When I was first married we had almost zero money. An Uncle of mine gave me a 1952 Chev Pickup. It had the straight six cylinder motor in it. It was really beat up and rusted all over. That was all my wife and I had to drive.
We had saved what money we could and took a weekend trip down to Saint Louis. This would have been right after our High school graduation in 1968. We slept in the bed of the truck as we could not afford a hotel room. We had a great time going up in the Arch and touring the Anheuser-Busch plant.
Coming home a rod bearing started knocking just south of Keokuk, Ia. It was a Sunday evening. I had to be back home for work at the feed mill the next morning. We had less than $10 with us. I did have some tools. So I dropped the oil pan off right in a Dairy Queen parking lot. MY wife took drinking cups out of the trash to save the oil in. I took the rod cap off and removed what was left of the bearing. I did not have any emery cloth with me just a flat file. I smoothed out the crankshaft the best I could. While I was doing that my wife took one of my under shirts/tee shirt, and strained the engine oil from one cup to another. I then cut a section of my leather belt to wrap around the crankshaft. I soaked it in some oil for a while. The leather was thicker than the old bearing. I had to take some washers off other bolts on the truck to space the rod cap out enought so the motor would turn over. I then took a piece of cotton rope that was behind the seat. It was small diameter rope. I soaked it in oil. I laid it around the oil pan to act as a casket, as the old one was torn up badly when I removed the oil pan. I tightened everything up and washed up the best I could in the Dairy Queen.
The motor started and ran pretty quiet. I drove the rest of the way home (about 150 miles) at 30-35 MPH. On any long down hill grades I would coast down them. We did not get home until after midnight.
As I was going into the Army in just a few months we decided to not spend the money to fix the truck then. My wife rode with my Grand Mother to get groceries and I walked/ran to work.
The funny thing is that Grand Dad used the old truck around the farm for 8-10 years after that with that leather belt for the one rod bearing. When I got out of the service I used it for a year or two as well. Never off the farm but it still ran. I sold it to a fellow for scrap and told him what was wrong with it. He pulled the motor and overhauled it. He still has it. I kind of wish I had kept it.
PS: When ever I see a Dairy Queen I think of doing that in the parking lot.
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Today's Featured Article - A Cautionary Tale - by Ian Minshull. In the early 1950s my father bought an Allis Chalmers B and I used it for all the row crop work with the mangolds and potatoes, rolling and the haymaking on our farm. The farm and the Allis were sold and I have spent a lifetime working on farms throughout the country. I promised myself that one day I would own an Allis. That time event
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