Wild Stories about finding and getting that old tin home!

Ok guys and gals!!! No fish stories here....but what is your wildest story in searching for an old car ....whether it is digging it out of 3 foot of earth in the rain (Fat Lucky?)...or getting it home (any falling off the trailer stories?).

I'll start with a '37 Ford big truck I bought over the summer. It was cheap ($200), but it had a good flathead in it, very little rust, but the frame was cut off behind the cab and resting on the ground and the roof was pushed in. Well, it was worth $200 to me so I did the deal and went home to get my trailer. Coming back thru this heavily wooded area, I find 3 adult coyotes around the truck and they weren't about to go anywhere. The were excited and digging under the truck like crazy. I wasn't about to get out of my truck 'cause yotes around here do not fear humans.

After about 10 minutes of watching this maddness, two of them come from underneath the car, both with firm clinches on their next meal....a poor old wabbit. As they were leaving, the 3rd coyote looked back at me as to say "Thanks for being patient, its all yours now".

 

When I brought the 51 home - I was only 18 years old. I dinked around showing it to my friends too long and it got dark before I realized it. Anyways, I had NO insurance on it - NO license plates - NO sales receipt - I had not signed onto the title yet - and the seller hadn't dated the title when he signed off of it either.

As I came down the expressway ramp it just died. I needed to turn right onto a 5 lane road so I did - and coasted into the turn lane. I was trying to coast it into the first available parking lot which required an immediate left turn but couldn't turn soon enough because there was a car comming and I didn't have enough speed. So I jumped out and started pushing while it was still rolling. Since the problem was electrical, I had no lights, hazzards, or turn signals.

I couldda shattered a walnut with my sphincter when I saw that the first oncomming car to pass was a police officer who was slowing down to question me. As he slowed down he hollared "Need a hand?" I smiled and responded with "No Thanks, I got it". He kept on going and I couldn't have been happier - OR LUCKIER.

11 years later my dad still rags me about what a luck ass he thinks I am since - givin my age, the condition of the vehicle, and how NOT legal I was with it - I should have been cuffed and stuffed.

 

A local wheeler dealer bought a 32 pickup cab at a local swap before I could get to it, but told me he only wanted the dash and gas tank. So I agreed to buy the basic cab from him and pick it up from his booth at the next swap.

A month later my bro and I load my $50 purchase into the bed of his ElCamino, and man is it heavy. No way this thing will bounce out, we think.

An hour into our hour and a half trip, we drive past a hillside next to the highway and into the clear on the other side. And let me tell you a gust of wind is all it takes to set a 32 pickup cab airborn. Out of the Elky and tumbling like a cardboard box over the shoulder and into the ditch.

We stop to pick it up and the doors are ripped from the hinges, the whole cab is skewed, and if there ever was a straight panel before it isn't there now.

We tie down EVERYTHING on the way home from swap meets now.


- alchemy

 

Here is a decent one for you......

My girlfriend and I drove from wisconsin to Michigan to pick up my wagon last october.. All went well we took my durango and a 16 foot trailer to get it... Met up with the owner, ( younger couple ) and decided to hang out at thier house and cook out, drink some beers and stuff... No problem cuz we were spending the night and were planning on taking off in the morning..

Well a few hours later, a few burgers, and way to many beers we decided to put the wagon on the trailer.... SHIT!! To long the ramps wont close......

So we turned it around, put the front wheels up on a couple of 4x4's so that the front bumper would clear the front of the trailer, and voila it's in... Well almost, the rear ramps had to be ratchet strapped on cuz they wouldn't close all the way... No problem...

After that we were pretty excited and decided to hang and shoot the shit for a while longer...

Next morning, after the fog cleared I checked to make sure everything was secure and we were on our way.... About three hours into the ride the gas light comes on and I start looking for an exit.... passed one, on to the next...... now the gas is getting REALLY low!! so I decide to take the next ramp off....

As I start onto the offramp my brake pedal goes to the floor!! SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! NO BRAKES!!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily the trailer had brakes and we were able to slow down enough... But the freaking exit I got off on had absolutley NO gastations... I tried to turn around but it was a small two lane country highway, and into a forest preserve we go....

Now no gas, no brakes, and no clue where I was I start to get a bit crabby...... Just ask her, she will tell you....

Finally got turned around and back onto the a side road looking for a gas station or something... After what seemed like forever we pulled into a gas station, ( thank God for the trailer brakes ) and started to fill her up, and see what happend to the brakes.... As soon as we pull in some people start looking at the wagon,,, is that a nomad??? Nope just a plain 210, a nomad has 2 doors. oh... and they move on.

Looks like from the weight of the trailer squatting down the back of the truck the rear rubber brake line was resting on the cooly guy dual exhaust I put on there... OOOPS.... While we were driving all was fine, just heating up that rubber and getting ready for some pressure... POP!!!!

some one else pulls in,,, Hey nice car.. Is that a nomad??

