Delivering the Package
9:30AM yesterday, I was at Enterprise Rental to pick up a pickup. ?Not the Dodge Ram 1500 I’d hoped, but a Chevrolet Silverado – almost new, only 300 miles on the clock. ?I was impressed with the amount of room inside as well as a flat bed.
70 or so miles to Connecticut and Vintage Motorsports where the engine was waiting for me. ?Cash was exchanged for metal and we loaded the engine onto the truck. ?Vintage are a dealer for Backdraft Cobras, a South African company that ships cars complete other than running gear. ?I have always liked the look of the body on a Backdraft, but the fact that the interior is a giant fibreglass ‘bucket’ has always put me off. ?The Factory Five, as well as being a personal build project, is all aluminium sheet cockpit which, as far as kits go, I feel is more ‘authentic’.
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I stopped after about 15 minutes to check the load – none of the straps had given an inch and the engine and transmission were still firmly seated on the two tyres. ?I as a little nervous about getting the engine out of the truck since it was really just me doing it and having never lifted a 500lb+ engine before … it could have gone horribly wrong. ?But it didn’t, and the 2ton crane and engine balancer were perfect. ?About the trickiest part was getting the tailgate off the Silverado, but managed that too without incident.
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The engine now sits patiently on a furniture moving dolly while I get to that stage of the build. ?If there was anything that could ever provide encouragement it’s an engine waiting for a home.
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