Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 (edited) This one is a true and mysterious story. Last Tuesday, I finished a AMT '58 Plymouth built as Christine as a "commissioned" build to my cousin, Marcelo. Yesterday, I got a bag of cotton balls, and placed Christine inside her box with the cotton balls all around to prevent her from moving inside the box in the travel to my cousin's for delivery. This morning I woke up early, and my idea was to take the model with me, deliver her, and get my Revell '57 Ford kit (the payment). Got to my garage, put the box on the Galaxie's front seat, opened the garage gate, and got into the car. Key inserted, I wouldn't even get the dash lights on. It felt like a 100% dead battery, and I had used the old Gal the day before to get that cotton balls at the supermarket. I thought maybe I forgot the headlights on or something while I was sitting there looking at the open gate to the street. Opened the door, and pulled the button to pop the hood. As I got out of the car, I pushed the door out, and it just came back while I was leaving, and hit my leg with the lower corner. My Galaxie is a 1974, but for you guys it's basically a 1966 Galaxie four door sedan, so you can picture how the lower corner of the front door is. Well, I had to "patch" my leg with the bandages from the first aid kit I have in all cars, and drove my Focus to the Health Post near my house, where the guys gave five stitches on my once virgin leg. Once home again, almost one hour latter, with the head full of pain killers, I took the kit out of the Galaxie and into the Focus, and decided to delay the "delivery" to tomorrow. I then went into the Galaxie once again to get the keys, and out of stubbornness I decided to give it a try. She started on the first strong and healthy turn of the starter. Edited November 23, 2014 by Lovefordgalaxie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Ya never know what these cars will do. Sorry about your leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Sorry about your bad day Tulio. I guess the Christine thing would run through anybody's mind but myself never believed in anything like a real Christine.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 I think "Christine" my be a little upset about you giving her away! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggon Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Maybe you'd better take a look at that model and make sure the cotton balls aren't stuck to the paint..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathgoblin Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 I had a 78 Volare that hated me. I was the second owner, the original had been an old lady that had been put into a nursing home. From the moment I bought the thing it started coming apart. My family and I went out to dinner one night a few weeks later and while I was in the restaurant the exhaust system snapped just in front of the catalytic converter. No way to repair it without replacing the whole converter. The car wasn't worth it, so we ended up running a straight pipe. Later on the whole exhaust fell off in the middle of the freeway. Someone bought the car off my parents and had it running again in about 5 minutes. I think it's still out there waiting on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 I had a rather innocuous 1978 AMC Concord two door coupe. Black on black on black. A beautiful car that spoke to me from the car lot it was being sold from. It had tried to kill me from the first day I bought the car. It got the name "Widow Maker". First day taking it home to reside with it's stable mate, a 1976 AMC Hornet X V8 hatchback. Brakes worked fine from the little dealership but failed the very last time I used the brakes in front of my house. A few days later it was nearly hit broad side by a farmer's truck pulling out of a drive way. During that first winter, you could not take it over 30 miles per hour in the snow, or she would get sideways. I fear she had been in a wreck and had the unibody structure repaired wrong sometime earlier in it's life. The other AMC, my Hornet, never gave me a bit if trouble in all it's time I owned her. BTW, sorry about the leg wound...but chicks dig scars... LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my80malibu Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 (edited) Did you hear any early Rock n Roll while all of this trouble was happening? Here is a good tip if your at the Airport to catch a flight, and John Denver music starts playing in the background, Don't get on the plane. Edited November 21, 2014 by my80malibu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 About the cotton balls, no, they didn't stick up in the paint. I never had this issue. When I'm not using Tamiya paint I'm using automotive paint, maybe that's the reason. Other kinds of paints may be more sensitive. Well, this morning it happened again. I didn't want to drive all the way to my cousin's on the Focus. It's an hour drive, and I really really like the Galaxie more, specially on highway. Put the kit in the car, and she just wouldn't start, it was like she had no battery on. Removed the kit from the Galaxie, and delivered it with the Focus. Got home and the Galaxie started just fine. Drove her to a friend's shop, and he tested everything electrical on that car. Found zero, nothing, nada. At the present moment she's driving 100% normal. Parked her in front of a house I had to take measurements of and when I got back, the car started right away. I thing the Galaxie just wouldn't haul that kit. It may sound hilarious, but she may have thought: "He started building Mopar kits, next thing is buying a Dodge dart. No no no, this won't happen" I just hope nobody saw me showing the '57 Ford kit to her on the garage, and saying "See, I just built that Plymouth to get this one" I'm also happy that there were nobody on the line to get a "weld" service on the leg yesterday, and I didn't have to spend anything on that and the pills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 Did you hear any early Rock n Roll while all of this trouble was happening? Here is a good tip if your at the Airport to catch a flight, and John Denver music starts playing in the background, Don't