One of the things I've learned with this project to date is to expect the unexpected and the last few days truly have been an emotional roller coaster for team.
We received the old "Holley" carburetor from the high school and even after a rebuild I was informed that things didn't look good. I wasn't really stressing though as everything to date has gone great and why would something as important as a carburetor NOT work? Boy was I wrong.
Here's a reminder of just how old and busted the carburetor was on the fire truck. EVERYTHING was broke. I've also learned that the Holley carburetor's aren't exactly well liked in the car business...
We bolted the Holley back on the truck and she fired up! Everything was great! The team was all smiles and it was another huge step forward. We were ready to put it in gear and drive it out into the parking lot and then...it quit. Completely. Fuel was coming out of it and basically it was telling us that after 50 plus years on that motor it finally was ready to call it quits.
We tried another Holley that Mike had and the motor fired up again. We were ready to get the truck moving. Mike climbed once again into the driver's seat and....it quit.
Saturday was NOT a good day and we all went home for the first time truly disappointed. It didn't look good.
Sunday came and with it a new sense of hope. We decided to finally get rid of the Holley carburetor and buy a new one. We tried for weeks to salvage that one we had and eventually you have to cut your losses and move forward. We purchased a new carburetor and installed it.
Once we had it all set up we turned the key and voila...
She not only ran, but purred like a kitten....eating gravel....we had some work to do for sure.
So there we had it. Engine working? Check. Brakes working? Check. Lets take it for a ride....
We got the area cleaned up, truck was running, brakes were working, and Mike climbed back in the driver's seat AND.....it quit. Again.
What the heck is going on? Is the engine cursed? Does she not want to drive anymore? Perhaps she just felt like she's worked enough for two lifetimes? OR it could have been a wire...
A friggin' wire. This friggin' 72 year old wire. THIS 72 YEAR OLD WIRE!!!!!
Once Mike found the problem, we replaced the wire and something truly special happened....
She took her first steps. Weeks of work, blood, sweat and tears for this moment.
I can't tell you how many people have doubted this project. Lots of people have even come down to see it and told us it wouldn't work. We knew better because we, like you, believed. She could now move. But could she move farther?
She has some tweaks for sure to come and a HUGE tune-up but our fire truck has her legs back.
Next steps are exhaust, tune up, and basically everything else LOL!
Mike, Pat, Candace, Greg, and I have worked a ton to get this far and I can't thank them enough.
YOU guys are also part of the team with your contributions and support.
We promise there's a ton more to come and we hope you continue to join us on the ride!