Estate Sale Cobra

Dang. I try not to judge folks I haven't met, but this guy seems like he's both shiny and happy. Glad it didn't cost you anything but time. 

In reply to golfduke :

The parts cannon was armed and ready, but the part of my brain that keeps me from being divorced and homeless kicked in just in time ha

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

Yea this one was tricky. I mean, he was very dis-honest at the beginning, but he always answered when I called and actually showed up at my house today to talk to the bank with me on speakerphone!!! 

I'm officially monetarily invested in the car at this point as I paid off the loan (~$900), and the bank confirmed to me that they are sending the clear title directly to me after a 14 day hold. We agreed that when we meet with the notary to put the title in my name he'll get the rest of our agreed upon price, so he's still got a reason to keep in touch.

It's been over 2 months so how about an update?! 

Still no title - but we're close. 

Called my friend at the DMV yesterday and he says he's still showing a lein on the title... mind you I paid off this car 2 whole months ago. 

So I called the PO and he called his bank. Turns out they mailed him a lien release twice, but not to the address we told them to send it to. They sent both to his old address. I tell him to ask the bank for an emailed lien release and do not hang up until you have received it. 

I get a text 5 minutes later. It's the lien release. 

I print out the release with a blank Duplicate Title Request Form and send PO to his bank to have it notarized. He does so and then heads to the title office. Just when I think we're home free the damn title office turns him away because the name of the bank of the title does not match the lien release. 

Today I get on the phone with the DMV main office today and confirm that you need to show proof that the bank's name changed. In this case the bank changed names twice in the last 21 years since he financed the car, so the kind DMV worker on the phone emailed me some press releases from sec.gov to show the companies officially changing names. 

So now I have a freaking pile of documents to take to the title office. PO and I are going up there together on Monday to hopefully obtain the title and sign it over to me!

I'm in Newport NC. Bout 1.5 HRS away. If you need help I'd be happy to lend a hand and tools if you need anything. 

Im a few hours from Wilmington, know jack all about mod motor fords, and have very little time. 

But by god, im down for a grm get together to help hotswap a motor on this thing in your driveway when the weather cools off! 

Serious kudos to you for not killing the po by now, and showing restraint with the parts cannon. 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Im a few hours from Wilmington, know jack all about mod motor fords, and have very little time. 

But by god, im down for a grm get together to help hotswap a motor on this thing in your driveway when the weather cools off! 

Serious kudos to you for not killing the po by now, and showing restraint with the parts cannon. 

I am in agreement.

We did it!! 

Just left the DMV where I paid the taxes on my new ride. It's officially mine and I'll have a paper title in 2 weeks. Never been so excited to pay taxes in my life. 

Six months of chasing people, phone calls, sitting on hold with the DMV, and calling in favors are officially over.

I for sure I saved this car from the local pick-n-pull or rotting away in a tree row somewhere. Without serious legwork from someone who wasn't the deadbeat owner, this car would have never been able to be tagged/titled again. 

I had a possible trade in the works but I have not heard back from the guy in a few weeks. Guess I'll start looking at motors! 

Guess I'll start looking at motors! 

In reply to ZombieSurf : 

Most excellent!  But what a chore to get to this point.

Congratulations!!
Heroic work!

Noddaz said:

In reply to ZombieSurf :

Most excellent!  But what a chore to get to this point.

Agreed. The sense of satisfaction always reflects the magnitude of the chore, and I'm feeling quite satisfied. Just knowing this is not going to be a total waste/loss is awesome right now. 

Hey y'all. How about a quick update on the Cobra? 

The week of the 4th of July I finally received the clean, clear, paper title for the car. I can finally sell it if I need to, ha! 

Here's where this becomes an actual build thread, sort of. A few months ago I started preparing my "shop" to accept the Cobra, by addressing a leaky roof. What started as a weekend job to patch a hole ended with ripping the entire roof off, sistering all the half-rotten roof stringers with 2x8x16s, then rebuilding from there. I have a professional roofer coming to install a shiny new metal roof on Monday! 

The carport looks so tiny with the car in there. Please ignore the dead grass. I had a tarp sitting there with 1000 pounds of shingles on it for a couple weeks. The rear end of the car may be sticking out the back of the carport while I pull the motor, but it's been sitting in the weather for 20 years so I think a couple more weeks/months will be fine. 

Moving a completely dead car from my driveway to the my back yard shop was fun. Drug it 1 foot at a time with a come-along. I could have pushed it with my van but apparently that front bumper cover is worth over $1000!? Same with the rear bumper and the export taillights. I could cover my purchase price right there. 

I have been researching how to proceed with getting the car back on the road. Turns out Coyote swaps are very popular on this platform and there's a massive aftermarket, so that's where we're headed. 

The plan right now is to make a list and start amassing parts for the swap. From what I have read, even a gen 1 truck motor would fit my needs, but I want something with lower miles so maybe I'll end up with something newer? I'm aware of the truck motors having lower HP, but 400+ sounds like it should be fun. In the end it's really going to come down to cost. 

All coyote swap suggestions/comments/concerns are encouraged, please! 

I feel like scope-creep on the roof project is some subconscious procrastination on digging back into the car project, but the poor shed/carport was in desperate need of some love. Hope to have the roof job wrapped up and hands back in the grease by end of next week!  

Hell yeah!