get on the plane. No, I had no power even to light on the dash lights... Not to mention the tape player. And the tape on the car was from Abba. Nor John Denver or Richie Valens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 I had a rather innocuous 1978 AMC Concord two door coupe. Black on black on black. A beautiful car that spoke to me from the car lot it was being sold from. It had tried to kill me from the first day I bought the car. It got the name "Widow Maker". First day taking it home to reside with it's stable mate, a 1976 AMC Hornet X V8 hatchback. Brakes worked fine from the little dealership but failed the very last time I used the brakes in front of my house. A few days later it was nearly hit broad side by a farmer's truck pulling out of a drive way. During that first winter, you could not take it over 30 miles per hour in the snow, or she would get sideways. I fear she had been in a wreck and had the unibody structure repaired wrong sometime earlier in it's life. The other AMC, my Hornet, never gave me a bit if trouble in all it's time I owned her. BTW, sorry about the leg wound...but chicks dig scars... LOL That happened to me with one of my father's Mercedes. I think it was a '86 E420. That thing hated me. I think she knew I hated Mercedes cars, and just hated back. On the rain she would do what your AMX would do on the snow. Chicks dig scars? have to find a knife... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 I think "Christine" my be a little upset about you giving her away! Steve I should had sung to her: You were never mine, and we don't belong together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggon Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 This might sound stupid, but did you wiggle the battery ground cable when it wouldnt start? I had a bad ground once. It was really difficult to diagnose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 This might sound stupid, but did you wiggle the battery ground cable when it wouldnt start? I had a bad ground once. It was really difficult to diagnose. The first time, no. I was "leaking" a little, and was more worried on getting some bandages. The second time, yes, and both cables are fine. There is no corrosion on the terminals, anything. Like Paul just said, it may be the key switch with a bad connection, after all the thing is 40 years old. But by other hand, all wiring is 40 years old... Ford Galaxies have what we call master connections on the firewall. All the electrical goes trough there. They do look like to big 380V connections just under the brake master cylinder. Once I was in a line of Galaxies going to a car meeting and a 1966 convertible just died out of the blue. One of the two connections had just disconnected itself. We plugged it back, and the car ran fine. We checked the connections on my car, and both are good. I'm telling you guys, Katia just hates Mopars. Even in 1:25 scale. She's fine with Chevies, I know that because I have a little S-10 and nothing like this never happened related to the S-10... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggon Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 "Katia" gave me a chuckle. The girlfriend has had a "Yolanda", a "Nadia" and a "Fiona". She calls my Durango "the Durangle" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 sorry to hear about your day! I once had a 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager minivan that was haunted. It kept getting hit by other cars when it was standing still or parked. It was gold color so it wasn't hard to see but by the time we got rid of it, it had been hit on every side at least once. + A car in front of my wife had to back up a little bit to allow a truck to swing in it's turn. The lady forgot it was in reverse and hit the gas when the light turned green. My wife looked at the van and didn't see any damage so she let the lady go. That evening I saw fluid on the ground and realized that the hit was below the bumper and the transmission cooler was destroyed. + Van got hit in the drivers door while parked in a store parking lot, while we were in the store. + We were at a wedding and came out of the church to find a tail light broken and on the ground. A car must've backed into it trying to back out of a space. + My wife had a flat tire and a good samaritan tried to change it for her. With the right front tire off the car, the jack came down and dented the whole fender. Good samaritan made an excuse and ran away! And those are the ones I remember. I got rid of it just because we didn't want to be anywhere near it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 22, 2014 Author Share Posted November 22, 2014 So far so good!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Well of course she's going to play nice when she's on camera... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodent Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Not to thread crash Tulio's injury, I have my own Stephen King story. It is about plastic wrap. My mother in law had some medical issues around Thanksgiving 2011 and decided that she needed to move out of her home in Arizona and up to NorCal to be closer to us. In February 2012, I drove back down to start cleaning out her home and meet with the movers who would be bringing some of her stuff to the assisted living place she was moving to. One of the items I bought to our house was a roll of plastic wrap from Costco. It is now November 2014, and we are still using it. I swear that the wrap regenerates itself at night much like Christine healed herself. We have both cut ourselves severely on the box, and we have each broken the little toe on the right foot by dropping the box. Joan passed away in December 2012 and we are both convinced that her ghost inhabits the plastic wrap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 I had the opposite of a Christine effect. My grandfather always had a gold Ford LTD from 1970 onward. He'd replace it every 4 or 5 years with pretty much the same car. In the 1980s he started giving the old one to my father, which was a good thing since his hand me downs were low mile cars with most of their life ahead of them. I was with my grandfather when he bought the first LTD in 1970. I was 11 