A Belt to the Face (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Belt)

Greetings Rocket Readers,

We were traveling from St. Louis to Louisville, enjoying our time in the van, when we heard a "clunk-thunk-thwapp-thwapp-schnanck". Danny reported the power-steering was feeling a bit wonky, Josh reported a smell of burning rubber, and upon checking the instruments, we saw the thermostat was pegging into the red. We had shredded a drive belt, and were forced to pull off the road, and into a small service station to assess the situation.


After placing a few phone calls, and checking into the situation, we decided to try and limp the van to the nearest repair shop, a place called "Dallas' Repair Shop". The problem being that the drive belt runs the water pump, which cools the engine. Being that the Rocket has a 7.2 liter 440 hp big-block in her, she can heat up pretty quickly. Thankfully, we were in a rather hilly area, so we managed to climb the Rocket up the hills, cut the engine, shift into neutral, and coast down the hills. We managed to Dallas' shop, where Dallas himself managed to help us out with a new belt, some great stories, and a lot of great photos. He said he'd been at that shop for 50 years, and had owned the shop for 20+ years. Here's a small sample of the haps:

Dallas checks out the situation

A chunk of the offending belt

Dallas and I apply some torque

Gasket central!

This place smelled awesome, like grease, sweat and history.

Dallas jacked her up good

Dallas and Drew got the job done

So, after an hour or so, Dallas and Drew got the new belt on and sent us on our way. Not only was everyone at the shop very good to us, but they charged us a pittance to have the work done. It sure was awful nice to meet all you fine folks, and we wish you nothing but the best. Thanks Dallas!

Erika and Dallas, BFF

So, the moral of the story is as follows: If you're traveling in a '77 Dodge van, carry extra belts along with all the fluids and tools you need. So, upon returning to Chicago, we'll pick-up a set of belts and load-in and store the floor-jack and a few jack-stands, along with some more wrenches, a pry-bar and some other assorted madness. But given her age, she's still running like a champ. It's also time for another oil change and a few more miscellaneous upkeep challenges.

-Nate on bass