Ok.... sooooo.. I took a little drive yesterday.. some-thing followed me home

[piercedvw]

Got a last minute email 11pm Sunday night... A 'car' I had been emailing about for a number of days...... (they were out of town.. then in town.. then maybe not selling.. too many emails.. they were being harassed by potential purchasers from all over the states.. etc..) ...
 Little old lady states, I could come Monday... ok..
7am on phone trying to find someone to drive down with me.. no luck.. WHAT?!.. Everyone seems to have day jobs..  

Looks like this chicky is headin' solo.  

Ok.. there's a hitch on my 92 jetta.. hmmmm... wonder what the tow capacity is??? lol
  1.. Track down towbar.. OH.. my .. THANKYOU JOHN!!!!!!
  2. Get to bank.. Walnut Grove Branch is closed Mondays.. WTF?!?!  
  3. Shawn found a branch that was open..     .. go to bank.. lucked out.. exchange rate is pretty decent right now.  
  4. Pickup towbar.. get advice on how to tow it... Luck wished.  
  5. Timmys.. then border.. OMFG.... THE LINE!!!! Over an hour in HEAT..  
  6. 12:30.. finally on the I-5  
  7. Drive.. drive.. drive... hmmm.. didn't look this long on google maps....  
  8. Take 2 wrong exits..    then back on freeway...
  9. Finally get to what I hope is the right exit.. now on phone getting Shawn to find me a backup plan incase I don't make 6pm when the storage place closes..
  10. Drive down road.. hoping to see ferry signs..
  11. YEAH!! Ferry lineup.. pay, get on boat within 15 min!!  
  12. Drive.. and drive.. and drive.. Seriously.. it was ONLY a few inches on google maps.. augh..
  13.. Down endless country roads with houses so sparse.. addresses need not apply.
  14. Find the landmark the little old lady gave me.. then down a LONG dirt driveway in amongst bushes.. with cel phone in hand.. in case.  ^-^
  15. Get there.. see 'car'.. spent nearly an hour going over it.. emailing photos with my phone to Shawn trying to decide if we could handle the work it may need.

  16. Called Shawn again to get him to check the tow rating on my Jetta... hm.. it  should be ok..  

  17.. Ripped the bandaid off.. said.. AUGH.. let's do it.. handed the cash.. signed the papers.
       ..... umm.. no insurance if I needed.. everything is closed.
  18. Little old lady had to take her little old husband to the local doctor for an appointment.  

  19. I am now sitting in the middle of no where.. a 'car' .. a tow bar.. a pile of chains.. and a jetta.
  20. Figure out tow bar (which I've never used before).. *insert points here*...
  21. Spend 15 min wiggling cars back and forth.. ALONE trying to get the ball and holder to line up..  
  22. Get it all going.. fiddle with wires under dash to get the lights on the 'car' working.. no tow lights.. (minor thing that came to my mind halfway down the I5)
  23. Running lights on.. start down gravel road.. hmm.. the 'car' tires don't look right.. hmm.. unlock the steering (properly this time).. and get moving..
  24. 1st gear.. 2nd gear.. hmm.. Jettas hummin'.. 3rd .. then 4th..  up hills down hills.. pull over.. let train of traffic pass.. No radio... hoping Jetta doesn't blow up.
  25. Decide to take other ferry at top of Island. Apparently my luck is thin.. should have made a reservation.. Get there.. get laughed at for wanting to get on a fully reserved boat.
  26. Figure I'll wait to see about the 8:45 ferry (2 hours later)
  27. Get talking to one of the ferry staff.. turns out his best friend had one of these 'cars' for years.... long story short. I was on a boat within 20 min.. haha!!  
  28. Drive about 30 min up hills, down hills... through skinny passes.. check google.. I'm lost.. Get on track again...
  29. Stop to let traffic by, start up again slow..       I head metal.. and pavement.. look in rearview.. thinking.. no......

  30. get up.. look down and see Jetta tailpipe hanging.. fiddle.. try and chain it up.. get frustrated.. pull it of and throw it in trunk.. Hell.. it's already a loud diesel.. what's an open muffler going to change?  

  31. Drive.. drive..  (dark now).. huge swarm of cops with lights in rearview... closer.. closer.. PASS.. whew. (already had my cop eyelash batting rehearsed).
  32. Find remote address in dark with the phone assist of that owner's address (YEAH>>> thankyou!)
  33. Unhook 'car'.. hit border.. shower grease and dirt of body.. in bed... Midnight.


soooooo.......  (note the SIZE comparison of my little old diesel jetta.. compared to my tow load.. )  
The looks I got.. some old guy actually told me I had balls..     only got one finger for holding up traffic.. I got more thumbs..  

