Event Coverage Funniest, sorriest, worst thing ever happen while going and picking up a car?

Bringing Wayne's 53 Chevy home
During the winter of 1961, my buddy, Wayne, and I, were visiting car club friends in Kamloops, in the BC interior, approximately 72 miles away. It came up in a conversation that one of them wanted to sell a partially finished 53 Chev 2 dr, with a lot of excellent body work already completed, but the 54 front was removed and there was no engine. The price was right, so Wayne made an agreement on the car. He was the proud new owner of a very nice car, but he now had to find a way to get it home.
The next weekend, four of us piled into the cab of his pickup, and headed for Kamloops to tow it home using a chain. The temperature was around 10 degrees F, but that was of no concern to us at the time. It was a nice day, and we didn't feel there would be any problems. The car didn't even have plates, but that didn't turn out to be the issue. We placed the front end pieces in the back of the truck, attached the chain, and with our two friends in the truck, and the two of us in the car, we started on our way home.
We traveled about 15 miles, when the two of us realized that we hadn't thought the whole thing through. Neither of us was dressed warmly enough to sit for two hours in an arctic wind tunnel. By the time we had gone that short distance, we were already frozen like winter road kill, and were desperate to get the attention of our friends in the truck so that we could warm up, but we had no horn, no lights, and we sure as hell weren't going to stick our arms out the window in an attempt to get their attention.
For 50 miles, we froze our butts off, praying that the guys in the truck would look in the mirror just once! It wasn't until we got to a long, steep, downhill stretch, that we had the means to get their attention. It turned out that on one long, straight, 8% hill about 25 miles from home, the car could actually accelerate, and in desperation we decided to attempt to pull up beside the truck. Wayne let the car accelerate, turned out into the oncoming lane, and it wasn't long before we were door to door with the truck. It seemed like forever, but eventually, one of our buddies looked over, and when they realized that it was the car they were towing, the shock of seeing us beside them, caused them to just about jump out of the truck.
At least what we did, finally got them to stop long enough for us to reduce the effects of our sitting motionless, in what felt like a freezer compartment, for over an hour.
The remainder of the journey home was uneventful, and the car was ready for it's new life.

Bob

 

Yep, Old Wolf, you have a neat collection there. It would be fun to root around in all that keen stuff. Looking at that old iron brought back a lot of memories.
There is very little of the old iron left around here. What didn't go to the crusher, went to the tin worm.
Bob

 

Back in '76 or so, my buddy Don wanted me to help him move his VW pickup (the one that the sides fold down) from Macon, Ga. to Columbus, Ga. about 100 miles. It wasn't 10 degrees or even close but it was winter time. The VW ran so I drove him to Macon and we headed back with me following him. He pulled off the road and said he couldn't get any warm air, you know how those VW heater ducts were, and he was freezing. He couldn't shut them off either. Me being a nice guy says, 'let's take turns and I'll drive the VW for awhile'. He was happy to hear me say that, so we took off again. After maybe 10 miles, I decided I was too cold, and after all it is Don's truck. So I pulled over and told Don it was his turn, he drove it all the way home. I guess I'm not such a nice guy after all. Lol.

 

Sometimes, a guy just has to think of his own survival.
Bob

 

One of my cousins and I were out early one Sunday mourning and stopped to see an uncle who happened to own a wrecking yard, he asked us if we wanted to go pick up a car he had bought the night before and both of us being young gear heads said sure so he handed us the keys to his wrecker and off we went. The car was a rusty old 50s chev and parked nose in in a blackberry thicket, you could just see the rear bumper. I crawled under and hooked the rear axle and we lifted the rear of the car and drug it out of the thicket, tied off the wheel and proceeded our on the highway. I looked back and saw the door on my side had swung open so I told my cousin to pull over so we could close it. he said no need, watch this and hit the brakes . The car came unhooked and turned over in the road, luckily it was early and there was no traffic. We put the car back on it's wheels cleaned up the mess and finished the tow with out further incident.
When we got back to the yard our uncle scratched his head looking at it and said it was dark when he bought it but thought it was in better shape.

