Mechanic's Wife

There are lots of perks related to being married to a mechanic.  We rarely have to spend money on having someone else fix our car (unless we need tires or a tire balance), we are able to keep our cars running for a LONG time (both of ours are almost at 150k and I'm not worried) and Andrew can fix about any engine.  The lawn mower, leaf blower, chain saw, snow blower, you name it and he can fix it.

For the last few months Andrew has been deep in one of his most intense projects, taking the gas engine out of our 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 and replacing it with a 12 valve Cummins diesel.  Why the switch?  Diesel engines are more reliable and the way that our truck is built means that it could run up to a million miles if well maintained.  It's also a manual transmission which makes it extra desirable.  We don't use our truck as a daily driver, it's mostly used for towing our boat and trailer and maybe one day a pull behind camper.

I am always amazed by how smart Andrew is and how much he knows about engines.  I know he went to school for two years to learn more, but I still cannot believe everything he knows and everything he can do.  He's done nearly all of the work himself (enlisting the help of his brother for the day when the engine went back in the truck) and he's spent an eight of what the truck would cost new.

Taking out the gas engine

One of my favorite pictures

Andrew trying to look tough, diesel on the left, gas on the right.

Empty

Putting in the diesel

Getting everything aligned

Almost ready to be out on the road again

 The truck should be put back together by the weekend, Andrew has been working on it for two hours before and after work every day during the week and most of the day on the weekends.  I don't think he will be attempting a project like this again for a while and it has been really neat to watch the progress. 

Side note: this isn't my first time being in a relationship with a mechanic, but I've always loved cars and wanted to learn more about them.  I love going to car shows and I'm excited to finally learn how to drive a manual transmission once the truck is complete.