The Speedwagon-A Cheap Car Hauler

David S. Wallens said:

Yeah, looking good.

And this totally counts as a build thread. If you want it moved to that forum, just let us know. 

Sure, why not? OR it could go in that fancy new tow rig section you folks have added.

Thank You. To be honest, there is still a good bit more to come. I'm almost to the point it can haul home more metal to continue the mods.

I've got to pick a Miata tub up from Central Illinois pretty soon. Just the motivator I needed to get back on this.

First, Stake pockets, aka tie down points went on.

They were strategically placed...wherever. 

Then I got serious.

When hooked to my truck, the rear axle was just about bottomed out before, and raising the hitch was deemed easier than building a receiver hitch bumper, buying a drop hitch, etc, etc.

I made pass throughs for the wiring, and welded the edges in hopes that  I wouldn't inadvertently skin them when I pull them through.

Here's as far as I got before running out of daylight.

I'm maybe half way through finish welding what's on there, and a center brace is yet to go on, but progress is progress.

Here's a sort of overall with the fenders finally attached and painted.

Next up, primer , pain, and wiring. 

^That was supposed to say paint, but, but I feel like I gotta leave it.

Awesome work and cool thread! 

In reply to accordionfolder :

Hey, thanks, Guy.

I've been fighting rain and winds trying to weld this thing outside. Let's just say that the welds are indeed Trailer Grade. Maybe I'll do fish plates later-it would only be what 24 of them. I got the welding done, and a spotty coat of primer on. With my upcoming trip to the Bad Decision Triangle, that can be good enough. I've still got to weld the jack on, come up with at least one, maybe two ramps, and wire it. 

It is urinating down rain today and generally miserable, so I believe a Harbor Freight trip is in order. May get a deluxe accessory for the heap.

Deluxe accessory acquired.

It is miserable out, and I've got work stuff to study. Packing it in for right now.

But Wait!

The rains abated for a bit, and I was able to move forward.

Got the jack on.

Got a piece of conduit run for wiring.

And I found a piece of scrap I think will make a nifty winch mount.

This last week of evenings has been a thrash trying to get this bucket roadworthy. The plan was to leave after work Friday, take the dog, and have a night in a pet friendly hotel, followed by a leisurely day collecting a Miata shell and visiting with the current Challenge Champion.

   Things didn't work out that way, but they did work out. For starters, the dog was sick. Then at the end of my shake-down trip to work, the truck wouldn't start. My jump box refused to take a charge, and I may have killed a very pricey new Odyssey battery. Ultimately, as the sun fell Friday, I found a connection pulled loose on the relay that ran my ghetto charging system, so I at least had the culprit identified. So we went for it. The jump box finally took a charge, and thanks to it, the truck fired up after a night of having the block heater plugged in, and unsuccessful trickle charging. We were out of Oak Ridge at 7:40 local time, and we made it home at 2:40ish the following morning. 1010 miles on the Speedwagon's inaugural run under my ownership. It was in no way properly prepared, things didn't work as hoped, and we're completely exhausted, but the mission statement has been fulfilled. We brought home a junk Miata that was likely heading to the scrapper otherwise.

Here's the details:

I got together my patented junk car recovery kit, which due to the seller's planning and ingenuity was largely untouched.

Since Friday wasn't going to work as a departure date, I had time to install the winch outside in the snow after dark. That went okay, but its use proved unnecessary.

This act of mounting it would prove fruitless as it has to come back off for paint and wiring, but I didn't screw it up too bad, so I don't have to work backwards too much to have it useable. Same with the wiring. My math turned out to be poor, so my routing didn't work out as planned-it will need to be redone, but that's not the end of the world. It was wet, and as we drove, the trailer peed rust out of every tiny gap imaginable, and there are lots of gaps one could imagine. The stake pockets are far from ideal for tie-down points. I'll take another run at them, rust treat the rails, and drill some drain holes in the frame, but some of that will just have to be lived with. Oh yeah, my jack crank interferes with the winch cable. I've got a plan  to un-ring that bell too, though.

   So I didn't take too many pictures en route, but here's the first stop somewhere in Kentucky:

And here's the dog.

He did puke on the girlfriend and in the truck while NOCONES and I were getting loaded.  Since my battery was toast, the truck ran the entire 20 hour trip. We got a tank of bad diesel in Indiana, so there was some pretty extensive bucking during the last leg of the trip, but otherwise, it performed flawlessly. My cheapo GPS speedometer reads about 4mph fast, but I don't really see that as a problem.

As mentioned, Daniel had already worked out an excellent plan for loading, so my over-planned carpentry was unneeded. We had an all too brief tour of the NOCONES garage, and were on the return trip in a bit over an hour. Thank You Daniel. I realized pulling away that I didn't get to see the Midget-bummer. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

So here it is. Miata #3 for me.

It was $200 for the titled shell and a variable cam engine. We'll see what the future holds for this hunk, but it was a worthwhile endeavor to drag it home. Maybe its presence will motivate me to get moving on some of the many projects ahead of it.

Unloading took all afternoon, but it's done.

First, I built a "sled", and attached the shell to it, then slowly rolled it off.

It was not without incident.

But all's well that ends well. 

I'll have to get the engine inside on a stand soon, and of course, sort through all the goodies that came with this new acquisition. 

So, as is very predictable with me, I needed to use this thing before it was ready, did so, and simply let it sit for...FOUR months!

Well, today I had a chance to button up some loose ends. As stated earlier, the jack crank conflicted with the winch. So I attached an old lug nut to it.

I figure I'll always have the star wrench with me. That, or buzz it up and down with the cordless impact.

I also replaced the hitch with a nice new 2-5/16" model. No more hammering it open and closed. 

The wiring still isn't great, but it is perfectly functional. I ran some PEX to protect one run, and self tappers and zip ties at least keep everything else in place.

Finally, I thought the tire rack Robbie made was an excellent idea, but it kept slipping out the bottom of the mounts and binding up so I couldn't remove it solo. Some 1/2" bar welded to the bottom of those pockets should take care of all that.