 

I got about a dozen towing stories including the very first time I towed a car for a buddy.
Rick and I were juniors in high school and we're both car crazy. I had a buncha old fords at home and my school/work car is a 56 Olds convertible. Rick made a deal with a farmer to buy his first car- a field car...a 38 chevy two door. On Saturday we loaded up a chain and went to get the car with my Olds. Walked around the car and it looked pretty good.....all tires up and the brakes even worked so we chained it up and I towed him out of the field and stopped to ask if everything was ok....Rick says ok so far so we headed out onto the hiway and I'm watching in my mirror when something catches my eye. It's the left front wheel from the 38 passing me! Look in the mirror to see Rick frantically waving so I pull to the shoulder and stop carefully. We found the wheel with the hubcap still on it..popped the cap off to find the wheel bearing nut but no outer bearing!!! The farmer evidently needed it for another car an put the hubcap back on.
Left the car on the shoulder and drove to town for a new bearing [this was 1965...easy to find a 38 chevy wheel bearing back then] Bolted it all back together and finished the tow job. I swear, almost every tow job has had something go wrong ever since.

 

I have a few funny stories of towing cars, like towing one with a garden hose, flat towing a race car roller through the city with a great big "brakes are for pussies" painted across the rear etc etc.

But the most embarrassing time was when I agreed to tow a friend's newly acquired model A coupe from it's country residence to it's new city home. I had just finished eating a half dozen let go of my eggos with plenty of syrup to get them to slide down waffles when my buddy showed up. We hit the road to rualville, got there, backed in, looked at his collection of cars in his big pole barn and then all of a sudden I hear a sound from my belly like a hippopotamus in heat followed by a sharp pain...oh boy
All of a sudden my forehead has sweat beads rolling off of it, I'm feeling a bit warm and that mating call is letting loose again, I ask the guy if he has a bathroom in the shop, he says no and I ask if he minded if I went behind the building. He says what ya got to do, I'm thinking can't you see that I've obviously got explosive diarrhea coming on, I just want to dig a hole and take a shit man !
My buddy is looking at me like he can't believe it, hell I can't believe it, the guy says just come to the house. He's moving along at a snail's pace, I'm clinching my cheeks, sweat beads on my head and the hippos are coming.
We finally get to the house, he says let me just make sure my wife isn't in there and he steps inside, why didn't he just let me dig a hole and go, what's taking him so long, come on man ! He invites me in and says it's right down the hall, I can't get in there fast enough, I'm shutting the door with one hand and unbuckling with the other, damn it's hot in here but I make it on the thrown exploding the hippos out of my system. It's about that time I realize why it's so hot, his wife was just about to step into the shower when she was rudely interrupted, it was a damn steam bath, my stomach is killing me, really sweating now. I'm looking on the wall for a switch for an exhaust fan, there's a row of switches so I start flipping them, what the hell, heat lamps, who has heat lamps in the bathroom, it's already 900 degrees in here, ugh mating calls again, why didn't he just let me dig a hole. I get the fan going, it's hot, it's humid, it's stinky, this poor guy's wife has to come back in here, I feel like shit while taking a shit, where's the cleaning supplies.
My buddy calls the guy a few days later to get some forgotten parts, they setup a time and then he says "you're not bringing that friend back...right"...ha ha ha

 

Its my way of enjoying the hobby. Its not necessary for me to have a show car or a super fast car ect. or to do anything with then other than collect them from where there setting & rotting and move them to our place to set & rot. Its different not something everyone can do. You gotta have the proper location , Neighbors and most important a understanding & agreeable wife. The old Iron got scarcer here too after the price of scrap was high.

 

I think you would be better off looking in New Mexico. I used to drive truck and went thru ther on my way to the valley to get produce. Lots of rust free iron in New Mexico.

 

If you need to flat tow and don't have a tow bar. get two old tires. cut holes in the sidewalls 6 holes per tire. three per side. two directly across from each other and another 90 degrees. fasten them like a figure 8 in the middle. and then fasten the others holes to the rear bumper of the tow rig and front bumper of the vehicle being towed.. Use American made barbed wire to fasten it all together. Just to make it really fun get a big old caddy for a tow vehicle and rig three vehicles behind you on those non approved" tow bars". Works great and you think why haven't I thought of this before . Its easy peasy then the fun really happens when the state police stop you. You education begins and you learn all about non approved tow bars. You remark about how you have log chains attached for safety chains will make the LEO smile and almost Laugh. However he will keep on writing and mumbles safety chains?

