Casper - *cross your fingers and toes for this one

Well I had written a long lengthy post, then IE crashed thanks to photobuket, so I am not joyful or motivated enough to re-write it all.

Here is the newest addition to my parking space:


















-Terracar

Can't wait to see your progress on this one Terracar :wink: :wink: . Good luck and good hunting for parts

Well to recap this adventure....

It took us 4+ hours to actually get up to the location to pick up the shell. It should have been a quick 3 hour trip. Well when we get there the car is rougher than described - no biggie. They have a forklift ready to load it up, but since we got a uhaul car transport we are unable to use the forklift. They then advise we need to put the strut bolts in. They quickly put in the bolts and we load it up without much hassle. We strap Casper in and use some extra chain to secure the body - Great thing we did.

So I considered leaving the shell, but at that point I would only be saving $50 (since Dan was so kind to donate $50 to the save a 165 foundation) so we brought it home.

Once it arrived home we reallized why it was good that we chained the body - The a-arms/ball joints, everything was not bolted in - the A arm had one bolt and the body had tried to come off of it and was tensioned tight against the chain. The shell would have been in the bed of the truck had we not chained it down. So we are backing it off the trailer with a E-brake that doesn't work so I am attempting to steer it down, well the left side tire pitches sideways and pushes the car over the side of the trailer. At this point the shell is frame to frame with the trailer. I jacked the shell up and pulled the truck forward - it went off without further event.

So as of Sat - it started at 8am, it ended at 8pm with a large feeling of buyers remorse, regret, and complete idiocy. This continued through Sunday. As prelim glances revealed that everything was either cut or mangled.... even the steering rack was not able to escape the cutting wheel.

So as it stands we have best and worst case...I am not sure if I will ever get the title for the shell so that is a downer as well since without a title it is a serious pain to get rid of.

Worst case (most likely) - strip what I can - hopefully make a little $$ back to cover gas and somehow convince a scrapper to come get it.

Best Case - After further review rust is not as bad as initially thought/seen and it is brought back to running condition with lots of free/cheap parts and re-sold (if title is ever attained)

-Terracar

Is it really that hard to attain a new title? Can't you file for a lost title with the bill of sale?

Not when the bill of sale is not the registered owner.

-Terracar

oh..........that puts a wrench in things.

In my honest opinion you should cut your losses and part it out to get some money back. Unforunatly you are not left with much to part out as it seems pretty gutted already.

Yeah, I figure if I don't get a call back in a few days - the guy never was going to get the title. issed:

So hopefully I can get some money out of it - then if anything practice body work/paint on it.

-Terracar

I have no idea about your state, but some states don't require titles on cars 15 years old.

Any chance your state is one of them?

-Towels

Too bad it's so gutted & the title really does screw it all up.
I'm going to have to vote for parting out what's left & crushing the rest.

I've got Autocheck for a month so if you want to PM me the VIN I can run it for you to maybe get some insight on the title :shrug:

Since I doubt I will ever hear back from the seller I did a little searching around the DOL/DMVs.

Well I managed to locate the registered owner. I will be kind and call him tomorrow, hopefully the number is current, if not then I will have to resort to snail mail.

Wish me luck.

-Terracar

Good luck bro... :/

What a real shame...

Good luck, hope this works out for ya :|

Terracar":1gieg3xf said:

Well to recap this adventure....
So I considered leaving the shell, but at that point I would only be saving $50 (since Dan was so kind to donate $50 to the save a 165 foundation) so we brought it home.
-Terracar

Click to expand...

I must say it was very noble of Dan to help pay for the car. :notworthy: (That's what I call Alltrac love/enthusiasm. That and owning 5 Alltracs.)

If the car can be used for rally cross or some other type of racing activity, if and/or once you find the title, I say keep it since it's already stripped. It would be sad to see it go to waste.

If anything, since oem parts are hard to source, it could also be used as a guinea pig for aftermarket parts development :shrug: . (More on that later. Will elaborate at a later time).

Good luck with getting the title. It would indeed be sad to see it go t the scrappers. I vote for you to make it a bad *ss rally machine

The person I bought it from has responded after a follow-up text message. He seems sincere so I have hope that I will get the title. If not I have located the registered owner's name, address, phone - isn't the internet and public records wonderful? Since I am going to Chicago in Oct, I may just set up a meeting with the registered owner.

At this point I need to park Demon outside and bring in Casper so I can survey the rust. The car itself looks like it was painted with a roller which has me concerned. The sunroof is rusted pretty bad, undercarriage looks pretty bad, but haven't actually got a good look at it yet. Plus I have been lucky with great weather since the windows are rolled down (electric windows) and no switches/power to roll them up. So I haven't had to cover them in plastic thnkfully due to great weather. I think I might try to get it into the garage tonight, but we will see.

I did a little more checking and just have to say.... if you are ever stripping a car, just unbolt the stuff - not cut through it all with a sawzall or cutting wheel. The front suspension components are pretty bad and the A-Arms aren't even bolted on, or the ball joints for that matter, so I will need to construct a cradle for the front end to rest on. I think I have enough spare lumber from my recent bench building project to get something mocked up for the shell to rest on.... I may just make it to support the whole car and get both ends off the ground to make it easier to evaluate.

-Terracar

If you decide to fix it I have a blue 4th gen hatch privacy cover for sale.

GT4times2":27ieae7d said:

Terracar":27ieae7d said:

Well to recap this adventure....
So I considered leaving the shell, but at that point I would only be saving $50 (since Dan was so kind to donate $50 to the save a 165 foundation) so we brought it home.
-Terracar

Click to expand...

I must say it was very noble of Dan to help pay for the car. :notworthy: (That's what I call Alltrac love/enthusiasm. That and owning 5 Alltracs.)

If the car can be used for rally cross or some other type of racing activity, if and/or once you find the title, I say keep it since it's already stripped. It would be sad to see it go to waste.

If anything, since oem parts are hard to source, it could also be used as a guinea pig for aftermarket parts development :shrug: . (More on that later. Will elaborate at a later time).

Click to expand...

Haha i am glad someone see's my sanity in all this as just passion

but yeah, i agree, there is a variety of things you can do with said shell.

Rally Cross FTW!

alltracst185":27ieae7d said:

Good luck with getting the title. It would indeed be sad to see it go t the scrappers. I vote for you to make it a bad *ss rally machine

Click to expand...

/\ +1


Best of luck joe!