Pics of my '66 Dodge - from 1977

Just came across these. Here I am in my driveway in upstate NY, getting ready for my odyssey trip to California - June '77. The dog is mine and came too.

nice. I had a 67 Dodge van back then.

Cool! Did the dog ride in front or in the back?

Bet he was a good dog

just the word 'odyssey' rings the adventure bell in my head. go, Go, GO! sweet pictures!

"Did the dog ride in front or in the back?"
He rode wherever he wanted. One time we hiked down into a canyon to see the indian caves and he rolled in Donkey crap. He stunk! And he liked to sleep on my bed, but I didn't want him to smell it up so I tied him to the front seat. Unfortunately there was no water around to immediately give him a bath.

That night we camped near the Colorado river (a really wide section - maybe a half mile or more across), but when I got down there the water was running so fast I was afraid he'd get swept away, so I tied him to a tree in a little area where water pooled and shampooed the stink away.

He was a once in a lifetime dog. I've had 'em all my life, but this one was special. He went everywhere with me - never needed a leash. I worked hard with him as a pup and he could do all kinds of tricks. LOVED the water - couldn't keep him out of it. Throw his tennis ball into the water and he was in heaven. Even when he got old and arthritic he would chase that ball and swim until he couldn't move. I was so upset when he died I didn't get another dog for 10 years, which was a mistake. We move on, but we don't forget. He was a great companion for my trip (I also traveled most of the way with two girls in a '70 Econoline - one was a friend from college).

We move on, but we don't forget.

Very well said

I could tell by the pictures he was that kind of dog

Love these old picks of earlies!!!!

Thanks guys. I thought you might appreciate these old shots.

This had been a roto-rooter truck, and was (faded) red and white. I drove it that way for a couple of years until I saved up enough cash to do it the way I wanted. Well, almost. I REALLY wanted those white wagon wheels that were popular then, but couldn't afford them. (Cragar SS's were too much to dream for at that point - but they're going on my '64 Econo.)

I did all the requisite body work in my driveway and my buddy and I painted it at his father's metal fab shop, where they had a good gun. We used acrylic enamel, which was very forgiving for an amateur. I couldn't believe how great it came out. He had a metal press at the shop that we used to straighten the bumpers - again, they came out great. The baby moons were from a car I had in HS, and luckily they fit.

I worked construction then and we were building condos. Except for the paneling everything else was scrounged from scraps. We used that carpet in a lot of places, so I had plenty to work with. The roof rack, brand new battery and seats came out of a wrecked Fiat 850 that I bought for $50. After I pulled those parts out of it I parked it out front of my house and sold it for $150!

I did spring for a pop up sun-roof in the front, which you can't see in the pictures. The 225 slant 6 ran great. Those engines were bulletproof. My transmission had a leaking rear seal, which I couldn't find before I left on my trip. I had to crawl under there every day with a bottle of gear oil and a hose and put oil in. You could hear when it was getting low, so it wasn't too hard to keep up on it. I found a replacement in Kansas City and had a garage in Colorodo put it in. It was nice not to worry about it anymore.

I had replaced the speedometer cable before I left, but it gave me problems early on. It would be fine, and then start "screaming", with the speedo racing up to 120 or so (van sure wasn't going that fast). Make a terrible racket for awhile, and then settle back down. I got so I wished it would just break, and somewhere in AZ it did just that. After that I had to estimate my speed - not easy to do in those wide open states, but I was very much broke and a speeding ticket would have been a big problem. I learned to count the cadence of the passing strips and measure a mile against my watch to come close to keeping it under 60 (those were the days of the max speed limit being 55 - even out west). Ah, the memories!