Getting my first wagon

On Saturday.
1973 Plymouth Satellitte Custom.
Bare bones car,318 with 3 speed column shift manual transmision,no power steering,no radio,no clock!
Brown outside and tan/yellow inside.
I am buying it from the second owner who has had it for years and was hardly driven.
He is getting up in age and driving the car proved too hard to do and wanted to sell.
My good friend has known about the car and the owner for years and wanted it to go to a good home.I looked at the car in June or July and vowed to get her since she is so sweet and is a keeper.

To get it home it has to make a 250 plus KM trek from Toronto to my hometown.
it has been well maintained and is a running driving car.
I plan on having a load of tools and supplies plus a set of fresh tires for the trek.
here are a few pics but they are three years old.
I will post up new pics when I pick her up!!

 

Couple more pics...

 

From Kingston, My old RCEME Corps base. Welcome aboard. Nice score with the wagon. She's downright respectable.

 

Looks like a nice honest car, mac!

 

58,000 miles on her.
The original owner worked for Chrysler and ordered the wagon the way it is.
he used it as a second car forr commuting to and from his cottage.So it did not get driven much and hardlyy seen any snow.
Second owner lived down the street and bought it and stopped driving it after he had an accident.He was removing the wing nut from the air cleaner with the engine running.the nut somehow fell into the fan,and hit him in the right eye.He cannot see out of his right eye.He had difficulty parking the car in the tiny garge and there are some scratches and small dents on the right side where he cannot see.
His son told me they spend money on insurance and licence and is just wasted money since the car has only travelled 200 miles since 2007.
Yet they do fire it up often and the odd run around the block to keep the juices flowing.

I will be checking the car over and will have tools and parts before hitting the road.

 

Same with my Fairmont Squire! We lived in Mexico for 5 years, and went house hunting. The lady we bought the car from, Annie, offerred us her mother's furnished house rentfree. My wife looked at furniture and her eyeballs popped. Solid, not veneer walnut, polished like a piano, 5 bedrooms! She mentioned she had another house close by that we could rent to own for $1,500 Mexican Pesos per month. She bought for her son, because it was close to the university, but he went to Harvard. So we start to leave and I noticed the wagon. Flat tires all around. Had been sitting under a carport for 7 years, started it up every 2 weeks to circulate the fluids and backed it up and forward to lube up the tranny. The carport was done in ceramic tile. Mexican sun on the driver's rear quarter had fried the woodgrain, like an arizona canyon fried!

She was saying that she came by her 2 houses to check stuff out and warm up the car. I must've been drooling, because she told me, without asking that it wasn't for sale. She wanted the car for her daughter.

My wife wanted to see the other house, so off we go. She didn't feel comfortable about this furnished mansion for free. Too much responsibility, she said. Well the other house was perfect. Marble floors, even. Cool as cucumber, with no AC, in 35C weather - 2 ft thick walls, 2 storey, 5 bedrooms, nice neighbourhood. We took it.

While we're waiting for the rental agreement, hand written and a handshake, her daughter calls her cell to tell her she found the perfect car - a new Mustang. Mom was pi$$ed. Would I like the car for $8,000 pesos. Do bears sh!t in the woods?

Sent it that day for new tires, full tuneup, new muffler, and drove that evening.

We bought the house the next year, and we rent it to her daughter.

 

Very nice find. There's nothing like the first.

 

Nice Mopar find, Mactac. It looks similar to Marcar's except no wood. I like the three on the tree factor.
Best of luck with it.

 

OK.I changed my screen name since I no longer have any woodgrained panels in my fleet.
WAYGUN!! lol
Much easier to remember.
I will update my profile when i get a chance.
Picking up the plain brown bag grocery getter tomorrow.

 

Well,I drove her home yesterday.
I had a full day and it was not without adventure.LOL
Everything comes in 3's..Keep that in mind as you read this story.
Got her out of the garage and started prepping for the long trip.
My good friend Ray checking the oil,and I was clearing out debris

 

I think I'm missing part of the story.....?

 

I had to bring a full set of radial tires already mounted on rims since the old H78-14 Bias Ply tires that were on the car were questionable at best.
One of the rims did not fit since the bolt pattern was wrong.

That was number one.
Load the tire and another rim from the wagon in the quest for a shop that is open.Found a place and they swapped it over while we waited.
While we were out,we had to get the paperwork for the car straightened out at the Motor Vechicle registration office.
Once at the office,30 people ahead of me,with the line moving slowly,and every booth is open.
30 minutes passed.
My turn in the booth.I had all my ducks in a row and all paperwork I needed--at least I thought.Then I was hammered with unpaid parking tickets my wife racked up on my 300.
By the time I got everything sorted out,I was in there for over an hour.

So,my visit to the MTO office was number Two.

Doug and I returned to the wagon ,loaded up everything and headed out in search for food.
I was driving the waygun with Doug riding shotgun,and Ray followed behind in my 300C.
Doug and I heard a noise and felt it.It was a rotational noise coming from the rear axle area.It did it only with the clutch in and not under load.
Well,we thought about it whiel we ate and decided to get it checked at the Canadian Tire just up the road from BK.
I checked the diff fluid and was OK.
Ray wiggled the drive shaft and BINGO!
Rear U-joint is ready to fall out.
Go into CTC,ask if they had one in stock.
yes!
They got the car in right away and replaced the u joint.
I asked if the mechanic knew how to drive standard,and said yes.The funny thing is he never seen a three on the tree before!! I showed the pattern and he was fine.
Turns out the old u joint was replaced not long ago,but was the incorrect one.
So,the u-joint fiasco was number Three.

 

I'm working on it...be patient.

 

With tires on the car,the title and paperwork all legal,u joint fixed,we gassed up and headed out on the highway.
The wagon ran fine on the way home without incedent.

 

Ontario use the Point System on traffic tickets? Driver's License or Owner's? Here it the driver, but the owner's insurance goes up.

There goes the weekly massage!

Good thing you had an extra pair of trusty eyeballs with you.