Nope,,, just a 4 doorwagon..

Ok, know what the problem is, now let's see if anyone is open to get a brake line.... Grab the phone book and start looking for a brake place,,, Saturday about 11AM shouldn't be a problem right?????

The only place open was across town and it was a little mom and pop garage with no way to come get us... So I risk it and get some directions through the not so conjested part of town.... Stopped at a light ,,,

Hey Nice Nomad.....

Nope,, it's a... fuck it.. Thanks!!

Finally make it to the brake shop and drop the trailer, pull the truck in and he spots the problem... Yep rubber brake line.. and he tries to call around to find one.. No body has one, napa nope, autozone nope, dodge dealer nope.....Fuck now what!!!!!

So I ask,,, hey if it is just the rear brakes, can't we just clamp it off and not use the rears?? I have trailer brakes, and only about 3 hours left to go through downtown chicago, shouldn't be to bad right.????

I ended up grabbing a little vice grips I had with me, and a bolt the guy generously donated to my cause and we clamped her shut..... Pedal pressure,,, good.... slowing down nicely great!! Hook up the trailer let's go!!!!!!

Got back on the road for about an hour and I hear this Crash,,, SCRAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF????

One of my mcgiver ratchet straps holing the rear ramps broke from rubbing on the rear bumper........ Easy fix, back on the road...

45 minutes later,,, Crash,,, SCRAPE!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!! other side.......

make it through downtow chicago and thinking that all is in the clear only about 1 hour to make it home.....

CRASH,,,, SCRAPE!!!!!!!..... One more strap let loose... and I only had one extra one with me.... Hooked it up, and prayed the rest of the way.... Finally made it home, and some friends were already there,,, so we pushed the car off the trailer, and proceded to drink ourselves silly talk about what the car was going to look like...

Funny thing,,, nobody in kenosha had the brake line either.. I drove around for almost a week before it came in......

sorry it was so long,,, but it was kind of an adventure....

c-ya
steve

 

I bought my 1958 Ford Custom 300 about 500 miles from home at a used car lot for $4000 (CANADIAN) and intended on driving it back home. Barely any brakes and about 90º in the shade.

I got about 3 blocks away from the lot and it died. A quick call to the lot confirmed that I was shit out of luck, all sales are final. A walk to the nearest auto parts place for a new coil got me about 20 miles and it dies again on the busiest stretch of freeway during rush-hour traffic.

I determined that towing it home would be a wise decision. A city of Calgary dumptruck driver stopped directly behind me and directed traffic for over 3 hours while I waited for a tow truck. Hell of a nice guy, I still owe him a beer.

The police stopped several times to see what all the hub-bub was about but were generally nice and understanding of my sitch.

The car sat so low, the tow truck driver removed the rear driveshaft and tossed it on his deck.

I met the tow truck driver at about 10 pm at my house (I was about 4 hours late for my daughters birthday party)

The tow truck driver was half asleep after the long trek that he forgot my driveshaft was on the deck as he lowered his boom to set the 1958 down. Of course the driveshaft was instanly crushed (cost me $500 to build a new one!). He only charged me $120 for the tow 'cause he felt bad for screwing up.

The 58 caused nothing but headaches for the next year, I think it was jinxed.

I traded it off for my current ride, a 1930 model A. Getting the model A home is another story.

 

I found my model A cruising the internet want ads. The A was an unreal cheap price so I jumped on it. I called the guy who lives about 1800 miles away and asked him if he was interested in a partial trade for my 58 Ford. (I already had a loan from a botched deal to buy a slick 51 Merc).

It so happens he is crazy about 50's Fords so the deal is on!!!

I talk to some freinds and one of them tells me it'll be no problem to use his truck and trailer to haul the 1958 down and bring the 1930 up.

A day before the road trip, my buddy tells me I'd better ask his girlFEIND if we can use the truck that they jointly own ,WTF?

"NO. I don't want to put that kind of mileage on the new Chevy Avalanche"

DAMN!

I hunt around the truck rentals and figured it would cost about $2100 to rent a truck not including fuel.

I rent the truck wednesday morning, we drive all day and night with 3 drivers taking shifts. We get there in 13 hours driving like mad men. All along the way, everywhere we stopped, the locals wooed and wowed at the fabulous '58 on the trailer. We stopped for burgers at a local A&W and so happens it was cruise night there. Nice folk in Saskatoon Saskatchewan.

We arrived 3 housr earlier than expected and decide to take a nap. The owner of the 30 shows up, we do the deal and we are off!

We get back early Friday morning and I return the truck. The counter guy asks me where the hell I went in 2 days and I told him we drove about 500 miles. He muses that there is no way anybody could drive 1800 miles in 2 days and that somebody must've recorded the mileage wrong.

