I had a thread about the retrieval of the truck, but in March of 2016 Me, my fiance, and my grandfather went and picked up the M-35 from Virginia. A friend also came along but was functionally useless so we don't mention him.
It was a nearly 800 mile trip home in a truck that I had visually inspected then driven 5 minutes before. It was harsh, and we knocked back around 300 miles the first day, and then the remaining 500 on the second day. Beyond that, I had a day at the massage therapist on the following Monday and began the long process of trying to get the front bumper back into its correct shape. Once that was done the front got a coat of paint and it was off to a car show where it decided it would blow its head-gasket and shoot soot over more than a million dollars worth of exotics. Needless to say we didn't win anything. The fall of 2016 till early spring of 2017 was spent tearing down the entire top end, rebuilding it, then tearing down the bottom end as far as I dared, and then reassembling everything. The pistons have small stress fractures, but that is something I will just have to deal with and A pyrometer was installed to try to help keep the truck happy and running. During the past summer we went to Texas after Harvey to try to help (The Red Cross SUCKS at coordinating). We transported a few loads of water in and out of the flooded zones, but ultimately had to come back home due to family health concerns. The tires are getting to a point now where I do not want to risk a long distance adventure till some new 900x20's are on it. I still am not excited about taking down the tires myself, but I know I am up to the task... even if setting the bead is terrifying.
