Relocating and soon...

[Vaircooled]

Well the wife and I are relocating the family to South Carolina from Alaska and will be settling down west of Charleston. My wife has been wanting to go somewhere warmer for years and I could use a shorter and milder winter. Since I was born and raised in north Florida it kind of feels like coming home. I Just turned 43 in August and I realized that if I am going to be able to work on my cars and potentially get some more, as well as golf a bit more and visit a beach now and then, it was time for a move. I just got back into Corvair ownership with my 65 monza in July but waiting 2 weeks or so for parts orders from the "lower 48" ,as we call you up here, kind of puts a damper in my spirits. Also, the summers up here go by so fast that you feel that you have to rush rush rush to get things done, not to mention the cost of living up here is pretty high.
So, I am putting a hold on my 65 rebuild temporarily and will pick it up once we get to SC. Currently all my attention is going towards putting the house on the market and selling everything for the move. I swear this move is the last time lol. My wife will be towing the 65 Monza and I will be towing my 67 Firebird 400. It's going to be one hell of a long haul and who knows maybe some of you guys will see us driving through your hometown on the way. Hopefully we can get the house sold and leave before the snow starts falling too deep. Will update this thread as things get handled.

[cad-kid]

Sounds like quite the adventure!

[bbodie52]

WOW! You've sure got your work cut out for you -- especially with a move all the way from Alaska to South Carolina! I wish you all the best. After 24 years in the Air Force, my wife and I have picked up and moved all over the United States, Korea (twice), Germany and Saudi Arabia, having racked up eleven different locations in 40 years of marriage. Many were "Do it Yourself" moves with U-Haul, Ryder and Penske rental trucks and car haulers supporting our efforts, so I guess I know a little about the work you have ahead. I hope you are successful at getting things done fast and early so you can make your move from Alaska ahead of the bad weather. We made a similar bad weather (blizzard) move from Austin Texas to Lebanon Pennsylvania in 1993 with a 24 foot U-Haul truck and car hauler, and a Nissan Maxima station wagon with U-Haul trailer in tow. And I still had to return to Texas to rent a Penske van to get the remainder of our things, as we ran out of room! The blizzard had closed the interstate highway through Virginia and much of Pennsylvania, so we were working our way to Pennsylvania on the tail-end of the blizzard, while observing jackknifed tractor-trailers and other stuck vehicles along the way -- NO FUN!! So I wish you all the best in your journey and welcome you to my "neck of the woods" (we live hear Hiawassee, Georgia in western North Carolina, on Lake Chatuge).

[mingo64]

Damn.I thought moving from utah to florida was a pain in the ass.

[TexasUK]

On the 17th I move to a new house just over 12 miles away, I'm dreading it already :) It has got a garage though, so I'm looking forward to keeping dry while working on the car.

Good luck on your move, I hope all goes to plan!

[bbodie52]

Those short, local moves tend to be a real pain. I discovered that when I moved about 12 miles from Camarillo, California to the Naval Air Station at Point Mugu. The problem is that there is a tendency to pack the rental moving truck lightly -- just throw a bunch of stuff into the truck (loose pack) and then drive to the new home and unload. Then do it again, and again, and... you know. In a long-distance move you try to compress everything into one load by packing everything tight and up to "the rafters" in the truck. Then you make your long journey, getting some "rest" along the way, and then unload (one time) at your destination. With the short moves and repeated shuffling back and forth there is not time for rest, so the accumulated fatigue factor is somewhat greater too. Bottom line? Learn to hate DIY moves. It is never fun, or an "Adventure in Moving".

[cvair4life]

I just moved from Utah to North Carolina... won't be too terribly far away from you. And yes it is a long ass drive... you definitely win though.

My car is still in UTAH though :(

[Corvair.crazy]

I don't think you can go wrong on the East coast. Lots of Corvairs lovers there and lots of good shows. I do here that good rustfree cars are hard to find, so you should grab a couple on your way thru the west coast.
Good luck on the move!

[Ragtop Man]

Wow , tha'ts a hell of a haul And then towing two cars all the way down the Alaska Highway ? What's the state of that road these days ? I had always heard it wasn't the greatest experience and could be downright difficult in patches . Seems like I also heard you have to show you have spare filled gas cans , extra tires and tire repair kits etc but that all may be a thing of the past . Might be worth your while to ship both of those cars and by having two to ship you might save a little money . It's costing me $1300 to ship my Vair from Oregon to New Orleans . I'm thinking just the extra gas youi're spending and all of the headaches it could be your best bet . If nothing else you could drop them off somewhere in WA state to a shipper and let him take it from there . Just my humble thoughts though and nothing more . Good luck !

