The Coronavirus Chronicles -Three Strikes You're Out

[Gone in 60]

My wife and I were visiting her parents in the little San Diego County town of Fallbrook. I was out getting supplies on Saturday, and saw several Sheriff cars going up and down the streets, making stops at small shops and businesses. I had heard that the state was going to start cracking down on business that are ignoring the shutdown and are staying open, and was wondering if that was what they were doing.

I have a new Coronavirus Lockdown project, but for a somewhat sad reason. On Thursday, we went to visit her folks in Fallbrook to check on them. My Father in Law had been diagnosed last Monday with late stage colon cancer. When we got down there, it was apparent that he was in a great deal of discomfort, and my wife, who specializes in geriatric care, knew right away that we needed to just make him comfortable and wait. He passed on Friday night.

We did the necessary stuff that's needed right after a passing, and after going through it with my Dad and Step Dad, I was able to help with the logistics. He was 87, and we're happy that he's out of pain.

Her Mom looked out in the driveway on Saturday morning, and saw their car. She said it made her sad, and she wanted it to go away. It's an old Ford Escape that has never known kindness. It had been parked outside its entire life, and due to a quirk my Father in Law had, was usually kept with the windows down. Being on an acre farm in a small town, it was used to haul their vegetables to market, and to haul their trash to the dump. I had never known it to be washed or waxed.

Being an amateur detailer, I had always looked at that sad car as the ultimate challenge, wondering what it would take to revive it to any degree. Now, being asked by my wife to take it home and do something with it, I have my chance. My goal is to clean it up enough to get as much money for it as possible to help with my Mother in Law's care.

To get it moving, I jump started it, gave it an oil change in the driveway, and picked up a good set of used tires in town. I got it the 75 miles home, and have set to work on it. I've removed mouse nests around the engine that had been made out of the hood insulation. One of the nests was inside the car. It's a mess, but cleaning it will be good exercise, which I need, keep me occupied between trips to Fallbrook to bring my wife supplies while she's down there, and hopefully it will bring the family some good money if I do a good job.

[the Ferret]

Sorry about your loss Gone.

Hope the car cleans up and fetches a decent price.

[suhawk305]

Gone, My condolences for your family’s loss.

[Cormanus]

Gone in 60, my condolences to you and to your wife on your loss.

Good luck with the project. Pictures would be acceptable.

[Gone in 60]

Thank you very much, guys. I’m trying to revive brittle and faded interior plastics, deep clean, restore, and made some good headway today. I’ll snap some pics. The car isn’t sentimental to the family, but when I asked why he had bought that model when it was new he told me that “Well, you’re a Ford man and you’re smart, so figured I should buy a Ford.” If I were smart, I would have had a snappy comeback like “Of course I’m smart, I married your daughter.” At least he liked me.

[Cormanus]

But did you like him?

[Houtman_imp]

Sorry to hear about your loss and you are a good person to help out your mother in law.

[peterbaron]

Gin60, accept my deepest condolences.

[Gone in 60]

Thank you very much for the sentiments, gentlemen. He had a rapid decline, so it was probably a blessing for him and the family that he didn't suffer for a long time.

It's interesting, but the virus has been put to the back of mind for the time being. I tended to what I could do immediately, then took the car home, and have been sequestered in the garage for the past three days working on it.

Quote:But did you like him?
Ha! Yes, thankfully he did, but it took some time to gain the acceptance of my In-Laws. They are very old-country Greeks, and had a problem with my being married previously. How to get into their hearts? Fix their stuff! I fixed their old car, their stove, and did a lot of electrical and plumbing repairs early on, which they really appreciated. I remember my future Mother in Law coming out to watch me fix a faucet, and she said "So, we lose our daughter, but get a mechanic? That's ok."

Thanks for indulging me on the photos of my project, not being a motorcycle. I can tell how out of shape I am from sitting around since the lockdown. Under normal circumstances, I would have returned today from two weeks of outdoor event labor in Georgia, and would be none the worse for wear. As it is, after three days of working on this car in the garage, I'm pretty sore. I didn't think to take "before" pictures.

I took the project in sections, since the car was such a mess. Under the hood, the engine was covered in animal droppings and hundreds of snail shells. I was curious about the snails, and read up on why there would be snails all over the engine. Mice and rats were carrying snails up to eat them on top of the engine, then make their nests in the nooks around the engine. My wife had driven the car recently to take her Dad to a doctor appointment, and said the car barely ran. One of the nests was in the air intake tube blocking flow to the air filter. The engine is clean now, but once the weather dries up, I'll search local junkyards for a replacement hood liner and some chewed up underhood plastic bits. Also repaired some chewed wiring.

Inside the car, the steering wheel was black with muck, and the seatbelt was so grimy that it wouldn't retract. Seats and carpets were dirty, and the plastics were dry and baked. Did the best I could, and am hoping to eliminate the rodent smells with disinfectants. There was a ton of debris in the cargo area, that required most of the plastics to be removed to get all of it cleaned out.

On the outside, after a thorough wash, I wanted to clay the paint to remove everything that was stuck to it. I always use traditional clay, but someone had given me a Mothers Speed Clay, which is like a palm sander and is reusable, not a wad of clay, and it did a fantastic job. I highly recommend it. There are a few spots on the roof where the paint has flaked off, but thankfully, although the paint was dull, the clear coat hadn't burned away. Several passes with rubbing compound brought the shine back, and she got her first coat of wax ever.

The black plastic trim is fried. I have a friend who does restoration work who says he has some permanent treatments that can help here.

There are plenty of "Old man car" touches all around. The back bumper is scraped on both sides from where he scraped the gate backing out of the driveway, along with little bumps and bruises here and there, but all in all, I think it's coming along well. It will serve us well for a while to make some changes to their house to allow my Mother in Law to get by on her own, and my wife can use it to go back and forth to take care of her. And when we don't need it, it will bring some needed money. It's challenged my detailing skills, and given me some diversion from the daily news and the virus.

Thanks again, guys.

[Gone in 60]

Well, opportunities can come from the most interesting places, can't they. I called my restoration friend to ask about the black trim. He said he's got a few more cars in his shop than he can handle right now, and offered me a temporary job helping him out with some projects. I can use the money right about now!