I have yet to report on my trip to the North Rim of The Grand Canyon over the fourth of July and my trip to Ouray CO for the FJ Cruiser Summit. Both were INCREDIBLE.

AND…. here I am writing to you from Ft. Nelson BC. headed to the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Terr. then heading to the Yukon and finally to Alaska.

Just click the little “F” button and it will take you over to Flickr to see the picture sets of The North RIM. (myself and 4 FJ’s had the Canyon all to ourselves because we it was a 120 miles of off road to get there.)

Next Flickr set is Ouray CO. and the FJ Cruiser summit with great trail runs and over 225 FJ’s.

Finally my quarter trip report….
Mac Donald Lake in Glacier National Park….

Glacier Buses…..

One of many many waterfalls to come. (Can you believe I didn’t take any faux toes of Banff waterfalls !) This is still in Glacier Nat’l in MT

Alberta fields…. I found this this view breathtaking …

A little Banff from first full day in Canada…. Wow!

Day 3 in British Columbia:

The camping has not started because we (A friend flew into Calgary to join me) are trying to “book it” North so we can get to the real great stuff. It really helps to have a second driver.

Takes a lot of time to get around up here.

We are in an Oil (Fort Nelson) town that luckily has internet. Headed for “Muncho Lake” British Columbia today and will camp there. It got 5 stars from my Canadian FJ friends Jeff & Emily.

Here is a Google Image, since I have not been there yet. (Hum? Muncho. Is that what the skeeters do to you there?):

Also going to Laird Hot springs. (That’s nearby)

Probably spend the day around there.

Vast of rolling forests now. A lot of time where we are the only vehicle in sight.

Photo of scenic pull off (There were other vehicles at this point):

MY Photo… (I did not take many yesterday because we were driving a lot and the scenery was the same. Beautiful but not stellar)

Tiny unsophisticated gas stations / general stores.

We are going to try to make it to Inuvik and beyond….
From Wikipedia…
Due to its northern location, Inuvik experiences an average of 56 days of continuous sunlight every summer and 30 days of polar night every winter.
Access is via the Dempster Highway for the majority of the year. The highway relies on ferries and ice bridges to get across the rivers. It is thus closed during the time of freeze-up (roughly late-October to mid-December), for ice to form and allow ice bridges, and thaw (roughly mid-May to mid-June) to allow the ferry to run. At these times, there is air access only.

Anyhow, I will try to report more, (in my own words) as I go…. I consider the trip to be just now starting !

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Yes Anthropology.

Case in point:

I was able to capture a rare photo of the indigenous peoples preparing a traditional meal of 40 gal. Chicken

Sadly the chef only had 15, of the necessary 40 gallons of fuel needed to cook 40 gal. chicken.

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A little sag here a wrinkle there and at 52 years old Penny is no spring chick. I was in denial that Penny skin was not top shelf.

But the experienced eye of Mark Bohlen at Bent Custom & Performance knows better. Penny is, as stated, sporting a 52 year old body. She was repainted. (I’ll post photos of the first restoration in TX) But she was not Restored. There is a huge difference.

The TX paint job was really very good from afar, but once an expert like Mark points something out, the shortcomings are glaring.
The left rear quarter had clearly been hit. That lead to my OK to take the doors down to the metal.

I knew there was rust on the underside that had been suppressed, but the bead blast revealed extensive rot on the lower half of the door.

Again it was denial. I had fixed rust on the interior floor, and I knew about the bottoms of the doors, but once the onion is pealed back you see the whole story. I can’t take her along as far as I have and ignore these shortcomings.

Penny’s Door Shot 1:

Penny’s Door Bottom (The onion is pealed)

Penny’s Door Fix.

Penny’s Door Bottom (All Fixed)
Thanks to the craftsmen at Bent Custom & Performance

I always planned on repainting the interior because the finish was way below par. It has a rattle can orange peal look and feel. Then when the quarter panel was revealed there was no option but to refinish the entire ride. So work is beginning on getting the Fit & Finish taken to a level that will set Penny in some fast company….

Perhaps even that of Roy Brizio’s beautiful 55.

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Just got progress snaps from Mark Bohlen at Bent Custom & Performance. He fired up his Tungsten Inert Gas machine and fabricated an new exhaust for Penny. A fine job Mark!

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Why? Because it’s a stroker.  Sounds like something Rad Rod had to have.

When it came to the intake manifold for the EFI, I had a great idea for an Old School intake manifold for Penny. The only problem was it didn’t exist and I didn’t have the fabrication skills to make it.

I went through several iterations of trying to build the dumb thing and I was Just About to Give Up and settle for off-the-shelf. (Maybe even a Carb) I was frustrated and a bit dejected.

Then I happened to pick up an issue of Hot Rod magazine and read about an Over-The-Top Camaro named “The F- Bomb”. A great build.  But what really got my attention was the plumber / plumbing on the F-Bomb.  Plumber?  Well lets say Tube-Fabricator. No big deal, it’s just a fuel line.  To some maybe.  To my it’s about detailed craftsmanship.

Mark Bohlen of Bent Custom and Performance did things with hard line installation that is hard to match.  Better yet he was located an hour  away, in Chatsworth, CA. Best of all, he could turn my Intake Manifold from a vision into reality.

And we are just getting warmed up.

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Penny was listed on  eBay.

I flew to DFW and drove a rent-a-car to a residence in Plano, TX to be  introduced. I loved her photos in the ebay listing.  They did not begin to do her justice.

I was a gonner before the garage light was fully illuminated.  It just  kept getting better by the second.  The sound of the 350 cu. in Chevy  ZZ4 motor as amplified by dual Flowmaster 40 exhaust pipes.  I melted  and the deal was done.

Later, I would joke that I was thankful that President Clinton signed  family leave act.  Because I had justification to take a full week off  work to bond with the newest member of my family.

Me, and 1957 Chevy Belair, 2 door sedan. In the vernacular of a Hot Rodder, a POST. Sierra Gold and Adobe Beige.  Sweet, like a Root Beer Float, and  pretty as a Penny.

She was my 57 Penny. I was nestled in and rolling west along Highway 20 heading to her  rightful home in Southern California.  Hot Rod Ground Zero.

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