[Ragtop Man]

Ok for my own curiosity as well as your benefit I emailed my shipper out of Houston - New World Auto Transport is their name - and he told me if you got the cars to Seattle he could ship them to SC for $1100 each . If you want the contact info I'll send it your way . I've been dealing with a guy named David over there . FYI my car was $1300 from Portland

[VairDeb]

Every time I moved, I gave away or sold everything I had that was not of sentimental value- that left a couple boxes of books, photo albums and the kid. I picked up a van and shuffled across country with enough moola to get settled in until I got a job. I had some friends who talked me into moving to Modesto, Ca. many years ago. That was one move from Modesto (it snowed) back to San Diego the kid was not happy about as she was on the back of a 1959 hard-tail Triumph 650 custom- her butt hurt.

[Scott H]

Every time I moved, I gave away or sold everything I had that was not of sentimental value- that left a couple boxes of books, photo albums and the kid. I picked up a van and shuffled across country with enough moola to get settled in until I got a job.

I like that idea.

I had some friends who talked me into moving to Modesto, Ca. many years ago. That was one move from Modesto (it snowed) back to San Diego the kid was not happy about as she was on the back of a 1959 hard-tail Triumph 650 custom- her butt hurt.

hahaha

[miniman82]

Stop by and see my and the wife, we're moving to Virginia next month.

[Vaircooled]

Well since we haven't sold the house up here in AK and it is winter already, we are going to wait out the season until spring and hopefully we can get this house sold by then. Seems like no one has decent enough credit anymore as we have had interest but no prospective buyers had enough or good enough credit to afford our 5 bedroom house. We bought it for $265,900.00 and just want out of it what we have in it. Not sure if it's the market still or the banks, who knows. Well this does give us some time to get more things sold and finalize our plans. I recently cleaned out the garage and now I have room I previously had no idea I have. Have put the 65 coupe on hold but the more my wife walks by it the more she wants one. I saw one on Craigslist the other day and she wants it bad, problem is we have an 2005 1500, 2011 Durango, 67 Firebird 400, 65 corvair coupe, 95 S10, and a 92 S10. Was going to make one good S10 out of the two and still might before we move, time permitting. Problem is if I buy the wife a vair then we have 3 cars to transport. Hmmm...decisions decisions. Well I have a few months to think about it I guess. Oh and Ragtop, I might take you up on that, however I will let you know when the time comes as I may have more than two vehicles to move lol.

[Vaircooled]

Well, our relocating plans have been derailed big time. About a week after my last post, on this thread, I was approached by my Step Dad about starting a new business repairing and refurbishing medical equipment. Since selling the house wasn't going so well I figured what the hell. Long story short Alaska Restoration Services was born on 12/07/12. The business has been an adventure to say the least, but with no competition in the state we have been really busy. We are also building our own Sandblaster and 8' high x 4' wide x 4' deep powder coat oven to facilitate powder coating the medical table and chair frames and bases. Our sandblaster will accommodate anything not bigger than 6' long x 3' high x 3' deep. There are only 2 companies who do powder coating in Anchorage and one is extremely expensive and the other only does small parts no bigger than hand tools.
Needless to say when we made it known we were building a powder coat oven we were inundated with requests, so I am not moving for the time being and am focusing on the new business. I also have made the decision to sell my 67 Firebird and use the money to finish my 65 Monza.

It was too hard financially to do both at the same time and start the business, so I decided the Firebird has to go. I have over 9k in brand new parts with it including a whole brand new interior with new seat foam and black vinyl. I would only be able to drive the Firebird on weekends in the summer due to the insanely crappy mileage it gets and would probably have more fun in the Monza and be able to drive it daily. Once I sell the Firebird it will be full bore all out on my 65 Monza with the "Pink Flames".

Although it pains me to sell the Firebird, I do realize that having owned it over 10 years now and it still being in the unfinished state it's in, means I need to pass it on to someone who will finish it. I also realize that I have Corvair "fever". Not being able to finish and drive my Corvair is really getting at me. I want it finished so bad that I can't stand it, and having the extra cash to do that is just what the Doctor ordered. Also having a great shop with a dedicated sandblaster and Powder Coat oven just gets me fired up.....oh and owning the business helps lol. We are about 2 weeks out from doing powder coating and I will most likely start with rims and suspension. Not sure what I could offer in the way of a cheap Powder Coating service to you guys, seeing as I am in Alaska, but I would be willing. If anyone ever needs to contact me for powder coating work, you can use the phone number on the business website. Hopefully I will have some new pics of the continued restoration of my 65 after I sell the Firebird.

[cad-kid]

Wow, interesting twist to your story - that's what makes life so interesting. Looking forward to seeing your progress.