The Big Day Arrives!

Actually, I hope this is the first of many "big" days with this project.  Laurie and I got started on the road around 7:30am with coffee and bagels, a map, David's truck and our "new" trailer in tow.  It would be about a 5 hour trip to the factory and we wouldn't be able to use the Garden State Parkway due to the size of the trailer.  That meant going over the George Washington Bridge instead.  No problem, I thought.  We were going to pickup some of the key pieces of this project and nothing would stand in the way.  We also couldn't use EZPass at the tolls since we had a trailer.  But it was early Saturday morning so we didn't expect much traffic.

The trip up there went smoothly.  Only one construction detour that added about 30 minutes to the trip.  We stopped about 45 minutes from the factory for fuel and lunch.  Everything looked good until we got to the factory building around 1:15pm.

There was no one there!  How could this be?  I confirmed that I would be there and they even called our home to confirm that we were on our way.  I got "the look" from Laurie, but she remained calm.  All I could think was having to do this all over again and the disappointment of traveling all the way home with an empty trailer.  We walked around the building and banged on doors, and tried convincing ourselves that everyone was out for lunch, but by 3pm, it looked hopeless.

I was going to other buildings to see if anyone had a way to get in touch with someone who worked at the shop.  Then Laurie found me and said that someone who worked there had come by.  By luck, a young women who worked at the factory came by to use the hose on the outside of the building to wash her car.  She made some calls and within a half hour, another guy showed up.  He opened the shop and told me that we could load the parts, but I would have to help since no one else was around.  Of course, I said!

The body was temporarily attached to the frame so the whole thing could be loaded together.  Here are the pictures...

The red one is mine (red is just undercoating)

 Parts (windshield, seats, etc)

 Here it comes!

 And it's loaded.  Thanks Nate!

Turns out, they close at 12pm on Saturday (but no one told me that).  We were so lucky to be able to complete the pickup.

I'll just throw this in.  Another car they're working on and it was featured on Horsepower TV a month ago.  (maybe a future project for me?)

Now for the ride home.  Good thing we had the truck to hold all those boxes and have to power to haul everything.  Because of the delay, it was dark before we knew it.  I noticed the left rear light wasn't working on the trailer.  Hope the police don't.  There was considerably more traffic on a Saturday night as we went over the GWB.  Since the trailer is designed to carry a car, it is much wider than a car.  That means it takes up the full lane.  So here we are in heavy traffic, going over the George Washington Bridge, at night, with a trailer that is wider than the lane we're in.  And I have my new car parts back there, too!  OK, I admit it -- I was STRESSED!!!

Besides making it home unscathed, the highlight was the three thumbs-up we got from other drivers on the drive home.  I'm so glad Laurie came with me, for the company and encouragement to do what we set out to do.

So here it is in our driveway.  Now what?