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So and update on my old 59 Viking.
Thought it should show up in Sweden in beginning of october. That's not gonna happen. End of december looks more like it

I knew they had problems getting it started in Houston. And they took it to a repairshop some weeks ago. Heard nothing, so yesterday I asked what has happened.

Here's the story from the shipping company.
The old truck just don't want to go to Sweden. Fun is to read the last part in his mail.

So please read his mail below, and it will give you a good laugh.

/Ulf

Hej Ulf,

The truck is at repair shop. And I don't want to call them yet. It is
due to fact the next possible sailing is far out in November. We can only
take truck to terminal November 5th.

What happened altogether is this:

The battery was replaced with cost of $ 82.-. The truck was running very
nice and smooth.
When they got it running, it was driven half ways towards Galveston (we had
booking in the last vessel). Usually we use flabed trucks but due to size
of the truck, it is very, very expensive so they tried to save money in
using a one way driver service.
Like said on the ways, the belts got broken. The driver pulled truck to a
gas station. Previous Friday.
He called a mobile repair guy who looked at the engine and came to
conclusion water pump is bad besides the belts.
There are 3 different kinds of waterpumps for this type of 6 cyl engine.
He realized work cannot be done at the gas station.

The gas station owners were asked if the truck can stay there till Monday;
it was still towed away even they gave permission and were watching after
the truck.
I then went to towing company's facility and paid towing and storage and
arranged truck to be taken to Clear Lake Car Care.
Costs horrible!
Tow from gas station to tow company's yard and couple of days storage $
414,80.
Tow from tow company to Clear Lake Car Care $ 275.-.

Like said, the truck is at Clear Lake Car Care which guys I know in person
and the head mechanic is from Kolumbia and used to working on old cars like
this.
He said he can get a new water pump etc. I told him in purpose, that
there is no hurry. In doing that, I was thinking that they will put the
truck inside every day
And we have storage until truck can be taken to Galveston for next sailing.

No cost estimation yet. But I presume it will not be bad.

A local trucking / towing company owner had seen the truck at tow company
yard. He had passed by and turned back and had asked them if truck is for
sale.
That tells you that the truck is in a pretty nice condition. Also when I
look at it, it is not bad at all.

Hope this tells you current status. I will update when more info coming
from Juan.

Sincerely,

ilkka

Sounds fishy...
Do you have a second source of info regarding the truck and it's adventures trying to get on a boat?
I suppose stuff happens, but doesn't sound like it should be so complicated or expensive.

That truck's wheelbase will fit on a flatbed, maybe not theirs but somebody will have one that it will fit. I have never delt with a flatbed company talking about the weight affecting the price but it wouldn't suprise me. I would argue that the difference in weight should not increase the cost in tow by any significant margin. I would call around to different companies that would flatbed it for you. I think you would be suprised about the difference in cost between the companies. I bet what you have paid Juan so far in towing and repair cost is more then what a good towing company would have charged originally. Maybe the old girl just wants to stay here in the U.S.

If it's really important to you I would look into temp storage and come to the U.S. yourself and take care of it. There is a saying here in the U.S...."if you want things done right...then you have to do it yourself"

Thanks for you thoughts.
Normally cars or trucks go by container boats. But the truck is 1" to wide to fit in a container, so it needs to go RORO, roll on roll off. And therefore it needs to be able to start. The ship will change in Germany, so it has to start.
Therefore I asked them to fix it for me since she gave them trouble.

I have bought a Ford Galaxie -59 2 years ago, same shipping company, no issues at all.

So I think they have just had bad luck.. trying to make cheap for me... a´nad then the waterpump broke..

[censored] happens.

But NEXT time if I want to buy something I will come over and drive it to harbour myself.

Even though it takes time, and [censored] happens, in the end, it will be here. So I am still a happy Truck owner.. and I can laugh at it.

I would not have paid the tow bill from the gas station. The towing company should never have towed it as it was allowed to be there. Towing companies are often very over-zealous and do not really care about anything other than hooking up and going.