SCORE! he charges me for 500 miles and I come away with a $280 dollar rental bill after expecting $2100.

The gods took pity on me that day.

After years of bellyaching, I now own my dream car!

 

Nothing too awful exciting, but when I went to get my 52, there was a small tree that had grown between the bumper and rear qtr panel. We used a bow saw to cut the 1.25" diameter tree off about 4-5" below the bumper. This left the rest of the tree, about 8 ft tall, sticking up from where it was wedged between the body and bumper. We hauled the car, tree and all, back to the house, and within a couple weeks had the motor running and the brakes working, as well as useable tires and 12 volts of juice. Much to the chagin of my Mom, I drive the car around for a couple weeks with the tree still there! I finally cut the tree off a few inches above the bumper. So I had about 12" worth of small tree trunk still there for another few months before I ever got into bustin the rusty bumper bolts loose to get the tree out! I still have that small section of the tree.

 

About 11 Years ago I bought 3 '58 Chevy pickups for $500. The only problem was they were 2 hours away. No problem. I went and rented a tow dolly and went and got the first one. With my '84 S10 w/ the 1.6 4-cylinder. Damn I thought I killed that thing. Took like 4 hours to get home. So for the next one I borrowed a friends Jeep Cherokee w/ the 3.0 straight 6. Damn the thing started swerving all over the place with the truck behind it, I think it had something to do with there not beig a steering lock on the truck, oops. Burst a radiator hose and overheated and about killed the tranny. For the last one I got a friend to go with me that had a fullsize truck. Much better....

 

I was looking through a trader paper about 20 years ago and saw an ad "55 Chrysler runs $200" so I gave the guy a call Does it have a hemi? Yep he says. Can you drive it? Yep I suppose. So I got a friend to go with me and we drove the 60 miles to town. I took a look at it and it did run but the body was terrible both rear quarters was smeared thick with Bondo. I opened the trunk and there was a super Deluxe sized can of bondo that was empty and a large bottle of brake fluid with about a 1/4 left in it. 3 of the 4 tires was pretty thin but they held air, The body was not too important for I was after the engine. Actually it sounded pretty good no reverse but the forward gears worked so no biggie since I was not planning on backing up anyway. So we headed across town and after the third stop light the brake pedal went to the floor pulled over and filled the Master Cylinder and went to K mart and picked up another 2 deluxe sized bottles of brake fluid. Then away we went made it the rest of the way across town having to fill the master cyl Twice. Found out I had 3 applications of the brake before nothing but if I set at a light I could feel the pedal work it's way to the floor. I pulled over and topped the master cyl again and headed home for the 60 mile trip the ol beast ran pretty good other than I did not steer it down the road but it was more like 2 turns to the left and it would go left and then 2 turns to the right and it would start to steer right. Got the ol beast home with out any other Drama until I went to pull it into the Driveway and damn no brakes again I thought I had 2 applications left Go figure I managed to get it coasted into town and stopped it by bumping into a old cottonwood tree. Looking back it was a pretty stupid thing to do but sometimes I get lucky.

 

Here's mine,
I bought my first 1950 Chev pickup from a yuppie couple in Seattle who had scattered the rear end overloading it with trips to the dump (sanitation station for the eastsiders). I picked it up for $700, nice body and interior, refreshed mid/late 50's 235. I call a friend Guy Litts who happens to own a decked out ramp truck/car hauler. He meets me, we hook up the winch, drag....bang the tire rolls 1/4, drag... bang the tire rolls 1/4 and so on, we get it loaded and head for the nearest tavern, drink a pitcher or 3 then on to his house. Since I hadn't thought about how to unload it, we beer googled a plan to have him unhook it and see how fast he can pull out from under it while coasting in reverse. Ever seen a 33 foot long ramp truck wheel hop and throw its driveline(s) out from under the truck - "dumbass", I think he may still blame me.

swdobbs....

 

The continuing story of my 3sp OD...

Brother-in-Law drives across Iowa to pick up transimission from TIM in Western Iowa.

Transmission stays in his garage in Iowa City for 4 months.

BenD pick it up in Iowa City and takes it to Austin, Texas, he then transfers it to Sean (Fatlucky)

It stays at Fatlucky's for a while.

After numerous attempts at a HAMB relay, BenD fetches transmission again and he brings it back to his place in Missouri.

BenD then brings it to the HAMBDrags, where it is transferred to Zman.

The plan is for Zman to transfer it to SteveG to bring down to Dunnellon, FL sometime in the next 2 months.

This transmission will probably have 2000 miles on it with no car around it.

Also, my 46 is driven around town in this configuration every time I got kicked out of a garage/storage unit/shed/stable before I got the front end back together.

