The video above was recorded in January, 2026, but George’s love for old buses started back in 2023.
Tag Archives: George Tergin
Road rot? Where?
When I purchased my 1977 Ford F150 pickup truck it was comparatively rust-free, having spent it’s life in Colorado where — I’m told — they add corrosion inhibitors to the salt they put on their highways. Had the truck spent those same 40+ years on Missouri highways, it would have rusted away long ago. But my truck did have (does have) some rust spots which I’ve successfully ignored. But the two holes in floor of the cab are getting bigger and sucking some cold air in.
My buddy George Tergin — the master of the automotive hack — suggested I patch these using old license plates, silicone, and self-tapping screws. Before and after photos below.
Hadn’t planned to do much about the other rust spots until Mr. Wolf pointed me to POR-15, a rust preventative coating that I can “glop on the other rust spots. Like so many things in my life now, the pickup only has to last as long as I do.
Fresh Start
Jefferson City is still recovering from last May’s tornado. This weekend some of George Tergin’s friends are helping him demolish what was left of his business. A sad chore that marks a new beginning.
Tornado hits Jefferson City
I grew up in “Tornado Alley” (southeast Missouri) and saw lots of them. But you don’t see them in hilly river towns like Jefferson City, Missouri. Until you do. A three square mile section of JC got hammered last night, including my friend George Tergin. Don’t have a lot of info but it sounds like it destroyed his shop and his storage units.
One of which contained the hardtop for my Land Rover. Looks like it might be scuffed up and a little bent but it’s still there. Stay tuned.
UPDATE (5/23/19): George Kopp and I visited what was once 54 Store More this afternoon. Won’t try to describe it. The hardtop to my truck was balanced precariously on a table at the back of the unit. Were it to topple off it would surely have done more damage so we eased it down to the floor and will complete the rescue when we’re allowed back in. 
Thanks to the ginormus bed on my pickup, I think we’ll be able to use that to transport to a body shop. Got a feeling those guys will be busy for a while but I’ve got all summer to get her fixed.
UPDATE (5/24/19): The hardtop has been rescued. Andrew and George did the heavy lifting but we got it in the pickup and safely home. Have the summer to make repairs.
Old Land Rovers leak
That might be the first thing I heard about Land Rovers when I started searching for one. If it’s not leaking, your fluids are low” is the oft-told joke. Rover Sage Charlie Pendleton advised, “If the leak is the size of a half-dollar, I don’t worry about it. If it’s the size of a grapefruit or larger, I track it down and fix it.” A few weeks back my truck developed a grapefruit size leak. This week George Tergin tracked it own and (fingers crossed) fixed it.
My rebuilt engine originally had a turbocharger. I had them take it off before installing my engine because it would have necessitated some work on the transmission I didn’t want to do (have done). And I was confident I didn’t need to achieve highway speeds. Anyway…
The turbocharger gets its oil from a hole in the engine block. That had to be capped off. In my case, the cap was a little too long and didn’t thread all the way down on the… plug gizmo? Looks like they might have put some goop in the cap to improve the seal and it held for six months before starting to leak.
George got a new cap and then did some surgery on it to properly cap the gusher. Still have some half-dollar leaks but George is determined to track ’em down.
Update 4/12/19: The Big Leak is no more.