I wanted to be sure that we had this in our possession before we posted!
We did find an engine!!! Steve & Tom Bollinger offered to sell us one, at a pretty decent price, and we took advantage of that opportunity.
We actually ended up with 5 blocks & cranks in the truck, as Steve needed the 4 others taken to Wayne Longnecker, in Ankeny, IA., who is going to put ours together......
I had some business to tend to in central IA., so I took this load to Wayne on Thursday. He's going to rummage through the parts, and start building us an engine!!!
He sent us home with a couple of pieces, so we can start mocking up what else we might need for the installation.....
When we got home from picking the parts up from Steve, we couldn't resist pulling one off of the truck, and setting it in place. I'm glad we did, as it cleared up a few of the many questions we've had about this project.
Not only have we had a ton of fun, searching for the engine, but all of the people we have met over the past 2 months has been phenomenal!!! It seems like everywhere we go, someone remembers this tractor, and its owner. We've made connections with many people that either worked on, gave/sold parts to Bill, traveled with him, watched him pull, were close friends with him, family members, or just knew the name!
Most everyone is excited to hear that this tractor is being resurrected, and we've received tons of moral support that just drives us harder to get this done!