At long last, and like a Phoenix, she has finally risen from the ashes! After spending nearly a full year under the knife in Southern CA, she awoke with a belch of blue smoke and the characteristic gutteral growl that soon morphed into the low gurgling rumble that is her way of breathing in this world. She was scheduled to make a desert run to Phoeniz with me, but alas, purging the injectors and fuel pump proved a bit trickier than expected for Gabriel the mechanic at Mega Motors who had never before officially brought one of her ilk back to life. So I ended up collecting her on the return trip denying her the pleasure of accompanying me on my Joshua Tree jaunt.
But now she's pretty good to go. Essentially a totally rebuilt engine; pistons, sleaves, valves, re-ground and hardened camshaft (optimized just a bit for highway speeds), rebuilt injectors, new thermostat, new glow plugs, new water pump, motor mounts, belts, etc etc. Most parts had to be imported from Australia courtesy of www.roodogs4wd.com.au
So I ran her up from Southern CA and have been taking her out on weekly jaunts. Nice little trek out to Tomales Bay on Thanksgiving weekend to meet with a friend and injest some oysters. Seen above near Bolinas. She's about due to have her valves adjusted and head re-torked. Then good lord willing and even if the creek does rise (given snorkel) she should be good for many years to come!