 

That is what makes this hobby interesting, everyone has a different way of enjoying it.
Bob

 

A buddy tells me of an old 30s IHC pickup down in Southern Nebraska so we both clocked out and I grabbed another buddy's trailer and we split. The guy wanted $125 for it and I jumped on it. Had to air up the tires and cut the drums off with a torch to get it to move and we loaded it on the trailer...cinched it down with chains and binders. My mistake was hooking to the little truck's frame, not the axles.
I headed for home, towing with my subframed, Pontiac powered 79 ford shortbox. Things were going just great for about 20 miles when I felt the back of my Ford raise up while just starting up a hill....looked in the mirror to see the IHC coasting backward on the trailer!!!! Oh, shit! The little pickup was totally loose on that trailer and we're headed up a hill! I lightly hit the brake pedal, just enough to bring the IHC forward on the trailer but I was loosing speed. If I lost all speed before cresting that hill, it was gonna be bad. I just made the crest and headed down the other side.....immediately pulled over and re-hooked to the truck's axles...said a little prayer of thanks to the Big Guy.
That little pickup had bounced around on the trailer, on it's suspension until the binders popped open...another lesson learned about wiring the binder handles down.
I sold it to my buddy, Jimmy and this is what it looks like now...crappy photo, sorry.

 

Not sure what the story was here... but I found this wheel and tire on in the center median on 69 highway, Christmas Eve!









Bones

 

Got two stories, both from when I was racing stock cars back in the '70s. When I built my first car I got the car done but had no way to get it to the track and no money left.. Hey, I was 16 years old, planning ahead wasn't really my strong suit. Finally got a line on a really cheap trailer. I went and looked at it and it had broken in half right between the axles and been welded back together-badly. All four tires pointed in a different direction. But it was REALLY cheap so I bought it. I soon figured out that up to about 45mph it was fine, any higher speed and sooner or later it would just snap completely sideways on you. You might run faster for 30 or forty miles but sooner or later it would get you. Being a broke teenager I had lots of broke teenager friends that would want to use my trailer. Every time I would explain it's unusual handling and warn them not to exceed 45. Every single one would come back white faced and explain how they were running along at 60mph and all the sudden they were sideways in the middle of the road. Nobody ever borrowed it twice.
After the first year I sold the trailer to some other sucker and bought a '69 Chevy C50 grain truck that had been rolled. We jacked the roof back up and got the doors to close, although you could see a lot of daylight around them. Several gallons of bondo and a gallon of implement enamel and it looked alright in the dark from fifty feet away. I hadn't gotten any kind of bed or box with it so I built my own ramp truck bed for it. Since I was still broke I decked it with plywood. I was just like the big boys now, no crappy trailer for me. Loading up to come home first night at the track it was late enough that there was a lot of dew on the ramps and the infield grass. Plywood was really slick. Tried to drive up onto the truck, get about half way and the tire start to spin. Back down and try again with a little more speed, same result. The procedure for anybody else at this point would be winch it up on there but, broke teenager, no winch. My solution was back of and get a BIG run at it. Up the ramps, jumped the front tires over the wheel stops and drove right into the back if the cab. Caved in the cab, broke the rear window. When I got home my dad just looked at it, shook his head and walked away. More bondo, more implement paint. That truck was the only part of my racing that ever paid for itself, I actually made a little money on it when I sold it years later.

 

