Hot Rods Best way to move a locked solid car

I bought an Austin A40 Devon for cheap a little while ago. I'd like to make some sort of custom out of it. Its a located about 1/2hr drive away from me. I have a truck but would need to rent a trailer. Now the wheels are locked solid on both axles. I happen to have a set of front suspension bits in good shape for the front. On the driver side I was able to loosen various bolts so I suspect I could swap in the field. The passenger side must have sat in a puddle or something. The front suspension is a blob shaped mess of rust. No way they are coming off except by cutting. The rear rim is even rusted through.



The seller could probably load onto a trailer with some heavy equipment but then I'll stuck with what to do on the home side (average double garage) with no heavy equipment. Leaving it on the trailer for days while I strip down is tough since its a rental trailer.

So how to move this thing? I could live without the chassis if needed but would like to bring the body home. So I could strip off doors, hoods, etc to lighten it. Then cut off the mounts and pop the body in the back of a truck or onto a trailer? I'd have to use a cutting torch or rent a generator with my angle grinder and reciprocating saw. Reasonable? Bound for failure? Any better ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

winch it on a trailer, then when you get home, chain it to a tree and pull the trailer out from under it.

or call a wrecker service

 

Front end is already in the air, back up and drag it on. When home Drag it off. Could lift it while on trailer and put some rollers under it depending on ramps. Otherwise, when on ground at home toss it on furniture rollers and heave ho!

 

Take a torch and cut the drums just outside the shoulder on the flat surface where the wheels bolt on and cut a notch in the outer part to remove that part and then you just have hubs but no rusted brakes. Have plenty of fire suppression gear there though.

A big hammer and a serious chisel would do the same thing if you don't mind some serious work or an angle grinder and cut off disk would work too.

Or load it, take it home and lift it up and drive out from under it.

 

I agree with the fuzzy one .I would just chain it to a tree and pull the trailer out slowly.Are you just going to use the body? Bruce.

 

Have 2 planks on the trailer when he sets it down. Then pull the whole thing off with another truck, or do the tree deal.

Very light car, easy to skid it off the trailer

 

Front end is already in the air, back up and drag it on. When home Drag it off. Could lift it while on trailer and put some rollers under it depending on ramps. Otherwise, when on ground at home toss it on furniture rollers and heave ho!

 

Is this a trick question?

 

Is your driveway paved? Skid it off the trailer with 4X4s and old plywood. Put some furniture dollies under it and roll them on either the pavement or on plywood. It's amazing what you can do if you apply enough leverage and hate to a task.

 

Put roofing tin under the front[on the trailer] back under as far as u can then push or pull it rest of the way. Pull it off . Been there done that.

 

Easy as a 'slam-bang'. Just horizontal leverage. Like Lewk said...some wood. 4' X 8' plywood sheet, used or new: Perfect ramp for unloading.
Rope or chain: as long as you have a 'static line', cable even.
Back into your garage, attach a 2" X 6" board to 4 vertical wall studs, using 4" construction (deck) screws. Attach rope, chain or cable to car, tie onto the 2" X 6".
Now, just pull the trailer out from under the little car...slowly, no big 'Jerk'. Leave the garage on its foundation, if poss.

 

Yes - concrete driveway. My wife would prefer I don't bugger it up

 

Dave, do NOT let someone else use heavy equipment to load it (unless you REALLY know them)! Learned that lesson the hard way on my F-100! Was going to drag it up on the trailer (no front suspension), but the seller swore he had loaded and unloaded it several times using a bucket on a front end loader. he ended up caving in BOTH doors. I wanted to kill him, would have made him give me some of my money back for damages, but I only paid salvage price for it, so there wasn't much to refund.

 

Easiest way is hire a rollback to get it. That will take just a little while and no work on your part.You save the trailer rental fee and have more time to dismantle it in your driveway instead of the hassle of moving it.

 

I loaded a motor home (with frozen brakes) with home made dollies and planks, so that little thing would go on and off a trailer in about 2 minutes

 

If your having trouble with this part, we're going to be hearing a lot more questions from you once you start trying to make something out of it. Just saying.
The Wizzard

 

Get 4 old dog dish hubcaps that you don't care to save. Put under each wheels and it will drag.

 

yep, I agree with the dolly guys. I made a heavy duty set out of old pallet racking and put 6 dolly wheels underneath each set. I have a '48 Packard hearse that is locked up and I can push it around my shop all by myself and that thing ways around 6,000 pounds.

