The last thing I was looking for at Carlisle was another car. Well... I found one anyway. Thursday afternoon in the rows down below Gate 3 (not the car corral) I came upon an '85 Monte SS that looked pretty nice. The seller was the boyfriend of the owner and he opened it up and let me look everything over. First thing I noticed was how clean and stock everything looked. I mulled it over a bit and then moved on. Later that evening, after most people had left the fairgrounds, my friend and I went back and looked it over again. Other than a few minor blemishes, we really could not find anything wrong.
Friday morning, after helping my friend haul a transmission back to the truck, we went back and looked it over again. This time we inspected it in detail, pulled the dipsticks, the oil cap, radiator cap, looked for evidence of bodywork or paint, inspected the frame rails behind the rear wheels, looked at the bottom door edges, checked the doors for play, and tried everything to make sure it worked... and really couldn't find anything scary. Of note, the AC belt was off, there had been a small mouse nest in the area of the blower motor, the valve cover gaskets need replaced, and the paint was peeling off the header panel on one side of the radiator support. On start up, it puffed oil smoke and then immediately cleared - indicative of dried up valve seals.
The car was purchased by the current owner's sister in 1990 and passed to the lady I bought it from when she died 2 years ago (very sad story - not the time or place for it). The current owner is simply not a motorhead and her boyfriend convinced her to sell the car to someone who would take care of it and appreciate it. Her boyfriend let me look at the receipts for all the maintenance done to the car since 1990 -- new radiator, transmission service, plugs and wires, etc... It was pretty detailed records and with 53,000 miles on the car it was just in too nice a shape to pass up.
As I did not go to Carlisle prepared to purchase a car, making it happen took the better part of the morning. I found out that you can't wire money and have guaranteed receipt by day's end so it might be Monday before the transfer cleared the banks. The seller's boyfriend was not comfortable with a deposit to hold the car until next week, so I ended up opening an account and taking a loan on-site that I will pay off next week. The rates were actually good and the bank did not even hold title for collateral. My insurance agent faxed me down cards so I could do my title and tags in one shot. Now that all the background work is done, the good news is that I am set up for future Carlisle finds. :D
Last night I drove the car home from the fairgrounds. It is a 155 mile trip and the car performed flawlessly. We made two stops to check everything over and it all looked good. My friend followed me for the first half of the trip and there was no sign of smoke out the exhaust. Unfortuntately, we came home to find rain just a few miles south of where I live... and it is still raining now. Due to finding what appears to be a spider nest by the overflow bottle with lots of tiny critters, I had to park the car out last night. Here's a pic from this morning:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...S/DSC02947.jpg
(Dena - I talked to the seller's b/f again on Saturday... she cried her eyes out after I drove off.)