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5/7/07 The truck runs nicely. It got 584 miles on the tank AFTER we put the pickup in the crossover tube at the VERY bottom. I also put a drain plug in the same area. I have now reconnected the EDGE computer, and I'll monitor if it runs the full distance now. I took a fellow car nut (who happens to OWN Blitz Wax Company), and he was flabbergasted at the power and responsiveness. I have to finish the dash surround and get this thing to DONE status. It also still has some odd rattling in the underside, perhaps exhaust or something, on bumpy terrain. 6/14/07 I switched to the Edge, and got another 505 miles before refilling. So the pickup location WAS the culprit all along. The gas gauge temped in by Brett still hangs from the dash. The left side trim has not been made, The truck sits a little low on the left front. I'll need to investigate there. The AC clicked off the other day, just a fuse. But WHY did it blow the fuse? Perhaps some loose wiring under the dash. The dash cluster does its NO FUNCTION thing from time to time. Just nothing on it works save the odometer. When it IS working, the charge and fuel gauges are totally off. The Edge will work during this time, however. Brett feels it must be a power source to the cluster. I have considered another cluster as well. 6/16/07 Actually, the EDGE has its moments of showing no screen. Seems like there is a common lack of power here. Roy cleaned up the wiring a bit and mounted the 12-volt utility plug and the gas gauge in a piece of foam in the former ashtray opening. I HAVE to get this dash done. Makes the project incomplete, and takes the joy of completion away leaving it unfinished. I've also noticed the truck is 1” lower on the left side, front and rear. I don't know if it has anything to do with the girl hitting the right rear of the truck or not. I need to get it over to a frame shop and let someone who knows have a look. There also persists a slight noise, like exhaust hitting somewhere, on bumps. I replaced the front bumper bolts with new factory units, and that tightened that area up a bit. A few last things to do: add a fan shroud, or MAYBE replace the fan with some electrics. And of course, finish the left side dash and get the AC vents back in. 7/4/07 The temp these two weeks is over 100. The AC is NOT the refrigerator-cold that it should be. The shroud or electrics may help, but I think the pressures may be off. I'll go to Val tomorrow and see again what he thinks. I got the new wheels on it, and they look cool.
Paco, the tire guy down the street, was talking to me about the truck and had read the display placard in the back. Turns out he knows (and used to work for) Bill Blomgren, a local sand/gravel magnate who used to run some nitro cars. I remember Bill sold a tractor/trailer combo for about $25K back in 99, WAY cheap. I've got about two hours left of today before heading up to sister Nini's for July 4 th BBQ and maybe fireworks (HIGH fire danger, we'll see if the Fire Department puts on the show), so I could start making the dash template. I also want to solve the chassis rattling, or whatever the noise is. It becomes clearer each week how the excess amount of vehicles I own makes it tough to get them ALL near perfect. 7/23/07 The wheels look killer. I noticed the AC was not running as cold as it should (about 60 degrees instead of 3-42 degrees as it should be inside the ducts. I took it to Morgan at AirMec, and he declined to even put gauges on it, despite having revamped the system. I went to Val up the street, who confirmed he had put in R-12, but that the pressures were good. He suggested I had no isolator valve on the heater line. Actually I do, but it was not being told to close, so VERY hot water was ALWAYS in the heater core, dramatically compromising the cooling. We disconnected the hoses, plugged them for now, and tested the AC. Unfortunately, somethe has gone awry electrically. I kept blowing 30-amp AC fuses on the fuse block. Roy suggested a circuit breaker. We did that, it failed, shorted out, and I had LITERALLY flames under the dash. This is not a good thing. Fortunately, I was just pulling in the driveway, blew out the fire, and let it sit for two days. Mike got on it today, and has isolated several toasted wires both under the dash and in the engine compartment. He noted we could simplify a lot of the wiring under the dash. I concurred, but I said let's NOT do that now. Rather, let's just replace the bad wires one by one, THEN after all functions well, go back in and start cleaning it up as possible. Remember, Brett had done a lot of cross-breeding when installing the 2003 wiring harnesses. Perhaps we'll regain some functions in the dash cluster once all this is done. I HAVE to get going on making the left-side dash panel. Wow…. 7/30/07 The truck has obviously been sitting for a week. Mike is back on it full-time today. He has determined the blower motor is toast, and AutoZone claims to have one in stock down the street.
Mike also feels the circuit breaker for the audio system is damaged, so he will look for one of those as well.
We're not getting the AC compressor to kick on, and the heater valve vacuum line remains a bit of a mystery, as in where does it connect to the heater control? So still some work to do.
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SSo for about $1100 I have solved the problem of not finding one stinking rim to match my old chrome wheels. 
