The Invaders - part 0 - plates

So we are the invaders...

The dreaded influx that have clogged Portland,

jamming up traffic,

stealing the good jobs,

raising up housing costs...

Born from a community in San Diego,

Point Loma,

that kinda prides itself on localism,

I'm aware of the importance (to me) of blending in.

Nothing's worse than the out of state plate guy,

driving like an idiot,

taking up valuable space.

When I was a kid,

we visited Oregon.

I remember seeing a bunch of these bumper stickers.

In the 70's and 80's Oregonism was very strong,

and about 10 years ago the new wave created another push back.

Now it seems like the invaders are winning.

The locals are retreating to Washington and the outer regions,

the city locals are like the French in WWII.

I've written a "how to" before about this blending in,

and acquired a couple old trucks,

which really fake deep Oregon roots.

Coffee and craft beer drinking newbs 

are most likely to drive the subaru line...

In October the van brought up its last load north,

and it was here to stay,

or that's the plan.

It was time to do the out of state registration dance.

Oregon has a bevy of plate styles,

the extra fees partially go to the representative need.

Bike riders, 

fisherman,

environmentalists

wine-o's...

How to choose?

One of the cooler versions is the original Pacific Wonderland plates,

and similar to California's black plates,

they did a reissue.

Of course there's a $100 gift fee to the historical society,

but what do you do for self consciousness.

While I was blowing our hard earned money

on frivolous vanity,

the DMV clerk said to make sure you use special fasteners.

Thieves steal plates and sell or transfer them.

What?

Well in Oregon the plates are not state owned.

You don't turn them in,

they are the owners property.

You can sell your car,

and keep the tags.

There's no plate # check to transfer either,

for a $7 transfer you can bring in a pair and register them.

"Write your legislator to change it" she said...

At that moment I realized I just blew $100 for nothing.

Instead of fixing a leak,

I'd rather reap the benefits!

The coolest Oregon plates are the old yellow ones,

with the embossed month.

I found the month we needed on eBay,

and pushed my luck on a DMV transfer.

The plate # was from a discontinued # series,

but these were from a 1966 VW that was still in the computer.

The wild card being they were still a live plate.

Luckily the transfer completed!!

Now the van looks like an local snow beaten work truck...

A huge giveaway are our two SoCal dogs.

These thin-skinned pups aren't too fond of the cold...

TP

Princess - 1989 Ford F-150

Using the hot rod for a daily driver was a blast,

until heavy rains were predicted.

Craigslist hunting took precedence during any free time.

After weeding through dozens of sub-$1000 ads,

this jewel popped up.

A 2wd 1989 Ford F-150 long bed 

with a 300 6-cylinder and manual transmission,

hand crank windows and locks...

just what I needed.

While there were many cars,

having a hauler that can help with the future move seemed like a better tool.

I'd have loved to get another van,

but they're a premium up here,

either to keep stuff dry or as sleeping rigs,

I'm not sure.

A work friend drove me down 20 miles.

The truck looked and ran great!

Sold!

There had been some recent repairs,

starter solenoid, battery... starter, clutch,

as well as some shady wiring mods.

I didn't ask why,

but about 18.75 miles into the 20 mile drive back,

I found out!

At the time it was 7:20pm,

raining... dark,

and I was ready to call it a day.

So was the truck,

as it died as soon as we reached our exit.

Holey Chit!

Too heavy to push,

I was barely off the freeway on the side of the road.

Poop rocks!!

I called the old owner,

and he basically had fixed the same problem,

without ever testing the charging system.

Most likely the alternator was bad.

Ayayay...

The walk to my temporary home wasn't too bad,

but by the time I rode back on the bike with the voltmeter,

a tow truck and emergency vehicle had already arrived!

Holey double chit!!

Fortunately the guy was super nice,

and pushed me up the hill,

to guess where?

Within 60 feet from where the Mazda was snagged!!

Holey triple chit!!!

The spot,

the neon,

the situation,

it was a surreal experience,

especially after blowing my wad on a busted vehicle.

I rode the bike back and got the spare battery

that I had been jumping the hot rod with.

Oh did I mention that part?

The rains had wreaked havoc in the 6-volt system,

so I jumped it with a 12-volt spare from the van,

all week long...

Voila!

The fresh battery got me to my bed,

and actually got me back and forth to work a few times,

til the weekend when the alternator was replaced.

So here it is in all its chromed trucker girl glory.

I swear the previous-previous owner

musta had the cheesy chrome catalog wish list.

For a work truck,

the bumpers are so flimsy and thin.

I hope this isn't how Ford made them,

definitely wouldn't tow the hot rod with these.

I've always wanted to rock 

the chrome girl license plate holder,

truely complete now.

I'll be calling this one princess...

