Sallah: Indy, why does the floor move?
Indiana: Give me your torch. [Sallah does, and Indy drops it in]
Indiana: Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes? ...
Raiders of the Lost Ark
I'd moved everything back out of the garage again. All day long I could hear The Duke barking at me in the back of my mind
Saddle up!
We're burning daylight!
One does not keep The Duke waiting.
Grasping the handle of the floor jack, I tugged it like a five-year-old tugging on his Radio Flyer and the dragged the rusty rear end out from under the car so I could squeeze under there, myself. As I found a convenient place to park it, without warning, a greenish pool began to emerge from under the jack.
My first thought was that the rear end had somehow tipped and gear oil was oozing from the rusty pumpkin perched awkwardly atop the jack.
I stuck my finger tips in it and gave it a sniff
; no such thing. This was jack oil.
I had to laugh
..this was the jack I'd inherited from Dad
...the one and the same that served me so well with all my cars; including The Duke and the Li'l Red Minx. Hoping this was not an omen of sorts, I grinned and shrugged it off, and sprinkled some kitty litter on the blood trail.
I grabbed the creeper, climbed aboard, and grabbed my own fluorescent torch. Wheeling myself under, I peered up at the former residence of the rear end
.
Rust. Why'd it have to be rust?
There was no Sallah to answer me, only the sound of the fan droning monotonously in the background. Grimacing, I pulled down the dust mask over my face like Jesse James heading for a bank, and began scraping and wire wheeling.
.
I feel like I've reached a summit of sorts. Like a hiker on a long trek who has reached the destination, a train that has reached the end of the line, or a climber who has ascended to the summit. They still have to go a long way yet and may still endure many hardships, trials and tribulations, but they've achieved a goal. As have I.
I've taken everything off the bottom side of this car that can come off without a cutting torch. Once the underside is completely primed and painted (and, quite possibly at this point, undercoated), everything I do after that point is, well, putting things back together. Or descending the summit, if you choose.
My mind translates this as, halfway there.
Whether it is or not in fact is not really important. It feels like halfway
.
Bear Claw Chris Lapp: You've come far, pilgrim.
Jeremiah Johnson: Feels like far
Jeremiah Johnson
Indeed it does.
I didn't mean for this to happen, ya know. This was supposed to be a quick resurrection; a hasty
Clear! and a jolt with the defibrillator paddles, and this guy was supposed to jump right up and be back in the saddle in a couple of weeks. Pull the engine, clean up and spray the engine bay, and get cranking on the motor. Stuff it back in and go for a drive around the block. There were no plans made for removing every single piece of suspension and completely re-doing the underside. None whatsoever.
Had I looked deeply enough within my own heart, I could've seen this coming. I should know better
.
I like a term the French use in some of their aircraft maintenance manuals;
Renew. As in,
Renew the brake fluid. Or
Renew the oil. With me, its
renew the brake system, or
renew the suspension components. That's really what I'm doing...
renewing the whole damn car. Obviously, I'm not gonna rip into the rear end or tranny case unless there's a reason. But things like rubber suspension bits, bushings, brakes and brake lines, fuel lines, well, I'm just gonna go ahead and
renew 'em. Damn the torpedoes! If I never finish, I guess it's my loss. But I just can't stand the thought of driving this thing without having thoroughly gone over everything. Renewed, as it were
.
So, it takes me a little bit longer than it might. Finishing late I could live with. Cutting corners;
not so sure on that one! That doesn't mean I'm gonna replace everything as I go along; that would be the poseurs way out. If a part can be cleaned up and re-used, so be it. The more original, the better.
If I can reach my goal this summer; to get the entire underside cleaned, painted and possibly undercoated, I'll feel like I'm descending the summit; beginning the long trek back to base camp. I'd best get moving; its a long way back
.