 

Here's how I got my '58 Olds, from the web site I had put up when I got it. This car was given to Kustombuilder's little bro after my Deeevorce... I was excited about it at the time, turns out it was more than I could chew at the time. Even now, it would be too much.. maybe in a few years..

Here's the story:

It all started back in November of 2000 when I was at work surfing for cars (in my spare time of course) trying to satisfy my itch for something to work on this winter, to keep me busy and out of trouble. Didn't have much money though, so budget was a concern.. I tried to limit my searches to $1000 or less. What can you get for that kind of money? Not a whole lot.. I thought.

Eventually I came across an ad for a 1958 Olds 88, though I had never seen one before, it had two doors and no pillars, and that sounded good to me. The ad didn't have much information, just year make and model, and it was $1000/best offer. To me that meant "cheap." Plus it was in Ohio, so I didn't have to drive far from Detroit to pick it up. I called Melissa and said, "Uh, looks like we're getting another car.." She even agreed to pay for half (almost), as my Christmas and Birthday presents combined. Sounded great to me!

I called, and the guy said someone from Texas was already sending him a deposit for it. Just the day before I had missed a '56 Lincoln Premiere, so you can imagine my concern over losing another great find. I said "If it doesn't come through, let me know.." Car guys talk, and we continued our talk about this and that, what he does and what I do, and he told me the history of this car. It was a one owner 46000 mile original, untouched vehicle. It still had the plastic on the seats from the factory! He said it was pretty solid, with some rust in the usual spots old American cars rust in.

I asked him where the car came from, and he said he got it from the son of the woman who drove it way back when. Unfortunately, her son went to a nursing home recently (I gather he may not have been all there, also that the dude selling the car got it for nothing) and the car was released from it's dank and dark garage home. He said that the passenger side quarter had some surface rust because the car was exposed on one side to the elements due to a hole in the garage. Mind you, the car still had '73 Ohio plates on it, bias ply snow tires in back, and a tar top battery still under the hood. Talk about a time warp!

With some encouragement (or is it bullying?) from my friends, I called the guy back and said "Fugitabout that guy from Texas, I'm coming to get the car on Saturday with cash." He eventually agreed to my mafia-like terms and I sent him a $200 deposit. The following Saturday, my friend Spencer and I got a tow dolly and headed down to Ohio. Ohhh, scenic Ohio! Needless to say, it was LOOONG 4.5 hours..

We got there and saw the car and it looked real good, until we got around the corner and saw the other side.. (see pic of me with her..). That surface rust made it look real bad.. BUT, it's not, which is the good news. We saw a broken windshield which was not mentioned, and the rear bumper is so screwed up it may not be able to get re-chromed. Spence is thinking (amazing isn't it?) "No way, not for a grand." and I'm looking at him with the same idea in mind. I asked the guy if the dude from Texas was still interested, and I didn't get much of a response. In the immortal words of Homer J. Simpson; "DOH!"

I said, "I don't think we're gonna take it.. it's too rusty and not quite what I thought it would be." Along with the other issues, there were no keys and a broken driver's side vent window (it had been locked in the garage 30 yrs. ago and they had to break into it to get it out). "It's just a matter of me getting my deposit, and we'll be on our way." Again, not much of a response.. doh.. again.

"Why don't you guys come in and take a look at my shop?" This guy is the owner of CATZ Restorations, doing lots of high end concours quality restorations of rare cars. Great guy, fantastic shop.. still didn't want the car for $1000. After our tour was winding down, I decided my deposit was gone and we would head home. Out of nowhere the owner said, "You know, I would hate for you guys to go home empty handed.. why don't you just take it for the $200 dollar deposit?" My first thought was that my deposit was probably a fuel pump for that Mustang GT500 I just walked by. My second thought was "Hell yes!" Spence and I kind of glanced at each other with the same idea in mind; before you know it we were hitching that big bitch up to the van, and we were off like prom dresses.

We both figured the car was worth a grand in parts anyway, so we had nothing to lose. Everything was there including all the stainless, all interior bits, there were no missing parts at all. This car is completely virgin, nobody has ever tried to "restore" it or hot rod it or anything. No repaints, not a lot of real rust (holes), it's very very solid. I think we made out pretty well.

The ride home was fine until we hit I-94 in Detroit, steady at 55 MPH. If you don't live in Detroit or you have not had the pleasure of passing through it, you may not understand our urban road plight. I think the roads in Germany had less potholes after a fleet of B-17's dropped a payload. Needless to say, I was white knuckled and sweaty for a good hour until we hit our side streets. I thought for sure the car would be flying across the expressway, van in tow. When we got home, I told Melissa I got the car for $200 bucks, and promptly refunded her money.. she was quite happy about that.

