CAR HUNT! or BOF & me car shopping!

car hunt! Fabozene Michigan Edition...
Just had to drop a note and mention that the Car Hunt duplicate has hit Michigan and we (Ole Blaze,Dolly, Lou and Me) brought home another addition to the household. This time was a Craigslist find (aren't they all) that was surprising to me at least. Wish I had taken some pictures where it was at but I will try to spin a good story to make up for it.
Craigslist ad simply says, 1989 Chrysler LeBaron, needs engine work. So I call on a friday and leave a message, no answer. I send an email, no response. Monday comes and I still have no response so I call again. This time I get the wife and she does little to raise my hopes. I ask about the car and she says it is "From Florida" and that it is in very good shape. Of course in my mind "very good shape" from a seller side is questionable to say the least. So I prod a little more and she says they brought it up three years ago, drove it once and it has sat ever since. I mention that cars that sit usually have issues with rust. I told her of a car that was great when it was parked but when I got in it years later the seat went through the floor. She told me that this does not have that issue cause she sits in the car when it is raining. I thought that was odd, so I inquired as to why... "I cannot smoke in the house so I sit in the car when it rains". So now I am thinking about looking at a car that has sat in one spot for three years with engine problems and a smoker that has been in it. Oh, and I know it has holes in the top. Ok, this is a NO BRAINER... and I go against my brain once again.

I am a sucker for a convert and away we go. I hop into BOCM (Beater Old Chevy Malibu) and away we go. BUT I need to find the place first. I look it up on Google and SHAZAM, I get my first view of the car from outer space!

BOCM and I drive up there and first thing we see is two other Dodges in the drive, one is a Dakota with grass up to the hubcaps parked right in front of the LeBaron. Lucky me the LaBaron is on a cement slab where the garage was supposed to be. No one comes out when I pull up so I just make my way to the car to poke around without anyone watchin. First thing I do is get down on the ground to check out the frame. Already told myself that if the frame is even a little rusty, I am OUTTA here. So I hunker down and take a look and my eyes bugged out of my head. not a spec of rust anywhere. Even the brake lines had only a cursory amount on them. So I pop the trunk and check the trunk lip edges, nothing there either!!!! No bubbling, no spotting nothing! So I check out the engine compartment... Here is where we start to find some issues, missing alternator, distributor out and just lying there, cap busted in a bunch of pieces, coil gone, belts all off.

So I go up to the house and knock. The wife and dad come out and I start my talking. Which was very one sided as the wife knew little and dad was not talking much. I did find out that the car "over heated" since the radiator was leaking BUT when they got there it still turned over but very fast (can you say timing belt?).

At this point I am ready to make an offer, they were asking $600 in the ad but no way was I paying full asking price. I offered $400 and they said that he would not take that... Then dad piped up and said, I know he will take $500... I then open the hood again and grab ahold of the crank pulley and gave it a really good turn... nothin, no move. Tried a pair of jumper cables on it and nothin, no turn. I then offer $450 and they bit. I put a down payment and off I went again.

I called up my buddy Lou later on and asked if we could use Ole Blaze (rusty Blazer) to go get my new addition. We agreed on Thursday night...

I met Lou at his place of business which was very close to the car and we had ourselves a convoy, Ole Blaze, BOCM, Dolly, Lou and Me.
We get there and the Dakota ext cab has moved. I was told it only goes forward and has no reverse. This truck can be had for the low low price of $1800. I pass, sorry...
I air up the tires on the LaBaron, open the door and WOW there are my jumper cables. They were nice enough to let me keep the cable I forgot last time I was there. THANK YOU!
We load up the LaBaron on Dolly and strap it down, pay the last of the money get the title. Inform the wife that she really should keep a copy of that receipt for 18 months (tryin to be up and up). Then the dad speaks again and says, did you look around and make sure you did not forget something. I laughed and jokingly walked around the car again and almost tripped over my air can on the far side of the car. I thanked him again and off we went. Lou keep Ole Blaze to a slow trot and made it home uneventfully.
The LaBaron is now tucked in line between OTC (One Ton Cummins) and the Spirit awaiting it's turn to be repaired.

Scott

p.s. Hope to post some pics of her soon

p.p.s. You SAID you wanted others to post here and while it may not be an A body it is only a car away from an A body now....:love8: