79 Olds Cutlass Wagon school project...

[SRD Art]

Pretty much after painting I was done with the car other than hooking up the radio and trailer wiring. It had been a very mad thrash since school got out and overall I was content with the results. There is soooo much more I wanted to do with the car, but a new job and new life awaited on the other side of the country and we had to get rolling.

Originally I had planned on heading to GA alone and working for a month or two, saving the $ to move the family and all our belongings. The way it worked out I had several set backs on the car that ended making reassembly take longer. Luckily everything went south while still in the driveway rather than on the road trip. Because of all the set backs and getting down to the bear minimum of savings because I wasn't working between school and GA, we last minute decided to throw most of our belongings in storage and pack what we could and head out as a family.

This got real crazy. We have 4 kids ranging from 4 to 14, 2 dogs, a cat, and 2 parakeets. How do you take everything you need in a couple vehicles and drive away? Trust me vehicles got packed, then unpacked and repacked again. I wouldn't wish our method of moving on anyone, lol.

We packed our little Daewoo commuter wagon with all the important papers, electronics, sewing machine, and whatever else would squeeze in. I could barely fit in the driver's seat enough to drive it up onto a tow dolly. Once it was strapped down I added my 73 Nova's extra powder coated sub frame and my mountain bike to the roof. In true motor head fashion I couldn't leave them behind. This was attached to my Suburban, which was filled with boxes of clothes, some food storage, and other important belongings. Notice in the photo how much the rear sags, yet this is a 3/4 ton truck that has a normally fairly high stance. The back was packed tight and full to the roof, with only enough room for a 2.5x2.5' square with only about 15" to the roof behind the back seat where the two medium size dogs and cat slept. The back seat had several boxes between the two younger kids, and the floor was filled in the front where my 12 year old daughter sat. Her feet resided on the dash for most of the trip. The middle of the front seat was reserved for maps and a large box of snacks, paper towels, water, etc. and the bird's cage. My wife, who normally doesn't like driving long distances, had never towed before, and doesn't like driving in unfamiliar places was a real trooper to run this rig.

My wagon was lucky enough to bring all the left over junk. Things like brooms, mops, vacuums, etc. were visible through my back windows. How embarrassing, lol! Roman rode with me. The entire back was jam packed and junk food and lots of Mt Dew was packed in, around, and under the front seats. Attached out back was my 73 Nova, which was also completely packed full with all the parts I had to put it together. It was heavy enough that even at 40 lbs in the rear tires and with air shocks completely full it looked like a low rider with low air pressure in the tires. On the back of the Nova was a bike rack with 3 more bikes, and there was another small bike and my little rolling mechanics seat attached to a tow bar that was bolted to the front of the Nova. I tell you it was a nutty sight.

Here's a photo of Roman, you can see how tightly we had things packed...