 

I bought a 56 Chevy pickup for 200.00, I was about 17 years old, got my cousin's truck and trailer to get it home. Going down I-10 I see one of the back fenders let go and go scooting across the interstate, and was centered by a greyhound bus! Some nerdy guy in a Honda Civic comes up beside me blowing his horn and waving. Of course I had seen what had happened but refused to look over at the guy, so he keeps blowing the stupid horn. Finally he gives up and I got off the interstate a quick as I could, figuring he would get the cops involved.

 

[ QUOTE ]
...or getting it home (any falling off the trailer stories?).


[/ QUOTE ]

You must have talked to Blake about me this past weekend!

 

I'm going to pick up some tin later this week. Maybe I'll have a story to tell... although I really hope not!

 

[ QUOTE ]
The continuing story of my 3sp OD...

The plan is for Zman to transfer it to SteveG to bring down to Dunnellon, FL sometime in the next 2 months.


[/ QUOTE ]

StevieG picked it up Sunday.... So it's on it's way...

 

I bought two vickys sight unseen,,,,,,brought the pieces home in a dump truck,,,,,,,,,,in 1977.

Funny how that doesn't sound strange nowadays! HRP

 

I don't know how bad of a story this is to some people but I think it's a decent story. It all started with me finding a '55 chevy on ebay, it sounded good so I called the owner and got all of the information. So I start working out the details, looking up a trailer and truck, money, storage, etc. Turns out my buddy that I work with had just bought his '99 Suburban the weekend before and it had a good trailer hitch, so there is the truck and he's even up for a road trip to see how it does.

So me and the owner strike up our deal and I find out more info about the car, not so good info that is, like the fact that the body isn't bolted to the frame and I have to haul back enough extra parts to make 3/4 of another '55 chevy. I talk it over with my buddy and we decide that we don't think it will be a problem, so we set up the date and figure out who is going.

The day comes and we're expecting to be home in a decent amount of time because it's only a 3 1/2 - 4 hour ride. Me, my buddy, my girlfriend, and my mom are all going to pick up this car on my parents anniversary. The day starts off early at U-haul for an hour with the guy trying to wire in the trailer lights...it wasn't working, so we lied and said the signals were working even though no matter which signal you used all the trailer lights flashed. Good enough.

So we're on the road, everything is going good and then we get to the guy's house and talk to him for a while. Then we're on our way to pick up spare parts. This took 4 hours on a very cold day, this guy is a talker. Then we get to the car, there goes another 4 hours of talking.

Now it's dark outside and he just now worries about filling the tires up...big surprise, he can't get the beads seated and no gas stations have air stations that are operational. An hour later we start loading the car, and the rear tires are barely fitting on the trailer (too wide). So the car gets cable winched onto the trailer, and after the money exchanges hands, we're on our way. Yes!

In the next four hours of airing up the tires at every gas station, making sure the body is still on the frame via the ratchet straps and sitting in a Suburban with 4 '55 chevy doors, a fender, and extra glass, I almost had a heart attack at 20 years old. The tie straps came loose because the tires lost air and traffic was thick. And as we're about 15 minutes from home, the tie straps started snapping on the expressway. I've never experienced the pavement shaking when a semi cruises by at 70 mph, and I don't ever want to again. We somehow survive that and end up cable winching the car off the trailer and then pulling the trailer out from under the car at midnight, all this and pushing the car in the garage and a cop car pulls up a little bit down the alley. Everybody is tired and doesn't want to deal with it. After a minute of him sitting there, he backs out and heads on his way. And the car has been in the garage ever since.

I'm real worried about it's first drive...

Sorry for the length, those are just the most important details.

-jeremy

 

This might go a little long, but I'll always remember it(and it ain't over--yet)

I'm not much of a social person, but I used to let my ex-girlfriend drag me out to visit her friends on occasion, and one trip was real memorable. These people had a huge farm and the old guy that owned it was sort of a car guy wannabe--restored RPU, 55 F100 and some old tractors---nothin for sale, mind you, except for an old CJ5 Jeep he nearly begged me to make an offer on. Price was fair, but I didn't need it...
"Hey, I've got an old Chevy in the barn I'll GIVE YA if you buy the jeep!" Well, hell, a free car---I gotta take a look. We ride a mile down a rough-ass gravel road thru the middle of the farm to the barn where I see the nose of a 59 Chevy(!) There, with it's original turquoise paint under so much dust and bird shit that it looked brown, sat a Belair 4dr hardtop buried up to nearly the rockers with dirt from the groundhog holes all around
"It was my brother's car, but he died a few years ago" the guy says("Christine" reference number one)
I took a breathe..."I'll take it---er,uh the Jeep, yeah, and this old car too"

