Ain't THAT the way it goes....

[moparedtn]

Last Friday evening, we decide to hook up with some friends and go out to dinner and to then check out the new John Wick movie (I enjoyed the heck outta that crap BTW).
I decide, after a quick glance at the weather, it'd be nice to get the GTX out, since I'd been neglecting her since my little booboo with the garage door and her. :-(

We're at the local Mexican joint, about to chow down and I notice people coming in the door are wet. Crap, it's raining... and I NEVER have the GTX out in the rain.
Heck, the last time we got caught in a little storm and I had hit the wipers, one of 'em came off the car.
It
came
off
the
car...……

Anyways, we start consulting the weather app on our phones and as it turns out, a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued and all sorts of hell commenced in the area.
Flash flooding, high winds, trees down, the whole she-bang - and us out in the GTX.
Oy...
The others in our party are genuinely concerned about me and the GTX at this point, knowing full well my history with the car and rightly assuming I'm freaking a bit about having her out in all this. They offer to call off the rest of the "date"; I firmly decline.

Admittedly....at that moment I am a tad concerned, to the point I go outside the restaurant with the storm raising hell and stand under an awning, watching the GTX while nervously burning a smoke.
Finally, the rain subsides and the others come out after finishing their dinner.
They expect me to say good evening and nurse the GTX back home.
Instead, I said "screw it, let's see if she's a real car or not."
Off we go down the main drag, me trying to get the windshield defogged without the aid of any heat (I've taken the heater hoses off for the summer already) and hoping my wiper arm efforts work to actually keep them ON the car this time.
They did.

We drive through the war zone of downtown and see all the carnage and get to the theater - then the skies open up AGAIN and it's Return of Armageddon.
Tough, I'm gonna watch this damn movie....
Baba Yaga commences, bucket o' popcorn and soda consumed, etc....
The drive home a couple hours later was...eventful.
The GTX wants to swap ends on the swampy roads at the drop of a hat; the wiper switch needs a little cleaning and they keep starting and stopping on their own.
We get to our 1/4 mile drive, gravel and straight up the ridge - and it's washed out.
Rutted. Half foot deep ruts rutted.
Screw it, full steam ahead.
I swear, she had to have jumped some of those ruts, I had her so wound up going up the hill.
Safely back in the garage, my wife's nerves are shot and she heads into the house....
Me? I got out the towels and wiped the GTX down, talking to her, praising her.
"Good job, girl. Good job."

 

[Mprmetal]

Sounds like a typical evening in Hazzard county !! The Gran Touring eXpress performed her duty well again, good job ole girl indeed! Glad all three of you made it home safely.

 

[68Moparmaniac]

Last Friday evening, we decide to hook up with some friends and go out to dinner and to then check out the new John Wick movie (I enjoyed the heck outta that crap BTW).
I decide, after a quick glance at the weather, it'd be nice to get the GTX out, since I'd been neglecting her since my little booboo with the garage door and her. :-(

We're at the local Mexican joint, about to chow down and I notice people coming in the door are wet. Crap, it's raining... and I NEVER have the GTX out in the rain.
Heck, the last time we got caught in a little storm and I had hit the wipers, one of 'em came off the car.
It
came
off
the
car...……

Anyways, we start consulting the weather app on our phones and as it turns out, a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued and all sorts of hell commenced in the area.
Flash flooding, high winds, trees down, the whole she-bang - and us out in the GTX.
Oy...
The others in our party are genuinely concerned about me and the GTX at this point, knowing full well my history with the car and rightly assuming I'm freaking a bit about having her out in all this. They offer to call off the rest of the "date"; I firmly decline.

Admittedly....at that moment I am a tad concerned, to the point I go outside the restaurant with the storm raising hell and stand under an awning, watching the GTX while nervously burning a smoke.
Finally, the rain subsides and the others come out after finishing their dinner.
They expect me to say good evening and nurse the GTX back home.
Instead, I said "screw it, let's see if she's a real car or not."
Off we go down the main drag, me trying to get the windshield defogged without the aid of any heat (I've taken the heater hoses off for the summer already) and hoping my wiper arm efforts work to actually keep them ON the car this time.
They did.

We drive through the war zone of downtown and see all the carnage and get to the theater - then the skies open up AGAIN and it's Return of Armageddon.
Tough, I'm gonna watch this damn movie....
Baba Yaga commences, bucket o' popcorn and soda consumed, etc....
The drive home a couple hours later was...eventful.
The GTX wants to swap ends on the swampy roads at the drop of a hat; the wiper switch needs a little cleaning and they keep starting and stopping on their own.
We get to our 1/4 mile drive, gravel and straight up the ridge - and it's washed out.
Rutted. Half foot deep ruts rutted.
Screw it, full steam ahead.
I swear, she had to have jumped some of those ruts, I had her so wound up going up the hill.
Safely back in the garage, my wife's nerves are shot and she heads into the house....
Me? I got out the towels and wiped the GTX down, talking to her, praising her.
"Good job, girl. Good job."

