Yesterday (Friday), Peggy and I became the proud, new owners of a '42 Chevrolet ton and a half.
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http://www.thevirtualgarage.com/personal/ontrailer.jpg[/img]
It was one of those deals where we got an email from a friend who's friend of a friend (who worked at one of those yards that buys and sells insurance writeoff vehicles to junkyards, etc) said there was this "'42 Chevy military vehicle" that was about to be crushed and if someobody wanted it, they should come get it quick.
So I raced home from work, Peggy and the dogs and I raced up to Brandywine, MD. Found the friend of a friend, winched the truck (which as you can see has been in a significant wreck) up on the trailer and we were almost ready to roll when one of the other yard managers rolls up and asks me who told me I could take the truck.
Uh oh.
10 minutes later, he comes back after talking to a higher level boss and tells me I have to unload the truck and leave it.
"Oh no, it has to go through a sale," he says.
Whatever.
So the friend of a friend comes back with the huge fork lift. He picks the truck up and tells me to just drive out from under it.
Peggy and I just looked at each other... Why couldn't we have LOADED it that way???
Oh well. Bottom line is that we drove an hour to load a truck, unload a truck, booger up my right thumb and drive away leaving a perfectly fine 25-foot chain and chain binder sitting there. And the truck may still end up in the crusher.
The sheet metal on it was really solid, other than being crumpled. The radiator, rad stand, and grill are pretty much destroyed. The driver's side fender might be repairable. Both headlight buckets are good and the pass side fender is pristine. Both doors are perfect and the cab is complete. Shoot, all the glass is solid! In the accident, the whole box on the back shifted forward about 6 inches and really caved in the back of the cab. Glass didn't break, though? Rear axle twisted a bit to the drivers' side duals are locked up but the passenger side duals turn (made it a chore to winch up on the trailer...).
The truck was restored really well at some point not too long ago and seems to be an amalgam of Chevy and GMC parts (The cab has a "General Motors Of Canada" data plate on it, but the grill is Chevy). Even has a 1942 Ontario plate still on the front.
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http://www.thevirtualgarage.com/personal/driveside.jpg[/img]
Anyway, this story may not be over. I'll probably write this one up as either a Roadkill or a Saga. There's more to the story, this is merely the "Executive Summary"
But that chain and binder.... :mad:
John