A week later I back truck and trailer down to the barn to get it. Dig a hole, jack up each side, change wheels, etc. Hook a chain from car to trailer, then slip the 3 speed shifter into neutral. Pull her out in the sun for the first time in 20 years Everything's going smoothly. Jockey the truck and trailer around, put down the ramps and hook up the come-along. Start crankin'. Just as the front wheels reach the top of the ramp, the car ROLLS forward(UP the dovetail! I SWEAR!)until the rear wheels touch the ramp---all this while on FLAT GROUND!!! Girlfriend and I look at each other slack-jawed ( I was thinkin about "Christine" again ) Oh shit.....
I effortlessly ratcheted the car the rest of the way on to the trailer, then hooked the chain tie-downs and cinched her down. Ready to roll.
The road out from the barn was uphill, about a quarter-mile of rutted gravel HELL, and my first try got me about halfway before the truck lost traction. No choice, but to back up and try again. But FASTER this time! I hammered the throttle and off we went---gravel flyin', truck, trailer, and 59 bouncing ALL over the place. I guess all the commotion got the attention of the folks that lived there---they were standing at the top of the hill when we finally scratched our way to the top, so I stopped to thank 'em and clean the gravel off my trailer As I got out of the truck, I looked at the 59......and saw BOTH front tie-downs UNHOOKED....and the car still in neutral!!!!(insert Twilight Zone music here ) no doubt she was going home WITH ME!
I traded her off in a package with my 59 El Camino 3 or 4 years ago, but got her back in trade for a ZF trans summer before last.

Some things are just meant to be, I guess

 

Back around 1963, 15yrs old, been going to dirt track races with my girlfriends father, tell him I want to build a hot rod. We go driving all over back roads on Sunday afternoons finally find a 26-27 T coupe body in a farmers yard. Has tin on top, bricks holding it down, no glass, broomsticks throught windows, using it for a chicken house! Buy it for $10, haul it home. Very solid body. GF father has a friend who has a shop @ his home, welder, liked going to races with us, gave him a model A frame, 40 Ford front axle, 54 Ford rearend and an Olds motor( Reggie, I got the motor from Carroll) & old cast iron hydramatic transmission. Showed him a picture of a zed rear frame, bulldog spring perch in a magazine, how I wanted the body channeled over the frame, he went to cutting and welding. After he basically got it put together I towed it about 16 miles home with a home made towbar made from 2x4s and angle with a friend steering with a pair of vice grips clamped where the steering wheel should be. Amazes me that I still live.

 

About 5 years ago. Working on my 49 cadillac chopped top slant back. Told a buddy I was looking for a 55/56 pontiac rear bumper. He told me a guy he knew had one on a farm. I called the guy and bought the whole car for $50.00 bucks.

Told another buddy I needed help to load this car and he was to meet me when he got off work at the farm. sooo,I go out this gravel road and turn left on the other gravel, and low and behold, there sits a 55/56 pont in a field. While waiting for him, I air up the tires and get it ready to go.

Sitting on the trailer waiting for him when this guy shows up and asked what I was doing. Told him I had bought that pontiac and was waiting for a friend to help load it. YOU guessed it. He said "Not that car, it's not for sale!"

Explained I had bought a pontiac from the city manager and he said it was on this farm. He said, "That guy's farm is 1/2 mile on up the road."

My buddy showed up, and we went on up the road, and guess what? There were 2 55/56 pontiac's on the same gravel road about 1/2 mile apart??? Whod-a-thunkit???

Almost loaded the wrong car. Had a lot of explaining to do.

That's my story, and I'm stickin to it. Tommy Mc

 

'bout 3 years ago, when I went to pick up my '55, my friend and I took his truck and trailer. The car was all apart, and we stuck most of the interior and stuff in the bed of thetruck, and since we had no more room, we stuck the front fenders back on the car. I did one side, my buddy did the other. I asked him if he had the 4 fender bolts in tight, as we had a long way to go, and he said yeah, they ain't comin' loose. I neglected to ask him if he used the big fender lock washers. Sure as hell, we get about 200 miles into the journey on the way home, and a truck drives past us, honks his horn, and points to the back of the truck. I look in the mirror just in time to see the fender that my friend put on without washers do a pirouette about 20 feet in the air on Southbound I-5, land, and promptly get nailed by an 18-wheeler. Went back and got the fender, hoping it could be saved, but no dice. I do have the e-pay collectble of the decade now, though- my friend used to be the bass player for the Ted Nugent Band, so I had him sign it "Rob Grange, Ted Nugent Band, 1971-1982" so I now have a "signed Fender" from him- It ain't a Stratocatser, or a Telecaster, but it is sure as hell a Fender....

