Trailering help in Philly area, Got a line on a parts car Options

[type11969]

A guy I am working with is getting rid of his rusted out 914. I am thinking about parting it out. I was thinking about flat towing it, but I am concerned about the car breaking in two or something else horrible happening during the 20 mile tow. Nothing like dealing with two separate halves of a car in North Philly. Anyway, anyone got a trailer/towing vehicle and is willing to lend a hand? I'll pay for gas, beer and cheesesteaks. Lemme know.

Thanks,

Chris

[VaccaRabite]

Wow, is it rusted that bad? Is there anything of value left in it if the condition is so bad?

Zach

[type11969]

Prob wouldn't happen but not worth the risk in N Philly. It's been garaged for 15 years, but in a damp garage (bottom rotted out). Fenders are better than what I have, lenses are good, sideshift is prob okay (low miles), dash is okay (no cracks but sagging), otherwise not much worthwhile. Price is right though.

[hot_shoe914]

(bottom rotted out).

My parts car was rotted from the bottom. It fell apart on the guy stripping it for me and damn near crushed his german ass, be very very careful!

[ArtechnikA]

...Anyway, anyone got a trailer/towing vehicle and is willing to lend a hand?

I can tow with the Titan, but my trailer is out of service pending new tires and electrics. If you can arrange for a trailer (Uhaul or elsewhere) we can get it done.

I hope to have the trailer back in service this spring, but that may not be soon enough to help you.

Let me know.

[NJ914Guy]

The uhaul auto transport trailer is only 50 bucks for the day and fits the 914 perfect.

[tracer]

I used the uhaul trailer to bring my 914 home from L.A., if you decide to go that route bring 6-8 sandbags with gravel in them and place them behind the rear wheels of the 914, this will increase the tow weight but won't be so tongue heavy. If I hadn't done that 400 miles of wife complaining about the bouncy ride would have made for a really long drive.

[okieflyr]

Chris,

I no longer have my wifes truck to tow with so I sold my trailer this time last year.

I had to borrow a truck, and rent a U-haul trailer to get this last car home.

You'll probably need a winch/come-along to get the car up onto the trailer as well.

Be safe.


Kevin

[ArtechnikA]

You'll probably need a winch/come-along to get the car up onto the trailer as well.

I've got all that stuff...
I should mention that I'm pretty much just available weekends, but I'm glad to help out.

I can get you the Titan specs if you go talking to the UHaul people.
They're pretty much inistant you have a half-ton V8 or better - which it is.
If we go this route, I'll need to know what size ball to put on the drawbar, and their recommended height above ground - although I think my standard setup should work just fine for 20 miles...

[okieflyr]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[type11969]

(bottom rotted out).

My parts car was rotted from the bottom. It fell apart on the guy stripping it for me and damn near crushed his german ass, be very very careful!

Yeah, definitely something I thought of. I'd weld in braces before getting underneath for anything. Dropping the powertrain fortunately isn't too tough with limited under car time.

[type11969]

You'll probably need a winch/come-along to get the car up onto the trailer as well.

I've got all that stuff...
I should mention that I'm pretty much just available weekends, but I'm glad to help out.

I can get you the Titan specs if you go talking to the UHaul people.
They're pretty much inistant you have a half-ton V8 or better - which it is.
If we go this route, I'll need to know what size ball to put on the drawbar, and their recommended height above ground - although I think my standard setup should work just fine for 20 miles...

Rich-

This is huge, I really appreciate the offer. Id only be free on the weekends anyway too. I'll pm you this weekend to talk details.

-Chris

[ArtechnikA]

The Official Update until Chris posts his impressions...

We did this yesterday. Picked up the trailer at a big UHaul O&O (i.e. not a contract outlet) facility near my location. Went pretty smooth except for the fact that there was _1_ guy doing _everything_ - working the counter, checking in returns, setting up outgoing equipment... (1 guy on vacation (who approves vacation for the first weekend in Spring?) 1 guy called out sick.) That one guy maintained his professional composure and gets full marks for grace under fire. Not helped by the UHaul central computer system which is seriously wonky, obviously designed by ivory-tower IT guys who have never spent even a moment behind the counter (or waiting in line) at a UHaul depot on a Saturday. EVERYTHING was a problem, and pig-slow besides, as everyone in the world was trying to check out equipment Saturday morning... Even the girls in line in front of us who only wanted to buy boxes and packing tape had problems.

For those of you wanting to tow UHaul stuff with 'standard' 7-pin round trailer lighting connections, be aware that UHaul trailers use the "4-pin flat" connector. You'll need an adapter such as the Hopkins 47335 "& RV Blade to 4 Wire Flat" Adapter. BUY THIS AHEAD OF TIME. They were right on the pegboard wall of towing accessories at the Depot, and reasonably priced. But the computer system is not set up for actually selling stuff and it was excruciatingly painful for what should have been a simple 1-scan cash&carry transaction that would have taken 30 seconds at any FLAPS in the world...

