11/01/08 This is a bit overdue, actually. I've had this beast for over a week but it's just been so busy here that this is the first time I get to sit down and write about it. Yes, I (we) now own a pickup truck. Make of it what you will. This stems from other developments (see dp1 page for today) and we started looking at used stuff but having wondered into a Ford dealer and casually asked about incentives, we basically got an offer we couldn't refuse (think HALF off the sticker price). So here it is. Ford F150 pickup, as basic as they get - yes, 5 speed and all - sitting in our driveway. The sheer size of the thing fully registers when you realize that yes, the ROOF of the Mini is about even with the hood. It is not an optical illusion.

I know, at some point I think I said that every vehicle I own goes on the track. The only way this beast (temporarily or permanently nicknamed Moby) is going to see tracktime is if I can talk one of the clubs into a few laps over lunch. Not entirely outside the realm of possibility, actually.

In the meantime, it's got a hitch, a brake controller and a spray-on bedliner - ready to go to work.

11/07/08 I must say having a truck that can easily pull a trailer is awesome. We've been buying lots of shop equipment, from machinery to shelving, and the truck makes hauling it all possible. Still not exactly easy, since it's a lot of work, but without it I just wouldn't be able to do it.

The counterweighted engine crane is cool - it doesn't have the problem of the interference from the protruding legs and should be a real help working on the cars with no ground clearance. The price for this is the fact that the thing weighs close to 1,500 lbs. Now removing the floor from the dp1 prototype will be an easy job, instead of the carefully choreographed ordeal involving multiple jacks, stands and blocks that it had been in the past.

The lumber is for building a composites room, to isolate the mess and fumes from the rest of the shop (it will have an exhaust fan of course). This is the opposite of the previous space I had which I moved into by doing a lot of demolition. This time around it's construction. Balances out I guess.

In the meantime, the dp1 panels are all laid out in the corner. That's a lot of pieces, when you see them all at once. I'll see how the build goes and maybe look for ways to simplify it going forward.