samd1351
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2018
- Threads
- 107
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- 870
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- Location
- Olathe, KS
- First Name
- Sam
- Vehicle(s)
- 2017 Mustang GT, 1999 Ranger
- Thread starter
- #1
Back when I was young and dumb (as opposed to old and stupid), I had bought a motorcycle, a nice little Kawasaki Ninja 250. I know, it wasn't one of the big superbikes. But I only weighed about buck twenty, so it was more that fast enough. With winter coming, I needed an actual car. Of course, I had no money, so I scooped up a 1967 Butternut yellow 2 door Chevelle for cheap. maybe $400.00. The only problem was, it had a big old dent in the rear passenger quarter panel. But it stared and ran, and I had a '72 just a few years prior, so I figured I was good to.
Day no. 2 of owning the car, I was so happy. I ran down to the local QuikTrip to fill up. On the way home, only about a mile and half through the neighborhood, I heard a loud thud, then the car died. Cussing up a storm, I get out and walk to the back of the car. I looked down and saw not the bumper, but the gas tank. Apparently, the weight of a full tank of gas was too much for the rusted out straps that hold the tank to the car. The gas cap had torn off, and gas was flowing down the street. I found the gas cap and put it back on. I'm standing there trying to figure out what in the f*$k I'm going to do, when around the corner, here comes my brother, his girl friend, and his best friend, in a brand new Saturn (that should date me plenty). "Bro, what are doing?" We're test driving the car. What the hell happened to you? Guess the car couldn't handle a full tank." They proceed to pull up in front of me, and we ended up towing the car home with the test driven Saturn. I re-installed the gas tank with some motorcycle straps.
Fast forward a couple of years. I'm driving a GMC S-15 pick-up. and the Chevelle is sitting in the "driveway". It had not gotten better with age. But, searching the newspaper ads (again, dating myself) I found a roller '66 Chevelle. I convinced the wife that I should buy it, and swap the motor and transmission over. It'd be fun. I got the 66 home, and lo and behold, guess who's pregnant with child no. 2.
Fast forward another year. The house we were living in was a rental that her grandfather owned. The house sat high up on a hill with a long gravel drive that ran down hill to the street. It wasn't real steep, about a 3 to 1 slope. Half way down the drive was a pull off to a 1 car "shed". I had the two cars sitting there and one day two different guys in 67 Chevelles stop by and inquire about the status of my two cars. Well, now with 2 boys crawling around, time for the projects to go. So I start parting out the two cars. One guy says he wants the yellow one for something, but said I can keep the motor and transmission. Enter my father-in-law.
He says no problem. I'll come over and help you pull the motor. He shows up on saturday in the tractor. The tractor has a bucket on the front with a hay bail spear. He says "Here's my plan. I'll get on the downhill side of the car. Put the spear under the frame, and tilt the car up. We'll use the torch I brought to cut the motor mounts, then We'll pull it all out together with the bucket." Hmmm. Ok let's give it a shot. He takes the tractor around to the low side of the pull off drive where the car is parked, tilts the bucket with the spear down and... harpoons the driver's side door! Son of a....... Hold on, let me try again. He lowers the spear a little more, and gets under the door this time. "Alright hang on while I left this side up." As he tries to lift the car, the spear just bends. I guess a 6 foot tall hay bail is pretty heavy, but not as much a 67 Chevelle. Well, shit. I've got a new plan he says. Let just turn the tractor around, we'll throw this cable over the car to the passenger side and tie it off underneath. Then I'll just pull it up on it's side. "Hey John, how about we pull it from the up-hill side, so that way, if things go bad, the car doesn't roll down hill into your tractor." Oh, good idea. So around he goes to the up-hill side. We get the car up not quite on it's side, grab the torch, and get the mounts cut. He "gently" sets the car back down on all four wheels. As he's positioning the the bucket of the tractor over the engine bay, i grab the chain and start bolting to the motor. As I hook the chain to the bucket, wait a minute, what is that?! Is that link in the chain...? Is it a steel link? Nope. One link was bailing wire. WTF?!? John! Hold up! We need to ..... up comes the bucket. He just pulls the whole motor and transmission out. It's swinging around and he's hollering "grab the trail shaft so it doesn't hit the tractor!" Oh hell no I'm not grabbing that. The whole thing is going to come undone and sure as hell it'll fall on me. Well, the bailing wire link help up ok. We got the motor on the ground without any issues.