Got the trailer hooked up and quite to my happy surprise, all the lights worked right away. We were on our way, and after only an hour for a 5-minute transaction...

Headed out of the north 'burbs and onto the turnpike south without incident. Between our Streets&Trips maps, "The GPS Lady", and Chris' iPhone Google Maps semi-live traffic updates, navigation was uneventful to the garage holding the parts car. Well - uneventful except for the squishy-narrow one-lane 2-way streets with cars parked both sides. Fortunately, most of the other traffic in this area was able to cope and helped by pulling over to allow the big white truck with the wide trainer through. (And they all got a wave and a 'Thank You'.) Most of the day there was 6-12" of clearance max on one or both sides. Truly a game of precision...

So we got to block traffic on one street while we backed the trailer to sorta line up with the garage, aired up the flattened tires, and managed to get it loaded and on its way - more squishy narrow urban side streets - to its new home - fortunately on a pretty flat bit of roadwork because - did I mention - the parts car had -no- brakes - not even the parking/emergency brake. (Not for nothing do I bring a box of wheel chocks on adventures like this...). We got it pushed up and over the threshold and into the garage, then a quick glass of water, function break, and onto the final leg, returning the trailer and lunch.

Little did we realize the fun was only beginning...

Made a quick tradeoff analysis of our options getting back out of center city and northbound. Seemed like a good idea at the time. We were faced with retracing our steps back the 20 miles through the city or heading west onto "the Interstate" and back to the Turnpike. Traffic looked slow but I did 30 years of SoCal freeway commutes and can handle that environment. Stop-and-go isn't bad if you're just going straight - not as nervewracking as navigating a wide trailer through narrow streets.

Well - it _was_ slow. Usually, faced with uncertainty, the middle lane is the safe choice. But unbeknownst to us until we were *right* up on it, traffic was slow because two diqwads managed to have a coming-together right in the middle of a long dark tunnel! (In the center lane, of course...) And although there was no visible damage to either vehicle, they'd decided to just park there and wait it out.

There was enough room that I could begin a slow (like, walking speed) transition into the left lane. A couple of cars decided to squeeze past before the door closed completely but eventually the inevitability of the situation was made manifest and people decided they'd rather not get wedged between the trailer and the tunnel wall. (And this, boys and girls, is why I insist ALL the trailer lights work before leaving the yard, even if it's broad daylight and a short tow...)

Made it past that and up to a screaming 45! Zowie, we're moving now!

That lasted a couple of miles when the stop-n-go hit again, heading into The Dreaded Conshohocken Curve. Knew it was going to be interesting because no sooner had we come to a complete stop (first of many, many) when I could see the lights of ambulances and tow trucks trying to approach on the shoulder. I moved over the inch or so I had to spare and they went by - far enough to be out of sight so this was going to be a long backup. GPS Traffic Alert advised "2 lanes blocked" and of course, 2 lanes is all there is...

Oh well - we've got Miles Davis on the stereo, perfect cool weather, and all day to get where we're going. Sit back and enjoy the ride...

Eventually made it up to where a BMW or Mitsubishi or somesuch sedan had got shortened up a couple of feet in the front. Donno how - saw no other involved vehicles. Maybe something had been towed from the scene before we arrived.

After that - smooth sailing. Stopped for an excellent microbrew lunch, dropped off the trailer, and called it a day.

Official start time 10 AM, finished up just before 5 - all this for a 20-mile tow. Long, intense day. But no damage to any one or any thing. Preparation, care, patience, and precision pay off.

Chris is a little closer to having his car back on the road, so it was all worth it...

[McMark]

Thanks for the story. Sounds like a trying day. But like you said, it's a 914 day, so it's all good.

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[type11969]

Rich laid it out pretty well and I am totally in debt to him now. Above and beyond the call of duty to kill a whole Sat to help out a fellow teener tow a rusted hulk from one set of narrow streets (on a hill) to another. Traffic made for one long day, the delays at Uhaul didn't help either.

While the 914 has rusted from the bottom up, there are some good bits on it. The dash is uncracked (saggy a bit by the cluster, however). The door panels are good, the targa seal is good (got it off in one piece), the gauges are good, a lot of the interior bits are in great shape along with the rubber (a bit moldy if anything). I'll pull the rear fenders and the drive train to get the sideshift tranny. Then off to the scrap heap!

Thanks again Rich, these parts are definitely going to help with my teener!

-Chris

[type11969]

Some pics as an update:

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Was going to keep the gas tank but it is very badly dented (weird). Everything else in the front truck is in great shape so I pulled it all. Snaked the side shift and linkage, left the tired 1.8 in there and threw in a core tailshifter to support the engine on the way to the scrap yard. I'd say I'd cut this one up, but I don't think there is enough good metal on it to be worth it. Now I just have to drill out all the spot welds for the rear fenders . . .

-Chris