old motor's out 

Something was living in the transmission! 
We literally joked around about something living in there long before i ever even started to take it apart! 

Must've crawled in through the hole in the block 

Something was living in the transmission! 

Yeah… that’s the Highwood Tranny Crasher.   

When it’s really cold, the little critter comes out of the ground and looks for a tranny.  The tranny fluid acts like a blanky and keeps them cozy all winter. 

We have the Casa Grande Rock Thrasher. We see one on rare occasions.  They thrash around under decorative rocks looking for bugs. They can move 300 rocks a minute! 

Gnarls.

And just a little to the south of you, we have the great and wonderful packrat tribe. They build nests under vehicle hoods out of pricklypear and everything else flammable they can find until one day you go to start it up and have a fire

Okay not often. It happened to a tractor around here recently.

Keep us posted on the rebuild! I look forward to seeing more of this truck in action.

Whatever environment you live in you should expect to be sharing it with other living species. If you live in the middle the desert here and park your vehicle in the open for a long time, then you should expect the environmental impact.  The nearly constant sunshine and heat here will destroy or greatly damage most materials, so a little packrat setting up a home in your engine compartment should be the least of your concerns.  If you are stupid enough to attempt fire an engine after the vehicle has been sitting months or years without popping the hood, you will probably get what you deserve.  Packrats are known to chew up wiring, so parking a vehicle in open desert for abnormal extended times comes with consequences.  They have a very acute sense of smell, so a rag soaked with peppermint oil or Pine-sol will deter them.

Yeah c'mon Jake, let's see it!