Offspringin
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1976 Apache Ramada
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Post by Offspringin on Feb 17, 2016 7:21:00 GMT -8
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SusieQ
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'62 Shasta Compact
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Post by SusieQ on Feb 17, 2016 7:39:54 GMT -8
Nice pics of the trailer but I love the tow vehicle! What is that monster?
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Offspringin
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1976 Apache Ramada
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Post by Offspringin on Feb 17, 2016 7:51:14 GMT -8
Nice pics of the trailer but I love the tow vehicle! Classic. Man he put some miles on that truck. It had the old 5 digit odometer, i think he rolled it 2-3 times before he sold it. I believe it was a 1978 1-ton Chevy Van. He did a lot of work on that himself over the years to make it work for us. Had a custom front bike rack for it and a homemade front hitch he used to move the pop up around. I know he re-did the headliner and added conversion van lighting. We took MANY road trips in that truck growing up. My dad is an avid cyclist and I am an on/off rider too. He rode BRAG (Bike Ride Across Georgia) in 87 and 88 and my mom ran our van as a support vehicle. Picking up tired or broke down bikes, providing water at stops. Here is the same van during the 87 brag. My dad made that bike trailer that I am sitting in and he towed me for portions of the route. Another shot at another stop My mom would have to go and locate her own water (it wasn't as organized as it is today). We would meet up with her along the route of course and we would help her set up the sag stops when we could. She asked this gentleman if she could get some water from him and he agreed, waved her around the side of the house. Still had a hand water pump, nothing plumbed in the house. Me with the little gallon jug and my dad with the big jug
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Offspringin
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1976 Apache Ramada
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Post by Offspringin on Feb 17, 2016 7:57:27 GMT -8
Come to think of it, we still had that truck up until 2001. Think that's the year he sold it and got a 90's Suburban. I remember towards the end of its life the starter was having issues. My dad is an amazing mechanic but also of that mindset of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" so often things are "rigged". He solution for the sticky starter was to keep a large screw driver in the truck, when it wouldn't start you had to slip under the front and smack it with the handle of the screw driver, worked EVERY time. Later on he did some other rigged thing where there was a wire running somewhere under the hood. If it wouldn't start you had to pop the hood and touch that wire to the positive terminal and that would start the truck.
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SusieQ
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'62 Shasta Compact
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Post by SusieQ on Feb 17, 2016 8:04:08 GMT -8
Great photos. Yep, I understand the screwdriver/starter thing. I had an MG that would die on me driving down the road and I'd have to pull over and get under it and beat on the fuel pump. Then it would crank back up and I'd be on my way.
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Offspringin
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1976 Apache Ramada
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Post by Offspringin on Feb 17, 2016 8:07:23 GMT -8
Great photos. Yep, I understand the screwdriver/starter thing. I had an MG that would die on me driving down the road and I'd have to pull over and get under it and beat on the fuel pump. Then it would crank back up and I'd be on my way. My dad can might relate to that too. He owned an MG back in the 70s when he was working for Eastern Airlines in Miami.
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Post by vikx on Feb 17, 2016 20:51:20 GMT -8
Great pictures Offspringin! Thanks for sharing.
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mtucson
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Post by mtucson on Feb 24, 2016 19:47:02 GMT -8
VERY nice Offspringin. Same age as our trailer. These are the ones that call out to me.
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turbodaddy
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17' 1965 Fan "Sunseeker"
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Post by turbodaddy on Feb 24, 2016 20:20:26 GMT -8
Offspringin, you brought back memories of vehicles past. I used to use a screwdriver on the starter solenoid on 60's Volkswagens. When nothing else worked it (almost)always got us going again.
I once had a 6 volt VW dunebuggy with an engine I rebuilt with J.C. Whitney high performance parts. That thing NEVER would start, I had to push it and jump start most of the time. I actually ran over my right foot (heel) one time while trying to get it started. Had to cut my sneaker off because of swelling. To this day (forty years later) my foot still makes a clicking sound from that injury. That thing was so powerful that I didn't bother with 1st gear!
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