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.July 1, the longest run yet. Still no video though.
After months of sitting it started with little complaint and all systems worked as well as when I parked it. Not the highest bar but reassuring to be sure.
Almost exactly 10 miles travelled today.
First from my house to the local CHP office and then jump onto the freeway and drive back to the shop. Before I drove anywhere I checked the timing and retarded it about 4 degrees, a significant improvement on the freeway as my flat land speed rose from 47MPH to about 53MPH and downhill from 47 to 60+. My fuel consumption plummeted as well from something like an estimated 2.5MPG(worst case) to something like 8MPG!
Operation of the vehicle came back fairly quickly.
Now the bad news, the local CHP officer refused to verify the VIN.
Officer "they don't have all the regulated safety equipment like seat belts"
Me "1954, nobody required seat belts and if they existed at all they were uncommon. This vehicle has every bit of safety equipment required for a vehicle of it's age"
Officer "well, yeah... but no"
We went on like this for a minute but eventually he gave me a document citing a rule against registering surplus military vehicles.
I'm not sure his reading of the rules are correct, it looks like a technicality and could be called either way.
So, now I have to investigate other options. These include:
Trying to get the DMV to verify the VIN and hoping they feel agreeable.
Paying to have a verification service do the work.
Just buying a big stack of 1-day permits, for as much as I'm likely to drive it it might be a wash cost-wise but it would be nice to have plates.
I'm interested to hear from others in CA who have road-registered Ferrets.
I've been running off a gas can for quite a while while waiting for the fuel tank to dry out so I could clean it. No leaks but lots of scale in there.
Today I stripped off the fuel filler neck extension and reaching in, scraped and vacuumed up as much rust as I could. I've arranged with a person with shorter and smaller arms than I have to spend some hours scraping and wire-brushing the tank. It won't help much on the right side of the vehicle but it should give me a pretty clean "main" fuel tank to work from and that will improve my effective range and convenience significantly.
I don't know if you have ever heard of a guy named Jay Leno, but he is the proud owner of a Ferett. Another guy in California named Jeff Dunham has several YouTube videos of his vehicle on the streets in that state. I know you ain't them and chances are that your wallet isn't as fat - but you might research what city they are in - and maybe a road trip to that DMV might be helpful in your situation.
And make sure that they aren't trying to outlaw your vehicle with the ban to outlaw the four legged critters with the same name.