The interior has the must have "Hang 10" pedal kit,

complete with the little brights switch mini foot.

Thankfully the radio works!

First car in 15 + years with non-stock tuneage.

The sides are graced with the weakest running boards,

they're barely bolted on,

and the bracketry is Home Depot after thought.

There's actually a string of lights on the side too.

Classy!!

Interestingly enough there's a magnaflow muffler 

and catalytic converter,

although it sounds stock,

at least I won't be hose clamping aluminum cans

 on any rust holes.

The directional wheels...

Oh yea...

It didn't take long to realize I'm a van guy,

trained to drive around with precious junk at all times,

however with a truck there's no hiding it.

Tough to park and go to the store.

Camouflaging with rags will only work so long.

A chance Craigslist score procured a perfectly fitting camper shell,

or as Oregoners say it "canopy".

I've got to admit every Craigslist deal has followed with a chat fest.

People here are so nice and interesting.

This was found in the Washington town of Battleground,

and picking it up was the perfect excuse to visit the area.

Thanks Corey!!

And lastly check this out,

an actual tree growing in the windshield.

It is so tough to grow tree seeds,

and here they grow on a car,

in 55 mph wind.

I transplanted it to get later when we move.

Hopefully this one sticks around...

TP

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

PDX to SD shuffle

Wow it's already been 2+ weeks 

since the boys came up.

Boo!!

Like any prepared father,

I was tracking them off the plane,

as they took the long way around on the Max/trolley.

Our day and a half was filled with sightseeing,

if that means mainly hanging out at the track.

Here's a big ole coyote we spooked.

They also got to chase around thousands of geese

that flock around here.

They took some funny videos I need.

City kids...

The kids also got to watch police driver training.

These guys are taught how to spin cars around.

We wanted to do that!

Yeah that's the fun side of being a cop!

After awhile it's like yea another skid...

Woo hoo...

They experienced a rainy first day,

and a pleasantly sunny second day.

Perfect for changing oil...

Cleaning van...

and getting the trailer ready for the southbound adventure.

These guys kick a$$ - no complaints!

The day was full,

and we didn't get much rest before taking off.

There's always something on the std list.

Waking up at 5am for work,

and then leaving for a road trip at 10pm,

doesn't get ya very far,

however it gets ya out of the house.

We only made it 3-4 hours before calling it nap time,

which ended up as the perfect morning drive

through fog rain and snow covered mountains and forest,

where water and fresh air are made!

I think Jake was awake for about 10 minutes of it,

but ya seen one tree ya seen 'em all right?

After Oregon's and Shasta's ups and downs,

Jaxon took over driving duty.

He totaled at least 250 of the 1080 miles!

Not too bad with a trailer.

1080 from Portland to San Diego?

That seems excessive right?

Well 150 miles north of Sacramento,

we got stuck in a huge traffic jam,

caused by the flooding from the 100 year storm.

Great.

It took us 2 hours go 2 miles,

into a string of cars and trucks that was 17-20 miles long!

Supposedly the jam was 6-8 hours.

We ended up taking a detour,

and measured 4 miles packed behind us!

There were half a dozen cars stuck in the muddy median,

and I had been tempted to do the same until coming to the asphalted part.

Whew...

On our okey doke we found this forlorn big rig,

45 degrees tilted into the farm muck.

I thought it was a boat from the distance.

We had to remove our trailer,

turn it around,

and reattach to not get stuck.

Holey Chit!

We also saw a u-haul over half submerged.

Bummed we didn't stop to get that pic.

We ended up detouring 30 miles north,

then 30 miles east to Chico,

then south on the 99.

A good excuse to check out the area!

The river was so huge,

we'd never have made it across further south.

We got home way before the dawn light,

just in time for some family rest,

and a huge Sunday shop thrash. 

These kids are awesome.

How many times have we moved this same old chit.

Ya know once the speakers are moved,

it's the end of an era...

Why do I like the dirtiest heaviest crap.

Jeez...

The idea was to sort the keepers and the flippers,

as the Big 3 swap meet was the next weekend.

Hey Greg!

Your roadster parts are finally at the sandblasters!!

We'll see how nice or rough it'll be...

This stalled project was due for a good rust cleaning,

followed by an epoxy primer.

Our load left some goodies,

we'll have to retrieve at another time.

Thanks Jason!!

The 40 was given the boot,

we needed to stash all these goodies!

In its own bratty way,

it decided to run out of gas down the street.

Guess the ole hussie wanted some attention!

Man these pups got big!!

I had to fly back to Portland on the red eye,

as the vacation pay requires a sandwiched work week.

Since when has I become a stickler for rules and schedules!

It was surreal being back for the couple days,

and just like that I was on my way back.

More later!!

TP