This weekend I picked up my 960. This was the one on e-bay that I got for $1000 because of a timing belt pulley failure. So i borrowed a truck and a tow dolly, drove down to VA (from NY) and dragged it back.

Of course the whole mission couldnt possibly go perfectly smooth.


Oops. I know you're sitting there thinking WTF?

Ok, so here's the story. We had to figure out how to get the car onto the tow dolly since it doesn't run. We tried pushing it up the ramps but we couldnt get it over the lip where the wheels would fall into place. So my idea was to push the car up the ramps as high as we could, set the parking brake, then back the truck up until the wheels went in. What was ended up happening is that it was pushing the whole car back. So my friend said "we just need one good solid jolt and it should do it." Here's where I got stupid. I put the truck in 4-low, goosed the throttle, and watched in the rearview mirror in horror as the car launched over the tow dolly and then landed hard on it's belly. Surprisingly I didn't flip out, scream, or hit things. I just got out, with my mouth agape with this thought resonating in my head:

"OMG. This poor car. I've only had it 5 minutes and look what I already did to it!"

Fortunately the damage is very minor. I managed to miss the radiator, the oil pan, and any important bits. The front lip spoiler and mudflaps are history though, and the side skirts got a little popped out.

So now we have to figure out how to get this thing off the dolly. I ended up calling a tow truck, because that was the only shot. Conveniently this all happened in front of an Indian restaurant so while we waited for the tow truck I comforted myself with some very spicy chicken Tikka Masala and a 22oz of Kingfisher.

The tow truck arrived and he just said "I've been doing this for 10 years, and I aint never seen anything like this". But of course, we were in Virginia, where if you go to a man and say you need something done, as long as it involves the use of a truck, he'll figure it out. This guy did not disappoint.

First we unhitched the dolly from our truck while he held the tow bar up with one of the towing forks. Then he set it down gently. Then he went around to the back of the car and using the wheel lifts lifted the back up as high as possible. The we used jacks to get the front up as high as possible and pushed the dolly towards the back of the car. The we had to slide it out from under the car, but it was too tall to clear. So we ended up having to flatten the tires on the tow dolly and even then it was a tight squeeze. With 3 of us kicking like all hell it came out eventually. He was nice enough to put the car on the tow dolly safely. All this cost me $135 but I guess when you have no choice in the matter you pay happily. The rest of the trip was slow, but uneventful. With a max speed of 55mph I didnt get home until 6AM and then still had to return the tow dolly and the borrowed GMC Envoy. I didnt end up in bed until 8AM.

But it's all over, the car is at it's new home and in one piece.

So today I checked the car out a little closer. I connected jumper cables since the battery was nearly flat and had a seat inside and started playing with all the switches buttons. I'm amazed, nearly everything works. The only problems I've found so far is:

-only half the drivers seat wants to move back and forth. I think I already know what to do about this.
-left rear window makes horrible screaching sound when rolled down.
-power antenna mast broken off
-wood trim on rear ashtray broken.

But that's about it. The only thing I couldn't test was the radio since I dont have the radio code, but I'll call up the dealer tomorrow. So far I'm impressed. And what really blew me away was how nicely the interior is finished. Definitely feels "nicer" than the 850 I had previously even though the 850 had more toys. The squishy, fuzzy fabric covering the headliner and the A,B and C pillars is a really nice touch.

As far as the engine is concerned I'm bouncing back and forth between just swapping out the cyl. head, or just pulling the whole motor out and changing the oil pickup o-ring, the RMS, checking the oil pump piston, etc... Laziness is clouding my judgement :).

I plan on tearing into it this weekend. The plan is to get the car running by my birthday at the end of this month.