So my beloved Honda Accord with 280,000 miles on it finally blew a head gasket the other day. After looking at what it would take to put in a new gasket I decided to just get another vehicle. The thing is, I needed another vehicle NOW or I would have done the work. So I hopped on craigslist and found a 1988 GMC S15 pickup for $800 but I talked the guy down to $700. I'm familiar with the GMC and Chevy light trucks, I had one for a few years and they are very easy to work on. You can make fun of my truck all you want, but the fact is this thing is solid and will get me around. I still plan to do the head gasket on the Honda but now I can take my time and do it when I am ready and it's not cold outside.

I just like this truck because it is simple and I am not a car person. All of my mechanical experience is on aircraft, so the last thing that I need is a complex car with all kinds of complicated car stuff on it.

TacitBlue wrote on Nov 16^th, 2010 at 10:00pm:


I really miss those days of simplicity. Yank on the throttle linkage.. Thick white exhaust.. water in the combustion chamber.. Heavy blue exhaust, oil in the combustion chamber.. Heavy black exhaust.. Fuel mixture to rich or choke or float valve  is sticking. Starter motor just clicking? Hit it with a hammer and wiggle the wire connections. ETC. I see people on the side of the 401 with late model cars, hood up and bent over inspecting thier stalled engines, I smile and drive on, thinking to myself. "Don't stick your hand in there, it might get stuck!"         

patchz wrote on Nov 19^th, 2010 at 8:24am:


I still have my 2dr Blazer!  Daily driver with a cool chip in it's 'brain' that can push powerband ponies into the low three-hundreds!  4WD and 5-speed manual tranny.  It's a 2000 with just under 290,000 miles on it!  Still runs and drives (and looks!) like new.......thanx to some TLC as needed.

Before that it was a 1991 shortbed S-10 that I got 9 years and 310,000 out of it.

Love the both of 'em!!!!