Dang, I need a drink after that...

 

[moparedtn]

Dang, I need a drink after that...

Life in the country for a pretty girl can be rough.
This region is already like two FEET over on rain for the year so far; this after setting records last year for rain.
It's been nuts....and I'm about done with it.

 

[The Rebel]

Whew! Lots of crazy weather in the Midwest / South, glad you guys are ok.

 

[gkent]

One of the last times I drove my car (1985 !!) we were at a small car show out of town. On the way back the skies opened and with no wipers or heater I had no choice but to pull off the road and wait it out. Like you, concerned the car is getting wet. So after a half hour the downpour subsides, I wipe the mist of the windshield and proceed into town. Hey whats all this white stuff - looks like a truck carrying white gravel has lost its load. HOLY CRAP, that's hail ... the size of quarters !! So in hindsight I'm lucky I didn't have wipers or heater or I would have been filing an insurance claim for hail damage like thousands of others did the following week. I had just got the car back from paint and bodywork a few weeks earlier.

 

[Richard Cranium]

We're at the local Mexican joint, about to chow down and I notice people coming in the door are wet. Crap, it's raining... and I NEVER have the GTX out in the rain.

 

[Darter6]

These stories are endless. But true. We all have them,knowing that the only way to keep a nice car nice is not to drive them.Such a conundrum.The latest for me was my 64 Belvedere original paint,got boxed in at about 50 mph.Sure enough the truck in front of me has crap in the bed.A 5 gallon empty bucket flies from the bed bounces off the car next to me hits the side of my car puts a 2 foot white plastic mark down the side of my car. Luck has it and was able to buff it out.No dent in the thick skin of a old car metal.

 

[68Moparmaniac]

These stories are endless. But true. We all have them,knowing that the only way to keep a nice car nice is not to drive them.Such a conundrum.The latest for me was my 64 Belvedere original paint,got boxed in at about 50 mph.Sure enough the truck in front of me has crap in the bed.A 5 gallon empty bucket flies from the bed bounces off the car next to me hits the side of my car puts a 2 foot white plastic mark down the side of my car. Luck has it and was able to buff it out.No dent in the thick skin of a old car metal.

Don't build'em like they use to, newer car would be in the shop getting body work and replacing the freakin air bags.. provided that the Tanaka bouncing betty didn't cut you in half..

 

[BeeKool]

Yep. Leave the Dodge in Hazzard county, your neck of the South only jumps Plymouths!

 

[steve from staten island]

Instead of gravel for the road up to your house, would road millings work better? Would require grading and a roller but they do pack down very well . Just a idea

 

[khryslerkid]

I remember another story about you, the X and your driveway, not that long ago! That was a worrisome story while I was reading it.

Something I've always remembered about your area, there's always great stories to be told.

 

[threewood]

Haha, nice! I don't like driving these old cars rain but it is nice to know they are capable of doing it. I've had my X out in the rain a couple times and it makes me happy that I put her together well enough that she doesn't leak.

 

[Hey-O]

The day I bought my 65, we drove it home, 20 miles of it in rain and hail on the highway with no place to hide. It was coming down so hard I couldn't see to drive over 25 mph. Rain stopped so fast you could draw a line between wet and dry. Sun dried the car and it was spotless when I made it home. Pea sized hail, not a mark on the car, thank God!

 

[moparedtn]

Whew! Lots of crazy weather in the Midwest / South, glad you guys are ok.

Thanks. It's the folks out in tornado alley I worry about. Been a bumper crop year for twisters already out there!

 

[moparedtn]

Heck, I don't even know how waterproof the GTX is! Might be rotten gaskets all over for all I knew...

 

[1967coronet]

Ed, when you was talking about the ride up the drive...........
I thought you just may meet Bruce on the way down

 

[moparedtn]

Instead of gravel for the road up to your house, would road millings work better? Would require grading and a roller but they do pack down very well . Just a idea

Very pricy stuff; about 3/4 the price of just paving the thing.
I'm not too proud to turn down a generous offer for someone to pick up the tab, though.

 

[moparedtn]

I remember another story about you, the X and your driveway, not that long ago! That was a worrisome story while I was reading it.
Something I've always remembered about your area, there's always great stories to be told.

Things tend to be a bit more "real" out here in the sticks for sure.
Compared to "city life" of my first decades of life, I'll take it hands down.
Yep, still waiting on the appraiser and Hagerty to finalize stuff on the claim, then off to the bodyshop she goes.
The sooner it gets fixed, the sooner I can ease up on kicking my own *** over hurting the car.

 

[moparedtn]

Haha, nice! I don't like driving these old cars rain but it is nice to know they are capable of doing it. I've had my X out in the rain a couple times and it makes me happy that I put her together well enough that she doesn't leak.

Yes sir, it's so easy to forget we daily drove these things for years...
and come to find out, this particular rascal ain't half bad at shedding water, either.
Most of it anyways.