introduction Howdy! I'm About to Acquire a 2002

[dang]

The "tow hook" that's visible and easy to use is basically cosmetic, used to hold the car down on the boat trip over here (with a few others).  No good frame mounting points that are easy.  Rear subframe maybe.

[Greggotii]

Did the DMV folks say specifically you don't need a CHP officer for the VIN verification?  It was my understanding that the rules had changed from a few years ago, and CHP officers were the only ones who could perform that task...I've had to bring my recent projects to the local CHP office to do my last couple VIN verifications.  It could be worth a call to your local CHP branch to make sure.

 

Good luck getting it home!

[svgarage]

19 minutes ago, Greggotii said:

Did the DMV folks say specifically you don't need a CHP officer for the VIN verification?  It was my understanding that the rules had changed from a few years ago, and CHP officers were the only ones who could perform that task...I've had to bring my recent projects to the local CHP office to do my last couple VIN verifications.  It could be worth a call to your local CHP branch to make sure.

What I interpreted from the DMV clerk was that it could be any LEO. All the same, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it did indeed have to be a CHP. I'll make the phone call to the local PD, when I get the car home. Heck, one of my neighbors is with the PD- I'll walk on over and knock on his door- save myself a phone call.

 

[Greggotii]

That'd be easy if your neighbor could do it!  Too bad they want you to surrender the original plates...Did the original title not list the plate number?  Usually if you can prove they belonged to the car with paperwork you can keep them.

[svgarage]

3 minutes ago, Greggotii said:

That'd be easy if your neighbor could do it!  Too bad they want you to surrender the original plates...Did the original title not list the plate number?  Usually if you can prove they belonged to the car with paperwork you can keep them.

The current plates are not the same as listed on the title. I saw an old left over registration slip and that had a different set of plates on it too! I'll be getting some personal (vanity) plates- these current ones have no value to me.

[rstclark]

AAA will Vin verify for you when you get it running.  Here is where being a AAA member if worth the price of membership  Once you have the car fixed, they also offer the best No argument classic car insurance coverage for an agreed upon amount policy  There are restrictions but check it out

[svgarage]

Today was my lucky day! Holle finally made it home, but it wasn't without its challenges. At a couple of points, we were resigned to just pick it up another day. But in the end, the perseverance paid off.

 

I arrived at the sellers house with an arsenal of tools. I was prepared for just about anything. I started with the front end- I put her up on the floor jack to see if the front wheels would spin. Nope. So I thought I might just relieve some brake line pressure, before doing anything else. The left nipple loosened up just fine, but the right side was stuck, so I loosened the hard line instead. I took off the right tire, shot some Liquid Wrench at the pads, then started banging at the caliper and disk. Presto! The hub started turning! For the left side, as soon as I started untorquing on the lug nuts, the wheel started to turn! Luck was on my side! Now onto the rear.

 

I started by making sure that the e-brake cables had enough slack by loosening the cable adjusters. I stomped on the brakes a few times for good measure. After I jacked up the rear end, I released whatever pressure might be present by unscrewing the nipples. Both nipples complied easily. Again, when I tried removing the lug nuts, the wheels turned! Easy peasy! I adjusted the e-brake cables again to make sure that we might have some braking action should we need it. We tested the car. It rolled and it stopped when the handbrake was applied. We were good to go.

 

Okay. New challenge. I got in the car and realized that the steering wheel was locked and would not turn! The key was broken off in the ignition, but the seller didn't have any keys to speak of. The way the front wheels were turned slightly to the left, the car was going to slowly veer off into the tree on the side of the driveway. I didn't bother buying any tire dollies, so I improvised- we jacked up the back end of the car and nudged the rear of the car to the right. One more crisis averted. We were successfully able to roll the car out onto the driveway. I was sure that we were on our way!

 

After lunch, I called AAA and was ready to use my newly upgraded "Plus" membership. After waiting half an hour, the truck arrived. Then the driver asked me for the registration. Doh! WTF?? Why didn't they say anything about this over the phone? He explained that he can't tow my car, since it's not registered. He told me that if he were to tow it "privately", it would be a $65 hook-up fee, then $8 per miles, coming to almost $260! I didn't want that, so I sent him off.

 

Well, at least the car was out of the garage. I thought that since it's not crammed in that tight garage space anymore, maybe we could get that peace officer to drop by to do my vehicle verification. I called the local PD and they said that they would try and have someone come by when he had the chance. We didn't have to wait long until a squadcar pulled up to the house. He said he was happy to help, but after looking at the two-page form, he realized that he wasn't trained to do this and didn't feel like signing the document after all.

 

At this point the PO was feeling like I had put a lot of time and effort in trying to get this little car to its new home and was feeling a little sorry for me. (Plus I went on a shaving strike, vowing to not shave off my mangy beard until I brought the car home. I think she was feeling a bit sorry for my wife that she had to deal with my ugly beard.) She volunteered to pay for the tow if we could find someone to come and get it. After calling various tow companies (most of which hung up on us mid-conversation), I finally got a quote of just $125!! Bonanza!! And that was with a flatbed even! They were there half an hour later and soon enough, my car was on her way to her new garage!

 

Thanks to everyone on this forum for all your thoughtful and helpful suggestions! It's going to take some time to get this beauty on the road and just the way I want it, but it's going to be a fantastic journey!

 

Edited August 22, 2016 by svgarage

[ray_]

Well done!

 

Now the fun begins!

 

Cheers,

[GoFaSSter]

Wow! That is in amazing condition. Great find!

[m42002]

She looks happy in the uncrowded garage!

Way to perservere.