Blizzard not warned.

In the game of life, some things are meant to happen.. And some do, but albeit at a cost.

I found another 4 door hardtop, this one a 57. I made an appointment to take a look at it.

I was looking for a car, that had very little, or no rust (HA!, I live in Iowa). I was also looking at a semi complete car. The ideal candidate should be in pretty streetable state, as the goal is to do a "rolling" restomod.  

HERESY I hear coming out of the bleachers.. How DARE you think of spoiling an unrusted survivor!. Well, let me explain...

in 1957, the Bel Air was a top of the line, and had the same 283 HP as the corvette. Now if you think about it in 2015 terms, that would be like your fathers' impala producing 500 horses..  In 1957, most cars had drums on all 4 wheels, no sway bars, and suspensions made out of stamped sheet metal. The 57 shared the road with its peers, and older brothers. Therefore it could keep up with traffic, stop with it, and take corners with it. 

In 2015... Those characteristics make taking the car out a gamble. There is no way that the stock brakes, suspension, steering, and above all optics, are up to par with a modern car.

This means that taking your 57 out for a leisurely sunday drive, is akin to russian roulette. There is no way that you can out stop, out corner, or if needed out accelerate a car made in the last 20 years. And that is a recipe for disaster. Therefore on to the restomod route.

I was NOT looking for a garage queen. I am looking for a car, that I can take out on a friday evening cruise without hesitation, and will be able to be seen at night, and see the road at night. I am also looking for a car that will not leave me stranded.  So in order to achieve my goals, I need to find the "best" car possible. 

That means stuff like an engine, or a complete electrical system.. are highly over rated.

Back when I had my original 57, one of the major pitfalls of it was the electrical system. It was plagued with electrical gremlins, shorts, fuses blowing at inconvenient times, etc. I am not going to repeat that with the new project.

Now on to the story that brought us here.. The actual pick up.

I live in Northern Iowa. This is winter. So far it has been a "mild" winter by north pole standards. I am not even sure how people survive farther north than me, but somehow they do.

The weather has been mercifully good with a couple minor storms that have left no visible accumulation. I plan on picking the car up on thursday, and make all the necessary arrangements. Weather report states that flurries are expected, but no accumulation.

The weather report was wrong... Wrong in a way that makes weather reports wrong. What happened that thursday was a blizzard. I had rented a pick up truck with a car carrier. The place I rented it from did not bother to change the tires to a snow denomination. I had a 3100 lb car, with a 500lb trailer being towed with a 2 wheel drive pick up truck with NO SNOW TIRES. The roads to, and from the place I picked the car up were mercifully snow free. However the moment I hit the town I live in, the snow plow drivers were still on their day jobs. Not a street, not a road or highway was plowed. To make matters worse, it was cold enough that the melted snow was turning to ice.

Let me tell you what hell looks like... Going up a hill, with a pickup truck, no snow tires, and loads of snow... Add weight... There you have it. Hell is not hot. it is cold.

I finally made it. I left the pickup truck at the rental place, and I drove the chevy into the garage.

Next day I got a call from the rental place (Name omitted to protect the guilty) stating that they gas was under 1/4 tank, and that there was a service charge. I told them that the car itself was not suitable for the weather, and that they should consider replacing the tires with at least mud/snow ones.

She actually stated that they were surprised to find the car back. They thought I would not make it.

Here is a picture of the underside of the car for those interested in that kind of thing...

For the shoe box chevy connoisseurs, to note.. Yes, it has a 6 cylinder.. Yes, it USED to have a 283. Yes, it will be replaced with something a bit more.... powerful. (in a chapter yet to come.)