A couple years ago I sold a Diesel engine to a guy in Colorado, delivered. Well I had been looking for years for a 1965 FordGalaxie, and I was looking at a convertible North of Mason City , Iowa on the net. So..... on the way home we decide to drift North and take a look at it! I’m driving my four wheel drive one diesel with slick tires and as we approached Iowa it started snowing..... did I say snowing? Well we slid in to Mason City and I called the guy and told him I couldn’t go any further tonite, and got a motel.
Well right after we got the motel , I started hurting! Rough night , by sunup I told my wife , I’m going to the hospital! Kidney stones! Ouch! They sent me back to the motel with pain medication and told me to stay close.... it’s going to get worse! Really.... oh , shit!
Well the worst snowfall of close to a century in Iowa had let up. So I tell the wife.... let’s go look at the convertible! Ok, a little slipping and sliding, we see the convertible, that’s supposed to be a one owner , grandfathers car, etc. We get there it’s a bondo Queen, shit! I told myself, never go North to buy a car!
I’m feeling good, weather is looking good! Let’s go home! At KansasCity I ask my wife, is that 65 wagon still for sale! Yes! So we turn East and head for St. Louis. Look at the Country Sedan and buy it! After some funny stuff with trying to get the money from the local bank, I didn’t plan on buying a car when I started this trip, I get the cash, buy, rent a U-Haul trailer and come home with my wagon! Don’t know if this is the sorriest, funniest or what, but it’s my story!








Bones

 

In 1972, my brother and I rented an old farmhouse from a local guy. Down the hill from the house we discovered a 46 Chevy Panel Truck in pretty good shape. We talked to the landlord and he said we could have it for nothing. Not bad so we took my brother's 52 Chevy 3600 down the hill and hooked a chain to the Panel. I was pulling and my brother was driving the Panel. Almost to the top of the hill, the chain came off and obviously with no brakes back down the long hill went my brother - backward. Luckily, it was a straight shot and no damage resulted. The Panel ended up as a Street Rod, still owned by the same guy today.
Not long after I bought a 60 Thunderbird Sunroof for $300. Supposedly a driver so I drove it home. On the way, I stopped for gas. As I started it back up, I heard a pop under the hood but it didn't start. I opened the hood to discover I had no air cleaner but I did have fire coming out of the carburetor. I ran into the station and said my car was on fire; deer in the headlights look from everyone. By the time I got back to the car, the fire had gone out. I got in, started the car, and drove it home. Never had that problem again.

 

I use ratchet binders and always place them where I can view then from the drivers side mirror. I quit using over center binders years ago. Another thing you can do if you have a good portable air compressor or access to air. Is deflate the tires. tighten your chains to thr suspension and reinflate the tires. that way its not ever gonna come loose.

 

Next time be certain to tighten the lug nuts

 

One time a guy asked me if I could drive a truck from Black Rock Ar to Mountian View Ar. load up a Caterpillar D8K 77V Bulldozer. So I go to Black rock the next morning. Look the semi and trailer over real good. Its a big heavy trailer about a high of a deck as a float. big old ramps on back with hyd cyls. Three axles. brand new brake shoes and drums. The Truck is a cab over international Road Tractor. 300 big cam cummins. Ten speed. no jake brakes So I drive to Mt view and load the D8 no trouble. Creep down the back side of Sylamore Mountian 1st gear 3 MPH all the way down. Cross the White River at Calico Rock. Made it thru the narrow street at Hardy Ar. only one more steep grade Bowman hill south of Hardy. Not this truck was long legged had to give it fuel to take off . I had noticed it would heat up on the grades. and cool down on the down grade. Had it in second gear ready to climb the last grade it should pull without needng to downshift. Got to the steepest part of Bowman hill and the overheat warning buzzer started making noise. and then the Murphy valve shut the engine down. So In setting there holding the brakes the air slowly losing pressure. My escort the owners really old Father finally notices Im not coming and comes back. He put blocks behind the rear trailer tires. I get out and crawl under the cab and put the pump on manual. Start it up let it idle and cool down a bit. Nothing to do but mash it to the floor and come off the clutch. I don't think it will move. I suppose the good lord was pushing. It pulled a small wheelie but it took off. They hired me to bring that entire string of road equiptment out of the mountians. The reason for the new trailer brakes was the owner had caught the brakes on fire hauling the first load to that job. and was afraid of the steep grades. We installed a 9 speed and did away with the murphy system. It was ok after that.

 

In June of 2016 some guy had the rear axle for a 77 Chevy dualie listed for sale for 100 Bucks in East Wenachee. I didn't get the rear axle as some guy from Oregon called first but the seller said he would give me the frame and front suspension and rear springs. Side note, he is into 4x4 trucks only and had got the dualie for the cab and nose. Off I went in my 77 dualie flatbed 110 + miles up to his place and I figured that we would take a torch and cut the frame in two,. Nope, he picks it up with his little fork lift and I back under it and we load it on my 10 Ft flatbed. we strapped it down. he gave me a pretty nice red T shirt to use as a flag on the back and off down the road I went being careful to take the back roads where I could.
The front crossmember and rear springs are going under a 51 Chev 1-1/2 ton flatbed I have in the project line up.

No tickets involved in that road trip although I was sure that I would get pulled over. The only state patrol car I saw had another rig pulled over on the other side of the freeway as I passed.

 

@Old wolf I love your stories. Don't take this the wrong way, but I would love to see a picture what you look like!

 

That old 64 chevy I bought at the scrap yard. I was in town and seen it go by being pulled on a chain. Followed it to Shannon Salvage waited until they left. Went inside and handed the Scrap Yard owner a check for $100 . He said whats this for. I said that chevy truck you just bought. He started protesting. I reached over and looked at the ticket. He had paid $47. told him you more than doubled your money and haven't left your chair deal is done. And the title was in the glove box. I installed a engine and trans. took of the bed and installed the flatbed and wrecker sling. probably pulled a thousand vehicles with it. sometimes two at a time. one time I hooked a pickup on the sling. hooked my trailer to it. loaded a M farmall on the Trailer and then put a car on a tow bar behind the trailer. School buses are too heavy so I set them on a homebrew tow dolly. The bus in the picture still has the drive train 292 engine trans everything there. It was gave to me was on the river and had been completely under water. had 6 inches of mud inside it. boy was it heavy.

 

When I first bought my rear motored, Super Comp Dragster, it needed the cage updated; NHRA had just mandated a minimum of a 5 point cage, and the car was a 3 point. Since I had the car completely torn down, a couple of us loaded the rolling chassis into the back of my DD pickup, rear end first, with a pair of snow tires on it, into the bed of the truck. Then I put the gate up, and tied the dragster down, with the front tires of the dragster hanging out about 10 feet out of the truck's bed; this was a 220 inch wheelbase dragster. I'd already called the Washington State Patrol to see if what I was planning to do was "legal", and got the go-ahead. Tied a red flag to the front axle, and off we went down I-5 to Art Morrison's shop in Fife. The looks I was getting; I should have brought along a camera. Lots of thumbs up, lots of head shaking, some guys getting too close for comfort to get a closer look, and people were still riding my *ss, as close to my rear bumper as they could get (?????). Pulled into Morrison's shop, and got more looks; we unloaded the dragster, and then went to kill some time until they were done. Returned, re-loaded the thing, and headed back home with the same looky-loos, and crazy drivers, only now it was the evening rush hour (more like the evening 3 hour rush), and it was getting dark. We did't have any issues with the transport, just all the other drivers. Probably should have just put it into the trailer, but it too was being rebuilt. Sometimes, you just do what you have to do! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I bought this old 52 ford bus. not too far awary just across the state line. full if junk. engine in it. couldn't get the hood up. rear tires flat. Went to get it talked Debbieinto going along . Be a adventure I told her. Used a gas powered compressor to inflate the tires. The rear ones had big cracks with the innertubes bulging out. Hooked the little 64 chevy to the front and as I winched it up the front wheels of the wrecker came off the ground. let it down and chaned and fastened a complete FE ford engine to the front bumper . Made the front tires lightly touch the ground. let the bus down until the front tires where three inches from the ground. Any rapid acceleration would lift the front. So a fast idle all the way across Hwy 142 and H highway and down hwy 93. made it home Ok. finally pried the hood open. disappointed it was a flathead six. the next day a guy in the Hamb classifieds was wanting that exact engine. A few private messages and pictures and he bought that engine. Drove all the way from Calif to pick it up. My wife keeps telling me eventually your luck is gonna run out. You have probably went thru several Guardian Angels.

 

Heres a recient picture of me and Grayson

 

That looks a little more recent! I pictured a white beard, dunno why. You look a lot like my dad, and some of your stories sound like my dad too...I guess that's why I wondered

 

Naw in your minds eye you probably though i looked like this picture.

 

Haha no...I know you’re more of a Ford and chev guy...not mopar

 

Worst thing was what I drove hours to buy was sold when I arrived there and he was supposed to be holding it for me.