Swingin' '73 Dart
Today was a very good day!
Have I ever mentioned that I hate Washington DOL? In Washington you can either go to a government office to get license plates, or an agency. The Gov't office saves the agency fee of $10, but you have to deal with gov't workers. Let's just say the trip yesterday did not work out well (they wanted to charge me sales tax on fair market value which according to them was $4000! Of course, she had the wrong year ('70 vs '73) and used an Aug '08 Old Car's price guide to come uo with that!
Today, I went to the agency with my bill of sale, and walked out 15 minutes later with Washington license plates. So much easier, well worth the $10 fee. And yes, I paid tax - on the amount I paid for the car though! (Don't even get me started about having to pay SALES tax on a 36 year old car!)
With my license plates in hand, I stopped at the local Shell service station and had the front tires mounted & balanced. Ray is a great old-school service station guy - he's been working for the same people for 30+ years. He wasn't fast, but then we were visiting a lot, as he told me "sea" stories of his 31 year (8 active, the rest reserve) Navy carrer. It was a lot of fun walking around the station when he got called to provide full-service and remembering what service stations were like when I was a kid.
I took the center caps off the rally centers and cleaned all the glue off. This took 1) a heat gun to loosen the glue 2) a razor blade and butter knife to gently pop the center off and 3) lacquer thinner to clean the glue reidue off. I polished all the chrome with a 3M green pad.
In the afternoon, I managed to get ahold of Mark @ Chev Connection in Portland. He had some BFG tires on CraigsList and had told me he had some more in storage. Sure enough he had a pair of 245/60-15's, just what I needed for the back tires. $100 for the pair, plus another $40 to get them mounted at Les Schwab.
So after three weeks, the car is mobile again! Here is Homer at the end of our cul-de-sac this afternoon.
And a close up; as you can tell, I went with the '71 dark rally caps. I really like the look, it reminds me of bottle caps on steelies, but with a little NASCAR flavor. It's just a little different, just like me.
Tires clear the springs.
And clear the wheel openings.
I can tell I really need new rear springs. Or at the very least, I'm going to add some 'helper' springs as a stop-gap. OR, maybe just drop the front end down 1/2"-3/4"!
I was so happy to have Homer plated and tired, I terrorized the neighborhood a little. 8) He drives MUCH better now, with many less bumps and groans. The steering is lighter, if a bit over-powered as Chrysler's tend to be. Bonus I can make U-turns without the tires scraping the front fenders!
Of course, now I need to get a tune up done, as there is a bad bog off the line, and really he makes more noise through the glass packs than movement. :toothy10: But who cares, HOMER IS MOBILE!!!
Today was a very good day!
Have I ever mentioned that I hate Washington DOL? In Washington you can either go to a government office to get license plates, or an agency. The Gov't office saves the agency fee of $10, but you have to deal with gov't workers. Let's just say the trip yesterday did not work out well (they wanted to charge me sales tax on fair market value which according to them was $4000! Of course, she had the wrong year ('70 vs '73) and used an Aug '08 Old Car's price guide to come uo with that!
Today, I went to the agency with my bill of sale, and walked out 15 minutes later with Washington license plates. So much easier, well worth the $10 fee. And yes, I paid tax - on the amount I paid for the car though! (Don't even get me started about having to pay SALES tax on a 36 year old car!)
With my license plates in hand, I stopped at the local Shell service station and had the front tires mounted & balanced. Ray is a great old-school service station guy - he's been working for the same people for 30+ years. He wasn't fast, but then we were visiting a lot, as he told me "sea" stories of his 31 year (8 active, the rest reserve) Navy carrer. It was a lot of fun walking around the station when he got called to provide full-service and remembering what service stations were like when I was a kid.
I took the center caps off the rally centers and cleaned all the glue off. This took 1) a heat gun to loosen the glue 2) a razor blade and butter knife to gently pop the center off and 3) lacquer thinner to clean the glue reidue off. I polished all the chrome with a 3M green pad.
In the afternoon, I managed to get ahold of Mark @ Chev Connection in Portland. He had some BFG tires on CraigsList and had told me he had some more in storage. Sure enough he had a pair of 245/60-15's, just what I needed for the back tires. $100 for the pair, plus another $40 to get them mounted at Les Schwab.
So after three weeks, the car is mobile again! Here is Homer at the end of our cul-de-sac this afternoon.
And a close up; as you can tell, I went with the '71 dark rally caps. I really like the look, it reminds me of bottle caps on steelies, but with a little NASCAR flavor. It's just a little different, just like me.
Tires clear the springs.
And clear the wheel openings.
I can tell I really need new rear springs. Or at the very least, I'm going to add some 'helper' springs as a stop-gap. OR, maybe just drop the front end down 1/2"-3/4"!
I was so happy to have Homer plated and tired, I terrorized the neighborhood a little. 8) He drives MUCH better now, with many less bumps and groans. The steering is lighter, if a bit over-powered as Chrysler's tend to be. Bonus I can make U-turns without the tires scraping the front fenders!
Of course, now I need to get a tune up done, as there is a bad bog off the line, and really he makes more noise through the glass packs than movement. :toothy10: But who cares, HOMER IS MOBILE!!!