 

!962. We were all about 14, penniless and with no useful skills or guidance or approval in sight. I had about 2/3's of a deuce tudor, my friend had a V8 60 engine in a Henry J (don't ask...), which he hated.
On every family trip of any sort, I continually begged whoever was driving to use the smallest, most rural roads to be found, part of my endless and futile search for '32 parts that I couldn't have afforded anyhow. One day I spotted a junked out '33 fordor in Gum Spring, VA, poulation probablt about 4. Hmmmmmmm...'33 parts would ALMOST fit a '32, and I was an optimist. The V8 60 would look a lot better in what was left than in a Kaiser. Heavy wheeling and dealing enabled us to purchase the rusted hulk...$11.00, including good '33 and '34 grills...
The car lacked a few key pieces for transport, including the entire front and rear axles and suspension, but we were young, strong, and stupid.
My friend somehow persuaded his mother to tow a rented trailer down there behind her station wagon. We borrowed the neighborhood chain hoist, the only lifting tool available in our entire suburban universe. It was an old clunker with several bent chain links that had to be individually persuaded to go through the sheaves.
Axles?? No problemo! We jacked up the deuce and tossed its suspension on the trailer.
Physics lesson du jour: The easiest way for one person to lift a deuce front end is to stand in the middle of the wishbone and pick it up by the tie rod. The weight of the axle will then cause the entire device to rotate in your hands, bringing the ball of the wishbone smartly into the back of your skull at high velocity. Stand up, shake head, try a different way. You can't damage a teenager.
Hours of backbreaking work with a single scissors jack got the thing pried out of the mosquito infested yard and sorta on wheels. Hours more of the same, aided by the pitying and wondering locals, got the thing dragged onto the trailer where it sat crookedly in a pool of blood, sweat, and tears. We got home at 3 AM. I don't think my friend's mother ever spoke to me again, and I wonder if she ever spoke to him again...
Next day's agenda: Put the works back under the deuce. No problem.

 

How's that? Not me but Rainer from Vienna.
Mart.

 

OK. My #3 son finds a 41 Chevy PU in BFE, no in Iowa, and the price is right ($100). Asks me do I want it. I say sure. Anyway, the plan was for him to tow it on his trailer to some half way point and me to rent a trailer and meet him. This is real cool until his rent a house gets sold and he has to move. Well I told him to find me a go to hell truck and he told me he would sell me his trailer for $500. He calls me back and has found a 85 Ford 4speed 6 banger for $500 that needs brakes. I say OK and wire him the money. I fly out there, he meets me, and I go to see my ride home. Well the Ford was a rust bucket, you could drop a battery through the floorboards, and see through the sides of the bed, but seemed to run OK. We wired it up for the trailer and loaded the 41. Well off I go. The tires on the 41 all have leaks, so they have to be aired to keep the tie downs tight. I miss them at one stop and the truck comes forward to the front rail on the trailer, puting a bunch of tongue weight on. I stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere, flatten all the tires and winch that sucker down tight. Things went pretty well from that point on except for a lot of wind in the Columbia River Gorge. I still a times have dreams of that Art Deco grill in the rear view mirror.

 

The old car gods smiled on me one day a few years ago. I was in the market for an old car of some type. No specific idea. I followed this 58 ford custom cab around my area that had been for sale. I setup a deal with the guy and when I went to pick it up with cash in had he decided not to sell it. That was thursday night. I literally had a wad of cash in my pocket when I drove from Los Angeles to a small town in Kern county off the Kern river to drop off a porsche motor to be rebuilt. As I talked with the machineist I joked about whether or not he had any old hot rods laying around. His response was "Actually come over here to the garage". I have expected some old rust bucket, but when he opened the door I saw my current 34 pickup, chopped and partially done, sitting in a whole pile of parts and junk. He had gotten it in trade for some work he did and the previous owner was going to make a billet rod out of it. It had huge aluminum wheels and green and purle flames and it was all there but in sad/ugly shape. He was going to take it to Pomona, but with the big Billet wheels on it, it did not fit on his trailer! Lucky for me. He asked if I wanted to make an offer and couldnt believe it when I pulled cash out of my pocket. He was moving shops so he needed cash that day and we struck a sweet ass deal. He said there was one stipulation though. He needed it moved asap. I left and the next day had a trailer and truck up there and I towed it home. When I picked it up he said "A few months work and you'll be able to drive it." I got home saturday night at about 8:00 and after 12 hours of solid non stop work I drove it Sunday morning to get breakfast. Now channeled and setup in a more traditional custom fashion, I drive it everywhere I can. Another car saved from the billet death.....

 

Mine's not this wild as this roll over..., but My 1940 Willys Coupe passed me on an icey bridge over the Mississippi River.

It seemed a little odd that a car was passing me on that bridge backwards and I suddenly realized that it was my Willys strapped on a trailer.

The damn trailer hitch lock broke and the chains flung my car around like "Cracking the Whip"...!

I did a complete 360 degree spin in the middle of the bridge and didn't hit a rail or anything...!

I crawled the car to the side, reattatched the trailer and wrapped a wire in the lock hole and drove another 5 hours through a Blizzard back home.