and remember that trip to the dealer in great detail. I had no involvement again until 1990, when he got the last LTD, which was a brown Crown Victoria. It was the only excursion from gold, but it was a left over at a steep discount so he bought it. My grandfather died and my father assumed ownership of the car a few years later. Unfortunately my father got cancer and died a few years later himself. The Vic wound up in my driveway, so I started driving it. Originally just for the summer, then I registered it in my name for a year... which led to driving it as my daily driver for 8 years. During that period of time I put 120,000 additional miles on it without a worry. It never broke down ever! It never failed inspection ever! I had a warm feeling driving the car as I felt that my grandfather and father were driving with me, protecting me and keeping the car running all those years. Every so often I'd look in the rear view mirror and could almost see the two of them sitting in the back seat together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 1017 Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Tulio, Well now that you passed her along to your cousin you should be OK. Keep us informed on your cousins welfare. My brand new rabid Bulldog Died the first day out Hood safety latched rattled off. Various engine sensor problems Software problems Replace wiring harness. Wait 2 weeks to get one off the assembly line. The whole clutch fan assembly fell off. Fuel gauge broke. Ran out of fuel going through downtown Chicago Replace computer Replace all 6 fuel injectors.2 weeks ago. Last week the main fuel line came loose. The fuel sprayed all over the tractor and trailer. I left at least a 2 mile trail before I spotted the leak. Only 2 years left on a 5 year lease. Thank goodness this is a company truck. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 Not to thread crash Tulio's injury, I have my own Stephen King story. It is about plastic wrap. My mother in law had some medical issues around Thanksgiving 2011 and decided that she needed to move out of her home in Arizona and up to NorCal to be closer to us. In February 2012, I drove back down to start cleaning out her home and meet with the movers who would be bringing some of her stuff to the assisted living place she was moving to. One of the items I bought to our house was a roll of plastic wrap from Costco. It is now November 2014, and we are still using it. I swear that the wrap regenerates itself at night much like Christine healed herself. We have both cut ourselves severely on the box, and we have each broken the little toe on the right foot by dropping the box. Joan passed away in December 2012 and we are both convinced that her ghost inhabits the plastic wrap. I had the opposite of a Christine effect. My grandfather always had a gold Ford LTD from 1970 onward. He'd replace it every 4 or 5 years with pretty much the same car. In the 1980s he started giving the old one to my father, which was a good thing since his hand me downs were low mile cars with most of their life ahead of them. I was with my grandfather when he bought the first LTD in 1970. I was 11 and remember that trip to the dealer in great detail. I had no involvement again until 1990, when he got the last LTD, which was a brown Crown Victoria. It was the only excursion from gold, but it was a left over at a steep discount so he bought it. My grandfather died and my father assumed ownership of the car a few years later. Unfortunately my father got cancer and died a few years later himself. The Vic wound up in my driveway, so I started driving it. Originally just for the summer, then I registered it in my name for a year... which led to driving it as my daily driver for 8 years. During that period of time I put 120,000 additional miles on it without a worry. It never broke down ever! It never failed inspection ever! I had a warm feeling driving the car as I felt that my grandfather and father were driving with me, protecting me and keeping the car running all those years. Every so often I'd look in the rear view mirror and could almost see the two of them sitting in the back seat together. Those are actually GOOD curses, if this sort of thing really exist!! If it were an Stephen King story, it would be a obscure and really bad "price" to pay for such good luck Great that this is real life and not a Stephen King book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 Tulio, Well now that you passed her along to your cousin you should be OK. Keep us informed on your cousins welfare. My brand new rabid Bulldog Died the first day out Hood safety latched rattled off. Various engine sensor problems Software problems Replace wiring harness. Wait 2 weeks to get one off the assembly line. The whole clutch fan assembly fell off. Fuel gauge broke. Ran out of fuel going through downtown Chicago Replace computer Replace all 6 fuel injectors.2 weeks ago. Last week the main fuel line came loose. The fuel sprayed all over the tractor and trailer. I left at least a 2 mile trail before I spotted the leak. Only 2 years left on a 5 year lease. Thank goodness this is a company truck. I Heavy... Maybe the truck was assembled on a day when the local team (football, baseball, basket?) lost a championship. Or the Monday just after a long weekend... Sorry about the bad luck with the truck Mike. being a work equipment this is a REAL pain in the rear end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 Maybe we could turn this thread into a "tell your Christine case" kind of thread. Feel free to do it guys, it's being really interesting!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdiego Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 In the mid 70's my sister's '64 Tempest was parked, in gear, parking brake off and pointed toward the house. In the middle of the night, a short started a fire under the dash. Just as the Fire Dept arrived, the starter went off, inching the blazing car toward the house until a Firefighter grabbed a log from the woodpile and blocked a wheel. The car was a total loss (honestly, it would have taken only $35 worth of damage to do that) Scary occurance, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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