Drag it on the trailer with a winch seeing it is lifted up in front, take home, jack up car put dolly underneath each corner and off she rolls and now you can push it in and out of your garage as you work on it.

 

Get a set of these dollies at Princess Auto.
http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/2-pc-vehicle-dollies/A-p8535924e

Find some wheels that will bolt on the car and roll it on and off the trailer. With these, one person can move a car like that easily on a level concrete floor. You may need a winch to get it on a trailer or a healthy goon squad.

 

A light car like that, 4 Harbor freight dollies will do it. about $20 each and already made. If you have that option in the Great North.

 

Believe it or not, the engine, suspension etc of that car survived until the 1980s in various Austin and BMC cars including the MGB. Suspension, rear axle, engine and trans from an MGB can be transplanted with minimal modifications. If you can find a rusty MGB parts car you are in business. Since they are about the most popular English collector car, they are well supported for parts and you can get anything you need for them.

Uprate your Austin with MGB rack and pinion steering, suspension, and disc brakes plus the power train and you can have a real fun car.

Then restore the body, give it a sharp paint job and some cool wheels and you are done.

 

Another way to move it is to find some wheels that will bolt on, even throw away spares if they will fit. Put planks on the trailer, lube with shampoo and slide it up with a winch or come along. Get a few bottles of shampoo at the dollar store for a $1 buck or $2.

 

Get him to load it on the trailer, but give him the money AFTER it's loaded and makes it ok. to get it off the trailer I would think to rent a big engine hoist and some lifting straps, you need to get it just above the trailer and drive out from under it. The best way would be a Gantry crane if you can rent one. Lastly to get it around after it's off the trailer, get some wheel dollies like mentioned above.

 

1/2" thick 4' X 8' sheets of plywood, and a couple/few bottles of liquid dish soap, both to get it on and off the trailer. It'll work just like a kids Slip-N-Slide. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

What's that thing weigh, 2500 lbs? Put some good hard aired to max PSI tires on, a little grease on the trailer ramps and winch her on. Chain it to another vehicle at home and pull the trailer out from under it easy.

I've done it before with bigger turds than that.

 

A flat bed tow. Those guys are really resourceful. You will be on the road in 20 minutes.

 

Hey, Dave;
I did last year, just what you want to do now. Even though mine was a 55 Stude, the idea is the same - & mr48 has the right idea. I used a 2-3lb hammer, a *very* sharp chisel w/a 'chicken-stick' (chisel-holder), a 1/4" bit in a battery-powered drill, a floor jack, & some "manual" labor. Even though I drilled a few holes around the wheel hub area prior to using the chisel, I found the drum metal to be fairly soft, & thin in that area. I did all four wheels, took a couple of hours. Bolted another set of rollers on, & literally, away we went. Could & did, push it in a grass field. Loading was easy, just be careful on the unload, & use some large blocks aways behind the rear wheels to stop runaway.

Have done the skid-it-on-n-off the trailer deal, too, more than I care to remember. Since my trailer has ribbed edges that don't allow stuff to skid easily, I used two layers of cardboard(under each stuck wheel), resulting in easy skidding. If it's wet out, use plastic instead. If you use the soap idea, just mix w/water 1st. Straight soap will get sticky quickly. I've used straight water under stuck tires, & that works ok. Soapy mix would be better. The furniture roller works well on hard 'n' smooth surfaces. Need plywood under it, if ground is soft, or not smooth concrete. You can use another truck/car to anchor, or even pull, the new-find off of the trailer, but be sure to have help that knows what to do, or will at least listen to you. & again, have big blocks/logs/whatever, to stop the new-find from trying to mate w/wifes' car/truck... .

There are lots of good suggestions on this thread. Use what you can & what's available to you.
HTH.
Marcus...

 

Shampoo or dish soap works great for locked up wheels to slide around on. That's the way all the flatbed drivers did it when I drove a tow truck.

 

did this to a international straight truck to get it on a lowboy with a beaver tail moves easier than you think , but work quick as soon as the soap is down it starts to swell the wood , pulling it on is the hard part , getting the thing off was easy we hired a wrecker to pull it off as we put skates under the wheels to move it on the concrete

 

As was already said your going to rent a trailer better way rollback! But first get your self a dolly to unload it on to. Don't make it any harder on your self. Roger