Mechanical

Forty minutes into a six hour drive to Crater Lake, the Tacoma lost power and started knocking. Pulled over, called a tow, and had it looked at by a local shop. Their prognosis was total engine failure — rod knock — and they offered to scrap it on the spot. My dad had a different idea. We trailered it back home and lent me the space to rebuild it myself. I’d never touched an engine before — biggest job I’d done was a power steering pump swap — but it seemed like a better outcome than the scrapyard. ...