HMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........
Across the Southwestern Desert we cruised , 60 MPH or so , the thinwall , long stroke 292 C.I. I-6 engine humming away and returning 15 MPG's to boot .
It was only 91° F at the hottest point , I kept my window down most of the way , Tom speaks quietly so I had to roll it up to hear him occasionally .
As usual and expected , this battered old Farm/Ranch/Work truck that was ( is ?

) ready to be scrapped for junk , only needed a bunch of serious tinkering back to health to be tour / work / commute ready ~ it used three quarts of oil (?!) but was smooth as only an InLine engine can be and had a surfit of power , we drove over several high passes in the left lane passing all the Semi's and 2/3 of the Civilian traffics , I never used more than 1/3 of the available throttle nor did any hill require down shifting . I am well pleased with this truck and wish it was a short bed as I'd maybe keep it then.
Roger is a nice fellow who has a pretty truck , it's been re - painted inside and out and there's a spiffy cleaned up and re-painted Chevy V-ate engine (SB , ?307?) ready to plop in and have some serious power added .
Sadly , Arizona is no longer the mecca of old rust free trucks it once was ~ I did see a few on ranches as I did my usual detours and sight seeing but considering how many millions of the '73 ~ '87 trucks were sold by GM , there's precious few left .
We stopped in at the world famous Heart Attack Grille in Chandler , Az. , a nice place but nothing really special ~ for $8 I got poor service and a slightly above average burger and was dissapointed to find they have NO ICE what so ever .
The tourists seemed to like it though and the skinny Waitresses in Nurse costumes wore no drawers so there was that to gawk at .
All in all it was another fun Desert trip .