That doesn't happen often in Cleveland in early March.

Today Jim took the head into the shop for them to do a valve job and the injectors. He's making a list of all the new parts he needs while everything is out. It will be in much better shape after this!

It's out of the truck!

Meanwhile, I spent all weekend up in the attic.  It's always hard to find a good time to work for long stretches in an attic - they are either too hot or too cold.  This was the perfect weekend - it was really comfortable up there.  I went through practically every box up there, organized, labeled and set aside stuff that needs to be given back to the kids.  So I feel really good about having that done.

Perseverance...

After yesterday's disappointment with the broken injector, Jim took a deep breath and started taking apart the engine on the truck today.  Thankfully, the weather was a bit warmer which made the job a little better.  He didn't have much time to work on it today - a friend came over to get his help cutting some wood; we went to church and then out to eat with this friend and his wife in the evening.  But he still made great progress and tomorrow is another day :o)

That's one of the things I love most about Jim - his perseverance.  He may get down and dejected when something happens, but he doesn't dwell on it very long.  He doesn't question past decisions - just moves forward.  Definitely a needed trait in our new adventure!

It's coming apart!

More truck issues...

Besides the fact that one injector won't come out no matter what Jim does, check out this pic. When we got the new tires and they aligned everything, they way over-torqued the lug nuts. Jim is off the ground with all his weight and probably a 6' bar and they won't budge.

Nothing is real easy right now!

A very bad day...

This afternoon, Jim came in the house with the injector in his hand - I screamed with excitement that he finally got it out!  Until he showed me that it broke off...it was so corroded that when he was finally able to get it out, it just sheared off and the end remains in the head.

So this means that all the work he did on the truck last fall has to be redone and he has to take the whole top of the engine apart. 

It makes me sick to my stomach to think of all the time and work he has put into this only for this to happen. 

A very big setback.