Kicking off 2019 like the motorhead that I am!

I have used my personal funds to buy, restore and modify my truck. Not a dime of Jackdaw patron money has been spent on her. The same is true of the big lift I’m about to undertake with the new drivetrain in January. Hella still runs but with a slipping clutch, she has been pretty much docked for the last six weeks. Her last drive with the original flathead six will be next Friday when I’ll be taking her to the shop where she will be getting a new small block V8 engine and transmission swapped in. I will be doing the work myself under the expert guidance of my professional mechanic friend Paul. He is allowing me to live out of his shop and use his lifts and equipment to get the job done. I would be dead in the water were it not for him graciously giving me this opportunity! It would cost at least $8000 in labor for a professional mechanic to undertake this drivetrain swap for me. Even without having to pay for labor, the engine, transmission and parts are wiping out the vehicle emergency fund I set up for a year before leaving my job at Central Washington University. And that’s just fine. I knew this would happen eventually and that’s why I set the money aside.

I share this for the sake of transparency. As of January my social media will be flooded with images of the work I’ll be doing to Hella and I want it very clear that I am paying for everything that you’ll be seeing transpire. The support my patrons provide goes solely to making photography for families possible, not work or modifications on my truck. I pay for that out of my own resources.

So, sit back and enjoy the show next month as I perform a heart transplant on our sweet girl. When the dust settles she will no longer be the slowest street legal vehicle in the PNW! The nostalgic purr of her original flathead engine will be replaced with some serious V8 rumble. I’ll be posting the process on my Facebook and Instagram feeds, so be sure to follow them if you are interested.

Have a kickass New Year's!