Tweet
Found a 90gl out in the sticks last night. Went out with my $500 GMC Safari and flat towed it the 65 miles home. 248,435 miles on it, starts and sounds like a car with 100,000 but burns a little oil, seller said a quart every 1,500 miles, we shall see. Shifter is SLOPPY but I hear that can be remedied, got some weird identical dents on both sides under the rear windows, one little patch of rust on the rear wheel wells but no rot anywhere. THICK layer of undercoating on the bottom. Came with a second block that "smoked like a Dead concert", according to the seller. And a complete NOS head. Seats are in pretty damn good shape, the bottom plastic surrounding the column is broken, it's dirty inside but otherwise not too shabby.
Going to keep the motor stock until it goes, then swap something in there. Nothing crazy, this will be my daily delivery vehicle(i do food deliveries in the evenings after the shop closes). Will be upgrading brakes and moving up to 13s sooner than later, should probably do it before winter hits Chicago.
Now to the fun from last night, I get the tow bar attached to the Festy, go to put it on the van and the ball is about 4 inches too high, and I forgot my safety chain at home. The GIGANTIC seller(he was at least 6'4" and a good 350lbs) jumps on the bar and it snaps onto the ball. We shake hands goodbye and off I go. I got like a mile down the road on the way to farm and fleet for a chain and POP, the Festiva gently rolls backwards down into a ditch and crashes through a REALLY NICE horse fence...luckily it stops IN the hole and doesn't allow the horses to run out. The battery on my phone dies and no charger with me...great.
Turns out the homeowner isn't home so I leave a big note on the car with my name and phone number and race off to farm and fleet for a drop ball, supplies to get the car out of the ditch, and mend the fence enough to keep the horses inside. The store is closed when I get there, so off to Home Depot it is...not knowing the area I head back to the city b/c I know the Depot will be open. Stopping on the way at a TA to get a phone charger...and good thing I did!
Just as my phone turns back on, the State Police call. Ask me a ton of questions about why the car is where it is and making sure I will make it right with the owner, if not they will track me down and prosecute etc. Now I'm FREAKING OUT that the homeowner is going to be kill me when I get back.
Get back to the car around 11pm, the homeowner is sitting on the hood of the Festiva with a flashlight and a chain. Turns out he is one of the nicest men I have ever met. He helped me get the car attached to the van, and refused to take any money from me as long as I helped him fix the fence. Which we did by light of the van headlights and flashlights. A good solid handshake where I try to slip him some cash, which he abruptly hands back to me and says "pay the kindness forward" turns and walks back into the darkness towards his house.
Then a very uneventful 65 mile trip home at 35mph on the side roads(van was swaying like crazy over 40 so highway was not an option). Pulling up to the house at 3:30am, unload the Festy and go find a parking space. Get to the end of the block and blow a freaking brake line. Parking brake is non-op. I still have some brakes but only in the last 1" before the pedal hits the floor. Didn't hit anything or anyone, luckily it was 3:30am and well after the bars close here in Chicago so nobody was on the streets. Find a space a few blocks away, get it all parked and locked up, then crawl into my warm bed next to my amazing girlfriend and get exactly 3 hours of sleep before work.
Already on the 2nd pot of coffee of the day. Not going to deal with the brakes today, that's a project for Sunday!
Going to keep the motor stock until it goes, then swap something in there. Nothing crazy, this will be my daily delivery vehicle(i do food deliveries in the evenings after the shop closes). Will be upgrading brakes and moving up to 13s sooner than later, should probably do it before winter hits Chicago.
Now to the fun from last night, I get the tow bar attached to the Festy, go to put it on the van and the ball is about 4 inches too high, and I forgot my safety chain at home. The GIGANTIC seller(he was at least 6'4" and a good 350lbs) jumps on the bar and it snaps onto the ball. We shake hands goodbye and off I go. I got like a mile down the road on the way to farm and fleet for a chain and POP, the Festiva gently rolls backwards down into a ditch and crashes through a REALLY NICE horse fence...luckily it stops IN the hole and doesn't allow the horses to run out. The battery on my phone dies and no charger with me...great.
Turns out the homeowner isn't home so I leave a big note on the car with my name and phone number and race off to farm and fleet for a drop ball, supplies to get the car out of the ditch, and mend the fence enough to keep the horses inside. The store is closed when I get there, so off to Home Depot it is...not knowing the area I head back to the city b/c I know the Depot will be open. Stopping on the way at a TA to get a phone charger...and good thing I did!
Just as my phone turns back on, the State Police call. Ask me a ton of questions about why the car is where it is and making sure I will make it right with the owner, if not they will track me down and prosecute etc. Now I'm FREAKING OUT that the homeowner is going to be kill me when I get back.
Get back to the car around 11pm, the homeowner is sitting on the hood of the Festiva with a flashlight and a chain. Turns out he is one of the nicest men I have ever met. He helped me get the car attached to the van, and refused to take any money from me as long as I helped him fix the fence. Which we did by light of the van headlights and flashlights. A good solid handshake where I try to slip him some cash, which he abruptly hands back to me and says "pay the kindness forward" turns and walks back into the darkness towards his house.
Then a very uneventful 65 mile trip home at 35mph on the side roads(van was swaying like crazy over 40 so highway was not an option). Pulling up to the house at 3:30am, unload the Festy and go find a parking space. Get to the end of the block and blow a freaking brake line. Parking brake is non-op. I still have some brakes but only in the last 1" before the pedal hits the floor. Didn't hit anything or anyone, luckily it was 3:30am and well after the bars close here in Chicago so nobody was on the streets. Find a space a few blocks away, get it all parked and locked up, then crawl into my warm bed next to my amazing girlfriend and get exactly 3 hours of sleep before work.
Already on the 2nd pot of coffee of the day. Not going to deal with the brakes today, that's a project for Sunday!
Good job making right with the fella. Good character
Comment