About this time, the guy shows up with his trailer to load up old yeller. He gets his trailer positioned in the lower part of the yard and get the Chevelle kinda sorta lined up behind the trailer. Of course, this guy forgot his winch. No problem, I'll just get behind it and push it up on there with the tractor. Yeah. He gets it all lined up, puts the bucket under the rear of the car... and shoves. No one is inside the car to attempt to steer. He just opens up the throttle on the John Deere and up it goes. And it's a tight squeeze. It wiggles it's way onto the trailer, pinballing off each side as it goes. "Well, there ya go. It's all loaded up. I gotta head back to the farm and put out feed for the cattle." And off he goes....
Day no. 2 of owning the car, I was so happy. I ran down to the local QuikTrip to fill up. On the way home, only about a mile and half through the neighborhood, I heard a loud thud, then the car died. Cussing up a storm, I get out and walk to the back of the car. I looked down and saw not the bumper, but the gas tank. Apparently, the weight of a full tank of gas was too much for the rusted out straps that hold the tank to the car. The gas cap had torn off, and gas was flowing down the street. I found the gas cap and put it back on. I'm standing there trying to figure out what in the f*$k I'm going to do, when around the corner, here comes my brother, his girl friend, and his best friend, in a brand new Saturn (that should date me plenty). "Bro, what are doing?" We're test driving the car. What the hell happened to you? Guess the car couldn't handle a full tank." They proceed to pull up in front of me, and we ended up towing the car home with the test driven Saturn. I re-installed the gas tank with some motorcycle straps.
Fast forward a couple of years. I'm driving a GMC S-15 pick-up. and the Chevelle is sitting in the "driveway". It had not gotten better with age. But, searching the newspaper ads (again, dating myself) I found a roller '66 Chevelle. I convinced the wife that I should buy it, and swap the motor and transmission over. It'd be fun. I got the 66 home, and lo and behold, guess who's pregnant with child no. 2.
Fast forward another year. The house we were living in was a rental that her grandfather owned. The house sat high up on a hill with a long gravel drive that ran down hill to the street. It wasn't real steep, about a 3 to 1 slope. Half way down the drive was a pull off to a 1 car "shed". I had the two cars sitting there and one day two different guys in 67 Chevelles stop by and inquire about the status of my two cars. Well, now with 2 boys crawling around, time for the projects to go. So I start parting out the two cars. One guy says he wants the yellow one for something, but said I can keep the motor and transmission. Enter my father-in-law.
He says no problem. I'll come over and help you pull the motor. He shows up on saturday in the tractor. The tractor has a bucket on the front with a hay bail spear. He says "Here's my plan. I'll get on the downhill side of the car. Put the spear under the frame, and tilt the car up. We'll use the torch I brought to cut the motor mounts, then We'll pull it all out together with the bucket." Hmmm. Ok let's give it a shot. He takes the tractor around to the low side of the pull off drive where the car is parked, tilts the bucket with the spear down and... harpoons the driver's side door! Son of a....... Hold on, let me try again. He lowers the spear a little more, and gets under the door this time. "Alright hang on while I left this side up." As he tries to lift the car, the spear just bends. I guess a 6 foot tall hay bail is pretty heavy, but not as much a 67 Chevelle. Well, shit. I've got a new plan he says. Let just turn the tractor around, we'll throw this cable over the car to the passenger side and tie it off underneath. Then I'll just pull it up on it's side. "Hey John, how about we pull it from the up-hill side, so that way, if things go bad, the car doesn't roll down hill into your tractor." Oh, good idea. So around he goes to the up-hill side. We get the car up not quite on it's side, grab the torch, and get the mounts cut. He "gently" sets the car back down on all four wheels. As he's positioning the the bucket of the tractor over the engine bay, i grab the chain and start bolting to the motor. As I hook the chain to the bucket, wait a minute, what is that?! Is that link in the chain...? Is it a steel link? Nope. One link was bailing wire. WTF?!? John! Hold up! We need to ..... up comes the bucket. He just pulls the whole motor and transmission out. It's swinging around and he's hollering "grab the trail shaft so it doesn't hit the tractor!" Oh hell no I'm not grabbing that. The whole thing is going to come undone and sure as hell it'll fall on me. Well, the bailing wire link help up ok. We got the motor on the ground without any issues.
About this time, the guy shows up with his trailer to load up old yeller. He gets his trailer positioned in the lower part of the yard and get the Chevelle kinda sorta lined up behind the trailer. Of course, this guy forgot his winch. No problem, I'll just get behind it and push it up on there with the tractor. Yeah. He gets it all lined up, puts the bucket under the rear of the car... and shoves. No one is inside the car to attempt to steer. He just opens up the throttle on the John Deere and up it goes. And it's a tight squeeze. It wiggles it's way onto the trailer, pinballing off each side as it goes. "Well, there ya go. It's all loaded up. I gotta head back to the farm and put out feed for the cattle." And off he goes....
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