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IN 1998 I found a rusty 61 Rampside about 2 miles from my house. The owner said he was moving and wanted someone to remove the car. After some talking, the price of $200.00 was agreed upon. I had to badvair.comremove a six foot fence post that was through the windshield and rear window then remove about two feet of dirt from the bed. The kids used it as a play house. I towed it home and started to clean it up. It took me about a month to get it running and transfer the title from Idaho, which was not simple. The engine wasn’t great but for the price what can you expect. About 3 months went by and a friend told me about a guy that had an 80 Cad Eldo that he couldn’t register because it wouldn’t pass the smog test. I thought about it for awhile and got the idea of a V8 in back of my truck. I took some measurement from truck and Cad to see if it would fit. It looked like it would so I ended up buying the Eldo for $300.00.
My first step was to cut the front off of the Eldo just behind the trans mount. Now came the hardest part. I had to remove the engine and running gear from a truck in running condition. This was the point of no return, because if it didn’t work, all I had was two piles of junk. I decided to go for it. I got out my sawzall and started to cut in Feb 99. One of my problems was I had to figure out how to do things by myself. With no pit or lift, I used floor jacks (4) and makeshift lift. I did it all in my driveway. It’s a good thing I have an understanding wife. It took me until April to get the Cad front end aligned and welded in place because I had to reinforce the bed area. Once that was done all I had to do was get it running. That was like looking up a cliff with no rope. I have been around cars all my life but this project was like no other I had ever started. Some of the things I had to resolve were cooling, shifting, battery placement, engine cover, locking the Cad front end, rear springs, exhaust system and brakes. I won’t bore you with the details and sleepless nights but I did get it running.
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