Home again, home again. Jiggety jig.

After long and arduous toil, mostly on LR’s part, my Lily has made it home. I’ll admit that I’m in love with that car in a way that is probably illegal. But I promised details and pictures.

LR replaced the heads, edited the tubing to remove the AC compressor and smog pump (as much as possible) and as we got it out of his driveway the fuel lines began to spray a trail blind men could follow. Now just getting it out of the driveway was an exercise in and of itself.  First LR had to cut the padlock off his back gate since the key is on the ring he lost at Nathan’s shop, then the combined might of LR, Mike, Nathan and uhmmm – his helper dude that I don’t know the name of – got to push the non-running ’61 Superior out onto the street (fairly busy residential) and then I was to drive Lily out under her own power. Great plan. Lily disagreed. Unbeknownst to us, the fuel leak had already been doing it’s dastardly work and she was out of gas. So LR and Nathan ran to the gas station. In the meantime, some well meaning neighbor (let’s pretend most of them don’t wish LR and his cars/house would burst into flames) called the police and reported a disturbance. So we end up with two cop cars sitting in the intersection and bewildered police trying to make sense of it all. They first questioned Mike and helper dude, then when they mentioned Bri (Mike’s fiance & LR’s cousin) and I were with the other car in the driveway, one cop came back to check their story. Now no one is going to immediately assume I’m a victim in any way shape or form by looking at me. Aside from being hideously overweight, I’m built like a nose tackle. Bri is the opposite, maybe 110 soaking wet, and delicate in appearance. So of course the cop had to ask in an undertone if she was OK. We reassured the nice man with the gun that all was well and we actually hung out with these scruffy looking inviduals on purpose. And they didn’t even meet LR or Nathan! Anyway, they decided to go along with our bizarre tale of musical hearses and went on their way. Which is of course when the guys got back. We fueled Lily up, got her going and I drove out exactly as planned. Parked, got out, and saw the fume-ridden trail of gas swooping around the corner. Dammit. Nothing to be done in the middle of the night, so we got the ’61 Superior back into the driveway and closed the gate before anyone in Neighborhood Integrity could write LR a ticket. Over the subsequent days, LR replaced piece after piece of fuel line until he had caught all of the leaks. So far. She sat for 3 years, no telling what else has weathered. We’re still loking for a replacement choke, and on the way here she was knocking over 55 and there are some throttling issues. Hopefully, all minor adjustments. While that all gets done, I’m going to take a scrub brush to everything that can handle it, take everything out and see what really needs to ride around, and redo her curtains. By then, I hope to be able to drive her to Oklahoma, straighten out the tag and visit Mama. She assures me that the possibilty of anyone running over with a casserole if I park in front of her house is slim. Not that they don’t know my stepdad Dwain had a stroke at Xmas, but mom says she just isn’t friendly enough for them to try it. That’s saying something in Sallisaw.

So those are the basics, but here are the goodies. Keep in mind that the dirt and mold are pretty bad. She’s beautiful to me, but these still make me twitch for a bucket and brush. Then another trip to the car wash.

For  the record, it was not intentional to pick a gray station wagon when I was getting a low mpg car. Really. He’s my Igor and doesn’t answer to mini-me. Very often.

Gratutitous ass shot. The sticker in the left rear corner of the window reads ‘Join the dark side’ and the right is the hearse club logo.

All my worldy possessions (okok, I have a storage room too). All on wheels. Bring it on apocalypse!

Why yes, now that you mention it, my hearse and my house are within inches of being the same length. Igor is less than half of either one.

And finally, paradise by the dashboard light.

I’ll post updates as I remove the grime and she looks a little more presentable.