I'd been having some odd problems with my truck wanting to randomly sputter and die starting after I filled up at a station I don't normally stop at, I assumed it was some dirty fuel had plugged the filter some..I was going to replace the filter after this tank was down to about 1/4 and I filled up at my normal station..but, I didn't get the opportunity to wait that long..The truck died on me while running about 25 mph, but the light about a block ahead of me was just turning red, so i figured, no problem I'll stick er in park and start it back up, idle it up and take off when it turns green..ehhh no such luck, started it, idled it up, stuck it in gear and it died again..started again, ran it up to about 3500 rpm and cringed, because the light just turned green, stuck it in gear awaiting the screech of tires and painful thud as it slams into gear at that rpm, instead it just died again..didn't even bark a tire..then, it would just fire once and die immediately..just like I shut it right back off after starting it..I guessed bad pump or completely clogged filter..Well, 5 or 6 cars were behind me, fortunately a friend of mine happened to be walking nearby and ran up and helped me push it through the intersection and into a parking space..I remembered seeing at a glance, about half a block away, an early-mid 80s swb with a cowl hood signaling to turn left to head away from me..well, he noticed us pushing the truck, and instead turned right, came up and asked if he could pull me somewhere..Me assuming fuel filter, thanked him for the offer, but told him I should have it running again in a few min, figured worse case senario is a fuel pump, and I can replace that in 15 minutes with the tools sitting on the seat of the truck..Turned out to be the coil, and I had to wait for my cousin to get off work and come pull it to my parents house with my dad's '84 eldorado..At the time, I didn't think much about it, but later that night it occurred to me that either A. the guy was just a general nice guy that woulda offered to help anyone out, or B. it was a 73-87 thing..either way, that kind of courtesy is becoming rare these days, and its good to know that some people still give a dang.
More details on his truck..it was an 81 or 82 black SWB with a cowl hood, a bit of a rake, i think it had street drag radials out back..really nice shape, though I think it was partially in black primer or that black paint that new body panels are coated with.
Doh, I said brief..that wasn't very brief..
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