[V8] The Black Mariah departs...

[Scott DeWitt]

Thank GOD!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at adelphia.net>
To: <v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 12:43 AM
Subject: [V8] The Black Mariah departs...


> Well, The Black Mariah has departed on an auto transporter to a new home.
> The car was sold to a young Portland, Maine, auto mechanic who works for a
> dealer of another foreign car that will remain unnamed, except that it is 
> a
> Swedish car that is owned by Ford, but who has a fascination for all 
> things
> Audi.  The car was sold in response to an on-line ad placed in the local
> private party sell magazine.
>
> The Black Mariah will soon be accompanied by her set of Bentley Manuals,
> which the new owner also has agreed to buy.
>
> Now, I have only the front wheel drive type 44 called "The Old Gray Mare",
> and am not sure if that isn't enough for now.
>
> In another revolting development, 'The Runt', the 1992 Ford F150 Flairside
> has blown its engine.  No particular reason, really, but it just has lost
> one cylinder completely, and the borescope indicates a potential holed
> piston.  The truck has around 135,000 and the transmission was replaced 
> last
> winter.  The cause of the engine failure is suspected to be stresses 
> placed
> on it by driving the 20 miles from her to the two business locations for
> plowing.  Suspected in adequate air flow through the radiator may have
> caused overheating and possibly detonation that could have holed a piston.
>
> The Ford short bed platform makes a terrific plow vehicle, but the cooling
> capacity has always been a question due to the tendency to overheat while
> traveling enroute.
>
> Right now, I am thinking that I will have a used engine plugged in and 
> sell
> the truck minus plow, then buy another truck to use for plowing.  The next
> one will be a full sized truck with eight foot bed, because the short bed 
> is
> always...well, just short.
>
> The alternative will be to change out the engine and increase the capacity
> of the cooling system.  Having extensive plowing experience with a GMC 
> 2500
> full sized truck in the same locations as the F150 was used, the F150 is a
> much better plow vehicle than the larger, far more powerful GMC.  Only the
> Ford's cooling capacity is suspect.
>
> I would much rather frig around with Audi electrical gremlins, but such is
> life here in the challenging Northeast, when if your plow truck is working
> perfectly, it will never snow, and as soon as it fails to operate, one 
> gets
> buried.
>
> Having watched the "action" for a couple of months now, it amazes me how
> expensive used pickup trucks are.  This is especially true on eBay, where
> the selection of pickup trucks is smaller than I have ever seen it, and 
> the
> prices much higher.  So far it appears that the best prices for used 
> trucks
> is in Massachusetts where used Fords are cheaper of retail lots than on 
> eBay
> auctions.  The exception seems to be Dodges from 1997-2000 model year.  I
> wonder why they seem to cheap relative to Dodge, Chevy and GMC?  How bad 
> can
> they be?  Never had a Dodge.
>
> Roger
>
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>
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