 Gonna need some work, but I think for the most part I got a pretty good deal.  Will post more pics later.. It was dark by the time I dropped it off to storage.. and I was stressing too much during the drive to even remember where my camera was..  





(Hey Chris.. how do u like my new Ghia? lol)


By the way.. Port Townsand more than a few inches that it shows on the map.. That was a freakin' LONG drive in the heat.  Beautiful area up by Deception Pass.. ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING..

[CHEECH]

Way to go Babe!!!!!!!

[Russ]

wow great story.
looks good from were i'm standing congrats

[bwaz]

Now that takes guts! Great work, I've done the towbar lots, and still have a hard time getting it connected sometimes. Hmmm.... same Jetta for me, and I've taken a yard of sand with the top of the fenders on the trailer getting burn marks and still have a clutch! (love those cars) Looks great, hope to see it out soon
Congrats
Brian Waz

[CHEECH]

The car is VERY solid.... Except for the floor boards....... They are just that..... BOARDS ( plywood and fiberglass ) 
Smarter half is locating new pans and I`m taking the first 2 weeks of August off to get em in and spray the interior. I WANT HER TO DRIVE IT TO THE GCVW`S 

[egspot]

some old guy actually told me I had balls..    

I am an old guy and ....Yeah...you do.

Great find and great story. Someday your grand children will know how cool you are.

Hats off

[piercedvw]

The couple I bought it from are in their late retirement years.. Brought the thing over from Hawaii a number of years ago when they moved to Washington (early 90's).. when it was over there, they had a boat builder friend replace the floor (from the inside) with fiberglass. He did one heck of a job I have to say.. The beams and structure are all solid, but the underside isn't very pleasing to the eye.. as Shawn stated, the "plan" is to cut the fiberglass out and replace it with proper pan halves. Though how it sits right now..  I'm sure if I wanted to throw an outboard-motor on it, it would most defiantly get me across a very large body of water with dry feet.. lol

 The remainder of the car had been protected very well. A couple of minor cracks here and there, but nothing serious. It has about 400km on it in the past 15 or so years... it's been sitting their shed for the most part. Straight and solid. Nice big tires and a strong motor.

  Oh.. yeah.. and when fiberglass-man did the floor, he gave the interior a white spackle 80's paint-job.. THAT will also be going. (maybe not before GCVW though.. we'll see).. I may just show up driving it as it, wearing a florescent yellow bikini and frizz my hair up.

[70's Looker]

now thats just super cool! way to go now leave that funky interior paint alone! 

[OUTKAST]

Way to go congrats  O0 Great score

[Randy]

That's a good Thing!

[Chris W]

Fiber glass floors and white spackle paint, Port Townsend for sure!

I have family there, I used to drive up that way and across the ferry to the GCVWS, nice drive for sure.

nice find 

[silas]

allright...good job & nice score tarrah!!! lori & i are both very happy for you & now we got a thing in the club!!

I WANT HER TO DRIVE IT TO THE GCVW`S 

lets make it happen!

[Geoff]

BITCHEN!!!!!!

[buddy boy]

CHOICE !!!!!


way to go , great solid ride !!!

[red snapper]

Thats awsome! If it was in bumf@#$ nowhere how did you find out about it?

[CHEECH]

It was listed on Craigslist .

[Chris E.]

(Hey Chris.. how do u like my new Ghia? lol)

I'm usually wrong anyways, at least that's what my wife keeps telling me.

Good on ya for going for it and getting something that you obviously really wanted.

Congrats, Chris

[piercedvw]

More pics.. cause I can (thankyou thankyou thankyou.. (you know who you are).  



Still has the Hawaii safety inspection decal on the bumper

[Airjack]

Nice hit, will be a fun ride. If you go after stuff, it usually can be found, good on ya!

[85fastlane]

Congrats guys! Back to 2 aircooleds in the driveway again, good to see!

[blarneyman]

Towing that with your Jetta was pretty gutsy in North American standards. You wouldn't believe what I've seen towing stuff in Ireland. My last trip I saw a Golf towing a horse trailer

Great score Tarrah! I'm sure it looks even better in person.

[piercedvw]

US Customs at Sumas.. nice old fellow.. only even checked the Vin when I reminded him..lol..

 I had faxed Blaine and written SUMAS as port of entry.... Good thing I drove down through Sumas.. apparently they didn't have the papers.. He called over to Blaine and had it sorted by the time I was back an hour later..

 30 min at Can. customs later.. paid my Gst and was on my way.

 She's a Canadian citizen now.. just to get her bill of health and her 'go' card for registration..