I wasn't so put off by a flat tire, rusty wheel and valve covers, missing trim, and some dirt. I was more worried about "how are the floors? how's the cowl? Any rust around the t-bar sockets? any rust around the windshield?' And my all-time favorite:
"does the motor turn at all?"
This one passed all those tests.
There's more to the story though. You know, every car has a problem someone else didn't want to deal with, hopefully something you don't mind. The question always remains: why was it parked? Why did nobody just drive it away?
In this case, both Darts were parked in a storage barn, backed in, and both I gather ran at the time with no problems. But then - at some point they parked the truck sideways across both stalls with a wrecker, blocking anyone from even getting at either Dart. Want to work on a Dart? Get a forklift.
We had seen this before though, so a quick call to PS273's friend soon yielded a hi-lift bumper jack, a good old one for 4x's. We got busy jacking up one end of the truck and then tipping the jack over sideways to gain a foot of rude sideways movement each time. Meanwhile the PO sorted through a coffee can of old keys but failed to find any for the truck. We took turns with a coat hanger trying to get into the thing.
You know why they don't put those cool triangular wing windows in cars any more? because they're SO easy to get into. the best way turned out to be from above, with a loop pf coathanger finally pulled up ont he latch and open it is, an easy reach to unlock the door. Meanwhile the butt end of the truck was finally bounced rudely clear of the barn it was parked sideways in.
PS273 got busy with his Jeep and gingerly gave some tugs that eventually pulled the truck's tailgate sideways far enough that he could finally hook up and pull it on wheels out of the garage. That freed up both Darts for the first time and I could get busy loading the 66.
The PO is a nice guy, and was sad to see them go, but knew his time of collecting was past and said so. I couldn't help but think, I could have been that guy. I held on to my Darts for years, waiting for someday, until health almost did me in - almost! But that's another story. Fast forward, I'm doing great and getting the Dart on the trailer. It costs about $200 to rent a U haul car trailer and a pickup with 100 miles. PO was a little surprised to see me arrive with the trailer, I told him "That''s because I'm all talk and no action" with a wink. PS273 likewise brought a can of whoop *** attitude, PO was surprised to watch us open the place up, haul away lumber and then proceed to load these giant hunks of mopar steel. PS273 brought a trailer big enough to haul Godzilla, and soon we were loaded for the highway. We spent another while stacking the lumber back inside and chatting with a neighbor kid about local trails. (thanks for the water bottle dude, I owe you one!) Reason I mention the U-Haul is for the price, I had zero problems, zero worries about lights or tiedowns or anything on the way. Job done, Dart delilvered home.
I'll pick this up in a resto thread but here are some pics.
PS - you should see ProStocker273's mopar tattoos!
