The Bronco

Will and Eric have a project -our venerable 1981 Ford Bronco, which we have owned for approximately 20 years. When we bought a new Camry for me in August, Will finally agreed to sell his beloved Bronco. Eric had been driving it, and it was much more practical to pass my old economical Corolla to him. Although he liked the Bronco, the gas bill was killing him and it was needing a little work. So I took a picture for the scrapbook and we took the car to the dealership to see how much they'd give us in trade.

Will was quite insulted when they set it's value at $300. He drove it back home, determined to sell it himself! No action was taken to make that a reality. Will may not appear to be a man who becomes sentimentally attached to anything, but he can't seem to let go of this Bronco. It has taken him on many solo as well as family trips. He has driven it through more bumpy, nearly impassable back roads in the mountains than I care to remember. It has taken us to the Redwoods, Glacier National Park, Canada, Idaho and many places in between, pulling the trailer on many family vacations.

Craig also drove it as a teen, and since it is rather distinctive, people would report sightings to us such as "I saw your big-haired kid in the Bronco playing his guitar at a stoplight."

In September, Eric discovered a website about how things work, namely cars, and got interested in car repair. He asked Will if they could make a project out of fixing and restoring the Bronco. He didn't have to ask twice!

They started with the exhaust system. Last weekend they were going to put on a new muffler. Then they discovered the clutch no longer worked. When I came home to find them sitting around on the patio moping, seemingly unable to proceed due to this unexpected malfunction, I began to suspect that perhaps this project was just an excuse to go to town, buy stuff, and have a latte. This week Eric did some research with our next-door neighbor Michael who happens to work at Cordray Transmissions. He told him the clutch may have rusted together and they should force it apart. When they were ready to try that today, they discovered the battery was dead. Another delay! After jumping the battery, they were able to force the clutch to engage.

I found their lengthy list of things to do, both major and minor, and was amused to see that it included the "stearing wheel" and "wyper blades". As a frequent spelling bee champ during my school years, I used to believe that bad spellers were dumb people. My interactions with my husband have corrected my superior attitude on that! May he and Eric enjoy many trips to town, coffees, and shared frustrations as well as success as they work together on their "To Do on the Bronco" list.