Travels with BillyBob Log

UPDATES:

WHAT'S NEW is a chronological listing of updates to the BillyBob site.

RESEARCH:

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

HISTORY:

TRAVELS WITH BILLYBOB With apologies to Steinbeck, this area of BillyBob's Garage will be used to log the trips BillyBob and I make together.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS is the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I can accomplish without a garage.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

MAINTENANCE:

BILLYBOB MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for BillyBob, including required tools, materials and procedures.

PARTS SHOP The Parts Shop is a repository of How-To articles. Things that I have done over and over enough times to have developed a procedure. This gives me a checklist and saves brain cells.

STEALTH SHOP Urban residence design with large integrated shop and separate living quarters for a relative or renter.

SITREP

Heavy storms in the middle of the night. Woke all of us up but the tornado sirens didn't go off. When he got up, Rick found a tree limb down in the front yard and a ventilation fan enclosure that had torn off. I forgot to close the cowl vent on BillyBob last night. Damnation!

Tuesday, May 27th 2008
Day 11 PRE Check

Click to display large 364Kb image in separate windowNo checks this morning 'cept for oil. Still good. Rick gave me a couple of rounded creek stones to put in my plastic pan under the rear main bearing to keep it from blowing away. Rick told me to take them with me. Rick (Boz) Boswell and Elaine Boswell posed for the obligatory BillyBob photo before heading off to their jobs while BillyBob and I headed out for Tulsa.

1. Date and Time May 27, 2008 7:00 AM
2. Odometer 31,250 +=
3. Comfort Supplies Cellphone, AAA+ membership, reading glasses, my lucky WWII Army Air Corps mechanics cap, cheap aviator sunglasses, small cooler with water and trail mix
4. Roadtrip Supplies Inventory
5. Prep Mount navigator, setup GPS tracker

Engage

Click to display large 472Kb image in separate windowMother eventually got me to East West Auto Parts in Tulsa. Their entrance had washed out in last nite's storm. Two guys were movin' railroad ties around and clearing brush as BillyBob and I drove up. Stopped up at the building and walked to the door. It was locked. Went back to the truck. A Sam Elliot looking guy walked up. It was Ken Freeman, the guy I had bought the flywheel from. The flywheel wasn't workable for me and he had returned all my money. He didn't ask for the flywheel back. I gave the flywheel back to him and we talked for a few minutes and I got a pic. I recommend Ken. He did good by me.

Mother ran us all over Tulsa, getting to Ken's place and leaving again.

Tulsa Runaround

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Click to display large 296Kb image in separate windowManaged to get a pic of the Tulsa skyline while BillyBob and I were scrambling around. I'm trying a new trick with Mother. I point her in the general direction of a city then, just before we get there, I point her at another city. This way I hope to avoid some intercity expressways. Today, I pointed her at Dallas.

The travel today was up and down hills on divided highway mostly. I've been having some problems sporadically with BillyBob kicking out of high gear. Had this problem some last year on the Macungie run too. Every once in awhile Mother announces "There is a better route available" but there is no way that I can see to tell her to take it. There's nothing in the manual about this "feature". I finally googled the phrase and the scuttlebutt on the Garmin forums is that they decided not to implement this feature on the c340 but some remnants of the programming are still there.

I'm trying to keep between two violent storm fronts and it's rainy this afternoon. I've got the nods too. I cut the run off early and found lodgings in Durant, Ok.

Day 11 Google Earth Track

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Day 11 Google Map Track

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1. Date and Time May 27, 2008 2:00 PM
2. Odometer 30,553
3. Mileage 303
4. Elapsed Time 7 hrs

You can email me at  webmaster@laroke.com

Issued Friday May 30, 2008

Updated Tuesday March 28, 2017

copyright © 1996-2017 Larry Robert Kephart all rights reserved