Time to negotiate.
And let’s be clear that driver’s door is a tough one.
That’s a lot of extra un-fun work for a truck that may not see pavement again.
Angus Sutherland
I had to price accordingly. With the likely-drunken sign-on of Brother Number 2 and his $350 buy-in and me operating in absentia on behalf of vacationing Brother Number 1, I felt I had $1050 to work with. Although it’s important to point out that I had gone radio-silent after the Brother Number 2’s buy-in in case, at some point, sober minds prevailed (so much for Doris Day I guess).
My offer to Josh was “$750 – cash right there and I haul it away right then”. I thought it was a strong offer – although it was half of what Josh was looking for. I am always reluctant to go less-than half as I feel we’re getting into “get the hell off of my property” territory. I have done it once and won the day but that was when I really young and foolish – and could take a punch.
Josh quickly squashed the idea – saying he’d rather fix it himself than take $750. Seeing firsthand Josh’s ambition and skill set, I knew that was an empty threat. I think he was hoping I’d make another offer but I wasn’t inclined to bid myself up so I said nothing and continued to look the truck over.
Eventually, Josh admitted he could do $850 on it. I relented a bit and said $800 was the end of the world for me as there were way too many unknowns. Being honest – there are never too many unknowns with a slant six – they either run or they don’t. But that extent of the damage to the driver’s door and door frame could be a significant pain in the butt.
Josh and I shook hands on the $800 and we got to work getting the truck out of there. I had also brought a little drill-battery operated compressor and got some air into the one flat tire. It thankfully took air well. Josh fetched at nearby rusty 1998 Ford F150 4×4 (another abandoned project of his) to tow the truck from the field to the road. I piloted the Fargo at the end of a tow sling (also provided by me). The extraction process was made a little more exciting by the no brakes issue. But we made it out without incident.
The winch on the trailer was slick as it was a rope winch with a wireless remote. I might have set a personal record loading and strapping a vehicle. Josh fetched a small box of parts that went with the truck and I set out. Me $800 lighter and Josh down one 1969 Fargo pickup.
The drive to the family cabin was uneventful – the trailer pulled easily and the truck stayed on it. When I arrived at the cabin I unstrapped the truck and pushed it off the trailer – risky move but not a lot of options when working alone. I guess I could have hooked the winch, back up and lowered slowly but that seemed ambitious at what was now approaching 8PM. It rolled off the trailer with enough momentum to get where I wanted it without damage to the trailer, truck or any of the cabin’s facilities.
After I pushed it off I snapped a picture and sent it to Bro Chat with the comment “$350 each… delivered”. It was a while before I had heard anything back but I think they are happy with the purchase. They both e-transferred me money the next day (always a good sign).
I was back in my home by 10:30 pm that night, after eating a regrettable gas station pizza sub for dinner and uneventful 2+ hour drive home. I’d had burned $180 in gas in one day but it was nice to be done with it. After a good night’s sleep I got the trailer back to its owner at the 6 am agreed time and rejoined society for my 9 am appointment with non-car-guys – showing no outwardly signs that I was a middle-aged man who could dart off at a moment’s notice to rescue a derelict vehicle from a being swallowed by the earth.
In a week I’ll get to do a further inspection of what we bought. I have already made two orders for what I know it needs (muffler, carb kit…). In the short term I’d like to see it idle and do forward and backward things. Stopping could be a fall project.
If it’s doing all those things by spring – I’ll be happy with the purchase.
Angus Sutherland
