ATHS CCC Truck Show and BBQ at Kirkland Ranch Saturday April 26 2014

2014 Howard Kirkland and all the members of the Central Valley ATHS Chapter Celebrated 28 glorious years in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. 

Great trucks, great food and great Friends what more could you ask for.

The Wrecker and GMC weren't ready to go yet, so I took my 30yr Old 220K mile Detroit Diesel Bazer.

Despite the threat of rain, the weather held out and it was a great show.  Smaller than last year but great show none-the-less.


Arial View (Taken by another member)

2013 ATHS (American Truck Historical Society) National Convention in Yakima, WA

This year I took two weeks of vacation and went to the ATHS National Convention Show in Yakima, WA. that ended up having over 800 Trucks and Trailers.



I entered the Chevrolet 1984 Diesel K5 Blazer, because it's the truck I have that I could trust to make the 1500 mile round trip and It is in fact a historic truck at 29 years old. Thanks Blade for keeping it in such good repair for 28 of those years.  Without Blade's meticulous maintenance it wouldn't be the special truck that it is.



With 320k miles on it; its a survivor and still my daily driver.



At the show the tools I carry in the Blazer came in handy helping out a GMC owner who arrived with some water pump problems, he did a field replacement shadetree mechanic style with buddies bringing a replacement pump to the show, buying the necessary gaskets from a vendor in the hall and what couldn't be gotten at the show a short trip to the parts store took care of.  Props to the guys at http://www.oldgmctrucks.com/




There was so much at the show I didn't even get to photograph most of it. What I have in the slideshow is just a sampling.  Nothing compares to being there, hearing the engines, and smelling the exhaust.

You can't keep a good truck down!

The K5 Blazer was in good company this afternoon when I got word it was done and ready to be picked up from the transmission shop.

Cobra in the far bay

Checking out the handiwork.

The transfer case for the most part survived but it was rebuilt with new bushing and seals, and 312k miles of road grime removed.

The driveshaft couldn't be saved, this is my spiffy new one.  The shiny pipes are the recent Magnaflows.

The transmission got a new-to-me used 'K' case cover and completely rebuilt, we were able to keep the original shift-kit in it though. You can't see it in the photo but it got a new HD Diesel torque converter as well.

The truck is driving awesome, shifts smoothly. All the slop in the column shifter is gone, it's actually aligned with what gear position it is in now.  It goes back to the shop after a couple hundred miles so they can re-check everything.  Lets see if I can get another 300k out of it.

Adding one to the family

1984 K5 Blazer 6.2L Diesel

Impeccably maintained by the original owner for 28 years. He special ordered this truck very well optioned in 1984. He's documented almost every fuel stop, oil changes and unscheduled maintenance. Which I'm continuing to do. It recently passed 310k miles and still gets 20mpg.