Wow, what a busy few months this has been. Cramming a ground-up project into three months' worth of evenings and weekends is beginning to take its toll. It sounded easy, and would have been if I'd only passed on the promise to have the Budget Beater road-ready for this year's Americruise (leaving Mooneyes the morning of June 1st). However, I made the commitment and I'm sticking to it. In fact, last night (May 23, 2004) I fired it up for the first time. It sounded great-once I got it started, that is. You see, in my haste to finally hear it run it seems as though I inadvertently plumbed the fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump outlet rather than the inlet and vice versa. As you can imagine, it didn't start right off the bat (though it sure did suck the air out of those empty fuel bowls and blow a lot a bubbles into the fuel tank), but I soon figured out my bonehead mistake (one of countless I've made so far), corrected it, and fired that baby right up.
Speaking of starting it up, a while back I alluded to using a less-than-budget-oriented powerplant. Well, due to circumstances beyond my control, that's not gonna happen, and the Olds motor was replaced with a (groan) small-block Chevy. I know, not my first choice for a traditional-style rod, but it did fit much more comfortably into the budget.
Speaking of budget, and since the Budget Beater is basically finished (months before you'll actually see the finished product in R&C), I'm happy to report that dollar-wise it looks as though it's going to come in nearly on target. Some of the budget that would have gone into the Olds motor was swapped over to use for the interior upholstery, and wait till you see it. It's cool old-school-imagine an interior that has the look and feel of your favorite boyhood baseball glove! The upholstery is a product of EZBoy Rod Interiors up in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and will by far be the nicest part of the whole truck. Without trying to sound like a commercial, these folks have got it together. They've got more than 13,000 upholstery patterns-just tell 'em what your seat is out of (even aftermarket seats from Glide, etc.), pick your material and colors from a huge selection, and they do the rest. You'll end up with perfect-fitting upholstery and matching materials for the doors, kick panels, etc., all for a fraction of the cost of a professional job. No need to fear upholstery any more!
That said, keep an eye open for the Americruise coverage coming next issue-you'll get a sneak peek at the Budget Beater! See ya on the road! -RIZ