Got the Heart going pretty damn good.

 

This isn't strictly speaking on topic,it's about taking one to the bone yard for a few extra bucks.

Back in the 70's pops and I had this nappy old feild stripped 56 chev 4 door.No front sheet metal no motor or tran dash, 2 doors missing .basically it was picked clean and we wanted to get it to the scrap yard and our regular 36 chev scrap truck was broke.So the question arose how are we gonna get this damn thing across the scales.
About this time we noticed the chevy still had a cheesey hitch on the back.So being the rocket scientist we were (are) we thoght well we've got the deuce and a tow bar,we'll hook up the tow bar and put it on the back of the 56 and push it to the scales.
Sooo.... we get 'er all hooked up and head off for standard iron & metal.
Here's where it gets screwy.
We pull up to the stop light at 4th and Hudson and stop for the red.A cop pulls up at the light that crosses our path and looks over ,he can see the chevy sans front end and motor etc, but he can here the unmistakeable rumble of an uncorcked 10 sec. race motor.We can see him looking around trying to figure it out but his angle is bad and he can't see the 32.
Soo... we sit through a stop light and he in his confused state sits through a light and we finally get tired of waitin' and know the inevitable ticket is comin' so when the light changes pop juices up the old deuce and away we go through the intersection and the poor cop is still looking pretty puzzled and rather than turn on his lights and having to write a book he just scatches and shakes his head and waves us on by and goes on about his bussiness.But it sure was fun to see him tryin' to figure out how that car with no motor or sheet metal is makin all this noise.
The 56 netted us 62.50 over the scales and we had our money for the day no worse the wear and got a good laugh to boot.
T.OUT

 

last week my friend? (not a car guy) bought a 65 coupe devile at paso (the really rotted one in black and brown primer with midwest style rust) he asked me to drive it home 65 miles.of corse i said yes this will be exiting chalange, it had only 1 good wheel cylinder 2 were shot and 1 wasnt to great well we took off to kraigans to ad 2 quarts of oil power stering fluid and to check the other vitals before the ride home we took off about 1/2 hour later and the thing was going great till the thermastat stuck closed where icouldnt pull over and blew a head gasket any way we left to go home for the night and the new owner my friend? has yet to get a wrecker to pick it up i told him i would help him out and he said he would take care of it!!!!! oh well waste of his 800 bucks

 

Borrowed a friend's Ford truck to pick up a free '72 Road Runner the guy swore would be a great AND EASY restoration for the magazine. "It's only about 2 hours from work" he said.
The catalytic converter on the truck plugged up, and it took me six hours and three tanks of gas to finally get there. First he tells me "Well, that 2 hours is at about 100mph in my Dodge Omni!" Thanks. That woulda been good info to have before leaving on a Tuesday night. Then he says "The car is at a friend's house. He's about an hour away." More good info to have.
2 plugged-up cat hours later, we roll into this Mopar guy's place at 1am to get this cream puff. After doing the normal bench racing, I find out A) He's a die-hard Mopar Guy. B) He's on permanent disability from the Post Office, for--no shit--anger management problems and mental distress.
We walk through the stockade fence to the cream puff, and he says "I haven't mowed the grass in a while, but there it is." Grass is at the top of the fenders. And oh yeah, it's 1am!
We drop the trailer, hook up a chain and pull it out of the ruts it's created for itself. As I climb under the nose (trying to ignore the rust scales falling like snow, and the skeeters swarming) he says "watch out for rattle snakes. And I think I saw some Black Widows around it, too."
We get it out into the house floodlights, and the gift-giver starts to talk about how it's not as bad as it looks--most of the interior is there, and all the glass is in it. Not in the window openings, but in it. I knew the engine and 4spd were gone before agreeing to take it, but when he said the 8 3/4 was still in it, I kinda assumed the diff would be there. Dumb me.
We get the thing on the trailer (no Black Widows, but some very irritated wasps) and I head back home at 2:30am.
This was all in the summer, and Florida was in a drought. I ended up driving through a forest fire that closed the road down about an hour after I went through--because it was jumping the 4-lane highway.
I finally get home at 6:30am--three tanks of gas later, smelling like a bon fire and exhausted.
I wake up the next morning, look at my prize, and discover that in Florida, a car left outside in the weeds with no glass in it will rot from the inside out. The dash--and all it's supports--rusted away but the dash top was still there. The roof's inner structure was so rotted that there was no place to attach sun visors. All the glass was fogged, the bucket seats were un-usuable. I restored the wheels for a story and traded them for something, lost the rear end housing to a shitty employee (who in turn lost it completly), and salvaged the tail lights (which went to a reader). Finally, a very nice man with a ratty old pickup truck and a VERY big propane tank and Victor torch took it away. In 3x3 sections stacked in the back of his truck.
-Brad